RACE REPORT FOR IRONMAN ST. GEORGE MAY 5, 2012
BACKGROUND:
This will be a relatively long race report as I am trying to capture my thoughts and experiences in this event. This was my first Ironman, having signed up for two previously, but due to injuries being unable to participate. The adventure to St. George actually began in the fall of 2011 when I was training for Ironman Arizona. My friend and teammate Matt Samojeden and I were doing a race rehearsal (6 hour bike and 60 minute run). During the ride I was involved in a serious accident which resulted in fractures to my left clavicle and scapula as well as my right elbow and hand. I also sustained injury (although not immediately known) to both of my rotator cuffs, low back and legs. I still traveled to Arizona with my wife to lend support and encourage friends and teammates who were racing. At the race expo Ironman St. George had a booth and they were holding a lottery for a free entry into their race. My wife encouraged me to enter the lottery (I think more because she wanted to go to that beautiful area of the country.) Maybe it was the karma of still going out to Arizona, or maybe some other presence at work, but in mid-December I received the news that I was one of two individuals selected from the lottery to participate.
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They called me to make certain that I was going to participate as they did not want the slot to go unused. I assured them that I fully intended to participate and that I was very much looking forward to this challenging event. (Note: At this time I was barely running, riding only a stationary bike as I could not put weight on my arms/shoulders, and I was not yet able to swim.)
My training progressed and I was actually able to do the Endurance Nation 2 x 20 bike test on January 2, 2012. This was, in fact, the only bike test I did in preparation for St. George, and even as of this date, I have never done an outdoor FTP test. My results at that time for the 2 x 20 established a normalized power (NP) of 259. By the end of January I was able to get into a fairly regular cycling routine but in February I participated in several cross-country ski races such that from February 19 until March 1 I did not ride the bike at all. In March, due to travels I again did not ride until March 12 at which point I rode on a recumbent bicycle seven times over the next two weeks. On March 31 I did a 3 hour 57 minute trainer ride as an unofficial race rehearsal number one. On April 14, 2012 I did a 5 hour 35 minute trainer ride as an unofficial race rehearsal number two. Based upon my indoor testing I maintained a normalized power of 185 which equated to an IF of .71 and 281.1 TSS points. I felt strong through the entire ride, continuously increasing my effort throughout. However, after the ride my knees were stiff (arthritis) and my shoulders were sore from trying to stay in the aero position. Interestingly, my average heart rate was 114 with a max of 126, a relatively low rate. This was the longest that I have ever ridden my bike continuously either indoor or outdoor. Unfortunately, over the following three weeks leading up to St. George I only rode my bike a total of four more times.
I did my first swim of the year on February 3, 2012, 11 minutes 47 seconds. I was able to increase my mileage during February/March culminating with a 3,000 yard swim on April 2 and a 3,300 yard swim on April 6. However, in those latter two swims I apparently irritated my right rotator cuff again requiring additional treatment and therapy. I did not swim again until the day of the race.
I had a gait assessment and re-evaluation by Al Lyman and Dr. Kurt Strecker at PAP in mid-January. They placed me on a set of drills and exercises to improve my form and function with no running until February 19, 2012. At that point I began very slowly with 12 x 30 seconds jogging, 30 seconds walking. I slowly increased the mileage such that by March 12 I was able to run/walk 4 miles with 5 minutes running and 1 minute walking. On April 12, 2012 I did my long run of 13.1 miles consisting of 9 x 1 miles at 8:30 pace with 5 minute walk breaks. On April 19 I did 10 x 1 miles at 8:30 pace and 1 minute walk breaks. I then reduced mileage per the plan getting ready for St. George.
As the race approached, it became very evident that I was grossly unprepared for the challenges that lie ahead. I received some words of wisdom and encouragement from Matt and I recommitted to the idea that this was essentially going to be a long training day. I wanted to make the most of the opportunity, enjoy myself during the event, thank as many volunteers as possible and SMILE! During race week I did a 4 mile run on Tuesday and 15 minute bike on Friday.
THURSDAY:
Traveled to St. George, assembled my bike and discovered that the airline had confiscated my CO²2cartridges as well as my adapter and, I also managed to strip the bolt in my stem cap. Fortunately, we were only a couple of miles from Red Rock Bike Shop where they checked my stem cap and said that it was secure and that I should be able to get it undone after the race (that did prove to be a challenge.) I was also able to replace my cartridges. We then went to registration which went very smoothly. I received my bib number 1633. The day was getting late and we then went to dinner at Pasta Factory with members of my team, Endurance Nation and their families. I really enjoyed meeting everyone and we were all getting excited and ready for the race.
