I'm not gonna lie, I was really NERVOUS for the start of the race. I was shaking and I felt like puking. I didn't see anyone I knew while lining up to get into the water, so I felt alone :( I also had problems with the porta-potty lines. There was 15 minutes till race start, and I was still in line. I tried not to freak out but I knew I had to get in the water ASAP. I felt my swim as as well as I could perform. I felt comfortable throughout and only got kicked/swam over a few times. I started in the the middle of everyone which I felt was a good spot for me.

Use bathroom earlier.

I LOVE WETSUIT STRIPPERS! The swim was cold. My feet and hands were completely numb as I got out of the water. Putting on my bike shoes was tough. I wore my arm warmers under my wetsuit, so I put on my sunglasses/helmet, shoes/socks, and race belt... and was off.

Try to be even faster. Maybe go sock-less?

I felt I had a solid ride. I stayed in upper zone 1 for my first loop, and upper Z1/Low Z2 for my 2nd and 3rd. I never really felt like I was pushing it at all. I negative split each bike loop, which was my goal :) I can't believe I actually took it easy on my first loop! Everyone I talked to said, "...take it easy on the first loop, especially if it's your first IM." I let several people pass me on the first loop, but I ended up flying pass a lot of them later in the ride.

I could've been faster, but I really had to pee.

Try to pee on the bike. I tried so freakin hard to pee on the bike!

Felt awesome on the first loop and then I started to slowly deteriorate from there. I was holding a 7:50 pace for the first 4 miles, and then backed off to 8:30 (my planned pace). I shouldn't have started out so fast because it really caught up to me around mile 13. From mile 13-26.2, I was fatigued and just tried to continually put one foot in front of the other. I only walked 3 times (at run aid stations) and ran the rest of the course. A majority of my AG passes were on the hills, as most people were walking. As I crossed Rural bridge on my final loop, I knew I was going to be done in less than 10 minutes. I remember looking at my watch and it read 5:52 pm. As I got closer, I could hear Mike's voice counting down the seconds till 6pm (11 hrs). I was about 50 feet away from the finish line when it reached 6pm :( Everyone is telling me that I had a great time, but I WISH I could have just tried a little bit harder the last few miles. I've replayed the moment several times, and I go through several "what if" situations. If I hadn't walked the aid stations, or used one less aid station, or hadn't gone pee, or put on socks for the bike, I would have broken 11 hours :( Damn. The crowd support was amazing at the finish. They were especially ramped up for me to finish under 11.. but I failed them.


When I crossed the finish line, I literally fell over into two the run catchers' arms. I gave it everything I had out there and was completely exhausted. There were many people at the finish line waiting for me, but I was so disoriented and confused that I didn't recognize them until a few minutes had passed. Kim was a run catcher and said I didn't look too good.



Then, I received news that Sally (riorio) had passed me on the 3rd loop of the run course! I was comparing our splits, and we were pretty much "neck and neck" the entire race. Great job Sally. So... I decided to sign up for IMAZ 2010 (12pm rolled around Monday and I HAD to sign up!)... I'll be racing to break 11 and to give riorio a run for her money :) JK Sally!

Pace myself on the run; have a plan going into the run and stick to it (like I did on the bike).

Talked to Dustin, Kevin, Kim, Bobby, Robin, my parents, co-workers, and friends. I could barely walk and the medical people kept coming over to me and asked if I needed help. I wasn't sore, just really, really fatigued. I really wanted to see all my friends finish, but I felt really woozy the entire night, and had to go home to sleep.


Best race of the season. THANK YOU SO MUCH VOLUNTEERS AND FANS!!! You guys made this race such an awesome experience. This was a day I'll never forget.