13 Hours Later ...

Sorry for the delay. As Jennifer speculated, I've been sleeping. Two naps today and I suspect bed will come early tonight.

It's hard to know where to start. Yesterday was an amazing and difficult day. I could not be more pleased with the effort and time, especially under the conditions (more on that later).

We were asked to arrive on site by 5 a.m. as I did. They had parking for us in a garage right next door so it was easy to get to, especially since the bike and most of the gear had been turned in the day before. I had a couple of items to put in the Swim-To-Bike bag and Bike-To-Run bag and turn in my special needs bags that were to be waiting for me around the half-way point of the bike and swim.

After some more tinkering and finding a bathroom, it was time to go to the swim start. Nobody was too anxious to get in the water as we all found a place to sit. Finally, the race director said, "You all are pissing me off. Get off my dock!" So that's what we did and plunged into 68 degree Tempe Lake. We had to swim about 150 yards to where the start was. My mentor on this race, Tommy Oakman, told me to find a place on the bank to sit and wait there. There was no reason burning energy treading water. What a great piece of advice! I sat there as long as I could and then found a place among the hordes.

Nothing can prepare you for a mass start of over 2,000 swimmers. All of my experiences have been with wave starts of no more than 100 or so. This was pure chaos. Whoever said swimming was a noncontact sport should try this. I can't count the number of times I was kicked, pulled and shoved. After about 700 yards it quieted down and I was able to find some clear water.

As we approached the turnaround it got crowded again and it all started again. It really didn't let up for the second leg. I don't know if people were getting tired or just couldn't swim straight but I was doing battle the whole way home. We essentially swam from one set of bridges to another and I swear the bridge we were aiming for on the way home was not getting closer. Finally, I saw the last buoy indicating a hard left turn and the final stretch to the stairs. They had people there to help us out and then our wet suits off us. I just laid on my back and they yanked it off. Good thing I was wearing a one piece race suit underneath.

Most ran to the area where our transition bags were located; I walked. I figured what's the hurry. I found my bag and went to the changing tent. As my T1 time indicates, I took my time. Drying off, getting something to drink and eat and then getting all my bike stuff on. I then found my bike and headed off on what was going to be an incredibly difficult ride.

It was a three-loop course having us come back to the start area twice before finishing. The challenge was the wind. I've figured out that we had it into us directly for at least 51 of the 112 miles. Estimates on the sustained wind were above 25 mph with the gusts reaching over 40. We had a nice stretch where we were with it and could cruise but then we would turn around right into its teeth. The last eight miles were the toughest as it was blowing the hardest we had seen all day right into our faces. A stretch I had gone 23 mph on the way out was now pushing me to almost a standstill at 9 mph. Even the pros complained about.

All that and I have to say that was the best bike leg I've ever had. I had never rode over 100 miles before and I felt great the whole day. My drinking and eating plan worked perfectly and I felt good when I got back to T2. I'm really proud of that time, although I'm sure you IM veterans must have wondered what I was doing out there for that amount of time. Without the wind, I think I would have been under 6 hours.

T2 was much the same as the first transition, but less crowded. I took my time but was moving a little quicker than before. Then it was time to run. I can't believe how fast the first ten miles went. I felt really good sticking to my Galloway plan of 4 minutes running and one minute walking. At mile 14, it all went to hell. My stomach started to revolt from all the Gatorade I drank and other things I had eaten and went into lock down. I tried various combinations of water, soda, pretzels but nothing worked. I only took small sips of water and a couple of small cups of chicken stock for the rest of the way. No solids. I'm still not back to normal.

I felt a little better around the 20 mile mark and after mixing running and walking to mile 24 I resolved to run the final 2.2 to the finish. Except a small hill I had forgot about, I stuck to that and rounded the final corner to the finish line. It was an amazing feeling running down that stretch with probably 1,000 people on either side cheering for you.

The words I heard next were probably the greatest in my life behind hearing the doctor say my daughter was healthy and had all ten of fingers and toes. To hear the famous IM announcer say my name, where I was from and that I was an Ironman is something I will always remember.

It was then into the awaiting arms of the volunteers to made sure I was ok, gave me my finishers medal, hat and t-shirt and then one personally escorted me to the food tent and I was done. 13 hours 32 minutes. I said earlier that I would be pleased with around 13 hours and I am more than pleased now.

I know I said this earlier but I must restate how amazing the volunteers were yesterday. Together with most the amazing organization I have ever witnessed, thousands of cheering spectators along all the course, it was just incredible. There were over 3,000 volunteers making our lives a little more bearable out there. Everything we needed, we got. I never heard a complaint or sour word, just words of encouragement and just wanting to help. I think I will remember the volunteers long after I have forgotten the race.

There is a long list of people to thank for making this experience possible:

• Lisa and Niki for putting up with the hum of the trainer in the living room every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday
• My mom, for staying at the race site from 5 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and treating me with kit gloves today.
• Tommy Oakman for his amazing training schedule and advice
• Tony Camblor for his bike tools, posts on this blog and really nice voice mail after the race
• And the rest of my family and friends who have, in one way or another, inspired me and help me attain this goal.

Thanks to you who have read this and made comments or sent me emails.

This has been an experience of a lifetime and while I might regret saying this now, one I don't plan on ever repeating.

Take care,

Greg