FRIDAY:
Slept in. About noon we left to go find Sand Hollow Reservoir. This was a beautiful area and the lake looked simply magnificent. I took my bike out for a short 15 minute ride. There was a bit of a crosswind blowing but it appeared that the first five miles or so were generally down hill. I thought that would be helpful on Saturday to start getting in the groove for the bike ride. I then walked over and stuck my feet in the lake. The water was definitely cold! Earlier in the week I had heard that the water was 64 or 65 degrees. However, over night the temperature had gone down and the reports were a temperature of approximately 58 or 59 degrees. (I made a stop by the expo and purchased a neoprene swim cap as I do tend to be a “cold water weenie.)
After dropping off my bike at transition we drove the course. Needless to say this is one of the most spectacular bike venues you can imagine. You have vistas that stretch for many, many miles with incredible red rock, black lava rock, white rock, etc. After driving the bike course my wife and I went to dinner at Olive Garden and then returned to our hotel room. Dozed off and on until bedtime at about 10:00.
SATURDAY:
Woke up with my watch saying 2:00 a.m. and drank 250 calories of Ensure. (I have found over the years that Ensure works very well for me and I typically do not have any solid foods before a race.) My general plan is to drink a bottle of Ensure approximately one per hour or, as I wake up during the night. My alarm was set for 3:45 and as I woke up with my watch saying 4:00, I realized that the alarm had not gone off. It was at that point that I remembered that I had not readjusted my watch from central time and I had actually started loading at 1:00 a.m. At 3:45 a.m. my alarm did go off at which point I got up and went downstairs to the lobby where they had coffee and I picked up a few snacks for my wife for her breakfast. I came back to my room, took a shower and finished getting ready. In ironman races they have “special needs” bags for both the bike and the run. (I was using Perpetuem and my plan was to have three hours of nutrition in my Speedfill and another three hours in powder in my special needs bag. I also had approximately four hours worth of nutrition for the run with two hours in my Fuel Belt and two hours powder at special needs.) I finished packing all of my items and started down the hallway. The inner voice called to me before I got on the elevator and reminded me that I had forgotten my Garmin 910 XT, the watch I wear that tracks me throughout the race - time, speed, power, etc. Fortunately, I returned and found it lying on the floor just inside the door. I gathered that and then went downstairs to catch the shuttle to the race finish area where the special needs bags were dropped off and we boarded a bus for the 20 mile trip to Sand Hollow.
At transition there was a fairly long line to have the bike tires inflated and it probably took me 20 minutes to get to that point. I then attached my bike computer, added water to my nutrition and filled my Speedfill as well as put water into my profile bottle. With everything organized and ready to go by 6:00 a.m., I drank my last bottle of Ensure and laid down for about half an hour until it was time to start leaving the transition area and move towards the lake. I put on my wet suit as well as the neoprene cap and lycra cap with my race number. I was actually amazed at how many people did not have either a second cap or a neoprene cap, but in retrospect I am very glad that I did. At 6:45 the pros started and that was the signal for me to have a GU gel pack.
SWIM: 1 Hour 15 Minutes (Actual time 1 hour 19 minutes.)
This was probably the most amazing swim that I have ever been in in my life. As I entered the water, my feet really did not notice it being overly cold. I walked over to a sandbar which was approximately knee deep. With about five minutes to go I got into the water and it literally took my breath away. I had splashed some water on my face but that did not seem to make any difference. As soon as I would put my face in the water to try and take a breath it was very difficult. I slowly breaststroked over into position about five rows back and roughly in the middle between the two start buoys. By the time our cannon signaled the start, or due to the adrenaline, I had gotten used to the water and was able to start swimming almost immediately. I was wearing my Tempo Trainer (a metronome device) set at one stroke per second. This is a nice, relaxed pace for me and the metronome sound also helps keep me “in the box.” Although there was a little carnage at the beginning, after approximately 50-100 yards things smoothed relatively well. There were three or four of us swimming roughly together and after sighting a few times, I realized that we were staying on a fairly direct course to the first buoy. Thus, I did not look up again until we were probably only a couple hundred yards from the first turn buoy. It was at that same time that the water went from being relatively smooth and clear to a turbulent ocean. My first thought was that a giant powerboat had gone by sending out huge waves. However, the waves continued to get larger and choppier. As I was turning at the first buoy I started swallowing water, having difficulty sighting and being tossed and turned by the wave action. This became even worse as we rounded the second buoy for the long backstretch. I swam in college and am generally a very comfortable swimmer. However, there were several times during the swim that I was concerned about safety, not only mine, but others who were not good swimmers as well.
