One to learn from

It’s that time of the year again, the last race of the season.  When I heard that Ironman was going to hold a 70.3 distance race in NJ, how could I say no?  This would be the first time racing an Ironman held 70.3 and I was curious to see if it was run as well as the full distance. Also, I was born and raised in NJ, proud to be from NJ and will now having a chance to race on home soil.

Training after Ironman Lake Placid had been good, after taking a week off and working slowly back into it, things seemed to be working well.  Swimming was rocking; cycling had been a bit tough but good and running had come back nicely.  Confidence was high leading up to race day.

I drove up after work on Wednesday, enjoyed some time to decompress on Thursday. On Friday, I drove out to the race site to check in. My brother in law Dan had the day off and took the ride with me.  When I stopped to pick him up I got to play with my insane nephew Chase.  The kid is an unstoppable bulldozer; he is a ball of fearless energy and so much fun.  I had a great day with Dan, it was nice to catch up and hang out for a while. Once we got back to his house, I got to spend time with my other nephew Tristan; it was a great way to end the day.

This is secure.

Saturday, I drove out to get a shakeout swim and run in, then check in my bike.  The lake was closed to swimmers for some reason so only I got my run in, took care of some other business and headed out for lunch.  I had to waste some time until my hotel room was ready, my parents live over an hour away from the race site so I decided to get a room close by so I could get a little extra sleep.  

On that note, sometimes taking the cheapest rate is not the way to go, as you can see by the photo this was a big time fail by the Red Roof Inn.  To their credit, after I ripped them on the survey about not only the broken lock but how nasty the room was.  Within a day, they sent me an apology email and a free nights stay came in the mail in less than a week later.

Race morning, I got over to the site nice and early. Hung out in my truck for about 30 minutes, enjoyed my traditional chocolate fudge pop-tart and started to sip on some Osmo Pre-load.  While walking over to transition, I caught up with a Snapple team mate Howie Lee. It was nice to catch up for a few minutes.  

After getting body marking taking care of, I set up transition, took care of my bike and meet up with my parents or my Iron-Sherpa team (t-shirt to be made). Handed off some gear and headed out for a warm up run.  The run, felt great and my confidence for the day was building.  

We headed down to the swim start; I got my Xterra Vortex 4 wetsuit on and had to wait so the lifeguards could get in place.  Once we got in the water, I got about a 10 minute warm-up in, I was feeling good.  Soon after I was getting itchy to get underway, I was in the 8th wave with 4 minutes between waves.  I stood waiting with my Dad, chatting to try and back the nerves down and then we finally moved under the swim arch.

This swim was an in water start, we had to swim out about 200 yards to the start buoys and tread water for just under two minutes.  It is always fun and relaxing to chat and joke with the guys around me before the start.  I position myself in the front, mostly so I don't have to fight through too many people during the first few hundred yards also I can get settled in and establish my breathing.

The plan worked out well, outside of getting kicked in the side of the head about 50 yards in. I was staying long, using in an extra kick each stroke for a little more distance. The next thing I knew I’m in the middle of the wave ahead of me, having to navigate around people. That slowed me up bit each time and luckily I only hit a few more groups.  By the time I reached the turn buoy, I felt really good and thought today may be the day I break 30 minutes.  

I should mention that the swim course is in the same lake used for Olympic qualifications for rowing and all those buoys you see were still in place.  We basically had to swim across the rowing course, but luckily those buoys are so small you barely noticed when you hit one. After the second turn, I noticed a guy in my age group who had been near me the entire time.  I decided to try to draft off him, this worked great until we hit the next group of guys and we separated.  I was able to catch his feet a few more times but the each time ended with the same results.  At about 2-300 yards out, the strangest thing happened and I started to feel tired. This was freaking me out based on what I had been swimming leading up the race and I really was not pushing the pace.

Heading to T1

By the time I hit the sand, I felt wiped out.  I walked up to the wetsuit strippers and when I stood up I was starting to feel better.  

