Chapter 51: IMFL Race Recap, Part 2 (Friday--Practice Swim, Bike Check In)

 

    I thought that once I got back from Florida, I’d have all this disposable time to dedicate to writing my recap, processing the race, and planning the next big goal.  But I’m not sure where all that spare time has gone.  I’ve had something every single night, probably not any different than before, but now I don’t have the training to focus on in addition to everyday life.  So I’m hoping to get my recaps done in the next few days, with a special audio version, specifically requested/suggested by my Aussie friend, Ironman World Championship finisher, Tony Carveth. This part of the recap is going to cover Friday before the race with my practice swim, last bike and run, and bike check in.  Then I’ll get into Race Day with the pre-race routine and activities.  So here we go….

    After Thursday’s carb load dinner with the McGraws, Julie and I got to walk the pier at night since it was open to the public for free now that they had suspended fishing (guess they don’t like the sharks swarming looking for free food during the race).  Then it was an early bedtime to try and get some good sleep, figuring I wouldn’t sleep much the night before the race. 

    Friday morning was an official swim practice at the race start area on the beach at the pier.  7:00AM. Ironman had a couple of the buoys laid out in a 200-yard loop, just off shore. Fortunately, the wind had shifted back from the north and the waves and water were starting to calm down and flatten out! Great news looking ahead toward Saturday!!  I met up with Team Rocket Tri from Huntsville, and swam a couple of laps with them.  Thanks for adopting me in for the practice swim, and it was great meeting several of you.  I swam a couple of laps, getting used to the high salinity of the water and my wetsuit again.  Water was sitting right around 76 degrees and felt perfect in the wetsuit.  Saw some schools of fish, the water was clear, and I was loving it!  Julie came down and met me and I swam one more lap just because I could.  I wanted to keep swimming, but I didn’t want to overdo it as I still had a short bike and a last run to do before bike check in.

    Once I got back to the condo (5-minute walk!) I got my bike ready and hit the road for a quick 20 minute ride. Nothing crazy, just making sure that all my gears were good, everything was riding smooth, and keep the legs loose. On Thursday, I put some new bar tape on Bandit to spruce her up for my first full distance Ironman race.  Nothing like some bright neon green handlebars to start my bike ride the next morning after the swim.  I then knocked out a short 15-minute run, with part of it running to the end of the pier and back. Outside of running along the coast in San Diego last year, this might have been the best view on a run ever for me.  Remind me again why I live in Kansas?? Now it was time for bike check in.

    In all my previous 70.3 races, I only had to drop off my bike during bike check in.  I would then take all my bike needs (shoes, helmet, gloves, etc) and run gear (socks, shoes, visor, belt with bib attached) on race morning and lay those out right next to my bike. For a full Ironman though, I take everything that I’ll need in my transitions and drop those off with my bike.  So it was strange getting it all ready the day before, putting everything in the provided bags--blue bike transition bag and red run bag—and leaving them all in the transition area.  Julie and I walked down from the condo and started with my bike.  **This is where the hot pink volunteer shirt came in handy…she came right in with me into the transition area and nobody said a word!**  I found my spot, 433, and racked my bike, making sure that my gears were adjusted to a good starting gear so I didn’t have to think about that as I got going the next day. 

    I dropped off my blue bike bag with helmet, socks, gloves, tri suit, towel, sunscreen, and some Vaseline for the, ahem, more sensitive parts that begin to hurt after 5-1/2 hours on a hard bike saddle!  I then dropped off my red run back with socks, my Hoka Mach X2 race shoes, visor, sunglasses, running belt with bib attached, a couple of Maurten gels and another towel. These were both placed in the parking lot immediately adjacent to the changing tent in order of my race number.  Julie and I then walked back down to the beach.  I wanted to do a full walk-through of both transitions so there were no surprises on race morning.  We walked from the beach exit, down the main road towards the finish line, made our way to the bike bag and then to my bike.  It’s always good to get the full picture, since race morning it can get pretty crazy!  And that was it!  The last part done.  

    

    All there was left to do was get some morning things ready, pick up Dad at the airport and rest. Julie and I walked the pier again (because, why not?) and we had some great looks at huge schools of fish, up-close pelicans, jellyfish, and Julie even spotted a 4-foot reef shark!  I tried to get a picture, but it came out just a glare off the water.  I was getting excited.  Minus the jellyfish. But we only saw two, so they were the outcasts of the jellyfish world.  I would love to see a shark while swimming.......

    We picked Dad up from the airport, came back to the race venue and did another walk on the pier, because, why not?  There’s nothing more calming to me than a beach, sand, a pier, and the ocean.  Especially if it’s clear and calm.  I got a few pics at the finish line and really started mentally preparing myself for the following day. Time for dinner, spaghetti and some garlic toast, made in our condo kitchen, and relaxing watching game 6 of the World Series.  During my down time, Tony Carveth called me via FB Messenger Audio from Heatherton Victoria, Australia, just outside of Melbourne.  We talked for a few minutes, and he gave me some great last-minute advice, encouragement, and reminded me to smile even in the hard times.  To enjoy every minute of the race.  Thanks, Tony, for the call.  It was a great surprise to see your name pop up on my caller ID, and I can’t tell you how much it meant to me that you took that time out of your morning to reach out.  Glad to call you mate.

    

    Race Day Morning!!  I actually slept pretty well, considering I thought I wouldn’t sleep at all.  I got up without an alarm at 4:45AM and was planning on walking down to transition at 5:30.  I ate two chocolate-chip Eggos with peanut butter and bananas and then Dad and I took my bottles of nutrition for my bike, two PB& J sandwiches and my two personal needs bags to get dropped off.  The bottles went onto my bike along with my bike computer, tires were checked, and everything looked good to go on Bandit. My bike personal needs bag contained an extra bike tire tube and CO2 cartridge, in the event that I would have a flat tire in the first half of the bike and then could replenish my spares. In my run personal needs bag, I had an extra pair of socks (my good ones so I would have dry socks for the second half of the run), a snack baggie with Nerd Clusters, and a travel bottle of Scope (thanks, Chad Koerner for that advice—came in big late in my day!)  I was ready to just hang out at the beach, but I had a lot more time than I thought due to the closeness of our condo, so we walked back up, I was able to use the bathroom one last time (no waiting for a portapotty), and then I made my way down to the beach. 

 

    It was now close to go time!  Air temp was about 50 degrees, but not cold.  The crowd of
green- and pink-capped athletes was growing, the sun was rising up over the water to the east, and it was exactly as I had envisioned the morning.  AND, I wasn’t nervous.  At all.  Which made me nervous.  But I was getting ready to go so much longer than I ever had in any workout.  And it was all going to start with a swim in just a few short minutes. A year of training came down to the next 12-13 hours.

Stay tuned for the next blog post with the race day part of my recap, starting with the two-loop swim, working through the 112 miles on the bike, slogging my way on the run, and then wrapping up in the finish line chute.  I truly am still not sure I actually did this crazy thing. I have all the pictures, memories, and videos to prove it, but it still seems like a dream.  Spoiler alert though. I loved every minute.  Even the hard parts.

Thanks for hanging with me.  So much to unpack as I have continued to process slowly over the last two weeks.  It will be great to go back in a few years and re-read all of this year’s blogs and remind myself that I can do hard things. 

And, as always, thanks for following along.  I say it each time, but knowing people from all over the world were watching and cheering me on kept my mind focused.  And it all worked out. 

Show up, Keep Fit, Stay THE Course, Focus, and Keep Moving Forward

CPC

Olathe, KS

11/15/25