I never claimed to be incredibly bright . . .

It has been over a month since my surgery january 5th. I have hit a few road blocks with this recovery. Infection has kicked my butt and I am done with this resting and recovering thing!

I've been eating out of control the last couple of weeks. I've identified it and am correcting it, but it was a feeling I thought was done with. Problem addressed and problem taken care of.

I dropped out of Ironman CDA in June. My Dr feels I might be able to get back on the training horse by April and that is simply not enough time to get my body ready.

With that I am setting and goal for Ironman Arizona: SUB 13 hours.

That's right.

OK, for most people that is a silly goal and for hard core Ironman participants they will giggle and some even mock this goal, but most of those guys I can sit on or break them in half - (that was passive aggressive . . . or was it just aggressive?) But for me sub 13 hours will be a serious accomplishment.

Ironman FLorida was my ice breaker. My goal was to have fun and enjoy the day and I did just that finishing in 15:11.

I believe I can knock off 2 hours and I will.

I am going to race a couple times this year, but mostly focus on training.

I am looking for a half ironman in August in the South West . . . (SUGGESTIONS).

Whatever your goals are - Set them HIGH and go for it!

YOU CAN DO IT!

WHO DAT!!!! SAINTS DATS WHO!!!!!

I have been waiting for this since I was a weeeeee tot!

Congratulations SAINTS!!!!!!!!!

235 little new born boys already named Drew - AND 3 little new born girls!!!!!

The Latest - My Mind is in the CRAPPER!

If you go back to the beginning of my blog I think you will see major changes in so many areas of my life.

I was 452lbs and now I am 250lbs. I had never done a single triathlon and now I have done nearly 70 triathlons including my IRONMAN last November in Florida.

In November 2008 I had an upper body lift. That surgery alone took about 14lbs of loose skin off and re-shaped (no pun intended) how my life would move forward.

On January 5^th this year, I had the second of the two surgeries and it was my lower body lift, mainly focusing on my upper legs in the inner thigh area.

The last few years, since loosing a great deal of weight has been brutal on my inner thigh area (THE CROTCH). This may be TMI, too graphic, more than you want to know, but it’s the facts. I had a great deal of skin that floated around and just kind of hung there. As you can imagine, running and cycling puts a great deal of stress on that area and more than that the friction in that area is immense. For a normal person a little save, body glide, etc will handle the issue fine, but when you have a “little extra” down there – No amount of lubricant will help.

I had a choice – stop training so hard and lay low and not do so much damage there and continue to lose weight and eventually have it removed via surgery or keep on keeping on and train my butt off knowing the damage would continue.

After a short training session I would have no real issues. A 5 mile run or a 30 mile bike was not a really big deal. There would be discomfort and a little heat in the area, but nothing a little Boudreaux’s Butt Paste wouldn’t handle.

It was the long training rides and the longer races such as Olympic distances or longer, that caused the larger issues. As my Ironman training ramped up I would have significant bleeding and abrasions in my inner thigh, crotch area and I went through Neosporin like it was water for the last couple years. But, I wouldn’t go back and do it any differently. Not one thing. OK . . . I wouldn’t have put on the weight in the first place – but, my choices afterwards to rectify the situation – I wouldn’t change.

The recovery from the upper body lift was incredible. My Dr. (In my opinion the best in the BIZ, Dr. Lior Heller) cut me all the way around to remove the loose skin. My joke was that I looked like a magic trick (saw a person in half) GONE BAD!! It took a couple months before I could get on the trainer in my workout room and more to hit the pavement running.

When it came to this surgery – I thought there was no way the recovery for my lower body lift would be as intense as the upper body lift . . .

The jury is still out on that – But what I can say is – It is a completely different type of recovery an the pain is as intense.

I am experiencing a bit of a set back.

My Dr is the best as I stated above and I would recommend him to ANYONE considering this type of work.

My left leg is not healing as we wish it would be. It is setting me back a great deal and I am in the mental turn can right now. I am a unique case. Most people having these types of surgery are not very active. I am VERY active and I put a lot of stress in the area that was being cut and reattached and it was a very difficult surgery as a result of my training. Ironic.

I expected to be out of training for 2 to 3 months. We are looking at 4-5 months now and I am a broken man at this moment because of that.

Now – I have been in the bed and on the couch since Jan 5^th and I have this week left with that and next week I will be in the office. That is the beauty of my business that I can do everything of necessity from home although I really enjoy being in front of my clients and I am looking forward to getting back into that groove.

But the not being able to train is beating me up. I have begun focusing on several outlets to get my mind in the right place, but it’s difficult when I can’t stand for very long and the three times a day I have to clean my wounds and I see some of the issues I am having. On the positive side – If I tend to the area properly and keep the wound infection free – I will not need a second surgery.

Good thing is . . . I have a great wife and an UNBELIEVABLE Daughter and both of them do a great job pulling me out of the depression hole. I am a lucky dude.

