The water temperature was around 78 degrees which made this a wetsuit optional swim (you could wear one but would start 10 minutes later in a separate wave and not be eligible for awards). I decided I would go without a wetsuit with the mass start. As soon as they allowed the age groupers to start entering the water, I went in and found a place to sit on the side of one of the docks. This helped me to be in the water and positioned but not have to tread water for 15 minutes waiting for the gun to go off. The air temperature was in the mid 70s and it was pretty humid already which made the water feel nice. Around 5 minutes before the start I positioned myself just about dead center in the pack. The music was pumping, there was tons of energy in the air, and I had one of those moments of pure excitement reflecting on the work that led to that point and anticipating the day ahead.
The swim was a single point to point course in a small man-made lake that took you up .8mi, back .8mi, and then into a narrow canal/waterway for the last .6mi. I didn’t really have a swim strategy leading into the race. I knew the course and figured it would be easy to follow the other swimmers. It was only the 2nd time I had done an open water swim in a race without a wetsuit but I was feeling confident in my swimming ability based on the workouts I had leading up to the race.
As the swim began, I expected the full contact of the mass start for the first 500-800 meters or so. But afterwards I had difficulty finding any clean water to swim in. At some points it bunched up so much that I found myself having to go almost vertical to push away from everyone else. I’m still not 100% sure if this was because I was taking a route from buoy to buoy instead of swimming with a straight point to the red turn buoy. Upon completing the first turn I scooped up someone’s swim cap. I actually stopped to look around to see if anyone was missing it but then just decided to dump it and keep going. The back half of the first out and back didn’t seem as crowded and I was able to get into a bit of a rhythm here although my time was seeming kind of slow already.
The turn into the canal seemed like it took forever and once we were in the canal, the full contact began again. By this point many of the wetsuit wave swimmers were swimming over top of me which added to my frustration. The silver lining was that I thought swimming in the canal and seeing the people lining the side and cheering was a cool experience. It took what seemed like forever to make it to the final turn buoy at the swim exit. I did see someone I knew coming out of the swim which helped improve my mood a lot and I exited the water hearing Mike Reilly announcing my name over the loudspeaker!

Once out of the water, my goal was to make a super quick transition. I didn’t have to spend time stripping a wetsuit so I grabbed a cup of water and ran while taking off my goggles and swim cap. I grabbed my bike on the run into transition and stopped on the grass outside of the changing tent to get ready for the bike. I had a lot of trouble getting my tri top and socks on since I was still wet so that slowed me down a bit. But once I was changed, I took a quick pee break, ran through the very crowded changing tent, through the sunscreen volunteers, and out to get my bike. Unfortunately, I didn’t luck out with a volunteer to grab my bike which threw me off a little bit but my friend Pam was in the transition area cheering which was awesome to see. I grabbed my bike, kept running, and was off to the bike mount line. My overall transition time could have been a little faster but overall I was pleased.

The bike was probably the best part of the day for me both mentally and performance wise. I had focused on the bike in training more than ever for this race – teaching 5 spin classes a week and focusing on high volume rides on the weekend so I knew I was more than prepared.
The course was one loop that was roughly oval shaped up and down. On the up section for about the first 30-40 miles or so there was a definite tailwind. That coupled with the adrenaline from the swim led to a pretty fast first bike split of over 20mph. I had been hungry during the swim so I decided to eat immediately when on the bike and pretty much kept to my plan of taking in something every 30 minutes (usually ½ cliffbar, another ½ cliffbar, then a gu) while alternating topping off my aero drink with a bottle of perform or water in each aid station. This seemed to work well but I might want to consider switching to less solid food in the future. I did stop to pick up my special needs for more nutrition at mile 56 and remembered feeling good about my pace thusfar.
The weather was starting to heat up with the sun beating down so I also began to grab water at each aid station to pour down my back, which also helped since I finally learned how to get through a bike leg of a race without stopping at the portapotty (big accomplishment!).
There was a nice section where you went through the Sam Houston National forest which I loved. After that section though, things started to get a little rough. The heat was picking up, the tailwind was now a headwind, and the roads became a rough vibrating chipseal for about 20 miles. The wind wasn’t nearly as bad as SG or some of the training I had done on the Eastern Shore so I don’t think it messed with me mentally as much as it could have. After mile 80, the next aid station wasn’t until mile 95 or so which made for a challenging section to get through. I saw a lot of people stopped and off the bike at that aid station.
By the time I made it back into town, I was feeling good so decided to give a little more effort in the last 5-10 miles of the bike which in retrospect I probably should have conserved. I was still on track to come in under 6:30 and probably could have used that time to cool down more and spin out the legs in preparation for the run. But I was excited to be done and feel good.

As I came into T2 I heard my friend cheering for me again which was a big boost. I ran in my bike shoes through the transition which was a good decision because I heard afterwards that many people got blisters through their socks because of the hot pavement. I found a grassy section next to the tent to sit on and change from my very wet bike shoes and socks into dry socks and my run shoes. Another lesson learned – for these hot races, I’ll need to always wear dri fit socks. Some very nice volunteers helped me with water and ice to cool down and get ready for the run. When I was ready, I ran through the tent, reapplied sunscreen and somehow missed the beginning of the run. By the time I asked someone if we were actually on the run course, I was and started my watch.

Oh the “run.” What is normally my strongest leg turned into a real challenge. We had the trifecta of heat in the 90s, humidity, and sunshine working against us that day which slowed a lot of the field down to a slow shuffle or walk. The one thing I will say is that this is probably one of the best marathon courses I’ve done. The three loop course included tons of crowd support, fully stocked aid stations, and tons of great volunteers (who were also suffering out there with us). The constant turns and change in scenery made it interesting since there were no long stretches to mentally deal with.
I started the first loop running and walking through aid stations. Most of the runs I’ve done after long bikes have been in the 9min/mile range but I was easily at around 10-10:30/mile because of the heat. I was able to maintain that pace for a few miles but by the time I reached the end of the first loop it started to slow. Once I made it to mile 11 or 12, I slowed down to a full on IM shuffle/walk. And it was during those next few miles I realized what it was to feel as though you had bonked in a race. I tried my best to continue to run when it was shady, or when I was in a section with great crowd support. At each aid station I was pouring ice down my tri top and water over my head. I had added salt caps to my race nutrition that day which I think helped me absorb and retain water to not become dehydrated. I think part of me could have continued to push and run but I also did not want to risk getting to a dangerous point in the heat where I needed to discontinue the race so I played it very safely. By about mile 13 I started having to pee at each aid station and I’m still not certain how that happened since I didn’t feel like I was drinking enough for that to happen.
My friend Pam was all over the course somehow cheering so that was always very motivating. And I also had some cool experiences chatting with people on the course and encouraging eachother. So despite the conditions, I somehow was able to enjoy those parts of the race. By the time I reached mile 24, I decided I was going to try to run as much of the last 2 miles as possible. The first mile was difficult but I ended up running most all of the last mile.
Something happens to you when you get to the last ¼ mile of an Ironman. All of the discouraging moments during training and the race disappear along with all of the pain your body might be in. You start to hear the giant crowds get louder and louder as you approach the finish line. And then the next thing you know, you’re in the finisher shoot running towards the arch and highfiving everyone in sight. It’s an amazing experience and this one was no less exciting than any other. I finished the race in 14:25:16 and suddenly none of the challenges of the day mattered anymore because I had reached my goal of completing an Ironman for the third time!