Swim: 31:25, AG 10th 105th Overall

The first transition was great, got right to my bike, and everything went on quick.  Took a big bite of a Bonk Breaker bar and headed out.  I have gotten much better with the flying bike mount since my first race this year and shortly after the mount line I was on the bike, my feet in the shoes and I was cranking out some watts.

T1: 2:28

The plan was to hold back early on the ride and this turned out to be an even better idea since the first ten miles of the course had some horrible road condition.  That would probably be my one of my only negative comments on the race by the way.  This also worked out well with how I felt coming out of the water.  Once I got to mile ten, I was feeling better and was holding low numbers in my power range.  

This course as it turns out was quite technically, almost fifty turns in all and some unexpected climbing throughout the middle of the course.  So glad I drove the course on Friday!  I stuck to my plan for Placid on the climbs, spin up hill and work the downhills.  My nutrition and hydration was spot on but since it was cool day, I was not hitting my e-caps (salt pills) as I would have on a warmer day.  

Right before the dismount line

Things were going well; I was right where I wanted to be through mile thirty in both speed and power but by mile forty-two things started to change.  A bit of a headwind picked up, not much but for someone of my size, a little makes a difference.  Also, my left quad started to get sore. When I would straighten my leg or stretch the muscle, it would cramp up.  This progressively got worse over the next fifteen plus miles (yes fifteen, by my Garmin the bike course was over two miles long).  Every time I would turn right and my left leg would be straight it would cramp, as well as my legs were feeling tired.  The last ten miles were over the same horrible pavement as the first so I slowed up a bit over that and was hoping that would help my legs recover.  By the time I reached the dismount line and swung my right leg over, the left cramped horribly.  It was so bad I could barely walk into T2.

Bike: 2:40:39 AG 20th 109th Overall

As soon as I got under the “bike in” arch, the pain in my left leg was unbearable. I could hardly take a step and I basically limped/hopped my way to the back of transition area to my rack spot. Once I racked my bike I dropped right to my butt. I could hear people cheering me on and it could have been a family member or some random stranger, I have no idea, but it helped push me on. I got my socks and shoes on, helmet off and my awesome new orange SweatVac Snapple tri visor on and attempted to stand up.  I was feeling better, the cramps were gone and I walked to end of the rack while putting on my Amphipod hydration belt.  I slowly jogged out of T2, testing my legs and hope started too resurface.

T2: 2:49

The run started off well, I was right in my pace range, legs felt ok.  I got to about to the half mile mark and my right quad seized up, bad.  I stopped right away and started to massage the muscle.  Then I made the mistake of bringing my foot up to do a quad stretch and my hamstring seize, dropping me to the ground.  I dragged myself across the path to a nearby bench, tried to massage the muscles and remembered I had e-caps and popped two.  I sat there for almost four minutes and started to think that my day was over.  I could not let that happened, my family was there and I was not going to let them down or let me nephews see me quit. I got up and started to walk, felt good, started to jog, felt better, then I got into pace. I got up and made it another half mile or so before both legs cramped. Walked for a minute and then I was able to run again for most of the next three miles. Then just after the mile four mark, the pain was back.

Smile 

This went on for the rest of the run, once I got close to the turnaround point I forced myself to run.  I didn't want my family to see me walking and I put on the biggest smile I could.  I actually ran a little over a mile and made it past the spot where the first cramp started when I was forced to stop again, stretched, took two more e-caps and was back running.

About mile ten and half, I was passed by a few Snapple teammates Andrey Yunusov and Oliver Mellet.  Both offering up encouragement, which helped get me moving again.  About mile eleven, I saw Andrey up ahead, at the pace I was holding I was able to catch up.  It was great motivation as I thought to myself, how cool would it be for two Snapple team members to finish together.  We ran together until mile twelve, when not only my quads cramped up but now my calves.  Andrey pulled ahead and while I stood there stretching, this woman comes running up and says “Don't let this girl beat you”. She made me laugh and I started to run with her.  