I will keep everyone posted on how things are going, but I will say this again. If I could go back and do things differently – I wouldn’t. I would do it all the same.

FINAL PAT OF RACE REPORT IMFL

13.1 miles left out of my 140.6 miles to travel that day. That’s what I said to myself a great deal . . . I’m basically done . . . While I may be at the absolute most difficult part of the entire race foe, I am at the end.

I have failed to mention out tri club enough in this Race Report. I have a great resource from some great people here in Louisiana and our tri club www.batonroughtri.com is a wealth of information with some super fast racers and many experienced peeps.

Vanilla was one of those and a really welcomed person to see as I headed out on my second loop. Charles (AKA Vanilla) really took me under his wing for my first IM. He would call me and check in to see how training was going, how I was mentally etc. And today he was there to see me race and finish. As I slogged along with my head down wishing I was done running he ran up beside me and pumped me up mentally telling me what I needed to hear. Vanilla has raced in all the NA IM races. As I slogged along he said to me “You can go faster. Your body can do more than your mind is letting you. Pick it up and you’ll see.” I did and it did. At one point I was (for me) flying! He stayed with me for a couple miles hitting me mentally with things we’d discussed for months, but I had neglected the past 10 or so miles. “Focus on pushing yourself until the next aid station. You got this!”

My time shows the pick up in that 3^rd section of the run. Even with a more than 10 minute stop at the special needs bag I cut my next 6 miles by about 40 seconds per mile, or somewhere around that. But more than that – I felt good, I felt oddly strong.

About mile 16 my best friend Brent and his family had found a VERY bright spot on the run course to cheer me on. Oh how awesome it was. I was running well and in the distance I saw a triage of people, but couldn’t really make out who it was, but they were hollering like I was a rock star . . . As I got closer I saw it was Brent, Christy (his wife) and the babies’. They have 3-year-old twins, and a new born. And they were clapping and the babies were jumping up and down. It is so hard to describe and explain how happy I was. My face didn’t show it. More over my face probably seemed discouraged and upset, however I was elated and so surprised.

I continued the strong pace I had begun the second loop with until a VERY unfortunate episode.

I have literally only one complaint about IMFL. I had such an awesome experience and I will do IMFL several times in my life because it is close to home and it will always be my first.

The Park . . .

As I entered the park I realized how alone I really was. It was pitch black. When I say pitch black, I mean – it was not much different than the jungles in the panama canopy. Literally I found it difficult to see my tennis shoes as they patted the ground.

My cousin Michael and best bud Roddy had ridden out on Mountain bikes to check in one me. They commented the next day that they also couldn’t see a thing back there when looking for me.

I was rolling along until I ran up on a nice lady who was walking. I didn’t hear or see her. I bumped her from behind. She screamed and I pulled my hamstring on my right leg. I comforted her because she had no idea what just happened and then I set back off on my run and it was not going to happen.

I had pulled that muscle pretty badly and I had to stop and try and stretch it for the next mile or so in the park until I decided to ignore it (which did and didn’t work).

I finally got out of the park and was headed home!

I saw my friend Scum as I exited the park.

I also saw my new friends who were out cheering on their family member. I hugged them as I ran by and every time they saw me they would cheer for me. I saw them in their truck heading back to the finish at this time and they honked their horn for me.

My Momma was also at the exit of the park. She is so cute and such a great Momma! I love you.

I began to count down. As I would pass the mile markers I would mentally lighten up and have more and more fun. My cousin Michael was taking iphone pics of me and I began to cut up the further and further along in the course I got.

At one point I met a really nice dude who I forgot his name, but he had dome a couple IMs but came down with a nasty blister this time and was running about my speed. We talked for a couple miles and then he left me in the dirt.

My main man Luke (I call him Skywalker) was riding out to see how I was doing. I love that dude. Skywalker is talented and gifted. He finished in 10:15 or something like that at IMFL 08 and it was his first IM and he “just had fun” in that race. I am looking forward to seeing what he is capable of when he tries to tear it up!

But, right now he was making me laugh and cutting up keeping my mind in the right place. It is hard to not love this sport with people like him and all the other folks I’ve mentioned in this Race Report. I am a lucky guy to have such good friends that like this insanity called triathlon.

I knew I was home free as far as finishing. I had set a goal of sub 16 hours because I really had no idea what to expect AND because at New Orleans 70.3 I finished in 7:30 or something like that and I figured doubling it plus one hour would be a responsible goal. NOW – I did do New Orleans 70.3 with a broken foot . . .

For nutrition the last 4 miles I took in Coke and chicken broth only. I smiled. I ran in disbelief a bit. I hurt – My hamstring was kicking my butt and my feet were sore, but none of that mattered. I was having fun.

I could see the lights near the finish. They seemed so much brighter this time around. The last three miles were a given, but I wanted to finish strong. The crazy stretch on front beach road was ROCK N and Rolling!!!! People were so drunk and I was envious. The women who were attractively dressed and provocative were a little less attractive and a lot more sloppy now, BUT – they were still so much fun!

