So the swim was a little rougher than the practice swim the day before.. I started towards the back/right, and I need to be a little more aggressive in my starts. I'm always underestimating my swim, so need to work on that. One good point on starting towards the back was getting a better idea of how to the attack the waves that were rolling in/breaking. Saw people trying to swim over them and getting knocked back, so went with the duck dive through the waves until we could get past the breakers.. Once past it was a matter of timing strokes and sighting with the crest of the waves, not something I was good at mind you but started to figure out.. One other thing I need to do is not start so far to the right with that type of current.. I tend to pull a little to the right at times, so instead of the current pushing me towards the buoys like I had planned, I was swimming straight.. for once.. Meant I swam the first loop a little long, but what can you do. I also probably could've put more effort into the first loop, but again not being used to the rolling waves didn't want to wipe myself and then end up gassed at the end of the swim..
Up and out of the water for loop 2, grabbed a mouthful of fresh water to rinse with and tried to make it a little bit down the beach (not as far this time) to get into the swim to swim a straight line to the buoys. The crowd was making that difficult, not sure if any time was lost with going around vs. fighting the waves, probably was a wash. Second loop felt stronger/faster than the first, however time reflecting the beach walk/shuffle was included.. Finished the second loop feeling fresh, probably could've gone a little harder.. Was dismayed by the clock when I came out, but remembered once on the bike to remove 15 minutes from it so ended up being "ok", but still would like better.

not start so far right, have more confidence in my swim. Push a little harder once I get into my rhythm on the swim. I'm a solid 1:2x swimmer, conditions were rough but oh well.. next time..

came up and out of the water, remembering the different race reports I ran up to the last pair of guys (or close to it) to get the suit stripped off, down/yank/up and gone.. up through the showers, paused to try and get the sand off as much as possible and rinse the saltwater off of my face. grab the bag and jog to the changing area. felt pretty good so was able to run by a number of people on the way. came in, found a chair and dumped my stuff.. no free volunteers, but didn't really need one anyway. toweled off the sand on my feet, socks on, shoes on, belt on, helmet and sunglasses and stuffed the remainder back into the bag. Tied it up and off we went. Hit the portolet (why right after the swim? no idea, but better now than 15 min into the ride). Grabbed the bike (seeing how many were gone was a bit of a bummer, will definitely push me to be faster next time). Ran to and past the mount line since everyone was stopping RIGHT THERE.. got on the bike, saw my wife gave a quick wave and was gone..

not much really, first time doing a full so wasn't sure of the best way to approach.. tried to keep it simple, but had a couple of extra things in my bag due to not knowing what the weather was going to be like.. Had the sunglasses in a sleeve to avoid them being scratched, so a few seconds here and there.. but no biggie.. probably could speed it up by a couple of minutes, but not bad..

Got out onto the course and had my goal of maintaining between 19-20 mph for an overall average... I didn't want to burn the legs up for the run and although I could ride faster I knew it would eat me up if I pushed..
Was an easy cruise out off of the beach and up and past the bridge, found myself holding back quite a bit..Thought about it and said to myself "self, the conditions don't get any better.. don't waste it".. allowed myself to push a little higher at times, just not get crazy with it.. There were plenty of people passing me, but I was still passing quite a few. Had to remember to "race my own race" and not worry about those who were trying to prove something on the bike.. Played leapfrog with a number of people for quite some time, but eventually it broke up. Had to stop and pee about 30 miles in and did so again at the special needs bag pickup.. First pee stop was quick, special needs (on that crazy road) took a little longer.. probably could've grabbed my bag and road if it was smoother, but wasn't worth the chance of wrecking. Went through almost 3 bottles, so swapped out the 2 new infinit bottles, grabbed 2 bonk breakers, ate one and stuffed the other in box, couple of Tylenol, pee break (having to find a place to lean the bike took a few in order to not lose what was in my aero bottle) and was gone.. Took a little longer than I wanted but again, not too bad, probably could've been just under 6 hours without the lengthy stop. Rest of the course was just on maintaining, found myself zoning out a little and didn't realize my speed had dropped, was able to pick it back up for the remaining 40 miles but still under where I wanted to be.. stomach was about done with infinit, started drinking more water (was grabbing a bottle, taking a few swigs as fast as I could during the station and then tossing it) more longer rides next year in the 4-5 hour range..Looking at my stats I do better on longer segments, seems I can keep my average up better.. was able to keep the pace up the remaining 10 or so miles on the beach, felt good to know i was just about off of the bike and fed off of the crowd's energy...little more mental focus next year..

was well hydrated based on the pee stops, might only go with 2 bottles next year (1 aero, 1 cage and a water bottle in the cage and rotate). seemed to help with keeping the stomach and digestion going...more 4-5 hour rides or a focus change next year.. i'm a fairly decent cyclist, just trying to balance out the power on the bike with the consistency on the run.

wasn't sure if we could keep the shoes on the bike, pulled them out on the way down anyway (toes were KILLING ME) so that felt good.. asked and they said yep! Ran the bike up to someone, they grabbed it (reached over to stop the computer) and ran into the changing tent, legs felt surprisingly GOOD. wasn't sure if it was due to just being happy to be off the bike or if I had done things right, but we'll go with a mix of both. Grabbed the bag and again into the changing area, had a volunteer dump my stuff out, but told him "no worries man I've got it". Appreciated the help, but I seemed to move better solo. had a brand new pair of socks in the bag (heaven!), shoes on, belt on, watch on, old racing belt off/new one on (I wore a different one on the bike to avoid having gu packs hitting me in the hips for 6 hours and annoying the crap out of me). Grabbed my visor and I was off.. sip of water, sunscreen and another tip to the portolet (well, I was well hydrated!)

lace locks on shoes, I had picked some up and normally race with them in most shoes, but hadn't with these. nothing new on race day, so just tied them. could've grabbed the watch, hat, bib/belt on the run but wasn't too worried about it.. could just smooth things out, but not a huge deal.

