Triathlete Dad

1. I was pumped up! I trained for 9 months, getting up at 5 in the morning to hit the gym or the pool, and I was finally here. With a sunny blue sky and amazing landscape, I just focused on being in the moment. I was living my dream of doing an Ironman.
2. 5,000 Spectators that keep screaming “You can do it.”
3. E-caps that kept my sodium levels in balance. Temps were soaring into the 90s (F), and in extreme heat your body looses sodium and can’t absorb water. If that happens, dehydration sets in, and you can’t continue. In addition, I ate Gu or PowerBars every 25 mins and had a bottle of Gatorade Endurance every 30 min.
4. 6,000 volunteers. As I got into T2, I jumped off the bike and someone racked it for me and then several other volunteers put cold wet towels on me and helped me change my shoes and repack my T2 bag, very nice. The cold towel felt so good.
5. The signs my family made for me. At first, the miles just went by very quickly and then I got to the halfway point and felt the onset of a few more cramps. Finally I reached mile 20 and saw my son Zach’s poster that said #1 Dad and IM. I said to myself only 10k to go, I can do this. When I got to mile 24 and 25 I felt this overwhelming since of finishing just over 11 hours in incredibly hot conditions.

Total time: 11:15:24.I learned the next day that I finished in the top 10% overall (233 out of 2227). It’s been said that doing an IM is the hardest test of human endurance…I would completely agree. And, I felt good that the race helped me raise over $7,000 that will benefit research to cure Leukemia. Thanks very much for your donations!

Written for ProBlogger’s 5 Things.

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Tags: ironman, training, triathlon //