As I made the turn onto Thomas Drive I can’t explain exactly where this came from, but I was in an all out sprint. For me that means I was moving about as fast as most average people ran the entire run, but my big lard butt was MOVING!!!! I saw family – I saw friends – I hollered, I high fived!

I made the U-Turn to head into the FINISH CHUTE and I was P-U-M-P-E-D!!!! My teeth were clinched. My eyes eye piercing. My lip was in a snarl. My hands were in fists as if I was about to fight a 12 round fight. My shoulders were flexed and then I turned into the chute and I began to yell uncontrolled.

I saw the people in the stands and some were screaming for me and others were in shock that this big ole dude with a crazy look on his face was screaming like a maniac!!!!!!!!!!

As I crossed the finish line I yelled – “IAM AN IRONMAN!!!!!!!!” I AM A IRONMAN!!!!!!” and Mike Reilly said . . . “Yes Chris Boggs, You ARE and Ironman.”

When I weighed 452 lbs I decided that I wanted to lose my weight and I wanted to finish an Ironman race.

I’ve seen many people lose weight and then begin doing triathlons, but I began doing triathlons to lose the weight. IN the beginning when I was 425 lbs doing my first tri, I got a lot of looks and some hurtful comments – I think people thought I was not only fat, but deaf too! HA!

But more, I got positive support and I finished more than 50 triathlons and now I completed that goal of becoming an IRONMAN.

I’m not done.

I have another 40 lbs I want to lose and my next goal is to do all NA Ironman races including KONA in my lifetime – however long that may be.

Thank you to everyone who follows my blog and send my positive thoughts, emails, and responses. I am here with your help.

2010 my goal in sun 13 hr race at IM Arizona . . . To be continued!!!

IMFL Run Report Part UNO

It’s been almost 2 months since Ironman Florida and I am not really sure why it has taken so long to finish my race report, but I think I have an idea. I am not ready to put it to bed. There is a part of me that feels once I am done here that the experience has ended and I am not sure I am ready for that.

No worries . . . I will finish the RUN report today and you can see the swim and bike reports below.

An Ironman distance race is different for every participant. I have friends in our tri club that they race an Ironman and they are pretty fast. One of my closer friends tore it up this year at IM FL and I think he is focusing in on a sub 10hr IM in 2010. Another Club member was 4^th in his Age Group at Clearwater World Championship 70.3 and missed 3^rd by on 30-40 seconds. Cats like that are the - IN IT TO WIN IT category.

I am the other side of the spectrum. I am the IN IT CAUSE IT IS IN ME group. Ironman is simple for me. It is a celebration of my battle and success with obesity. The race is more the culmination of the battle. The training, the sacrifice from my family, the joy of the pain, the FEAR of failure . . . That is all my Ironman.

I will never get a podium spot in anything triathlon unless it is there is a “smiles too much on the course” division. I do this for life. While other criticize me for simply completing the race I laugh it off because they have no idea what my journey has been and will continue to be.

ON TO THE RUN REPORT!

The Run . . . Running 26.2 miles after swimming and biking all day was my biggest fear of all concerning this race. I am slow. I am very slow. I probably will never be fast, but I am horribly slow right now. Obviously the slower I am, the longer I will be out of the race course . . . That’s never good.

I’m going to break this run portion of my IM Florida race report into 4 parts. OS somewhere around 6.25 miles each portion. The fast for me was that the first loop was a completely different race from the second loop.

As I headed out on the first loop I reminded myself of my run mantra . . . Finish and Fun. Numero Uno was to finish and hopefully have fun along the way. Exiting the Transition area was a bit surreal. I was finished with more than half of this entire race, yet I was now at my most fearful . . .

I immediately saw my family as I exited transition.

I am sure everyone else looks at their races in hind sight and says, “Next time I can cut 5 minutes here and 4 minutes here and (You get the picture). I have PLENTY of that from IMFL. Without exaggeration I am SURE, 100% positive I could cut off a minimum of 45 minutes on my run by changing one simple thing. I must not hug EVERY person I know that is cheering me on in the race!! I hugged everyone and I loved every second of it. I suggest if this is your first IM that you do the same. SOAK IT UP!

Now I won’t be doing this in future races because my goals will be different, but I will miss this part in the future.

From transition to about mile 2 was the most fun part of the run course along beachfront road. The spectators and cheer tents set up along this area were awesome! There were women dressed in next to nothing (by the end of the night they were actually pretty much wearing nothing). There were Elvis people and people offering you beer . . . It was a party.

The first three miles seemed to move by in my mind fairly quickly.

My nutrition was simple. At each aid station I would begin a power walk and take in a solid type fuel (Gel, banana, grapes, etc) on odd numbered aid stations and liquid fuel (Water, Nuun, etc)at even numbered aid station and an electrolyte at every aid station.

