RR IM FL 2009 -

OK - Here goes - I realize that I'm the comedy relief after meeting and reading about some of you guys ! Enjoyed meeting many of the group at the dinner in PC - My first Ironman and I finished ! I've been lurking in the shadows trying to glean a point or two here or there from EN - I worked through much of the plan - but I've got to start w/ "Bless me father for I have sinned" (Catholic Guilt) - as I bounced in and out of multiple plans / training groups / etc etc - spent most of September on the road - but ....all in all finishing .....and that checked the first box - I had hoped to break 14 hrs - did 14:05 - everything I was warned about came true - My primary take-away is that I CAN DO BETTER !!!

woke @ 3:45am - good nights sleep - some of the gang had waffles going @ the Sunset Inn where we stayed - got some coffee / waffles / granola / fruit / yogurt - felt nervous but pretty good - got down to the body marking - set up my bike w/ Infinit and turned in my special needs bags - put the wetsuit on and headed down to the water - small group of us met for a quick pre-race prayer - calmed the nerves - loaned an extra pair of goggles to a friend of a friend who had his goggles break as he was putting them on, and handed my fleece jacket to someone in the group (never to be seen again?!)  - saw EN James the pilot from Pensacola waiting for the start - stayed back and to the right as you face the water - I'm an ok swimmer but hate the crowds - got in and got started - crowds pretty thick @ the turns, sun and waves more than I expected - made the first turn ok - then realized that the swimmer in front of me had one arm (humbling) - then the lady pushing the stroller passed me (ok just kidding) - crowds started to thin on 2nd lap - stayed w/ Patrick's comments of just keeping my swim form in place - got a vicious kick on 2nd lap - fat lip and thought I'd lose a tooth - out of water @ 1:21 - T1 took a little long (13:18) - no seats - port-o-let stop - general chaos in changing area - and on the bike by about 1:30+/- - which worked for me -

Bike was actually just what I had hoped for - stopped 3X to use the port-o-let (?) felt like I had to pee every 20 miles ? heard Patrick saying "slow down", and "don't get sucked into the passing" - tough headwinds on the first half - low point was the 250 plus lb guy who muscled past me then slowed down (?) then w/ a long drawn out throat clearing lugee spit over his right shoulder as he was right in front of me ?*%#@!!!!! nice face-ful - momentarily thought about jamming something in his spokes ......oh well - Bike right @ 6:31 which was my plan - came into T2 feeling pretty good - changed and headed out on the run -

The run has always been my problem - I'm a big guy (200lbs) - down from 230lbs - and although I can go the distance ...fast is never been a term used for me ! so the plan was slow but sure - walking 30- steps post water station - for the first lap (1/2) I was doing GREAT ..... and starting to think I had this thing under control - mile 13, 14, 15, thennnnnnnnnnnwell maybe I'll just walk @ 16 - for fear that if I see Rich @ 18 I've got to suck it up - tried to run/walk 17 - getting really slow -.....never saw Rich (thankfully) - blisters started - probably due to walking vs. running - gravel in the shoes - pitch black in the park - ended up walking almost all of 16-25 - which was exactly what i did not want to do !!!!! but that's what happened - sucked it up and ran on blistered battered feet for the last mile - 14:05:02

all in all finishing was really a treat - had hoped to break 14 and could have broken 13 if I had not walked and fallen apart in the second half of the run - The EN group has been a huge help over the last 6 months - so now my question is What's Next ? I'm heading to Denali in June to try and summit - which w/ be a kick in the teeth, have signed up for Augusta 70.3 and am toying w/ either New Orleans or Gulf Coast 70.3's in the Spring - really never embraced the training w/ Heart Rate, bought a Garmin 305 and wore a few times - enjoyed the GPS feature but never really did much w/ the heart tracking - might consider Power but not sure - been a week of no apparent goals and I'm getting a little anxious - Thanks to everyone for letting me look over your shoulder for the last year - I'm in awe of some of the times and what some of you accomplished and it makes me realize that I can do better !!!! Thanks !!!