IM LOU report - a great 1st Ironman experience
So friends, I am very happy with my first Ironman performance:
13:18:01, 79th of 195 in the 45-49 AG, 897th Overall of 2157 finishers (15.9% DNF rate 
)
Pre-race
I did the pre-race ritual right except for letting the family convince me to come with them to a Cuban restaurant Saturday night. We went very early and I ate nearly nothing since I had already eaten my take out chef salad at about 6pm. We got back by 9pm and then it was lights out. I had three smoothies for 600 calories at 1:30 and then woke at about 3:30 and had a banana, yogurt and coffee. My brother Rick met me at 4:40 to go over to the transition. After loading my three hour bottle of Perpetuem and pumping up the tires, we walked over to the swim start. Folks had sent their family ahead which meant the line was huge already. We ended up very far from the porta-potties and the coffee was having its effect. I had my brother, Rick, hold my place and went to a Cross-Fit studio that had opened its doors to the athletes. I stood in line with a young man that I would see again on the bike. I saw Coach Patrick and his friend Paul at the start and he snapped a pic of me ready to go which I can't seem to post (oh well).
Swim
I got in the water at about 7:26 and we were off! The swim went well. My race rehearsals had been about 1:18 so I did that in the race including the run up the ramp to T1. I stayed smooth on my form and effort, no ricky racer stuff, and was a real gentleman in the water. Just a few leaves and sticks in the Ohio River, nothing to be afraid of. I did see the two Universal Sports helicopters overhead filming the event and have to admit that I thought that was cool!
Swim 1:18:07
T1 10:27
I wear contacts and my brother Rick is an ophthalmologist so I had to take my contact out, rinse thoroughly, and put new ones in order to not risk wearing river water bacteria for the next twelve hours, having them eat my eyeballs out down the road, and get an “I told you so” from Rick.
Bike
On the bike, I held an easy pace for the first 15 miles or so including the ascent from River Road to the hills where there were lots of folks proving their man and womanhood. When we got to the bigger hills on 1694 it was hard not to get caught up in it all and my watts and heart rate were higher. Saw Patrick and the EN banner out there! I also rode with Matt Seaton, EN teammate, on and off for most of the middle section of the bike. On to LaGrange and I decided at that point to hold my watts for the whole bike at the easy pace of ~145-150 instead of the plan on my bar of 162. I remember thinking: the coaches said to be conservative on the bike when in doubt. I think this decision allowed me to have plenty in the tank for the run. It was great to see my family on the two loops through LaGrange. Just before the second loop through I got my second nutrition bottle of powdered Perpetuem but there was no water at BSN! So I had to go 20 miles with no hydration. When I got to the next bike aid station, I treated it like T 1.5: Bathroom, drink an entire bottle of water, mix my nutrition bottle, fill two back cages and aerodrink with water and then I was off. It was really starting to get hot and I saw quite a few guys (and they were always guys) off the bike, under the tree, resting. We also had lots of issues with cars. I chose not to try to pass any to be conservative, but it was frustrating and brought the watts down. I felt myself slowing down on River Road back to town but was right with Zach, the young man I stood in line with seven hours ago at the Cross Fit studio. He recognized me and we had a brief chat. Finally, I had a couple issues. A screw in my left cleat came out and the other two were loose so my contact with the pedal was awful! New line on the checklist: tighten all bike cleat screws! Fortunately there were only ten miles to go. Also, my left foot started really hurting, so I took it out of the shoe and just pedaled with it on top of the shoe and stretched it out. I was happy to see the bike finish. My bike ended up at Np 145, HR 135, Cadence 82 , VI 1.10, IF .60 and TSS 240.
Bike: 6:35:48
T2 13:29 – What was I doing in there? Switched watches, went to the bathroom, got more sunscreen, watched a movie….
Run
On the run, I focused on getting my hydration and nutrition in (one water and one sports drink at each station) and cooling off. I took lots of sponges and took the time to squeeze them over my head and wipe my face and arms. I took ice and put it down the front and the back of my jersey. I did this every time and did not miss. I took a couple gels, a few Endurolytes, and some trail mix at run special needs. I saw Patrick once on the run and he shot video of me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m0PtjOHSq0 I looked for him at 18 and we missed each other. Saw Frank, Dan, Aimee H, and Yasko on the course. Amy Ball and I connected with about 4 miles to go. That was cool because she is a bit faster than me and I picked up the pace to match her. Hopefully she did not mind my chattering. I hope running together helped us; I know it helped me because my last hour picked up to 10:42s which allowed me to negative split the run – 11:42s front half, then 11:09s back half. So as we finished, I did not know that the first “chute” was just the Ford sign and I did my finishing pose and then turned off my watch and started slowing down. The crowd said “Keep going” and I instantly realized that I made a funny rookie mistake. But I repeated my victory salute and the finishing picture is pretty good and my brother did not catch it on video (note Amy Ball finishing ahead of me 
). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNkMclDJJXo
Run 5:00.09 (.64 IF and 229 TSS)
I will tell you that I could not have asked for a better weekend, day, experience. I tell friends and colleagues at work that the key was great training. I am a plan follower and doing so resulted in a great day. Thanks Patrick and Rich. Thanks EN teammates who were there; great to meet you. It was awesome to be there for Matt’s roll down moment. I am afraid I have the long course bug. I will stand down for now but appreciate thoughts on how to build on this day for my long course future! Scott
Comments
Finishing strong in an Ironman is no easy feat, not to mention your first one.
Well done.
Great report. Excellent race – and it was your first IM – WOW. Way to race smart! Solid pacing, then you were dealt a few challenges. 20+ miles on the bike with no water in those conditions would put most into the ditch into the fetal position under the tree! You took it in stride and persevered. You demonstrated smart adaption of your pace to ugly conditions both on the bike and the run. A negative split on the run is awesome on any day. On that day, I bet is only a small % of the field pulled that off- great pacing!!!
In my view the most important result of the day is you were happy in your day becoming an IRONMAN!!!! Scott you are an Ironman!!! A time of 8:40 or 16:59 is insignificant if they don’t come with the feeling you described!
On a personal note, you being with me for my roll down experience added so much to the moment! Thanks you for being there! We need to do this again next year!!! Cooler temps are allowed!!!
Matt
It was very nice meeting with you and your wife (please tell her I enjoyed chatting with her so much at dinner.) It was also nice I got to go with the pre-race ride with you and Aimee. The hill climbs with you (you reading your power out for me) was a tremendous help for me to actually experience the EN way. Thank you!! (I sent a mail to Rich to purchase a powermeter
Congratulations on your excellent execution on your 1st Ironman!!
You got chicked! Just kidding....
Doing an IM is life changing (you go places you've never gone and find out how mentally tough you are)
Huge congrats!
Now you can call yourself an "Ironman"
Negative splitting the run in your first IM in those conditions is just incredible. Meeting you in person confirmed what I expected after interacting in the forum. You're as upbeat and energetic (and them some!) as anyone I've ever met. You also have great life perspective. I'm sure these attributes made a huge difference in your experience as an IM "rookie." Congratulations!
Dan