I followed this plan for the first 6 miles easily. Some of the aid stations were remarkable. One in particular was back in the neighborhood area, around mile 4ish (I think). It was set up as a MASH unit. It was awesome. They were stocked full the entire run and had so much energy.

Let me take a second to talk about the aid stations. Obviously the number one request from most racers would be that the aid station be stocked with a variety of items to get our nutrition AND keep them stocked throughout the race for slow people like me and keep hot things hot and cold things cold and lastly when it comes to the nutrition, keep it all organized and inform us visually and verbally of what you have well in advance of your reaching your aid station. For example the MASH UNIT aid station had signs on the run route about a half mile ahead staggered leading up to it that listed in BIG BOLD print what they had – For Example COLA on one sign, POWER ADE 0 another, HOT CHICKEN BROTH on another – You get the point. And then as you approached the station they would stagger the tables with “LIKE” nutrition ie – Cola and chicken broth on one table, water and Gatorade at another, gels one on, assorted fruit on another AND the people manning the station would yell out what they had AND AND AND be able to say one table down for chicken broth if you asked for it etc.

Congrats to the MASH UNIT aid station on the run at Ironman Florida – YOU GUYS ROCKED IT!!!

The second thing I think in important at an aid station would be the attitude and atmosphere. The people manning the aid stations should be ubber hyper!!! I LOVE and appreciate all of the volunteers. It is a long day for them. I have volunteered for a few IM distance races now and it can be exhausting. When the volunteers are hollering and dancing for you having a blast – there is nothing better . . . THEN when you have an atmosphere with music and a theme . . . EVEN BETTER. I looked forward to reaching the MASH UNIT aid station each time.

To the contrary – and aid station that has young kids and teens SUCK. If they are mixed in with adults in even numbers then it is great, but an full aid station with 15 kids and two adults in a horrible combination ESPECIALLY late in the race. One aid station began to run out of items and the kids were all sitting down and if you asked for something their response was – I don’t know if we have that or worse – Actually my favorite . . . I asked a young teen if they had worm chicken broth – He was in the middle of a full on flirt with a girl he had obviously met throughout that day. He didn’t even look at me and responded, “Hold up.” And went back to chatting it up with the girlie and she just soaked it up. In my mind I was pissed, but I gave the guy kudos because she sure felt special at that moment and earned him some serious cool points!

For the most part ALL of the aid stations were on their game at IMFL excluding the one I mentioned above that was at about mile 6ish or so.

It was nice to be on the run. I enjoyed seeing friends out there racing form our club. I was honored to be out there with so many people working their own plan and seeing their focus. At times I would chat with people and then they would take off and leave me. I passed NO ONE, but saw some of the same folks a few times during the run.

I focused on my HR the entire run. Even when I felt strong in the beginning I remained focused on keeping my heart race in the 145bmp (which is low, but what I’d trained for). There were times I wanted to kick it up a little but, I would remind myself that I had 19 miles remaining and I would pull it back.

As I reached the backside of loop one I was still feeling good. I saw several friends out cheering and in particular was Scum (Stephen Branscum) and his fiancée. They will never know how AWESOME and motivating it was for me to see them out there until the very last mile. Thank you thank you. The State Park was actually a welcoming change in the run. There was another good aid station here. It was nice to know I was heading back towards the transition area and that my mind was still very focused and I was enjoying myself.

Kathy and Mike were hanging at a really great spot to cheer us all on in the run. They picked a parking lot that was kind of in the middle of the aid stations and in a VERY DULL area. There was nothing to really look forward to for about a 3 mile stretch – EXCEPT THEM!! Thank you Michael and Kathy.

It was still light at about mile 9 but quickly becoming dark each stride I took. By the time I made it back to the MASH UNIT aid station the sun was pretty much gone and we were depending on streetlights. This was not good in some places and HORRIBLE in one place in particular, which I will discuss on the second post. Back in the neighborhoods the streetlights were hot and miss, but for the most part you could see well enough.

About mile 10 back in the neighborhood about 1 mile before the MASH UNIT station there were 4 or 5 fells (I use fells on purpose) sitting in their yard chairs, drinking beers, smoking it up and I am not sure they were only cigarettes. They were using a unique form of motivation. The women ran faster because the men were saying redneck sexy things to them (And they fully thought they were funny) and I ran faster because I was to tired to respond and a response might have led to a front yard brawl and I would have been on the losing end of that one. So I just gritted and ran on off into the dark.

At about mile 11 you can see the lights around the turn around and finish area. It is such an awesome sight to a tired racer IF YOU’RE coming in for a finish, but still welcoming to those like me who were heading in for the turn around since we would be able to see family, friends, etc.

The half mile stretch of beachfront rd with all the awesome crazy people wearing next to nothing and the Elvises, and now the tent of really drunk college guys and gals trying to get you to do a tequila shot was so much fun.

