I am not dead!

Well I did finish the race, and Mary I am not dead and did not leave my wife and kids fatherless. I am going to post a race report later today when I get some time. My race was going as planned and I felt really good until about 5 miles into the run. I will go over all the details in the race report, but blisters can really hurt. My overall time was 15:58:17. I am thrilled to finish, but I did not hit my goal of under 15 hours. But I did finish alive and for the most part uninjured.

I also wanted to thank everyone for their support. I had no idea people would be so interested in my progress. Tricia said people were calling to see how I was doing and how to track me during the race. So I appreciate all your thoughts. Once I knew so many people were following me I knew I was going to finish. There was no way I was going to have a DNF. Thanks again and check back later for all the details.

Bike Check In

We have a mandatory bike check in today. We have to rack our bikes and have our transitions #1 (swim to bike) and transition #2 (bike to run) bags pack and checked in as well. So I have all my gear stowed in the correct bag and headed down to the race sight with my bike. This was a very well organized process. I parked and walked my bike dow to the transitions area and was met by several volunteers who immediately took my T2 bag and showed me where my rack was. The bikes are definitely crammed onto each rack. There would absolutely be no room to put on bikes shoes or change in the transition area. After I racked my bike I dropped off my T1 bag.

We actually have to take our transition bags and go into a building to change. One unique feature of an Ironman race is that you usually don't have to get your bike off the rack. There are volunteers that are supposed to get your bike and meet you near the changing area near the bike exit. When you come back in after the bike they will take your bike again and rack it. I hope this works out because I am racked pretty far from the changing area.

They have the swim course all set up with the swim exit in place. I am meeting with the Coopers for dinner tonight. I am actually looking forward to getting the race underway. I am posting the pictures I took earlier showing the transition area and the swim course.

Friday Morning Swim

The weather here has been great. the beach and water are just spectacular. The sand is a bright wight and the water is crystal clear. I am used to swimming in dark murky water so it is a bit strange to see the fish you are swimming with. I met up with the Coopers again and we walked over to the swim on the beach. The water was a bit less choppy today as the wind has shifted. We are supposed to have perfect weather tomorrow, 75 degrees and partly sunny. Nancy and I only swam for about 15 minutes. Neil went out for a longer swim. There are some pretty large sand bars about 100 yds from shore. We are going to have to run that 100 yds into and out of the water. I hope tomorrows conditions are like today, it was perfect.

Pre Race Meeting

We had a mandatory pre-race dinner and meeting last night. The food was ok but company was good. Nancy and Neil are staying very close to the host hotel. They had an extra parking pass they gave me to use and it has been great. I have a secure place to park on race day and that is a big stress reliever for me. So I met up with them and we walked to dinner and sat with some other friends they knew.

After eating, the Race Director and the announcer got up to speak and go over the race day rules. There are about 2800 registered participants, with 1300 first time Ironman participants. The oldest man racing is 75 and the oldest woman is 65. She did her first triathlon at age 59. The youngest racer was a kid from Georgia who is 18. We are meeting again in on Friday morning for another swim.

Race Check In

Now I am trying to stay positive and not complain as much. My wife has a great idea to only surround herself with positive people, so I have really been trying hard to be positive and not complain so please forgive me on this post. Check in was a long, long wait.

I got to check in and could not believe the line. So I decided to go buy some race memorabilia figuring the line would go down. Race check in is usually in the same place as the race expo so I didn't have to walk more than 20 yards to the expo area. I met back up with the Coopers again and the line was still over an hour wait. So we walked over to a couple of tents set up selling race gear across the street. I was able to find some arm warmers and a 1/2 price tri suit to replace the one I left at home. When we finished there, Neil and Nancy went back to their condo and I again headed to race check in.

Well it was about 11am and now the line was even longer. So I just waited, and waited and waited some more. I finally made it to check in at 12:20pm. Check is much different than most races. Once you check in you had to be weighed and then you actually had to sit down while a volunteer described how to get your bags set up. There are actually (5) different bags that are going to be used. There is one bag for to put our morning cloths in, one bag each for the swim to bike transition and the bike to run transition and one each for the bike and run special needs
bags.




One of the interesting things I saw while waiting in line was the area set up for family and friends to make signs. They will be putting up over 1000 signs on the race course made by the family and friends. So there were all these kids coloring and making signs for their mom or dad. We have the mandatory dinner and race briefing tonight.

Morning swim

I was schedlued to meet up with Nancy and Neil Cooper for an 8:30am swim. I got to the race hotel and realized I had forgotten my wetsuit. So I had to drive back to the condo for the wetsuit. When I got back tot he race hotel I couldn't find Nancy or Neil. There must have been 200 people out there swimming. SO I just gout my wetsuit on and swam by myself. I did about one loop of the 2 loops I will swim on Saturday. The water was not as salty as I thought it would be. I is weird though that the water is actually much colder at the shore line than further out.

There was a slight chop in the water and the wind was blowing out from the shore. I felt pretty good on the swim. The practice swims in the Severn River and the races I have done in open water have really made me a much better swimmer. By some miracle when I was leaving the beach I found Neil and Nancy. I still had to check in so I went to check in and Neil and Nancy went back to their condo.

Florida or bust!!

Well you can see my car in the picture. I had it all packed and ready to go the night before...or so I thought. I woke up about 2:30am on Wednesday ready to go. I got in the car got gas and headed on my way. About two hours later I had a "doh" moment. I looked behind me in the car and realized I did not have my suitcase I had packed the night before. Luckily I had put all of my triathlon racing gear in another bag and I had that. I just did not have any cloths to wear....nothing at all except what i had on. Worst of all my running and riding socks were in that suitcase. So I spent the next 12 hours planning and hoping they would have somewhere or someplace that will have the socks I need for the race. Not the best way to start off!

Well it took me 13 hours and 27 minutes of actual driving to get here. I was expecting to feel worse than I did after driving for so long. But I felt pretty good. Panama City is actually on central time so everything is 1 hour behind eastern time. So I gained an hour on the way down, but will lose that hour on the way back. The ride was actually pretty good. Not alot of traffic and almost all highway. I drove in 7 states, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Florida. I did take a picture while driving thru Atlanta. I know it may be stupid to snap a picture at 60 mph but I thought the city skyline looked pretty cool.

When I got here I had to go to the store for some clothes to wear. I went to a Sports Authority (looking for socks). Next to the Sports Authority was this store. The picture didn't come out the best. If my daughter were here she would be all over that store as she loves her shoes.

Well I am here. Tomorrow morning I am meeting up with Neil and Nancy Cooper for a swim at the race sight. I will post more tomorrow.