Chapter 52: IMFL Race Recap, Part 3 (Everything Race Day--Swim, Bike, Run, & Finish Line!)

 

    Race Day!  It was a LONG day but an absolutely great day. Here’s all the details from my 12-1/2+ hours on the course two weeks ago. A 2.4 mile swim in the Gulf of America, 112 miles of biking through the Florida country side (and behind a grocery store) and then 26.2 miles of ocean-front road to finish out an epic day.  Along with T1 and T2 (transitions) between disciplines.  This might be a long one, but it was a long day.  So here we go….

Swim (2.4 miles):

    

    The water was calm.  75.1 degrees.  A chill in the air made the sand cold as I walked off the boardwalk towards the start line.  I gave Julie and my dad a last hug before finding my swim pace group.  They had signs with the times that you expect to swim, and normally, they are your pace per 100 meters.  So I lined up in the 1:41-1:50 group.  Then I had the realization that for the full Ironman, the signs were for my total time!  So I was in the wrong place. Several other came to the same conclusion at the same time and I started weaving  my way through the crowd of wetsuits to the 1:21-1:30 group.  I was expecting about a 1:24 swim, hopefully a little faster. It was all going to be up to the current, crowd, and depending on if I could get into a comfortable pace keeping my HR under control. 

    I wasn’t nervous at all, which scared me a bit.  I think it came down to the fact that I couldn’t comprehend the entire day at one time, so I was just focused on the swim, and I was excited about that.  The PA announcer was giving a motivational speech, and I just was taking it all in. The cannon went off at 6:45AM after the national anthem, and now it was hurry up and wait to creep towards the water line.  I had a bottle of water and downed a Maurten gel and some water, and then used the rest of the water for my goggles.  I came up to the start line where 4 swimmers every 3 seconds started off of the beach.  I took the far east chute and the timer beeped.  And I was off! 

    

    I did a slow jog into the small rolling waves, walking/half-jogging until I got to about waist-deep.  I dove under one more small wave and started a nice smooth stroke and began going buoy to buoy.  Visibility was about 20 feet and it was such a fun experience to be able to see past my elbow in open water.  Every time I took a breath on my right, I had a view of the pier.  I kept telling myself “You’re doing an Ironman!”, and then put my head back down and looked for fish (didn’t see any yet).  Once I made it out past the pier, about ¼ mile, the water turned to a gray-blue but it was still clear.   I had to go another ¼  mile or so beyond the pier, and I made two right turns and headed back into shore.  Coming back in, I was about halfway down the pier when I came across a large school of fish. I did see a jellyfish once on the first loop, but it wasn’t close enough to worry me. 

    

    The swim was a two-loop course, with an “Aussie Exit”.  I had to come out of the water, run back under the pier and then head back into the water for another time around.  I got my first chance to see Julie and Dad (he was handing out water at the mid-swim aid station).  I had a gel up my wetsuit sleeve and was able to get some extra energy before hitting the waves again, and clear the salt water out of my mouth.  Then it was loop #2.  I made it around the pier again and started my swim back to the beach.  I was sighting on the roofline of the Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville restaurant for my marker.  With just a few hundred yards to go, my right calf gave a twinge of a cramp, so I just quit kicking with that leg for a bit. Another big school of fish, a jellyfish that bounced off my chest because I missed it when trying to sweep it away from me (no tentacles on these little guys), and then I hit the shallows.  There was about 30 yards of too-shallow-to-swim water, so I began fast-walking up to the dry sand.  I came out of the water, and as I crossed the timing mat, my watch said 1:16! I had a great swim!  And I wanted to do it again.  I was having fun….

T1 (Swim to Bike):

    A short run up the boardwalk ramp from the beach to the road and I had to get my wetsuit off.  This race had wetsuit peelers (I like the previous term of wetsuit strippers better), and I had my wetsuit pulled down to my waist.  Lay on your back, put your feet up in the air, and the volunteers just pull your wetsuit off in no time.  Back on my feet and heading towards the transition area, there was a freshwater shower area set up with PVC pipes.  I took more time than I should have to make sure I had as much salt water off of me as I could.  Then I ran down the road, made a turn and called out my race number.  A volunteer had my bike bag ready for me and I made my way into the changing tent where I dried off, changed into a tri suit, put my swim gear in the bike bag, and then ran out to go get on my bike.  Now, that sounds fast, but it took me a while.  I had issues getting my suit on as it was sticking to my wet shoulders, so the guy next to me gave me hand.  Did I mention he was nekkid?? Yeah, all new experiences in a full Ironman. I wolfed down a  PB& J, dropped my bag at my bike, pulled Bandit off the rack and headed towards the start line with a pit stop at the port-a-john.  Then it was on the bike for the next 6 hours or less. Total T1 time: 16:27. Time just got away from me.  Oh well. 

Bike (112 miles):

    The bike was a long ride.  Once I got out of the congested transition area, I got down into aero position and just started pedaling.  The wind was about 8-10 MPH, and I can’t say I ever really felt like It was a factor.  The bike course is one loop with several out and back legs coming off that loop.  The course took me north and east to start, looping back to the west, crossing intercoastal waterways, and  through Pine Log State Forest.