One of the best was the woman with the ass-less chaps. She would run up beside a really tired runner and ask how they were doing. Then se would run up a bit and say, “Does this make you run faster?” and she swished her bare butt from left to right. I will admit that it took my mind off of my sore feet for that few seconds!

As I made the turn onto Thomas drive about a quarter mile from the turn around I saw my Dad and his Wife Mindy. Guess what I did . . . Yup . . . Stopped Hugged him and headed on.

At the turn I saw Tater, my wife, my sister, and so many other folks. It was awesome. I truly don’t remember much about this 2 miles or so, accept how much fun it was. I hugged everyone.

I did the old turn into the finish as a joke thing (It was funny to me) and then pointed to it and said “I’ll see you in a bit).

At this point I am pretty tired and nasty. ERY NASTY. I have sticky, hot, salty skin. I’ve been hugging so many people who are more than likely no longer my friends because of that!!! I WAS NASTY!

Good news is that I was at my run special needs bag. In that bag I had a small towel that I soaked in water and then put in a BIG ziplock bag. Oh it was so refreshing. I almost stripped down and took a towel bath . . .

I changed socks, which I would highly recommend and I ate my last small bag of Pringles. Yeah, Yeah, make fun of it all you want to – It was such a welcoming treat . . . YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY!

Jeff has left a card in my special needs back. He had Amanda put it in there for me. Another very nice touch and very welcomed, thank you Jeff.

After refreshing and revitalizing I was ready to head out for my 2^nd loop of 13.1 miles. I remember looking at my garmin and feeling happy about my pace to this point, but worrying whether or not I could hold that pace. Only time would tell.

I hugged several more friends and kissed my wife and baby (man it is hard to stay unemotional when you kiss your baby during a race) and began the final leg of this ultimate goal – I would be an Ironman. I would be.

I will complete the run report soon. Sorry it is taking so long.

Work was very demanding at the end of the year and I had surgery on this past Tuesday (which will be another blog report in itself).

Before and After . . .

JUST A LITTLE FLASH BACK!

Let's Ride 112 miles!

This is the link to the IRONMAN video – I show up about the middle-ish. Red Transition black spuik helmet – BIG OLE BOY – eating a sandwich!!!

If you want to go directly to where I am in the video – PUT the play cursor (the circle that moves while video is playing) right above the A in ironmAn.

http://www.ironmanflorida.com/index.php?dir=RaceVids/imfla&vidname=RaceVid-2009-FLA-low&playtype=mov&w=320&h=260

Let’s go ride 112 miles!

Before I begin my Ironman race recap – Let me apologies for taking so long with my Race Report. It is a very busy time at the end of the year, but I will complete this in its entirety by next week.

Now to the good stuff!

As I jogged through transition I repeated my cycling mantra – EASY DOES IT!

Again, I had good people sharing their experiences with me (Which I suggest everyone do.) regarding the do’s and don’ts of an Ironman. I heard loud and clear from each of them . . . Don’t go out too hard on the bike. They warned me of the experience and the push you may get from the cheering spectators and then once that is over I might experience the desire to push hard when someone passes me in the first couple miles. “Stay focused, stay calm, stay easy” is what I was told and I did just that, but it wasn’t easy.

As I jumped on the bike I could hear the screams of people around me, “GO 1129!” or the same ole “Go Big Boy!” (I think I will always be big boy!!!) When you ride through the chute it is exciting and remains so until you get on the first stretch of road along the beach. People are cheering you on non-stop in that stretch on Thomas Drive, but I just settled in remained calm within myself and began to think about the day.

Once I was on the gulf front road I was surprised at how low my HR was while I was holding 23mph? Odd? I was passed about 4 or 5 times and it WAS difficult to sit back, but I had my plan and I was going to stick with it. The good news was that I was passing many more folks (Not that I get pleasure out of that, but If I am being passed, I don’t mind passing!) After about 4 miles I felt ready to roll. My sea legs were gone quickly, which I didn’t expect.

As we turned North headed to the only real hill on the course (which is an overpass) I noticed the wind pick up slightly. From this point it would be about 20 miles until the turn east. They have been doing a great deal of work on this hwy. I have ridden the Gulf Coast Half course many times and this road has changed over the years.

There was a guy with a cowbell wearing a cowboy had and an accent. I am not sure, but I think it was Australian? He would park across the hwy, come over and cheer us on with his cowbell. Then jump in his car ride ahead 20 miles or so and cheer us on again. He did this the entire ride. I appreciated it, A LOT!

I saw him the first time about 3 miles before the overpass. My goal on the overpass . . . SPIN BABY SPIN! But some may argue with my spin method. See, I never ever get out of the big ring. I know I am working on it! As I reached the top of the overpass I felt great. As I descended at a wicked speed I used my same old boring on bike conversation starter, as I would fly past people – I say “Man if this were an all down hill triathlon!” I know, goofy, but for some reason I feel guilty flying by everyone!!!???