Every time a cramp would hit, she would keep me going.  The downside was the cramps in my calves would cause my knee to buckle with each step and the pain was getting worse since I wasn't stopping.  As we made the turn heading towards the finishing chute, she tells me to pick it up she is not going to let me be the reason she doesn't break five hours. Then she would look over her shoulder and tells me there were no other girls coming, I was lucky she could stay and push me on.  Again, I laughed, picked up the pace.

Ouch

Once into the chute my legs were shot, I was limping horrible and the pain was so intense but the finish arch was right there in front of me. Since Ironman 70.3 uses the same type of arch used in a full Ironman, the sight of it gave me the same chills.  It pushed me over the line.  My new friend, finished a bit ahead of me and she was waiting there.  I gave her a big hug, thanked her and told her that I really needed the push and laughs.  This is what I love about this sport, people always looking out for you and encouraging.

Run 2:00:27 46th AG, 218th Overall

Total Time: 5:17:48

Afterwards, I went right to a chair. Spoke to my family for a bit and then saw Andrey, went over to chat with him and congratulate him on his race.  We spoke for a few minutes, telling each other about our day. He then suggested we go for an easy 10 minutes cool down run. He was right on point, my legs started to feel better right away.  Then we got some food, talked to our families some more and headed over to the massage tent.  

Now that it is all said and done, issues during my day could have been a combination of things.  It is possible I had not fully recovered from Ironman Lake Placid, earlier in the year. A slight change in my diet to slim down for the race may have caused me to not take in enough leading up to the race.  Also, I place a ridiculous amount of pressure on myself in these races lately; I don't want to let anyone down. The stress can play havoc on an already tired body. I know, stupid and I need to get back to having fun and relaxing. I will re-examine what I did leading up to the race and everything on race day to learn and grow from this.

During the 2014 season, I made some big breakthroughs in running this year, taking 2nd in my AG in a 10K as well as a big PR.  Taking 2nd overall behind my buddy Steve Smith in a 5K.  I finished my second Ironman with a PR on a very challenging day and had some good results in a few 70.3 races.  Also got in some great climbing rides on the bike. Now it is time to relax, re-focus and start to lay the groundwork for next season.

A big thank you to my coach Adam Otstot and my swim coach Steve Hennessy. Thank you to the Snapple tri team and their great sponsors: Osmo Nutrition, Rudy Project, Xterra wetsuits, Louis Garneau and SweatVac.  A big shout out to Point2 Running Company and Bike Beat of Newport News.

To my family back in VA, thank you so much for all your support as well as helping me to do

Happy Birthday Addie!

what I love. To my Granddaughter Addison, I am so sorry I missed your birthday party. 

Thank you to the entire Hampton Roads endurance sports community.  The support for one another is like nothing else, I am really lucky to be a part of it.

Lastly, everyone in NJ.  I was very touched and honored by everyone who came out to the race and reached out in support. 

Thank you so much, to my Dad and Cheryl; the best tri Sherpa’s anyone could ask for and thank you Cheryl for the awesome cake.  The Ice Cream shop of Manahawkin, did an amazing job!! Mom and Geoff, it was awesome to have you guys there.  Karl, I hope this inspired you to crush the Marine Corp Marathon next month and hopefully you will be doing one of these with me soon.  A big thank you to Dan, Tricia, Tristan and Chase, as promised the sign you made me Tristan is hanging in my office, Dan and Tricia thank you so much for the after race party at your house. I am glad I got to catch up with everyone, that my niece Ava is feeling better and that I got to meet my new nephew Dax.

Tristans Artwork-SO cool

Awesome Ice cream cake

Most of the nieces and nephews

Meeting Dax

It is time for a few more beers and then to re-focus on getting to work for big things in 2015. Up next, the Newport News One City Marathon, March 2015.

The second time around, IMLP

2013 volunteering

At the end of last July, I took a road trip with my training partner Steve and our buddy Cory to Lake Placid to volunteer at the Ironman.  My goal for the trip was to see what an Ironman was like before toeing the line for my first a month later in Louisville.  I should have known, after seeing the race first hand   I would have to sign up.  So early the next morning I got on that long line inside the Olympic Center and secured my spot.

