Post Race Wrap Up

I've been promising times and results for days, so here it is! We'll start with me, since I was the one putting all my goals out there. I am going to post my full race report on http://www.allthingstriathlon.com/, so I won't repeat it here. This will just be the timing results and recap...

Swim: 1:15:35. 598th place overall. This was right on my primary goal. The swim was pretty rough, and even the pros were quite slow (for them), so I'm very happy with my swim.

T1: 5:53. My T1 in Wisconsin was almost 12 minutes, so I wanted to improve on that a little bit. The transition areas are VERY different, so I this was good! So far, things are going great!!

Bike: 6:03:17. 547th place overall. This was fun! My primary goal was a 6:15, and breaking 6 hours was on the radar, so I was very pleased with my ride. I stopped for 2 bathroom breaks, and still averaged 18.5 mph for the bike on a hilly, hilly course with some wind. I can definitely build on this!

Run: 6:10:10. 1253rd place overall. Yes, you read that right, my run was longer than my bike. This falls back on why I have 5 levels of goals, and the first one is "finish". This is 2 hours longer than I expected to run, and at this point I'm okay with it. I just simply couldn't run on the flats or the hills. I could run downhill, but that's it. I was having some pain in my abdomen, and I just couldn't run. So, I switched gears and went as fast as I could under the circumstances. Am I disappointed? A little, but not as much as I thought I'd be. I had a lot of time to think out there, and I really feel blessed. I am able to train and compete in a sport I absolutely love, I was much improved from my last race - even if my final time is not representative of that, and I am able to spend my life in this sport with the people I care about the most around me, supporting me, getting supported by me, and sweating and suffering together. What more could a guy want? I'm thrilled to be a two-time IronMan, and thankful beyond belief that I have arranged my life in a way that allows me to do what I love.

For the rest of the team? They were all fantastic!!

Sara and Ric finished first, together. Troy was next, even though he had some troubles with the run, too. K and Momo were next, and they finished together, too. Me, then Heather. Heather just rocked the swim, and had a huge smile on her face every time I saw her. What a great day. What a great sport. I can't wait to do it again.

Plus Ben, our new friend. You know him as IronBenny, and he finished, too. I don't know his exact time, but it was before K & Momo. He had a tough day out there too, and gutted it out. He's a cool guy, a really cool guy, and we were all happy to meet him and his wife Nytro. Great people.

For my full race report, check out our website at http://www.allthingstriathlon.com/ and go to the "special reports" section. It's long, like 8 pages, and will be ready on Monday.

Thanks for all the encouragement and well-wishes I've received, it means a lot to me.