The road surface after the overpass was smooth as a baby’s butt. The next 15 or so miles were heaven. I thought to myself, (self) if this is what the day has in store for me – Today will be a GREAT day!

JINX!

It wasn’t 2 seconds after we made the right turn east onto hwy 20 that I was introduced to some really sucky headwind! I told myself it wasn’t going to last . . .

As I passed the first penalty tent I hollered out to my peeps! Luke, Vanilla, and all those folk were working the first penalty tent. It was nice seeing them if only for a second.

The wind never let up. The long stretch on Hwy 20 was miserable. There were a couple highlights.

As I was at about mile 50 a van pulled up beside me and the rear tailgate was up and there was a guy with a camera. I said hello. Of course I am eating!!!! Speaking of . . .

I am a planner. It is what I do for a living. I plan everything to a T. Here was my nutrition. At the top of every hour I had an Uncrustable peanut butter and honey sandwich, 200 calories. These are great. My friend Caroline introduced them to me. They are in the frozen section of your supermarket. At the 15 minute mark I would take in 2 endurolites from Hammer Nutrition and lots of fluid (I use NUUN cola). At the 30 minute mark I take in one gel which I use Hammer Banana and again, lots of fluid. At the 45 minute mark I take 2 more endurolites and more fluid. Then repeat this every hour!

This is the link to the IRONMAN video – I show up about the middle-ish. Red Transition black spuik helmet – BIG OLE BOY – eating a sandwich!!!

If you want to go directly to where I am in the video – PUT the play cursor (the circle that moves while video is playing) right above the A in ironmAn.

http://www.ironmanflorida.com/index.php?dir=RaceVids/imfla&vidname=RaceVid-2009-FLA-low&playtype=mov&w=320&h=260

I was holding my goal of LOW heart rate. Taking it really easy. This was my first IM and I wasn’t going to blow up. But, I was a little frustrated to be going 16-17mph heading east on Hwy20. BUT THEN . . .

We turned South.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!! I averaged 25mph on the short stretch south before heading to 388 west. I felt great. I had just stopped at my special needs bag and re-lubed (you can’t do this enough!) I dug into my small bag of Pringles (yeah yeah – I’ve heard enough from you skinny tri freaks of nature on my Pringles – It worked for me!) and I was off.

How funny was this – My Momma drove all the way out to the turn to see me pass – I was literally making the turn and she was getting out of her car with her chair and all to set up shop!!!! How funny! I love you Momma!!!!!

I held a pretty nice speed and a low HR all the way up to 388 where we turn right for about 6 miles then make a U-Turn and come back. THIS ROAD SUCKED!!!!!!!!

Not only was the wind back in our face but this road surface was miserable. MISERABLE!!!!!!! I think the only good news was that I THINK the road was so bad at a perfect place in the race (about the middle) and it made the remaining bike spectacular!

When we did make the U-Turn . . . The road was still crappy, BUT the wind was beneath our wings!

My next concern was the Gulf Coast Half IM course on 388 heading west is UGLY and the road surface is not pretty. But to my surprise . . . THEY have redone the road surface and this road is now like BUTTER!

I couldn’t have been happier. As I passed the last penalty tent ON THE COURSE I hollered out to my friends Susan and Nancy and Greg Cole who were working that tent.

I was having a hard time holding back and keeping my HR at the 145 to 155 I had set for myself. But I knew I had to because my run is so horrible.

As I came to the overpass I powered up it and knew I was home free and feeling well. Just before we turned onto the Overpass road I saw my friend with his cowbell and he gave me a “Cheers! Good job!” I thanked him and headed to the house!

When I hit gulf front road and headed towards transition . . . I admit – I picked it up a little. I also did what I said I wouldn’t . . . As I hit the chute off of Thomas Drive I was a little hyper. After New Orleans 70.3 I thought I had learned not to act a fool and exert a lot of un-needed energy. NOT!

I hollered and screamed like a moron. I flew into transition – gave up my bike and headed to get my transition bag.

As I did I saw my friend Will. He is a hell of an athlete and a better coach/trainer. I don’t plug things on here. This is his website and he does a hell of a job.

http://www.4thdimensionfitness.net/

I was all kind of pumped up! I grabbed my Transition bag and headed into the transition room.

Good news was – Not so many swinging Richards this time!

I sat down and took off my cycling shorts. I wore my tri shorts underneath and I think it worked out very well. I lubed again! This time I hit my toes and between my toes really well. I thanked the transition team and headed out to run 26.2 miles.

Up to this point I am loving life!

Run Race report coming soon!

RACE DAY!

Let’s have sum fun!

3:13am Wake.

3:15am Eat micro waved breakfast burrito – Begin hydrating

4:00am Shower

4:45am Meet Greg and Nancy in Lobby for ride to Race Site

5:00am Double check bike, inflate tires, fill Speedfill, relax!

7:00am GO TIME!

Sounds easy enough right! Right?

Here we go.

