It’s time for the rest of the story. The short version is that things did not go as planned. The longer version begins with the bike below..

For the dirty details, I’ll continue on with the bike.I jumped on the bike and got going. I felt pretty crappy after the swim,  and was having symptoms of drinking excess sea water… bloating, dizziness, and just generally feeling terrible.

Also, my power meter stopped working and adding to my frustration, I didn’t realize it at first.  It was strange to be pushing at what felt like my Ironman watts, and not be able to get my pm to register above 120 watts! Another thing that happened was that I immediately lost the stuff out of my back pockets (gels and salt tabs) and didn’t realize it till a bit later. None of these other details were a deal breaker but the prospect of no caffeine to look forward to was one more thing that made me cranky.

Even though most of the bike is a blur (thankfully!) I registered a couple of hours in that my speed seemed to be okay. I still had my special needs to look forward to .. there I had put a bottle of Coke and another instant ice pack for my shoulder.

I got to the bumpy section of the course and was totally blocked in. I would’t  even call it a ‘pack’ but a 1000 people in a bunch with nowhere to go. You could only ride on certain parts of the road unless you had joints (and butt) of Iron and I couldn’t stay in aero etiher- it was at this point that I saw Todd Lappi and it seemed like he was having a great race

Meanwhile, I was eating my EFS, but my stomach was getting bigger and bigger and my cognitive confusion alongside had me worried that I wasn’t absorbing anything. Same thing that happened to me in Kona 2012. Sure enough I got to Special Needs and was starting to feel the symptoms of now not absorbing calories.

After that it was sort of hobble to the finish. I started drinking more plain water and spinning in hopes that I would be able to get sick and start absorbing calories. I also lost my happy juice before I had the chance to drink it. No caffeine, low blood sugar, bad state of mind, hurting shoulder… I definitely felt like giving in to the negative feelings I felt By mile 100 I was looking for something to crash into (that’s a joke, sort of) so I could hit the cheer tent and call it a day!

Finally got to the last few miles of the bike  and already knew it wouldn’t be a banner day for me. I hoped that I could still jog the marathon and that became my new goal.

I have said before, it’s a lot harder to remain motivated when you know you aren’t having a good day. I stuck to my IRONMAN rule of running no matter what (while walking a few aid stations to reset everything) but I wasn’t having very much fun.

I passed the ATC tent immediately which resulted in this gem of a photo. Basically that’s Ted trying to be encouraging and drill sergeant-y (and explaining that I needed to be running, like a lot faster) and me explaining that no magic was going to happen today.

It was great to see the other ATC’ers out there and my parents. My folks normally come out to different places on the course and cheer everyone on. Of course it’s much more fun to have them out there when I’m having a great day than one where I’m struggling to stay positive

The whole time I was running I was feeling sicker and sicker. My stomach was big and you can see it in the photos. I was wishing that I could just hurry up and get sick so I could start absorbing calories and hopefully feeling better. Finally about halfway through Beau captured this awesome sequence of photos.

Thanks to him and Susie for helping me out and Tony Hammett for offering me a Gatorade afterwards. I definitely felt better after this. I mean, I wasn’t going to set a half marathon PR or anything, but I didn’t feel the combination of imminent syncope and intense nausea and could continue at a steady pace. The fog lifted and I knew I’d be able to get to the finish.

I had been seeing Joseph, John, Rich, and Todd ahead of me on many of the out and backs. It looked like Joseph and John were having fantastic races based on my fuzzy math. I was reminded of IM WI 2010 when I was trying to race to catch Todd and couldn’t. This time, Todd had stopped to walk with Rich at mile 21,who had sustained a tendon issue that brought him to a walk. It was a bummer for Rich as he was poised to have (and was in the process of having) a great race.

However, I have to say it was a bonding experience to walk with them for a few minutes and laugh about how none of us had expected to stroll together in an IRONMAN. After a few minutes of chatting I started getting antsy. Although I didn’t have time goals to chase, I didn’t want to break my strict rule of trying to finish each race strong, no matter how the day has gone. That’s always my ‘D’ goal whether the race is a PR or PW and it goes against my compulsive nature to waive it.

Managed to pick up the race for the last few miles, then finally the finish. I have to say I haven’t been so relieved to see a finish line in awhile (I’m sure I think that every time) and also I was ready to be done with IM for a while (I’m sure I think that every time)

Going into this race, it barely even occurred to me that I might not set a big PR. My training has come a long way this year, and I was excited to see what I could do in the final race of the year. In the end it didn’t happen, but to be honest that’s part of the appeal of Ironman. There are so many variables that determine how race day goes and many of them are outside of personal control.

After crossing, I reunited with my parents and John who I was very proud of for setting a huge PR and having a great race.

Also, I was happy to see that most of the other ATCers had amazing races… and I was proud of the first-timers, Jamal and Topher! I got to see many of them cross and after a nice dinner with the folks we cheered on the later finishers at the ATC tent.

 In the end IM Fl wasn’t the race I had hoped for or anticipated, but that’s part of the game. I’m excited about taking a substantial (for me) break and then attacking my weaknesses over the winter. I’ll have a crack at IRONMAN again at Challenge Roth and IRONMAN Chattanooga next year, if not sooner.