They told us to sight off the island on the return, but the waves were so large that you could not see the island. Likewise, many of the buoys had been blown off course and you could not follow them. At one point I looked up to see nothing in front of me, a stream of swimmers far off to the right, and another stream of swimmers far off to the left. All I could do was simply trudge forward, hoping that I was going in the right direction. Again, there were several waves that I ended up swallowing, one wave actually knocked off the Tempo Trainer and another filled my goggles with water. I wear contact lenses and I was again concerned that if I lost a contact, my day would be over. I took a deep breath, drained the goggles, and fortunately both contacts survived. Finally, I was able to start seeing the island off in the distance and swam directly towards its right side. My thought was that as I got to the island maybe the wave action would lessen. However, that did not seem to be the case. Once we made the turn at the final buoy and started heading towards shore, the wave action did let up and I was able to see the finish line. I am very thankful that I had a relatively good swim. While it was just a little bit slower than what I had hoped for, I actually had no real basis for determining what my time should be. Garmin did not properly record my distance or my location, so I don’t have that data to look at. Two people have reported their distance at approximately 2.7 miles on what is supposed to be a 2.4 mile course.
Here is a link to an article from a volunteer http://sabrosacycles.blogspot.ca/2012/05/im-on-boat.html?m=1 as well as a video shown at the awards ceremony. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LDTI3yhluM&feature=relmfu Note the wave action and winds at 1:56 into the video. Also, a second video of the swim. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKWdavNM0Tw&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active
Even the Ironman St. George Facebook page said: "These photos were taken during the pro swim as pointed in earlier comments. The photographers had to get to shore and couldn’t capture what the age groupers had to deal with! Congrats again to all those that made it out alive!"
T1:
As I ran up the ramp I removed the arms from my wet suit and the wet suit strippers quickly removed the remainder. I ran into transition. Unfortunately, volunteers were doing other tasks and I had to actually locate my own bag. I grabbed it and ran over to the change tent. My bag essentially contained my helmet and shoes as well as a canister of magnesium and Tums. I looked for a volunteer with suntan lotion but did not find one. I ran into the Porta Potty and then took off on my bike.
BIKE: (Really had no idea, but hoped for around 7 hours.)
As soon as we left the reservoir and started on the downhill, I quickly realized that wind was going to be one of the real challenges for the day. While on Friday it had been very easy to coast this downhill, I was now having to work at my race watts without being able to take advantage of the descent. On the other hand, as we turned onto Highway 9 and started our first significant climb, the wind was pushing us from behind. That made this climb much easier. It was also at this time that it became evident that I was being passed by everyone and their grandmother. I maintained the EN philosophy and said “ride my own race.” Although I thought that I might see many of these riders during the second loop, I guess I was simply too slow and they did not come back to me.
I really enjoyed the first major downhill that we had on Telegraph Street. It was during that time that I had my highest speed of 48.6 miles per hour. The road was smooth and relatively straight, unlike many other portions on the course where I truly felt that my life was in danger and I was scared to death. As we came out of the Red Hills Parkway at the end of the “stick” and approached Bluff Street to begin the first loop, I was literally hanging on for dear life. The road was bumpy, the lanes were shifted, there were big wind gusts, and I just prayed that I would make it through. In general, I am not a great bike handler. In Missouri we do not have anything that even remotely approaches what we dealt with on this bike course given the hills, the winds (particularly the crosswinds), the long climbs, descents, etc. I felt at least fortunate that I had viewed the course the day before and had some idea of what to expect in terms of terrain.
My goal was to maintain watts in the range of 170-180, trying to hold down any spikes when going up the hills. It took me approximately an hour and a half to get to the start of the two loops. Each of the two loops took approximately 2-1/2 hours of climbing from bottom to top (over 2500 vertical feet) over 29 miles. The first climb gave me a normalized power of 203 and a VI of 1.07. My maximum power was 351, average 191. Heart rate max 138, average 123 and an average speed of 11.8 miles per hour. The second loop climb again took approximately 2-1/2 hours with a normalized power of 187 and a VI of 1.08. My power was maximum 330 with an average of 173. Heart rate max 133, average 117. My average speed on this climb was 11.7 miles per hour. On the other hand, once we reached that peak, we had a 14-1/2 mile very steady downhill, losing approximately 1,800 feet. During this descent my maximum power was 310 with an average of 106. Heart rate was 124 max with an average of 107. My speed had a maximum of 46.8 and an average of 27.3 miles per hour. The second loop had maximum power 323, average 97. Heart rate max 120, average 103. My speed on this loop was only 44.6 max with an average of 27.5 average miles per hour.