Fast forward to this July, leaving my house at 3 AM Thursday morning and making the 11 hour drive from Newport News to Lake Placid.  As last year, I was camping at the KOA in Whiteface, yes sleeping in a tent for five days for an Ironman.  This time thought I had a old army cot that provided me with some of the best nights sleep I had in a while.  Also as last year, my training partner Steve Smith and I were splitting as campsite.  He was able to secure a cabin starting on Friday, so we set up our tents and when he and his family moved to their cabin I stayed on the site.  

My home for a few days

Better than a hotel bed!

Now that the logistics are worked out the next day Steve and I headed to Mirror Lake for a practice swim.  There was a good sized group from the Hampton Roads tri community racing and we meet local pro Rachel Jastrebsky, her friends and husband Brian's coach Jesse and Tyler Coquelin.  We swam the entire loop, I have to say what an amazing place to swim.  The cable the buoys are tied to is easy to see, you can follow it barely having to having to sight at all.  Then once you get to the turn buoy, there is a cable running across  to the return line.  A great sight line, clear water, no current or chop, wetsuit temps but not too cold, what is not to love.  This swim for me felt effortless and fast, I was able to keep long and worked the follow through as well as drafting off a few people in the group.  Confidence is building.

After we went to athlete check in and toured the Ironman village, I went out for a 90 min ride, rode most of the back end of the course.  My route took me along one of the longer climbs and I was moving nicely, keeping my watts low and my confidence was building even more.

Saturday, Steve and I went back into Placid and meet our friend Cory for a shakeout swim and run.  Both went great and after we went to the Ironman tri club breakfast.  This was a good time, nice to meet some of the Ironman staff and other athletes.  We had a chance to chat with one of the pro's Josh Rix from Melbourne, Australia and catch up with a few Snapple team mates Holli Finneren and Adam Stolzberg.  After, we took the bikes out for a quick ride to make sure everything was working and head to bike check in and gear bag drop off.   We also meet with Rachel and her husband Brian, they saved my butt by picking up a pack of bottles for my fuel belt.  The only local places that carried them are on the other side of the water back home.  I owe you both big time, thank you and just let me know when we can get together so I can buy a few rounds.

When we got back to camp, Steve went with his family to watch his kids compete in the kids Ironman that the campground held, congrats to Alex and Gaving for killing it just like their Dad.   I hit the cot and fell asleep for a bit, a little while later I meet my parents who were going to use Steves tent so the could take us down to the race the very early the next morning.

See if you can find my bike

Race morning, my parents dropped Steve and I off and headed off to park.  We arrived before transition opened and there were volunteers out in the street doing body marking, check one thing off the todo list.  That done, we waited until transition opened  and set up our bike, another item off the list.  Then I headed over to my gear bags and added my cycling jacket, just incase.  The chance of rain was high so I wanted to have the option of more than arm warmers if it was cold and raining by the time I got to T1.  At this point I lost Steve and my parents in the crowd so I left transition for the walk to drop off my special needs bags. Once that was done, I was able to reconnect with everyone down by the swim start.  

Steve and I before the swim

I got my Xterra Vortex wetsuit on, finished my Osmo Preload and a Bonk breaker bar said goodbye to my parents and Steve and I made our way into our corral. This swim start lets you self-seed yourself into different corrals based on what you think your swim time will be.  Thinking back to that time waiting in line, I am surprised at how calm I was. Last year I felt like puking but this year I was nervous but who wouldn’t be, I was taking in the sites, enjoying the music and thinking of my Granddaughter Addison.  I guess thanks to the two practice swims going so well I stopped obsessing (I know shocking right) about how much time I have missed in the pool this year.

