Yes, this is a long report, but it’s a long race.
I had a great day, I never stopped smiling, and
I am an Ironman. I learned that you
don’t offer your time; you’re an Ironman; that's enough. Yes, it's kind of a cult, but now I'm part of it.
Things could have been much, much worse. My foot issues started to clear up in
October, and I could run, but it was too late to do much run training. I also managed to get sick Tuesday night
before the race, making my first chore in Panama City Beach Thursday morning going
to an urgent care clinic to get checked out and see if there was anything they
could do. I didn’t sleep well all week,
not just the night before, and I think I had a slight fever the entire
time. The weather wasn’t perfect – but
then the next two days, the weather was terrible, so we still lucked out.
But never mind the problems, or potential
problems. It was great, and I had a
ball. When you cross the finish line
after 14-and-a-half hours, the announcer calls your name, and says, “You are an
Ironman,” and for a couple minutes, you’re a rock star.
I had a very good swim, especially considering
the surf, waves 1-2 feet and maybe more by the end. The picture may make the waves look worse due
to foreshortening by the camera, but we had to duck under the waves until we
swam past the breakers to the main course.
The race was wetsuit optional; water temperature exceeded the level
where you could wear a wetsuit and have an official time. Everybody else with TriScottsdale wore a
wetsuit, but I was fine without (and in fact next time, won’t wear a tri top,
even a pre-worn top and Glide didn’t stop all the chafing in salt water.)
The bike course was flat, and I had to stop a
few times for supplies (the Gatorade the volunteers were handing out just
didn’t taste good to me, and I thought I had a mechanical but it was just a
leaf stuck to my tire, making a very loud noise due to the tight clearance with
the frame), but I was very pleased with my time and enjoyed the first 100
miles, singing to myself for much of the time; the last 12 miles, however, the
wind shifted into our face and the songs went away. For the run, I tried to jog at the start, but
got concerned that I wouldn’t have enough left for the finish – and a stiff
walking pace kept me up with people my speed who were running, then walking, so
I walked all but 2, maybe 3, miles and still finished ahead of my projections. I took my sweet time in transition, including
a wonderful 5 minutes in a port-a-john, so there’s clearly room for improvement
– if I ever do one again. For now, I’m
happy with a great day.
Here are the numbers:
Overall 14:32:19
Swim 1:29:12
T1 15:55
Bike 6:24:02
T2 13:35
Run 6:09:37
That put me overall 1174/1636 non-wetsuit; men
902/1180 non-wetsuit; 26/41 division (M60-64) non-wetsuit; overall 1566th, men
1223rd, and division 31/50 both wetsuit and non-wetsuit. About a third of the competitors wore
wetsuits, and a slightly higher percentage of non-wetsuit competitors finished:
wetsuit started 782, finished 687; non-wetsuit started 1636, finished 1513.
And, of course, there are pictures; and full results. And if you go to the finish line video,
and cue it up to 4:00:01, you can see me cross the line. Not that I haven’t watched it a couple of
times myself.
None of the other TS people said they were
interested in doing another IM. I won’t
for a while, but I could see signing up again in 5 years, when I graduate to
M65-69. It’s good to be the youngest guy
in an older guy division.
I said that when I turned 60, I would shave my beard and do an Ironman. And now I have.