A little tip for an irondistance swim

I just finished my first IM in Arizona. I couldn't be happier with the outcome. I did not set the course on fire but finished in 15hrs and 4 min. I went into the race with only finishing in mind. Anyway, when I was in line to get into the water I noticed that the guy in front of me had a piece of tape on the back of his neck. I did not think anything about it. Had a decent swim ( 1 hr 40 min) Felt pretty good after the swim but when I was getting lathered up with sunscreen I noticed that the back of my neck was pretty chaffed when they put the sunscreen on it. Now I know what the tape was for. I later found out that people had put glide on the back of their necks too. 12 days later I still have a scab on the back of my neck. That is my advice for any rookies out there who have not talked about this with anyone. I also started breast stroking about 3 minutes into the race, pulled my goggles up on the top of my head and took a good look around me. What an incredible sight and feeling.

One more funny thing I want to share. There was an older lady that finished 10 minutes or so in front of me. She was about to cross the finish line and Mike Reily did not call out her name. She stopped, looked right at him and put her hands on her hips and said in an exhausted voice " Aren't you going to call me an ironman? " He then called out her name and called her an ironman. She put her hands above her head with a big smile on her face and ran accross the line. My family witnessed this while they were waiting for me. Had an incredible time and can't wait to do it again.

Greg in Katy, Tx