Silverman - Full Ironman - TriathlonFull Ironman

I was really, really happy with my swim time. I planning on a 1:40 with a best case scenario of 1:30. When I came in and saw that the Half Ironman hadn't taken off yet, I knew that I had come in under 1:30. I got kicked in the face three times, but my goggles never came off. I began experimenting with drafting and it worked as long as I could feel the flutter of the guys feet in front of me. The visibility was so poor that I couldn't even see my own hand in front of my face, so any drafting was done purely by feel. It took my about 1500 m to finally settle down and find my groove. I kept asking myself mentally if what I was doing was preparing for the line on the run. I answered yes throughout the swim and only pushed it a little over the last 200 m. My calf cramped once, but was able to stop for about 10 seconds and stretch it out. I am glad that I wore my hood! I was freezing by the end of the swim, even though the water temp was supposedly 69 degrees.

Avoid the crowds at the start. Find something that actually works as a good anti-fog for my goggles.

Came out the water and jogged to the changing tent. While shivering, peeled off my wetsuit and swimsuit and got into my bike shorts and tri-top. After getting on my socks and shoes, I doused myself in sunblock (although I still manged to miss a few spots). The helpers there were amazing! They packed up all my swim gear into my transition bag and I was off to find my bike and run up Mt. Everest to the bike mount spot. Actually I took a few minutes before hand to visit the purple out house. Cold water and excitement make me have to go potty!

Nothing

Brutal bike course, but I knew this going into this race. Glad I trained the steepest hills in Phoenix and some of the windiest days. Still, nothing could have prepared me for the 80 miles of headwinds/crosswinds that got stronger throughout the day. I peeled off my arm warmers at mile 14 and stuffed them into my Bento Box. Fueled with raspberry Hammergel every 25 minutes with one Cliff Mojo bar about half way into the bike. Half of a banana at mile 70 was a life saver! Took one pee break at the same time that I grabbed the banana. I made it up the three sisters (three short hills with 15-18% grade at mile 96) with no problem.

About 50 miles into the bike I thought I was going to put down a six and a half hour bike split, but the head wind on the way back just beat me down. I had to ask myself if fighting the wind on the bike to make a better split would serve my well on the run. I answered no to myself and the voice in my head kept reminding me that the Ironman course is littered with fit dudes walking and talking about what a great bike split they had. "Think you went to slow on the bike? You now have 26 miles on the run to fix that mistake."

Develop a better nutrition plan. Less gel and more of something else. I'm not sure what that something else should be yet.

I thought a point to point transition would be an awful experience. The volunteers at Silverman were amazing! The took my bike and racked it for me and had my T2 bag ready for me as I approached the changing tent. I, along with everyone else in the tent was pretty demoralized from the strong winds on the bike. I told myself to just keep moving, though. Turned on my Garmin, changed out my bike shorts into my tri shorts, laced up my shoes, and started jogging.

Find someone to run with for the first half of the course.

First 1.5 miles was a nice downhill to warm up the legs. Every time I started going too fast on the run, I told myself to just jog the first 6 miles and then see how I feel. The run course was lonely :( Lots of friendly people at the fully stocked aid stations (every mile), but just not many athletes on the course. I tried taking a Hammergel 25 minutes into the run and just couldn't take it anymore! Bananas and orange slices carried my through the fist 13.1 miles of the run course (1 loop). I started to fall apart by the beginning of the second loop. GI tract was shutting down and my spirits were low. I knew I would finish and really wanted to hold on to my 10 min/mile average pace, but I let go of that at the end of the first loop. Luckily I found a 51 year old guy from Hawaii who was racing his 10th Ironman (he had even been to Kona). Rob and I chatted and carried each other through the second loop of the run course. I survived on chicken broth and animal crackers for a little while and then nothing worked. My blood sugar was bottomed out, my arms were tingly, and Rob had to drop me at about mile 22. I forced a handful of potato chips and some Coke into me with about 3-4 miles to go, and managed to push through the end of the run course. I sprinted the last 2 tenths of a mile and almost caught back up to my new friend at the end of the race.

"The line" (mile 18) definitely came, where everything got very, very difficult. I'm glad I checked my ego multiple times throughout the race to prepare for that point. There were not a lot of people running continuously in this race. Lots of people got beat up pretty bad on the bike. Even though my pace slowed, 10-11 minute miles by the end of the run course were a victory. I was able to run through the aid stations for the first half of the run, but I walked 10 of the 13 aid stations over the last half of the run, and it was a great decision!

From the end of the swim to the end of the run, I picked off 123 male athletes. My friend told me that the sport of triathlon is a runner's race...I guess I agree with him.

Choose a race with a run course that doesn't have 2380 feet of climbing :)

Cried after crossing the finish line and was greeted by my friend Richard and my supportive wife Kara (who tackled and completed the half Silverman with pneumonia)!

After I broke down emotionally, I got tingly in my arms and felt short of breath and overall crappy. I went into the medical tent and couldn't really talk without feeling like I couldn't breathe or without puking. I asked them to check my blood sugar and it was low. A tube of oral glucose and a liter of IV fluids had me feeling better in no time!

If I can finish a race with nothing (or negative) fuel in my tank, then I know I gave it my all!


Nutrition and overall fatigue.


4:1 volunteer to athlete ratio! A grueling course, but plenty rewarding. Lots of time to be alone and think on some unforgettable climbs. Right after finishing the race, I said I was done with Ironman distance races. By lunch the following day, I was considering IMAZ in a couple of years. Tonight (24 hours) after finishing Silverman, I'm open to doing the Silverman Full all over again...........................