As I approached the 3-1/2 hour mark on the bicycle, and was still on the climb to Veyo and had traveled only 45 miles, I knew that my goal of 7 hours was not going to be met. At that point I actually started trying to remember what the cut off times were. Bikers had continued to pass me in streams, while I was passing only a very few number of riders. That thought of cut off times stayed with me pretty much until I hit the descent out of Veyo on the second loop. At that time I did anticipate a bike of approximately 7-1/2 hours, which, combined with my swim time would put me in the range of 9 hours. I was confident that that would be well within the cut off time, and eased my mind a bit.
I did the bike with a compact crank and a 28-11 cassette. I am not certain that I would have had success with anything less. I was able to handle all of the climbs without having to stand, simply persevering. Just before you get to Veyo (home of tremendous pies) there is a climb notoriously called “the wall.” We actually had a tailwind going up the wall and I felt that the climb preceding that, which is not as steep but is longer, and was into the wind, was much more difficult. I did have to stop just before Veyo at the bike tech tent and have them adjust my rear derailleur as I was having some difficulty getting into my 28. After they made their adjustments, that made it much easier on the other climbs without it shifting constantly in and out of that gear. However, at that stop I inadvertently bumped my watch which I realized had occurred immediately in front of the pie shop. I stopped briefly and reset my watch. (Yes I did think about a pie stop.) I had been using the watch throughout with two timers, one signaling me every 10 minutes to take in nutrition and water and the other signaling me every 5 miles. While the nutrition signal was very helpful, it was a bit disheartening to see 5 mile reports which sometimes took between 25 and 28 minutes. On the other hand, it was a bit thrilling seeing 9 minutes for 5 miles during the two long steep descents out of Veyo.
Shortly after starting the second loop my neck and shoulders started to get sore and I was having a hard time staying in the aero position. Even with all the climbs and sitting up at slower speeds, I think that I was using my arms, shoulders and neck muscles so much that they got very tired. As a result, I did end up sitting up quite a bit during the second loop, even on relative flats and to a certain extent on some of the downhills. I do know that this did cause me some loss of time, and I will need to work on that in preparation for my future races.
One other surprise during the bike was at special needs. I stopped to refill my nutrition. I had put powder into a water bottle such that I only needed to mix with water and dump into my Speedfill. However, at special needs they had not been supplied with water. I was very thankful that one of the volunteers actually gave me his bottle of water to use to mix my powder which then I supplemented at the next aid station.
My nutrition for the ride did utilize nine scoops of Perpetuem, one GU, one half banana and one Bonk Breaker bar. There were aid stations approximately every 12-1/2 to 15 miles and I would refill my profile bottle with water at each stop. With 8 or 9 stops, I did consume quite a bit of water. However, I noticed on the second loop at about 80 miles or so that I was getting thirsty and did run out of water. I refilled at approximately 85 miles, and again at about 90 miles I was out of water and thirsty again. Other than having stuck a bottle of water in my pocket, I did not have any other means of carrying additional fluids. I did drink the entire bottle of nutrition, and at both the third and fourth stops on the second loop added additional water to the nutrition bottle as well. My Garmin 705 said that during the bike ride I consumed 4,583 kilojoules. It is my understanding that that converts roughly to kilocalories or calories as we commonly call them. By my calculation, I consumed approximately 2,430 calories from the Perpetuem and another 200 to 300 from the additional snacks. I did feel strong coming off the bike so I was probably at least in the ballpark on nutrition.
I inadvertently bumped the lap button on my watch. Thus, I did have to reset that during the bike. However, I have complete data from my Garmin 705. (Note that the TSS is based upon my indoor test from January at 260 watts.)
Bike –
Entire workout (14.7 mph):
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Duration: 7:35:21
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Work: 4583 kJ
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TSS: 402.3 (intensity factor 0.735)
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Norm Power: 191
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VI: 1.12
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Pw:HR: 10.9%
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Pa:HR: -31.93%
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Distance: 112.178 mi
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Elevation Gain: 6569 ft
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Elevation Loss: 6908 ft
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Grade: -0.1 % (-339 ft)
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Min Max Avg
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Power: 0 403 170 watts
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Heart Rate: 88 138 119 bpm
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Cadence: 15 134 81 rpm
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Speed: 0 94.6 14.7 mph
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Pace 0:38 0:00 4:04 min/mi
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Altitude: 2748 4666 3474 ft
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Crank Torque: 0 723 186 lb-in
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T2
As you ride up to transition, the volunteers actually grab your bike and take it from you. You then run into the transition area where this time a volunteer handed me my bag. I ran into the changing tent, sat down and took off my helmet and shoes which a volunteer put into the bag for me. Another volunteer came and took my two nutrition flasks and filled them with water. A third volunteer came over and actually helped open up my shoes as I was putting on my socks to make it easier. I grabbed my hat, put on the Fuel Belt, and then made a quick bathroom stop. Upon leaving the changing tent they did have the sunscreen people who slathered up my “OH, MY, WHAT A SUNBURN YOU HAVE!” Between the sunburn, and chafing I had around my neck from the wet suit, even putting on the lotion was really stinging.