The swim:

This swim is a 2 loop course with a short run on the beach to start the seconds leg.  The gun went off and the pro men hit the water, a moment or two later followed by the pro women.  Two minutes after that one more cannon shot and the first wave of age groupers dove in.  We were in the second wave and it may have been less than a minute before I was diving in and searching for the cable to follow.  I lost Steve right away, but found some feet to draft off of.  A few hundred yards later when I breathed right I saw Steve and his orange goggles, hard to miss.  The funny thing is he didn't realized it was me and we were pushed into each other, guess who provided the first few blows of my swim, that's right Dr. Steven Smith, thanks bud! LOL  We came up onto a group and by the time I fought and I mean fought through it Steve was gone. Time to find someone to draft off of,  I finally found a set of feet but after a 100 or so yards they slowed down and short while later we came to the first turn.  A short distance to the next turn buoy and it was back to the start area.  The leg back was pretty smooth, I found the cable and was able to hold it most of the way  with only a few small groups to fight through.  

When I hit the beach I heard Mike Riley call Steves' name, he was only a few seconds ahead of me, nice I am keeping up. I hit the water again and HOLY CRAP where there a lot a people, welcome to fight club!   

Again after 300 yards I breath to left and there was Steve again but this time he was nice enough to not throw any punches and this time I was able to catch a side draft, thanks again!  Once again we hit a group and were separated.  As mentioned, the second loop was much more crowded and brutal.  From this point to the turn buoy I was punched, kicked, bumped more than any other race I have been in.  I took one shot directly to the right eye, thankfully I was wearing the goggles that go over the eye socket and do not sit in it so all they did was make the seal tighter and piss me off.  I decided it was time to plowed the road.  What that means is as my arm would go to the top of my stroke, instead of going down, I would push the person in front of me out of my way.   Finally my size helps me in this sport.  After I cleared space I would push the pace to get clear.  As I made it to the return leg, time went pretty quick until about 300 yards out, as I breathed to the right I saw lightning.  Great!  My pace got a little quicker and pretty soon my hand was hitting sand. Shortly after I was getting the wetsuit off and starting the run to T1.

Swim 1:02:50

T1 flew by, the run to tent was not as long as I thought and I found my bag easy enough.  The 20-30 times I walked it earlier that morning may have helped.  While grabbing my gear I made the decision to wear my cycling jacket, threw whatever else I needed into the pockets and was off to grab my bike.

T1 6:33

The bike:

After the mount line there was a few quick downhills and a sharp left turn.  All I heard for the last two days was to take those slow and there is a reason there are hay bales at the turn.  I heeded the advice and rode the brakes down, the rain also helped in that decision.  As I got going, I kept reminding myself to take it easy, spin up the hills and save it for the run.  Once again the rain helped with that, what didn't help was I was soaked pretty quick and after 15 minutes already getting cold.  

By this time the thunder was rolling, lightning flashing and the rain falling heavier, as I reached the top of the first climb  tried the first descent in the aero bars to see how it would feel.  It didn't take long, the bike was all over and I won't even try to play it cool, it scared the living crap out of me.  I decided right there to ride to survive and see how much time I can make up on the run.  Let’s be truly honest, it is not like I had shot at the podium or Kona, not with the field of athletes at this event.  So to the bull horns and breaks it is, the next 15 miles were slow and easy, it felt like entire field was flying by me.  By the time I was getting close to the town of Keene, I had started to give consideration to whether or not I should abandon the race if the conditions didn't improve.  Really was not sure riding two loops in this mess was worth it.

Then I made the left turn onto route 9N and found myself starting to warm up and holding a nice pace.  My power was a little low but that is exactly what the plan was for the first lap, and by mile 40, the sun actually popped out.  Oh yeah, guess what happens to Bonk Breaker bars sitting in a bento box that are soaked and sitting in water? They start to dissolve and it’s NOT PRETTY or tasty.  Unfortunately it was all the nutrition I had until I hit the next aid station and to make matters worse the Tums and electrolyte tablets in my pocket fell out of the bag and were now a ball of white goo.

Back to lap one, as the sun came out I was on route 86 and the climbs back into Placid.  For the most part it was 16 miles of mostly uphill grade with the biggest climb right before turning into the town.  Time went pretty fast, chatted with some people, started to warm up and most importantly was I feeling strong.