        I was able to stay in aero position for the majority of the ride, and kept a pedal cadence between 85-95 RPM’s.  That’s my sweet spot and I felt great throughout the whole ride at that cadence, HR and speed.  Every 5 miles, my bike computer alerted me to drink, so that was my reminder to take 6 squeezes of my Tailwind nutrition.  I also had my hydration system between my aerobars with just water for whenever I needed it. At mile 53, my personal needs bags were at the aid station. I stopped, laid my bike down in the grass, and pulled my 3 empty bottles out of their cages.  The volunteers were great and refilled my 3 bottles while I refilled my hydration system and downed a half of a PB&J.  I made this a quick stop and got back into the groove after mixing my Tailwind into the bottles. Since I hadn’t had a flat tire, I didn’t need my extra tube and CO2 cartridge, and I wasn’t willing to just have those thrown away so I put them into the back pockets of my tri suit. Back on the road.

    My current men’s Bible Study has us memorizing Scripture, so along with my nutrition intake every 5 miles, I would recite the Scripture that we had been working on.  I wasn’t thinking about how much longer I had to go or how long I had already been.  I just focused on the next 5 miles, my next nutrition and the next round of reciting Scripture.  And the miles and time just kept on ticking away.  At mile 80, I stopped for a minute and used the port-a-john as I’m not willing to pee ON my bike.  Between that stop and the end of 112 miles, I lost track of time.  I can’t tell you much about it as it seemed to stretch on forever and time slowed down.  Still did the every-5-miles, and I was keeping my good cadence and speed, but I think I was just ready to get off the bike. The last 12 miles or so had a couple of goofy course quirks, one of which was riding around the backside of a Publix grocery store.  Nothing like riding next to pallets, dumpsters and tractor trailers parked behind the building.  This was so the store could remain open since their only parking lot accesses would have been blocked off if the course just went straight past.  Strange, but not a big deal.  There was also a small segment where there were some mats laid down on the grass/off-road area to get to a trail to be able to circle around to other side of the main road. 

    But then it was the final stretch heading back east along the beach road to get to the finish.  My longest ride to date at that point was 106 miles, so I went right through that personal record.  I came into the transition time with 3 empty bottles, and my butt telling me that it was done sitting on a bike.  I was shooting for under 6 hours, and my speed goal was around between 18.7 and 19.2 MPH.  I finished with a 19.56 MPH average, and I was higher than that when I was moving.  The two stops dropped that a little, but I got off my bike at 5:43:10, and I was still having fun. Just glad to be off my bike and heading towards the final  (long) stretch. 

T2 (Bike to Run):

    This transition was a lot faster.  As I came to the bike finish line, I dismounted Bandit and handed it to the bike catcher.  Another strange experience to not have to re-rack my own bike.  But it was good to get the legs moving on solid ground.  I walked/jogged through the run bag pick up, grabbed my bag from the volunteer, and made a much faster transition.  Just changed socks, shoes, and put on my visor and running belt with number.   All my bike gear went into my run bag, handed that to a volunteer, and started toward the run exit. 

    And then I saw Julie.  Um, yeah. That hit me unexpectedly. I had been doing just fine until then but when I saw her, some weird emotion came over me.  I wasn’t drained, I wasn’t in doubt, I wasn’t defeated.  But having her there meant all the world to me right at that moment. I also knew I had a long run ahead of me and I needed the support to finish strong. A quick hug boosted me, I gave Dad a fist bump and hug, and off I went down the exit to the main drag.  No big tears, just a wave of love for my biggest supporter and thankfulness that she was there.  T2 time—6:49. Much better than T1! 

Run (26.2 miles):

    Ah, the run.  My nemesis.  Even though I started this entire journey with running half- and full-marathons, I struggle the most with the run.  I have learned to love the swim (especially if it’s in clear, calm, fish-filled water), and love the bike.  But the run.  Oh, the run. 

    I knew that without a run, there is no finish line.  I put the swim behind me. The bike behind me.  And started focusing on each mile ahead of me.  One aid station at a time. Each one was one mile apart. My plan was to run to each aid station, then walk from the first trashcan to the last trashcan.  That lasted for the first 5 miles or so.  Then….my right quad decided that it was tired and let me know by starting to cramp up.  Ruh-roh, Shaggy. I was expecting this, but not now.  Like in 10-14 more miles.  So I fast walked/jogged as I could.  Then….my left leg got jealous.  Wanted part of the action.  So now I had TWO cramping legs.  Nothing debilitating, but annoying.  I began taking as much electrolytes as I could at each aid station.  Water, electrolytes, more electrolytes, and then more water.  With a Maurten gel every 30 minutes.  The cramps weren’t getting better, but they weren’t getting worse, either. 