I woke right at 3:00am which was fine and threw my breakfast in the microwave and double checked my special needs bags. My friend Vanilla left me with many pieces of wisdom and one was – LESS IS MORE – and I took it to heart. I had minimal items in both special needs bags and on my bike. I had the most stuff in my bike special needs bags. And minimal items in my run bag. I will post in another post what I had in all of my gear and special needs bags .

After eating my breakfast slowly and sipping on Gatorade with Hammer pre race fuel in it I decided I didn’t want to wait for my show and jumped in about 3:30am.

After a LONG hot shower I LUBED BABY! I was determined not to have a single chafe issue. I had Boudreaux’s Butt Paste in every crack and crevasse on my body. I thought I might slide out of my tri shorts when I put them on!

All morning I visualized my day. One sport at a time seeing myself finish with smiles at each point. After having a good 5-minute one on one time sitting on the balcony I headed down to meet my friends Greg and Nancy. How awesome are they. They were volunteers on the bike course, but woke extra early to take the stress off of me worrying about driving and finding a parking spot etc. They were also full of wise advice for me.

After arriving at the race site (which was like an ant farm!) I dropped my bike special needs bag at its point then walked my run special needs bag off down by Alvin’s. I felt like I should have been a little more stressed, but I was reasonably calm with all things considered . . . Would that last?

After pumping my tires up to 110 and filling my speedfill hydration system, I went through the rest of the check list . . .

I had my cycling shorts on over my tri shorts and was wearing my race top as well. Bike was in race mode. Computers all zero-ed and head was on my shoulders.

As for my bike and transition area . . . Good to go.

I headed up to the boardwalk condo where my wife, sister, and baby girl were in a dead sleep when I arrived! I kissed Amanda on the cheek and rubbed Melaina’s belly as I have done every morning since her birth.

My friend Lance, who Amanda was staying with at Boardwalk, was also racing today. We hung in the living area for a bit, took some pictures, and I am sure we were both thinking about our day.

It was time.

Our wetsuits half on and my gonads in my throat we headed to the beach. I met Lance’s Mom and Dad on the way and we again took a few more pics of Lance and the family.

I saw my friend Andy and a few others as I hit the cool white sand. “Here we are” I thought to myself. “Hew were are.”

As I walked down the beach to the swim start I was visualizing and I was really caught up in the moment. I don’t want to say I was overwhelmed, but I was absolutely on the verge of suffocating inside of myself.

Here were my thoughts.

“I was 453 lbs 5 years ago. I am still so big now at 240lbs. Can I do this? I can do this. I WILL DO THIS. Shit. (BIG SIGH) Where’s my wife? My Dad? (Big Sigh) Wow there are a lot of people out here. (I laugh to myself) I forgot my 2^nd wave starts here – sign! (Laugh again – out loud I think) This is going to rock. Remember to smile all day. “

Then a familiar voice from behind. It’s Gloria, Scott, and Charles (Vanilla)!!! What great faces to see just before I take off.

I was having problems with my wetsuit and how awesome to have the two people I trust the most when it comes to triathlon right there to help me. They pulled my suit up and got it into a perfect fit position for me. Zipped me up and offered some encouraging words. Scott suggested I take off my chain with my cross off. He was worried about chafing – But call me crazy but, I couldn’t do it. Yes – I regretted later when it came to the pain and chafing, but mentally and spiritually I am glad I had it.

After hugs to them I head the announcement that the pros were about to start . . . WHAT!!!!!

I wasn’t even close to the corral yet. How do I get into the Corral?????? Oh man! There were so many people. I was politely saying excuse me for a while then PURE PANIC SET IN!!!!! I think I put a little old lady in the sand face first at one point! I ran to the front and went into the water and then into the corral. Whew.

About this time I am standing in the very back of the racers. Wow. I was taking in all of the red caps. All of the people. Then I heard my wife yelling for me.

I can’t explain exactly what happened here, but I just saw them. I simply walked over and looked and my wife and child and this burst of emotion took over and began to pour out of me. I didn’t begin to cry, but I had a physical reaction to this little emotional episode. Like I said I can’t explain it, but I was as close as a big grown burley man can be to tears without actually crying?????

Then the National Anthem began and I sang like a rock star!

Here we GO!!!!!!!!!!!

The cannon went off and I began to walk. My mind told me what was going on, but my legs were well in front of me. They were on a mission.

The water was cool but not cold. The churn ahead of me was less intimidating than I thought it would be, but more beautiful. All of those bodies with their red swim caps, fighting to take full swim strokes while someone else was stuck in their arm pit . . . It was awesome.

I’d say the first 250 meters was not really swimming, but more surviving and half stroking. I hit a few people and felt bad. I was kicked and then I didn’t feel as bad about those I accidentally hit!!! HA! The water was pretty nice on the way out on the first loop. I finally got into a rhythm at about the 600 meter mark.

I spoke to soon.

