GCCMail: Hawaii Ironman is Awesome! - gccmail@simplelists.com

I finished!!! Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support:) REPORT: The swim was a little choppy with some currents, but I could see the bottom of the ocean, but for some reason, I only saw 3 fish! The bike was an awesome, challenging course! I love hills, so I had fun. The trip to Hawi (~mile 54-60) was a blast going 8-10.5 miles/hr. No really- I love a challenge. I just smiled I got rained on and had some winds, but really- I can't complain. The weather was overcast, so I was not HOT at all. It was really just right. Got off my bike, and couldn't run a step. My legs were complete lead. Felt like someone wrapped a 20lb weight to each leg and asked me to run. But, that heavy feeling went away after about the first 1-2 miles. The first half of the run went better than the last half. I stopped at every water station (every mile) and took my time (obviously) to refuel. I had some GI issues as all I ate all day was GU and GA, so I took several potty breaks. I am so sick of that stuff. Again, the weather was great and plus it got dark on me, so it was not too hot at all. Ran in the pitch dark on the lonely Queen K highway and had to really dig deep from within. Did some power walking and soul searching while I was out there, as I had foot issues and back cramps and just fatigue. My running pace was really slow, so my power walking was just a tad slower. I went back and forth. I saw a digital message on a sign from my family at mile 19.5, so that perked me up. I ran my butt off the last 1 mile to the finish line (not sure where that energy came from), but I felt great at the finish line. I got a brief flush massage and went home to have a (Coach Bob-close your eyes now) bowl of lucky charms and off to sleep.