I hit special needs and the gentleman holding my bag as it turns out designed the Snapple tri kit I was wearing and with him was Matt Ferguson a friend I have made through the Snapple team.  Nice to see a familiar face and I saw Matt last year while I was volunteering and he was racing, thought it was a cool coincidence we ran into each other.  I grabbed what I needed, stuffed a nutella sandwich in my mouth and was off.  The next mile or so was pretty cool riding back through town, saw my family and heard the cheers from friends.  What a boost!

I hope I looked like this

Soon it was back to the course, those same quick downhills and sharp turn I took as slow as I did the first time.  This time on those downhills I had a much different experience, in the aero bars and moving as fast as possible. When I hit the really big descent (1,175 feet of elevation loss per my Garmin on this 5 mile stretch) I did go to the bull horns but this time I was crouched down like you see on the Tour De France, arms tucked in and trying to stay as aero as possible.  To show the difference, the average on the same 5 mile stretch on  the first loop was 27.5 and a max speed of 35.2, second loop average 33.6 with a max of 46.5, needless to say it was A LOT more fun.

After the turn, I powered through as last time but put a bit more effort into it, as I finished the out and back on RT 9N and hit the cross road with the long climb.  It was starting to get a bit tough but the legs did start to come back around.  I knew my pace was a little slower but that was to be expected at this point.  

Finally I hit mama bear, then as I came over baby bear I was really starting to feel good.  Right at the base of papa bear it finally happened, my chain dropped going to the small ring.  This has happened every race this year and I  jinxed myself 10 miles earlier thinking, wow I haven't dropped the chain.  I jumped off the bike and as you would know it the chain was stuck between the frame and crank, it took a minute to get it loose and back on the small ring.  Once on, I felt rejuvenated and powered up papa bear.  It felt like I flew up it, per Garmin I averaged 9 mph on the first and 12 mph the second.  So a 3 mph difference at 195 pounds, I guess that's flying up a steep climb, right?  

After that I pushed the pace to transition to try and make up a minute or two.  The important thing was I came of the bike feeling strong.  So thankful to the Osmo Active in all my bottles, the new nutrition plan I have been using this year as well as following my coach Adams advice. This provided a big difference than in Louisville, where I felt tired and worn out.

Bike 6:07:25

T2 flew by and I have to say it was due to a major breakthrough for me on the bike.  I finally was able to pee on the bike, (Dixie and Peggy, I know you're proud) yes gross, disgusting, etc but it helped me take 6 minutes off my T2 so totally worth it!  Ok maybe not a total of 6 minutes was spent in the porta john last year in T2 but it felt like it.  I will not be doing this on training rides, sorry Steve we are stopping but in a race, hell yeah!  

T2 3:37 (now that is more like it, Louisville was over 9 minutes)

The run:

Feeling good

As I left transition, I got a tremendous boost seeing my family and friends, their cheering fueled me on.  Once I got away from the crowds I kept a constant eye on my watch, I was not going to let my pace get faster then 8:50 and burn all my matches as I had last year.  It was hard to hold pace as the first mile seemed to be nothing but downhill.  Luckily I was able to meet my pace goals for the first 11 miles.  Wait, I’m getting a little ahead of myself.

So the first 11 miles actually went by pretty fast, after the nice downhill it was a bit of a run down Cascade Rd to River Rd. Nice crowd support along the route and as I reached River Rd I started to see so many of my friends heading back in.  It was nice to see everyone looking strong.  

Right around the 6 mile mark,  I started to get some GI issues but not like in the past, this was more along my lower abdomen and not cramps but mild pain. I was really surprised by this as I had been hitting the Clif bloks and Osmo Active regularly since the start of the run with no issues but after a while the discomfort grew.  I had to give in and hit the porta john just after the mile 7.5 mark.  After a minute or two I was back running and feeling better, again as I hydrated and took my nutrition I felt fine for the next 4 miles but out of the blue the pain returned and I would have to stop again.  This happened about three more times over the last 15 miles of the race.  Thinking back I believe this was due to the wet and dissolving Bonk Breaker bars, it was the only thing different about my nutrition plan.

