I am very lucky, and I am an Idiot

I am Happy with my IronMan ST George race, I have two dominating feelings first I feel incredibly Lucky, Second I realize that I was an Idiot in 3 instances.

I am so lucky. I’m lucky because when I got into Triathlon the first big time triathlete I ever met happened to be David Warden, I met David at a class he did previewing my first race, Icebreaker. David led me to people who could help me with my swim. Keena did such a great job of helping me to change my mechanics and made things make sense to me. Heath filmed me and showed me my glaring problems, It helped me progress by seeing how I needed to improve. Diane also helped me to push myself harder. There are many others that have given me great tips, Jason, Natalie and others gave me specific pointers that made a difference.

I am so lucky to have Power Tri as a sponsor. They made a world of difference for me in this race. They helped me get the 808 which handled the wind with ease and cut through it like a knife. They helped me get the perfect wetsuit. Nathan went above and beyond the call of duty optimizing my bike for the race. They are awesome people who are great friends and love this sport.

I am lucky to have great friends in triathlon, it was heartening to have you cheering me on at the race, it made a difference for me. Thank you for the cheers!

I am lucky to have a great employer. Thank You, Pinnacle Security for a great job that lets me be flexible, and be able to train the way that I do.

I am insanely, amazingly, wonderfully lucky to be married to Megan. It’s like this “Hey honey…um… I don’t want to work very much, I want to spend most of my time training for triathlon. It won’t make us any money in fact it will cost us an awful lot, so…. you….um… need to stop spending money”. She sacrifices in many different ways and I would not do this if she ever asked me not to, but she loves me doing it just as much as I love to do it. Thank You so much Megan!

Idiocy times 3

Idiocy #1 I pulled an Andy Schleck and dropped my chain. That’s what you get for never riding outside and slamming you shifter down. Confession: I swore. (I only swear when I race).

Idiocy #2 I got diarrhea on the run again, just like every other Ironman I have done. I had 7 months since Kona to experiment with anti diarrhea medicine and I just plain never did it so race day comes and I thought about it but I figured if I hadn’t tried it I shouldn’t do it. I only had one porta potty stop but it still made me mad. I don’t think I swore though. (I still felt bad about swearing with the chain drop.)

Idiocy #3 I forgot to cut my stupid toe nails, so my third toe dug into my second crooked toe the whole run and I finished with a bloody shoe.

Ok here’s my report

Swim: Felt great. Wish I could have consistently drafted, I got on some feet a few times but not for long. Wetsuit was great, water was perfect, Happy with my time 1:04:15

Transition 1: I ran as fast as I could the whole time, happy with my time, it was 2:40something I think.

Bike: Biked as hard and as fast as I could the whole time until the last part of snow canyon where I took it down just a notch. Came into t2 as the first amateur time 4:58 something

Transition 2: Same as T1 ran as fast as I could, I think I got a 1:48, happy with it.
Run: I led all amatuerss till about mile 6.5 I was passed in the porta potty. I caught the guy at about mile 13 and led again till about mile 19.5 when 2 guys passed me, then with less than 3 miles to go 2 more guys passed, 2 other guys were gaining on me quick, with one mile to go I picked my pace up, it hurt real bad but I held them off by less than a minute. At 95 degrees the heat got me, the second half of the marathon was tough. Time 3:26:26

GOOD: I won my age group and I took 5th overall for all amateurs. Only 12 pro's beat me.

BAD: I wanted to be 1st overall for all age groupers. Jason told me after the race that I was only 3 minutes behind the winner. (I want to swear right now!)

I actually am really happy with how it all went, crossing the finish line was like no other IronMan before, I felt like I had pushed myself better than my previous 3 IronMans. I am happy with the progress I am making.