The run is probably my strongest discipline, I've been focusing on it and trusting in it more and more so I have had the confidence and mental capacity to push a little more.. came out of T2 feeling good, and running too fast..Saw my wife and kids, and felt awesome to see them and get hugs/kisses (later came to find out they had written me messages on the ground, missed them the first time out but saw them on the 2nd loop.. made my day!) made myself slow down as my coach wanted this to be my slowest lap (sorry coach).. slowed myself down as much as I could but it felt unnatural. first 6.6 were ranging between a 9:16 and 9:45 which is about where I wanted to be, although should've been a little slower.. 2nd 6.6 the wheels came off a bit. I was letting my head get to me and tell me I was tired, allowing me to walk more than I should've been and my stomach wasn't feeling wonderful either.. worked my way back to the special needs area and grabbed tums, salt cap, and Tylenol, biofreeze packets (applied on the legs at each turn around, probably only needed to do it once) and a long sleeve tech shirt in case it started to get cold. had other stuff in there, but wasn't needed. tums helped settle the stomach, saw the kids and wife on the way in and out again (awesome!) and told myself to kick it into gear.. saw some other friends on the course and they were like "you're holding back!".. well yeah, I was initially, now it was the race getting the best of me.. at that point I said to myself "self, don't let this day go to waste, suck it up and move forward." Remembering Macca's book and his experiences at Kona, I went straight to Coke and water, and felt like a million bucks.. did no more gu/perform aside from a sip every now and again, and was able to run strong just stopping at the aid stations for coke/water.. after the 2nd turnaround caught up and chatted with a guy, he makes the comment about only wanting a towel for his face.. I offer the shirt i'm still carrying (wasn't planning on wearing it anyway) to which he is thankful, we pick up the run for a few and unfortunately he falls back.. continue on coke/water/coke water... got a glow necklace (only had about 3 miles left, but what the hey).. Came upon another gentleman walking with a trash bag on his body.. ran past and stopped.. turned around "Do you want a shirt instead of that bag? *puzzled look*. "I've got a long sleeve tech shirt that i'm not going to wear, it's yours if you want it". *Sure!*.. Hope it was more comfortable than the bag, it was the 2009 Disney Marathon shirt I had brought with me, didn't think about the significance (first marathon/first ironman), but hopefully it served him well and maybe I had some good karma on my side. Kept running, and coming up on the girl zone there were two kids playing on a tablet cheering, took off my glow necklace and gave it to them, felt bad that I only had one, but they seemed to be happy.. Was receiving many compliments on how strong my run looked, felt good to hear that.. Turned onto the main road back, HOLY $#%#$ I'm almost there.. felt like a million bucks, could've floated home..Garmin says the last 3 miles of the race were my fastest and I believe it based on how I felt.. The crowd's energy was amazing, I honestly wish I would've slowed down to take it in a little more but just felt awesome.. Running down the chute.. THERE IT IS.. HOLY $%#$% I'M GOING TO BE AN IRONMAN.. Saw that I was coming up on people and that we would end up bunching up at the finish so I kicked it in even more to get a solo spot under the arch (watch says I dropped to a 6:50 pace the last 1/4 mile..). DEREK BRAWDERS from Spring Hill, TN.. You Are an Ironman! I DID IT! HOLY $%#$% that was amazing.. HOLY #$$#% i'm tired!
(I come to find out that I put my arms down to early coming through the chute, so I look like a zombie walking forward in the picture, guess I have to do another one for the picture.. :) )

little more mental focus on the run, possibly some additional bricks. Body had it, mind just got lazy.. need to work on that, but overall I felt pretty damn good on the run.

space blanket, medal, picture.. a mutual friend from TN caught me, which was awesome.. always very cool when you can have someone you know catch you. caught up with my wife and kids, hugs and kisses all around.. very proud of their daddy, and Daddy was very proud and thankful for them and all they had done during the day... pizza/coke/water, got the gear out and walked back to Shores.. I was sore, but honestly I felt pretty damn good, wasn't stiff as many as I saw and was walking regularly, etc.. let my brain try to process the day.. slept..


need to focus and have more confidence in my swim, probably could've pushed the bike a bit more, but I think I was right on for what I had trained for. Run was a mental lapse, but felt good for 75% of it..


Had a blast, never thought "i'm not doing this again". I was tired and sore yes, but the overall experience was amazing.. I'm signed up for Tahoe in 2013 but will be heading down this year to volunteer to race in 2014 I believe (unless I do Louisville or something other). I can see why so many people like the race, great time/great venue.. the volunteers are AWESOME!