It has now been about six days since I gutted out another ironman.  When I look big picture, I can tell you that was my second worst performance EVER! Should I really be whining. I went 9:45:55 with a 70 min swim, a 5:10 bike and a 3:18 run.  When you break it down individually, the swim ain’t so bad because I was not wearing a wetsuit.  The bike was still the 20th fastest overall, and the run was still under 3:20 even as the wheels were falling off.  In the grand scheme of things, I have nothing to complain about.  Despite coming off an ironman four weeks prior, I finished respectably.

Ok, let’s get critical…I wanted more and I am not so happy.  I thought I had the legs to get back to it, I was wrong.  Experiment was a failure, not a complete failure, but a failure.  The non-wetsuit swim really hurt me and showed off my inablity to get it done in the water, STILL.  My bike numbers were good (not great) the first lap and fell off in the second lap (fatigue finally getting the better of me).  I came off the bike within striking distance of the top 10, so I ran what I needed to run for the first seven miles.  At which point, IM CDA jumped on my back.  It was not a fun last 19 miles, and I was not in a good way personally when I finished.

The beauty of finishing where I did, allowed me to run with a good friend, Tim Tapply, who won his age group, and another one of his buddies Pat who took third in the same group. I witnessed Tim Snow run into fifth and had Caitlin pass me on her way to second overall.  All this happened on the second lap, and I got to be cheerleader which lifted my spirits and got me through the day.  I was so stoked for these Bostonites, especially for Tim and Tim, they so deserved it.

I am glad I did the race because on paper I could have easily sat at my computer in Boulder and penciled myself into 5th place.  The reality was I did not have the chops to do the quick turnaround.  My numbers were actually better going into Placid than going into IM CDA, so there are possibilities that I over did it even when I was trying not to.  These are things Dr. Phil and I will have to work out for the future.  I have no regrets, because one should never go through life saying “what if.”

For now, I am thinking about the Rev3 ironman, not quite a 100% yet, TBD by late next week.  I don’t want to do another ironman half-assed, but the season is actually drawing to a close quicker than I would like.  Between now and September, I got some fun stuff.  Tomorrow, well… I will blog about tomorrow next week.  In two weeks I will likely do the Pearl Street Mile and then I fly home and I might do the Striders Mile.  The Striders Mile is going to be on Pam’s track and how cool would it be to go and run fast for her even as I am in the midst of this ironman adventure.

To all my supporters, Gu, 2xu, Dr. Phil (physfarm.com), ZealOptics, thanks for another good race.  Most importantly, I have to thank Brandon (the wrench) and Colorado Multipsort.  On Tuesday(before the race), the rear derailleur hanger broke on my P3.  Within, 5 hours, I had gotten a frame and Brandon had rebuilt my bike so I could fly out early Wednesday morning.  Many people think the bike shops in Boulder are sub-par for the amount of cyclists we have.  Yeah, that is very true, but Colorado Multisport, the shoebox sized store, is really too small for its great people and helpful service.  I was asked if my predicament stressed me out, answer, “NOPE! I got my CMS boys to take care of me.”  Thanks for the good work, I apologize for not doing better this go ’round. You guys keep the vehicle in top condition, let me get the engine right for next time.