I had a guy who was a faster swimmer than me, but a much worse spotter. I stayed positive even after the 3^rd or 4^th time he crossed literally right over top of me. The poor guy probably ended up swimming 3 miles since he zig-zagged the entire course. I decided to sit up for just a second and let him get a little in front of me. MISTAKE!!!!!

There were more people behind me and around me than I thought. I quickly got back into my stroke and battled with a few folk for another 200 or 300 meter until we hit the first turn to the left. The water had begun to sell just a little. It was getting kinda rough. But after the first turn I began to hit a little bit of a rhythm.

I am not sure I mentioned this yet . . .

My goal for the first 127.5 miles of this day was to keep a LOW LOW LOW Heart Rate and never feel I was exerting too much at all. I was afraid of that proverbial “wall” everyone talks about. So I was taking it easy on my swim and felt great up to this point.

As we began the stretch back to the beach on our first loop I ended up right next to a female swimmer. We were stroke for stroke. Our cadence, speed, everything was identical. It was nice having her on my right. I didn’t have to worry about anyone or anything on that side. Thank you nice lady from England who ever you were.

When we came up to the beach to cross the timing mat on our first loop I saw my family.

Here was what happened throughout the day when I saw family . . . Stop, hug, kiss, tell them how happy I am that they are at the race . . . Move on. We will talk about this more in the report, but I would say I spent about 20 minutes of my day doing this – BUT I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT!

I felt strong after the first 1.2 miles of the swim. I was a little faster than I thought I would be and I was happy about that. I talked to the nice lady I swam beside for a second – Hence me knowing she was from the UK. Then It was back into the swim!

I am not sure how this happened and how many others noticed this, but the water was ROUGH on the second loop.

Spotting was very difficult on this second loop since I couldn’t see over the swells at some points. People were all over the place on the second loop. It wasn’t too bad on the way out, but when we made the first turn, it was obvious what we were in for and it were not purdy!!!!

At one point I came through my stroke and as my right hand came over and I went to breathe on my right side . . . There was no water?!!! I looked ahead and the front part of my chest was in the air and I was looking down at the water and BAM! I was drinking a nice mouth full of gulf water! Oh it sucked! I buckled in and tried swimming with the waves timing my spotting so that I was looking ahead when I was on top of a wave.

I don’t want to over blow the waves. They weren’t surfing height or “Perfect Storm” crazy, but they were 3 footers with white caps and I wasn’t really happy about it.

The turn back to the beach was a welcomed affair, but the waves were still a pain in da booty since I wasn’t able to ever really able to get into a rhythm. I like swimming with some type of rhythm. I know you can expect that in an open water gulf swim, but this was a little more ugly than I expected.

The other great part about the stretch back to the beach is the spotting. It is so easy to spot since you just have to pick out the condo at Boardwalk and swim to the building to the left. EASY.

As I stood in the water – knowing I had finished round one – 2.4 miles of gulf swimming – I was happy. I saw my friends and family! It was so easy to spot them now!!! WHY? Because I am so slow in the water most people had followed their friends racing into transition and I was one of the few still in the water!! HA!

I’ll give you one guess as to what happened next?

Yep. I hugged everyone! EVERYONE!

I headed into transition. I decided to strip my wetsuit myself. I don’t like sitting on the sand and getting sand all over. I do a standing wetsuit removal. And I think it is just as fast as laying down having someone rip off our suit and standing up, then going. I don’t know?? But I stay sand free.

Second EXCELLENT piece of wisdom from my friend Vanilla . . . Take your time in the shower. Get all of the sand and salt water off of you. I almost took a shower I was under there so long! I stood far to the right so I wouldn’t be in the way, but I showered and showered!

What an experience the transition room is . . . Swinging Richards everywhere! I was worried about sitting down. I had my race gear under my wetsuit so I only had to re lube a bit and put on the shoes, helmet, glasses, and rub down with a little pain gel . . .and I was OUTTA THERE! There was just too much nakedness in their for me. Maybe I was having an inferiority complex? Nah!!!!!!!

As I ran out of the transition room I saw several people I knew and was ready for the sun-screen application. I asked the nice volunteer to lather me up and she did for the most part.

SUGGESTION: When you ask the volunteer to apply your sun-screen ask them to get under your race bib a little. She covered me very well – except for on my back right by the race bib area. Jump ahead to the next week and I had 2^nd degree burns with blisters and all. Take time to handle this right in transition or it won’t be pretty.

I saw my family up on the hill and blew them kisses. As the volunteer was bringing my bike a recognizable face ran up to me. It was a volunteer, BUT it was also the guy I rode the sag wagon with at redman half after my third flat. He flatted twice as well. We had a good ride back in the support vehicle in Oklahoma. Neither of us was happy, but it was nice meeting him and nice seeing him in the transition area. He is from the Boston area I think . . . Wish I’d gotten his name. Nice surprise.

Swim done. T1 Done.

Bike race report soon!