i asked a few questions here for my first half last year and then for this my first full this year and wanted to say thanks for the help, my goal was to break 11 hours although when I saw what the temp was gonna be I was not sure that would be possible.

I got to the swim start at 6:15 and the line was about a half mile long. People were joking that we were going to do 141.6 today. The swim is my weakest so I would be happy with anything from 1:10 - 1:15. I found the river to be as clean as any lake and also didnt really notice any difference in going up or down with the current. Ended up going 1:15:15.

The bike was interesting and kind of dangerous really. Since I didnt start the race until about 7:40 and I'm not the best swimmer, there were a ton of slower people in front of me. It was crowded and I had to go over the yellow line to pass groups of people several times. There is an out and back early in the bike with big hills that everyone is going 30-40 mph on which was an extremely dangerous place to be crowded. There was a crash about 20 feet behind me and I saw the ambulence when I was coming back. Also in this section while going about 40mph a rock somehow hit my leg which was extremley painful for the rest of the race. Throughout the course there was a lot of car traffic which kind of pissed me off. There were numerous times where I had to hit the breaks because of cars. Me and this other guy actually passed a car on the left at one point while there was a traffic jam going the other way because the guy was driving on the curb. Why anyone would drive on a road with 2000 bikes is beyond comprehension.

My nutrion was to start with Perpetuem and 2 cliff bars having a half cliff bar every hour and living off the course for the rest of it. Gatoraid is disgusting sht but it does have 600 mg of sodium per bottle and with a powerbar gel each hour I could get 800. No idea why people use salt tablets if you can get 800 mg that easily. Even though I drank about 2 bottles of liquid an hour I only 'relieved myself' once on the bike which kind of scared me. By mile 80, my back was really hurting and by mile 90 I had to get out of aero about every 2 minutes. Most of the people around me were doing the same thing. Other than that, I felt great. I paced the bike perfectly. I was aiming for 5:50 and ended up going 5:31 for 20.26 mph average. I couldnt be happier with that.

The run is my strongest. I do a 1:25 run split in half IMs. I felt great when the run started. At the first aid station I called for water and they gave me coke. Yuck, decided not to touch coke again. I started pouring water on myself which was a mistake because my shoes got soaked and I got bad blisters. Also put ice in my hat but that pretty much hurt since I shave my head. Everyone out there was dying on the run. People were literally collapsing in front of me. In some sections I could not see anyone running. Others were throwing up pure gatoraid which made me want to throw up. I did the first 5 miles at around 7:30 pace then my stomach started to hurt. I knew I had to choke down a gel an hour though and was not happy when to my surprise I got a latte flavored powergel. That taste was in my mouth for a half hour. Since I started about an hour after the pros some of them were finishing while I was finishing my first lap. I ran 3 miles with a pro Gary Gurgold. The motivational mile, aaaaah, it didnt work as they kept the messages up too long so I had passed the screen by the time mine came up.

The last 10 miles of the run were pure suffering. I just wanted it to be over and told myself I was never doing an Ironman again. The last 2 miles was a slight downhill though and at mile 25 I took off. The finish was amazing with tons of people and seeing my finance and parents. I dont know if they said my name or not because it was so loud. They gave everyone in the crowd cowbells and other noise makers so I couldnt hear anything. I always thought I could do a 3:30 run but with mid 90s weather, I was happy with my 3:46, 8:39 per mile.

Total time was 10:45, good for 82nd overall and 18 out of 260 in the 30-34 age group. Couch to 10:45 in 2 years, I couldnt be happier.

After it was over for the rest of the night I was telling people I was never doing one of these things again. Really I have no idea how people can go through that and then sign up again. But now that i'm feeling better I actually do want to do one again. I dont want to do another IM until I feel I have a shot at kona because I dont like this sign up a year in advance stuff. Maybe try an indy in 2009 and see if I can take first place.

One last note, I would also very much appreciate the end of gatoraid on courses. That drink is disgusting sugary sht that is one step away from being a child's fruit drink.

Youtube link of my finish:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJNAXawc7nw

Thanks for reading