    The run was a two-loop 6.5+ mile each-way course along Ocean Front Rd.  Beach and condos on the south side of the road, and tourist shops and seafood restaurants on the north side. Not the most exciting route ever, but hey!  There’s the beach!  I hit the first turnaround, and made my way back towards the halfway point, right by the finish line and our condo.  The cramps never really went away, but I kept moving forward and focused on the next aid station.  Before I knew it, I was at the 12-mile mark and had my condo in sight.  I could see it from 4 miles away, but it was now really close.  I made it to the halfway point, and picked up my personal needs bag.  I had put my good running socks in there to give my feet some fresh socks.  I made the mistake of sitting on the curb to change my socks.  I should have stepped off course and sat on a low wall.  It’s hard to change socks when your legs are still cramped up somewhat. But I got them on, put the travel bottle of scope in my back pocket, got to my feet, and started the 2^nd and final loop of the run. This was the only time during the day that I looked at my accumulated time.  Up to that point, I was fully focused on the next swim stroke, the next pedal stroke and the next run step.  But I was curious what time it was.  The sun was starting to go down behind me.  And my watch said somewhere around 10 hours.  It took a moment to sink in that I had been on the go for that long and I tried to do some mental math for my last half-marathon.  But race math is hard!  I gave up, knowing that I was going to be fine; I just had to keep moving forward.

    At the first aid station I came to around mile 14.5, I decided to eat some potato chips.   I had tried some pretzels on the first loop, and they just became a ball of bread in my mouth.  So I had spit that out. But the chips were a different story.  They went down fairly quickly, and the Coke at the aid station washed them down.  Water, electrolytes, chips, Coke, electrolytes, and more water.  That was my routine for the next 5 miles.  And crazy enough, the cramps started going away.  By the time I hit mile 18 or so, they were almost completely gone!  Maybe it was mind over matter, maybe it was my mental state knowing that I was on the back end, or most likely, it was the fact that I needed salt.  I didn’t do anymore gels for the last 10 miles of the run. 

    I finally got to the turnaround at mile 19.5.  For the last 6+ miles, I started thinking about that finish line. And Julie waiting there for me since her and Dad were volunteering at the finish line and would get to be there as I ran down that red carpet.  That same emotion I had when I saw her heading out to the run kept coming back to me at random moments.  Not because it was the finish line, it was who was there waiting for me.  Geez, she has me hooked. At the turnaround aid station, there was warm chicken broth at the end of the tables. Chad had told me about that and although it sounds horrible while running, it was the BEST thing ever. So now, here’s my aid station routine.  Water, electrolytes, chips, Coke, chicken broth, water.  Oh yeah, and a small gargle of Scope. That cleared all those flavors out and woke me up.  One mile at a time.  One aid station at a time. One step at a time.  Good conversation with other runners.  And the knowing that I had just a few short minutes (compared to my day already) to go until I finished this crazy thing.  The miles clicked down, and my best 4-1/2 miles were my last 4-1/2 miles of the marathon.  I was still having fun!! My legs felt good—tired, but good.  Then….

Finish Line!

    I made it to the condo, to the crossroads where I had to turn around 13 miles before, but this time I got to turn right to the final .2 miles to the finish line for which I’d been training for a year! I had been talking to other runners around me, and realized they were all on their first loop, so there wasn’t anyone around that would be with me in the finish chute.  I had it to myself!  As I ran down the final straightaway I could see the lights, hear the announcer, and realized I had done it.  Had I really done it?!  I knew there was supposed to be the first-timer bell, so I asked a volunteer to point it out.  There it was to the right of the finish chute just before the red carpet.  I gave the bell all the energy I had and high-fived several complete strangers at the bell. I’d been thinking about that bell just as much as the finish line. I didn’t want to miss it.  And I didn’t.  Then the red carpet was calling.  I glanced behind me, and I had the whole road to myself.  Final run time—5:10:45.

  

    Here it was.  The end of this year-long journey. The finish line. The public test of a private will.  The song “I Had Some Help” by Post Malone (featuring Morgan Wallen) was playing in the background. The announcer’s words hit my ears:  “The finish line is all yours, Chris.  Chris Curtis is from Kansas. Good job, Chris.  You Are An Ironman!”  I gave a little flex and then ended up with a weird “we’re off to see the Wizard” jig as I crossed. Or whatever that was!  I wasn’t planning that, but it worked and I won’t ever forget it.  

    And then there was Julie just past the bright lights.  A huge smile on her face.  A hot pink volunteer shirt on.  A cowbell around her neck. A water bottle in her hand.  The love of my life.  I wanted to kiss the first volunteer I came into contact after the finish line, and thankfully it was her. (Bonus reason for the Scope!) The emotions came again, but it was just raw elation seeing her   I looked back and saw my name and final time on the display board—12:33:20. Every moment of the last year led to this. And it was magical. I had fun the entire journey. And I made sure to smile even in the hard moments during the day.  Forever, I can say that:

I AM AN IRONMAN!

Final times:  

• Swim--1:16:12
• T1--16:27
• Bike--5:43:10
• T2--6:49
• Run--5:10:45
• FINAL--12:33:20    

    Whew. That was longer than I thought. If you’re still with me, I thank you. If you’re on day 2 of reading this, sorry.  It’s like Rachel’s letter to Ross in “Friends”….18 pages.  Front AND back! (If you know, you know.)  Thanks as always, for following along.  The final blog of this journey will be my post-race and final thoughts. 

CPC

Olathe, KS

11/16/25