I love swimming. It is my favorite part of the race. The water was warm (so much so that I had to stop at the turn around of the first loop and pull at the neck of my wetsuit to let some cooler water in) but not miserably hot. The shallow areas weren't too much of a distraction. I only had to stand up and walk around the turn around. I didn't get kicked or hit too much, but I never really felt like there were long stretches of open water where I could swim alone. The bummer was catching people in the wave ahead of me because those slower swimmers swim all wobbly and side to side and it makes it tough to get around them. There was quite a bit of sea grass under the bridge so I felt like I had hair on my face for parts of the swim. As I neared the half way point I could hear my dad, mom and kids yelling like crazy. I had to pop up and wave because I was just so stinking happy. I would swim an few strokes and then wave again like a big goofball. I could hear them for quite a bit through the swim.

Nothing. I enjoyed the swim and took it easy. I knew there was a long day ahead. If I did it over, I would just take it easy again and enjoy it all over again.

I was excited to have wetsuit strippers, but honestly I think I would have gotten it off quicker if I did it myself. I never seem to have much of a problem getting out of my wetsuit. This transition was in the dirt, which was mud by the time I got to it. That kind of sucked. I had to take a long time to get the mud off my feet and out from between my toes. I didn't rush through the transition. Again, I kept reminding myself that It was going to be a long day so no need to go crazy.

The bike was BEAUTIFUL. Unfortunately, it was a little tough to enjoy at first because I was FREEZING. I wore my Surf City jersey zipped all the way up and my normal arm warmers. My hands didn't go numb but I had goose bumps and was at times shivering. I finally started to warm up at mile 25. I really loved the bike! There were a lot more riders all around that I thought. I loved that it was out in the wineries. I did not ever push hard (again the whole "its going to be a long day" was running through my brain). When I got to Chalk Hill I looked at my odometer because I knew that the hill was .75 of a mile long. I just slowly and steadily climbed. At the top were some spectators dressed as super heroes. They cheered that we made it and I was shocked. I yelled "This is the top? That is it?!" That hill was not anywhere near as bad as I thought. Yay! I rode with my cell phone and would send a text to my daughter every ten miles so they would know where I was and that I was okay. She would reply, but I never could read her texts. The roads were so pot holy that I couldn't ever take my eyes off the road that long. I drank my perpetuem as often as I could (every 20 minutes or so) and forced myself to grab a 1/2 of a banana at a couple aid stations. I also ate my pbj sandwich. I was so worried that I wouldn't have any gas for the run. The best thing on this ride was seeing my family. My parents were on their Harley and kept popping up at random spots along the course. My husband and kids were at other spots. I had Sniker bars in my jersey in case I needed a mental pick me up, but I never needed them. Seeing them always gave me a boost! I never felt defeated or exhausted on the bike. Someone might say that means I should have gone harder. However, I like my pace. I felt great the whole time. Why suffer? I did pee about 8 times ON THE BIKE. Yes...that is disgusting. However, I was afraid to stop and get cramped up. Plus, I was always worried about time cut offs. (I didn't realize I was already ahead of my goal time) It is hard to pee on the bike and kind of embarrassing. I tried to do it when there weren't any riders within 30 yards or so. haha.

T2 sucked! I stood there completely lost for at least 7 minutes. I knew that I had put my stuff near the changing tents, but I could NOT find my stuff. When I finally found it I went into the changing tent to completely change everything (who wants to run in pee shorts and socks all day?).

Mark my spot better!

I had been dreading this part of the race. I forced myself to not think about it on the bike, but here it was. I didn't feel overheated, but the course was UP or DOWN. There really wasn't a flat section except at the turn around. Right away I decided to walk the uphills. Within the first few miles I could feel an awful blister forming on my left foot. Weird because it was a random spot. It hurt super bad to run by mile 7. I stopped at my run special needs and put two bandaids on and it totally did the trick! I never felt it again. My pace for the first 8.5 miles averaged to 11:48 and I was happy with that. The second loop was when I started to get tired. My parents were at the turn around for the loop which helped. I knew that once I got to them I would only have about 4 miles left to begin my final loop. My amazing husband and daughter met me just before the end of the second loop and jogged next to me encouraging me. My poor hubby was in slip on shoes and has a bad knee but he never complained, just said how proud he was. By the time I started the final loop I was toast. Thankfully, nothing was in pain but everything hurt. (if that makes sense) My daughter ran the entire final loop with me. Her endless chatter drove me nuts but is what kept me going. I had nothing left in me. All I would do is whisper "jog to the pole jog to the pole jog to the pole" then "jog to the sign jog to the sign jog to the sign". haha. I wanted to lie down and sleep so bad. I saw my parents at the turn around of my last loop and I started crying and so did my dad. I swear I have the best family. At no point in the run did I feel like I would finish the run. My daughter kept reassuring me that I was so far ahead of the time cut off I could crawl the final 4 miles and still make it, but I didn't feel like it. It was pitch black. I was tired. I was cold. I wanted to be done. Finally, I saw the finish line. I WAS going to be an Ironman!

Run hills more. Train my body to not hate GU so I could have energy in the final lap.

Hugged my family and headed to the food area. I should have been starving because I didn't eat anything on the run. Didn't really like the food offerings, but drank the chicken noodle broth. I was freezing and didn't pose for any pics because I was just too tired.


I loved this race! The people (volunteers and spectators) are AMAZING. The bike course is BEAUTIFUL. Yes the bike roads kind of suck (several ejected bottles, flats, and two people 20 miles out from the finish with broken chains) but it is still worth it. If I was to do an IM again...I would do this one.