After the race was over I decided that the swim was the easiest section. Who would think I would ever say that. I had a better swim time than I was anticipating and I came out of the water feeling pretty good. Aside from the swim smelling like Diesel fuel it was very nice.

I guess I can become a better swimmer but I'm taking this swim and holding onto it for a while. I'm very happy with this!

I moved swiftly through transition. I didn't have a helper but I really didn't need one. I was a minimalist for this event. I tried not to over think or over worry or over stuff my gear back. Everything was organized in my bag so I was swift in executing this transition.

Nothing. I'm happy with this. I may have stopped to use the bathroom if I could do it over again. I had to go pretty badly in the first few miles of the bike ride.

My legs felt pretty good on the bike. I had some ongoing mechanical issues with my Aero bars. I was riding heavy on the right because of my neck/left shoulder area and going over some of the bumps knocked the bars loose and they turned all the way to the right on me. I think I stopped a total of 6 times to tighten them. The last time I stopped I stopped because I saw a bike mechanic and I wanted/needed a screw driver to tighten them. I tightened it although it was still turned a bit - I was able to ride comfortably as is. Thank goodness for the bike guy as I was getting very frustrated. On each of these stops I took advantage and peed on the side of the road.

I'm still not sure I should have changed my cassette. I missed my old cassette and I was uncomfortable with the one I used. While it probably saved my legs for the run I just couldn't get in a groove on the flats going home. It also turned out to be a pretty good head wind coming home on this flat section.



You can always train more, train better, train smarter, etc... I think I did well. If I didn't have the mechanical issues and possibly handled my nutrition a little better I may have had a better bike but it was completely acceptable.

When I came in on the bike I was the only one running in transition. Smart or stupid I don't know. This time when I entered the tent there was a person that helped me. I think this slowed me down a bit. I didn't really care. I told myself I had 10 minutes in each transition TOPS, and since I only took about 5 in T1 I figured I could afford to take my time. I got my stuff on, got some sun tan lotion on and used the bathroom this time.

I saw Fred and Bill while I was running out of transition so I stopped and talked with them for a moment. Chrissy called Fred while I was standing there. That was pretty cool.

Not much I would do differently. I could have hustled through this a little but I was in no rush. I had no time goal I was trying to get and like I said I had allotted myself 20 minutes total in transition and used less than that.

Immediately I felt okay. I was running a slow pace and it was a pace I knew I could handle the entire way. I was doing a 14 minute run 1 minute walk plan and hustling through aid stations. Getting through the aid stations quickly was tough because it was hard to find the broth. My clothes were all white and I needed the broth. Water and broth and a bit of perform at each aid station. I ate a lot of bananas throughout as well.

First loop went great. As I was heading to the turn around I saw the RIchey boys so I stopped to chat for a moment then out for the second loop. At around mile 15 I had to go to the bathroom something awful. Awful to the point where I could NOT run, so I walked purposefully until I reached a bathroom. However, nothing was happening in there. Just enough to get me moving for a little while longer. Then I had to go again and couldn't run again. This went on until about mile 21 when I told myself I was going to sit there until I took care of business. It was a shame because my legs were feeling okay but my inability to go to the bathroom was hindering my progress.

So, I go into this porta potty and it's the most gross thing I ever saw. I honestly don't know how this bathroom got to look this way. It looked physically impossible to get shit where there was shit. I was nonplussed. BUT, I had to go. It was awful. I got it done and off I went and I was able to pick up the pace again. PHEW!!!! That bathroom was the grossest thing I had ever seen BY FAR!!! It's as if someone bent over at a 90 degree angle and just exploded - it was everywhere. UGH

In hindsight I would have paid more attention to my sweating on the bike. I was playing catch up throughout the entire run but I think I handled it very well and successfully. My legs felt great at the pace I was running. I was a little disappointed that I had the stomach problems for the 5 miles but it wasn't that bad and it could have been A LOT worse. I saw some folks out there that looked just awful.

I did a lot of walking and running after this race was over. The Richey boys and I walked out to the aid station that was .6 from the finish to see if we could find our friend, George, who was maybe not going to make the cutoff. I waited at the aid station while the two boys went out further to run George in. It was so f'ing close. He triggered the 1.6 mat with about 15 minutes to go. He was hunched over and out of it. It really looked like Night of the Living Dead out there.

They made it to where I was, .6 miles from the finish, I held him up on one side and Bobby held him up on the other. We ran as fast as he could. He had a little less than 8 minutes to get to the finish from .6 miles out. Everyone was shouting out times to us as we passed which was very informative and gave us an idea on how hard we had to push George to get to the finish.

So, as we approach the finish chute, we had to let George go and finish without our help. We let go and pointed him in the right direction. So he goes through the first chute (which isn't the finish) then falls into the Ford car. The crowd is going nuts. He has about 40 seconds to get to the finish. Mike Reilly comes over to him and george tells him to "give him a minute" because he's cramping. Mike Reilly says "don't you want to finish first?" George says "I didn't finish yet." Mike Reilly points George in the right direction, the crowd goes insane, George crosses the finish line with a 10-20 seconds to spare. It was amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e2pOmaaAOQ&feature=email

(in this clip, you can see Mike running over to help him up)


I don't know that anything limited my ability to perform faster. I could have hustled a little more. I certainly could have pushed myself on the run a little more. Overall, I'm very happy with this first time Ironman experience.


I had a great time in Louisville Kentucky. We had a nice group come down and everyone finished the race.