RUN: Goal 5 Hours (Actual time 5 hours 19 minutes.)
Run –
Entire workout (111 bpm):
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Duration: 5:19:25
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rTSS: 193.1 (0.562)
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NGP: 12:30 (128.8 m/min)
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Distance: 26.184 mi
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Elevation Gain: 1595 ft
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Elevation Loss: 1556 ft
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Min Max Avg
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Heart Rate: 93 143 111 bpm
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Cadence: 25 89 73 rpm
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Speed: 0 8.1 4.7 mph
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Pace 7:22 0:00 12:40 min/mi
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Altitude: 1839 2125 1967 ft
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Since the longest distance I had covered was 13.1 miles, and the longest run was 10 miles (with a one minute walking break at each mile) I knew that trying to run too much would not be successful. My goal was to see how long I could go running 8 minutes and then walking 1 minute at a very easy pace. Unfortunately, this only lasted a couple miles before the legs started getting tired. When I was running comfortably, I was going approximately 9:45 miles, and when walking I was going approximately 14:30-14:45 miles. Thus, on the uphills I felt that I was only losing maybe two-three minutes per mile by walking over running and I was more than willing to sacrifice that time for the energy savings and recovery.
Since I had not done a run test at all, and had actually not run more than one mile without a walk break, I really was uncertain how the running was going to go. I did feel fairly strong and comfortable coming out of transition and had to consciously slow down.
As the legs started to feel tired during the run, I also noticed that my chest muscles were sore, probably from the work they did during the bike ride. I did end up getting approximately five blisters on my left foot which, although I could feel them, really did not cause any significant problems. During the run I ended up drinking both flasks of Perpetuem that I had prepared. However, I did not feel the need to stop at special needs to obtain my two additional bottles. I obtained water at every aid station. I did try some of the Perform and also some chicken broth, and one of those did slightly upset my stomach. (I did have the Tums in the canister in my back pocket, but did not feel the need to use that. However, one of the runners that came past me heard them shaking and said it sounded like I had my own applause machine. I did get a smile out of that.) I did start drinking de-fizzed Coke and at various aid stations would have an orange slice. No other solid foods. I am not sure if my legs were ultimately tired due to the nutrition, due to the lack of training, the very long day I had put them through, etc. Hopefully as I train for my next event I will have a better handle on that aspect.
After completing the first loop I was very confident that I was going to finish and feel good. Throughout the run I never felt that I was in any kind of a dark place. I kept going back to the fact that I was there to enjoy myself, have fun and show appreciation to the volunteers. I think that really helped. I did see several of my teammates during the run. Teri Cashmore passed me as I was finishing my second loop. She asked if I was on loop two or three and probably would have encouraged me to pick it up and run in with her. However, I was only on loop two. I also saw Patrick Hayden, Carrie Larson, Michael Johnson and several others, all of whom looked strong and good.
During the second and third loops I determined that my best course was to walk the up hills and run most of the down hills. That seemed to work quite well. I was in no hurry to finish, simply trying to enjoy the experience. When I got to the top of Diagonal Street on the last loop, however, I told myself that I was going to run all the way to the finish other than a brief walk at the aid station. I couldn’t believe how good I felt coming down that hill, passing people left and right, and feeling strong and smooth. I got to Tabernacle Street and made the right turn for the last little out and back, saw the lights and could hear the voice of Mike Reilly and truly knew what an awesome experience this had been. Even better, however, was when I turned the corner heading to the finish line and hearing that voice booming from the loudspeakers: “55-year-old David Ware from St. Louis, Missouri a first timer at 55, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!” My eyes well up still every time I go back and see the finish video.
http://www.livestream.com/ironmanlive/video?clipId=pla_4c650ae7-fbd9-4e23-85a5-9ff7942212a7&fb_comment_id=fbc_10150788706548163_22597236_10150822023643163
Click on Latest Videos, Finish Line–2 and then scroll over to 04:28:20.
SUMMARY:
This was a truly amazing experience. I could not have done it without the support of my wife and friends (and my doctors!) While I did have some thoughts during the race about whether I would want to do another ironman, I am now looking forward to Ironman Arizona in November.
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