Coming back into to town the nice downhill at the start was a looming big ass hill (and I mean BIG ASS hill) to climb, I was so proud of myself for being able to run up it.  What a freaking mistake!  I say that because of what happened later and to run the salt into the wound the guy who won the race mentioned in his speech at the awards breakfast the next morning how he walked up the hill both times.  Good advice if I do Placid again.

So why was it a mistake, because it fried my quads, after running back down to start loop two and a going over a few more small up and downs I was still feeling ok but the pain in the legs was growing.  Then just after mile 17, my legs clamped down as I hit an uphill.  I have to say it was not "the wall" you hear so much about in a marathon as I had energy to spare but my legs hurt so bad I was forced to walk.  As such  I had to run/walk the rest of the race.  

The upside of lap two was I got see my buddy Cory and he was looking strong.  Also, as I was almost back to town I came up to a guy wearing an LBI race kit.  We got to talking and it turns out we are both from Long Beach Island, both have houses in Manahawkin and his coach was a friend from high school, Chris Fritz.  Small world, great race Ken Roma and congrats.

The last few miles were a painful mix, I would start to feel better and run only to make if a few yards.  Then as I came down Mirror Lake Drive and towards the cones that were set up to mark the way for loop two or to the finish, the pain went away.  

`

The crowds along the street started to cheer and those same emotions I had in Louisville flooded back.  Within a blink of the eye I was in the oval and making my way around towards the  finish.  I slowed up and let space between me and the person ahead of me grow, I wanted to soak this in.  As I entered the blue lined finishing chute, I slapped hands on both side, smiled big and heard Mike Riley call my name.  This time I didn’t hear anything after “from Newport News” due to the crowd noise but I didn’t care.  There really is nothing like the finish at an Ironman, it is electric, intoxicating even, absolutely amazing.  It makes the last 6 months of training and stress all worth it.  Once I crossed that line and  the flash bulbs died and the medal was around my neck,  my legs decided I had enough fun and too the med tent I went.

Run: 4:17:53

Total: 11:38:17 61st AG 333 Overall

You are an Ironman!

What a ride, I want to start off by thanking my family. My wife Maggie, my son Orlando and Granddaughter Addison for putting up with all of this so I can do what I love. To my parents for everything and always being there no matter how old I get.  To the rest of my family for all the encouragement and support.

A big thank you to my coach Adam Otstot, you help me reach my goals every year, I have been very lucky to have such a great coach and mentor.  To my swim coach Steve Hennessy and everyone who is part of the Fort Eustis Masters swim group, I can’t say enough how great this group is. I have learned so much and look forward to swimming with you all as long as I can.  Thank you to my training partner and close friend Steve Smith and his family as well as all of the Hampton Roads tri community. You are all such an amazing group of people and I am so lucky to be able to be a part of it.  A big shout out to Cory Newman and his new fiance Alicia, congratulations on your engagement and to Cory on his first Ironman.  Congratulations to Hampton Roads pros Katie Thomas (and Snapple Team member) on her 6th place finish and Rachel Jastrebsky on 7th.  It was great to get to race with you both.  

Thank you to the Snapple tri club and especially Mindy and Bart, you have made me feel welcome from day one, I am so grateful for your support as well as to the Snapple tri club sponsors: Rudy Project, Xterra wetsuits, Osmo nutrition, Clif Bars and Louis Garneau.  A huge thank you to Point2 Running Company and Bike Beat in Yorktown, you guys are the best. I also want to thank Dr. Stacy Sims for your help with my nutrition and hydration plan, it made a huge difference.

Now that this race is in the books it is time to take refocus and look to future.  Next year I will concentrate on 70.3 distance races and look to 2016 or 17 to do another full distance race.  As for the present, it is time to start preparing for 70.3 Princeton this September and getting to race back home in NJ for the first time.