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Morning
Race morning I woke up at 4AM, and immediately downed my ritualistic Ironman breakfast (2 cans of Boost (with added protein) and 2 Oatmeal Raisin PowerBars - almost 1100 calories) before popping into the shower for a quick and relaxing wake-up call. I then got changed into the clothes I would wear under my wetsuit and on the bike and waddled (literally) out for body marking and the transition area.
The morning weather seemed perfect for an Ironman. Still, warm, and sunny. No weather conditions to blame for bad performances today. After being body marked, I checked my transition bags to make sure they were still fine (they were) and headed to pump my tires and put my fuel on my bike. I helped a guy pump up his disc wheel a few bikes to my left - good karma. I loaded my water bottles filled with Extran into my behind-the-saddle bottle holders, pumped up my own tires, then started to put on my wetsuit as I proceeded to the swim start area. After dropping off my special needs bags (both bike and run), I got into the water 20min before the start to get a good position and have a decent warmup. I'm a big believer in a good warmup ... even for Ironman. I seeded myself in about the middle of the pack - about where I expected to finish.
Graham Fraser, the Ironman North America President, then got on the megaphone to wish us luck and tell us about the new flag system for cancelling the swim in case of an emergency (a death occurred in Ironman Utah without an adequate way of warning athletes to stop swimming). But yeah, like I'd see flags in the distance in the middle of an Ironman swim. A woman then sung a beautiful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner and after "A Beautiful Day" by U2 boomed out of the loudspeakers. Funny, the same song was played before I started Ironman Austria in 2001. Then with a short countdown, Ironman USA 2002 started like they always do - with a big BOOM!
Swim
Right off the bat, I knew that I had seeded myself pretty decently. Although I was surrounded by 1700 other thrashing swimmers, I wasn't getting beaten up too bad at all. However, I did notice that I seemed to be swimming just slightly faster than most in my general vicinity as I had to slow down and then pull around people quite alot. Either I had slightly underestimated my ability, or others had overestimated theirs. Take your pick. I was able to keep a very good draft going into the first turn of the rectangular swim course. You must complete 2 laps of the course to complete the entire 3.8km distance.
At swimming turns, I am always surprised at the poor angles people often take and how many athletes actually stop or break into a breast-stroke clubbing those near them. It's a major pet peeve of mine. I took my coach's advice and stayed wide where I picked up a faster pair of feet to draft off. Sweet. The swim back to shore was less eventful as the crowd had started to thin out and I was with a group that was going almost the exact same speed as me.
As I neared shore for the first time, I got really juiced due to the volume of cheering from the crowd. I pictured my wife standing on the sidelines and wanted to look strong and confident just in case she saw me before heading out on my second lap. Of course, I didn't see her. But I did notice the clock as I came out of the water an it was 34min and change. Not bad.
At Ironman USA you must cross a strip of land before entering the water again for lap number two. I always find this a bit draining as it sucks to break your swimming rhythm, stand up, run for a short spurts, then go horizontal again and get back into your swimming rhythm. Too many blood rushes in a short amount of time.
My second lap was pretty uneventful. I hit a lull of boredom and arm fatigue as I turned for home, but I kept thinking about how joyous it would be to finally be out of the water and on solid land again. With 200-300m to go, I began to mentally go through my transition procedure as I concentrated on finishing strong. Pulled my tired carcass out of the water with a 1:10 on the clock. Right on time!
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