Plymouth Iron Distance Tri - The Run

Seeing the finish for the bike was heaven. I was an angry man coming in those last few miles on the bike, but I gotta tell you, it all went away as soon as I hit T2. I made a quickly changed into some clothes that I hadn't been peeing in for the last 5+ hours and put on my running shoes. I chose to run in the same tri shorts and top that I'd run all of my long runs in. For the most part all of my long runs in training were enjoyable so I was hoping mentally there would be a connection.

I was able to see two of my buddies waiting for in T2. My only words to them were, "well, I've swam 2.4 miles, biked 112, it only makes since now to run a marathon. Sounds like a great idea!" I was jesting a little, but I was forcing myself not to concentrate on the distance that lay ahead of me. I wanted to treat the run as just another training day. Slow and easy.

It took my garmin .8 miles before it linked up. I made the mistake of not turning it on while I was changing. Once I was able to check my pace I discovered I'd run the first mile in 7:48. Too fast. I slowed myself down to my planned 9 minute pace and started chugging along. Nutrition wise, I couldn't imagine having to consume any more gatorade or gels. The aid stations had plenty of both, but they also had bananas, coke, and water. I passed on the coke for moment and started throwing down the bananas and water. This tasted great.

The first 1/2 Mary was a breeze. My pace was dead on. Legs felt good, but I could tell that I was going to need to start taking in a gel or two. My energy was starting to drop and the bananas weren't tasting so good anymore. Around mile 18 I hit a gel and started implementing a run walk protocol. Run .75 and walk .25. This worked really well, but as with most participants it's the last 10K that gets you. This was where my run walk ratios kinda did a flip and my pace dropped considerably. I was still in good spirits and overall felt great. I was just bonking. I had started hitting coke, gels, and water at the aid stations, but couldn't replenish my energy. No worse for wear though, I hit mile 24 with a renewed sense of drive and decided that I would run the last two miles. I made the call to my legs, but no one was home. I called again and got a busy signal. I decided just to do what I could. I managed to run the majority of the last mile, but made sure that I slowed down enough to give everyone lining the finish line a high 5 and to thank God for the opportunity to race. Marathon time was 4:23. With a total IM time of 11:37.

The sense of accomplishment raised my energy level to a point that made it look like I might have dogged it during the race, but it was all adrenaline. I have to say that I gave it my all. I can't wait to give it a go again and see if I can improve. If not, so be it. I had the best time of my life during the race. I couldn't imagine a better way to end the year.

(the time on the clock shows the total time since the first wave start, not my time)