Sorry for the write up delay but I've been really quite tired since yesterday. What an amazing weekend.I signed up for Ironman 70.3 in May and started running but immediately tweaked my right knee. I was actually sitting down at my desk one day, crossed legged, and pulled something while reaching for something. I had no idea how to train and probably started too much too soon. I think I developed really tight quads and hamstrings as I was not a runner and after a few runs I was already doing too much. A friend of mine owns an MRI center which led to his radiologist saying I had a meniscus injury. Two visits for orthos later, they said I was fine but to rest. The injury was away from the knee, and probably just strained the patella area. I took a vacation with my family in June and completely postponed the training until the end of June to heal up properly. During this time I read some books on ultra racing and getting some valuable education about training.I have been a cyclist for several years so I felt confident I would have that covered, but the running was the daunting task. I did some research on heart rate monitors and got a plan together regarding HR zones and decided to stick to HR Zone 2 (or on the run very low HR Zone 3) and build up my cardio. At this point I just couldn't run more than a mile without getting very winded and sending the heart rate through the roof. So I started doing some 3 mile runs in early August no matter how slow. If my HR got above 145 then I would walk until it got below. I kept on doing this and slowly added some distance over several weeks. On the bike I reduced the HR to 135. What this meant was that I was now averaging around a meager 16 mph and it was hard seeing people pass me but I knew that over time I would increase the speed. Slowly but surely, form late July through September, the average speed crept back up to my normal time of around 18mph and retaining a HR of around 135. By October, I felt like I could ride for days.Basically August and September the plan was a lot of slow long rides and slow running just trying to get up the mileage per run in an organized manner.However, in mid-September I started to get some bad pains in my right knee again. It didn't really hurt during the run, but afterwards I would be hobbling around. After scouring the internet I discovered the unfortunate running injury called IT Band Syndrome. I knew this is what I had. So I bought a foam roller, ice packs and started some self-therapy to try and make it better. I really didn't know what to do. At this point I had only ran about 5 miles without stopping to walk and way behind schedule. I felt really down and figured that this might be one of those injuries that could set me back way too far to have a realistic chance of completing the event in 5 weeks. So I decided to focus on the swim and see what happens.So mid-September I jumped in to the pool and did 2000m the first day. It took me about 48 minutes. I have always been a decent swimmer so I knew the distance would be doable, but I was just slow. I hit the pool once a week or so and didn't really have a plan. In late September I joined the Masters program and got about 4 weeks of really tough workouts in which really helped on the event day. I am so glad I did that program as ultimately it boosted my confidence when I got out of the water in a great time (for me!).About two week prior to the event, I tracked down an sports doctor who performed some IT massage techniques and showed me some exercises to do. I immediately noticed that doing strength building exercises actually made my leg feel stretched and felt noticeably better. He also advised to continue the running. I tried to get some longer runs in and eventually did 8 miles the week before the event. No run I had ever done was over 8 miles so I felt this would be my demise on event day.The Event:My wife, Erin, and I checked in the day before at the sponsor hotel - The Intercontinental - which was literally 200 meters to transition. We went out the night before for a mexican meal and tried to relax. I spent the last 30 minutes before bed obsessing about whether I had all the right gear. 4 days before I had bought a wetsuit just in case although the day before the start it was above wetsuit legal with no expectation that would change. Needless to say when I checked their page on facebook at 5am they said it had dropped. I was so relieved I had bought a wetsuit but also concerned as I had never swam in it. Rule #1 is never to use new gear on the event but I had no choice. The benefit of a wetsuit outweighed the risk. I set up in transition and then went back to the room to eat breakfast.We headed to the wave start. I was wave 19. We were called and then quickly found myself jumping off a dock and the reality set in. Here I was doing a half ironman. I got to the back of the wave and then heard the gun. I immediately found myself trying to overtake those ahead of me and regretted getting in the back. I spent the first 15 minutes jockeying in to position and then relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed the swim. It was just so cool so be in the bay as a part of this event.I got out of the water and started running to transition. Here I am in a wetsuit I've never used running barefoot on concrete which I've never done and having a blast. My wife screamed out what amazing time I made based on my earlier prediction. I got to transition and spent quite a while changing and making sure I had all my food, sunblock on, etc. and made my way out. I was greeted with a 20 mph headwind and knew I was going to find a good gear in the small chain ring and then just keep the heart rate around 140 or so and get to the turnaround for the tailwind back. One downer of the day was seeing all the people drafting on the way up which is illegal. They just didn't have judges out there. I was tempted for about 2 seconds before making the decision that I wanted to do this by the book and be proud. The tailwind on the way back was amazing and I couldn't help but smile the whole way back. I got back in to transition and got my running gear on. Again I was slow in T2 but wanted everything to be perfect. I headed out and became a part of a huge running mass. Because our run was two loops where the turnaround fed off for the finishers also, I could see the elite guys heading past to finish and the strong athletes turning around for their second loop. I got caught up in the excitement and sped up sending my HR in to the 160s within 100 meters of starting. I immediately settled in behind a slow running and kept his pace. I took one step at a time and just tried to zone out. We had four total passes over a large bridge so the first attempt was hard but I managed it with only a few walking steps and ultimately got to the bottom and started back over and before I knew it I was almost at the half way point. I saw my wife who said I looked great considering the distance and I said I was amazed how good I felt too. I knew I had this. The second loop was somewhat easier as I knew what to expect. I reached the bridge and crossed over again, walked through a couple of aid stations and then started to fade a bit about 2 miles from the end. I drank a whole bunch of fluids and composed myself at the last station and thought only 20 more minutes. I pressed on and then when I got within half a mile from the end I heard all the volunteers and crowd cheering. I ended the final stretch and heard the announcer. As I took the last turn and saw the finish line I looked left and saw my wife who surprised me with arranging to have my mother, her husband and my kids all there cheering me on. It was very emotional and when they announced my name as I crossed the line, I got a bit overwhelmed. I had done it in 6 hours and 43 minutes. My first triathlon experience was incredible. I am still in shock I did it. Times:Swim - 37 minsT1 - 10 minsBike - 3 hrs 10 minsT2 - 8 minsRun - 2 hrs 36 mins
If they weren't so damn expensive I'd have more than one pair but it's tough to find anything less than $100 for us larger folk. I think it's fate that I grab these, the place I went to has them on sale from $109 to $89 and I just got a $15 off coupon from them in an email. Coincidence? I think not
And a huge Congrats, As Sand said, details please!!!!
...nice simple 10.5 or 11 for me.Ive only bought them when cheap. 2 pairs of Saucony's used those through this summer on some of my shorter and recovery runs (bought when the models changed over and these got clearanced...half off...so 2 pairs at $100 total).
Seriously, nice job! 
Dude, you're a machine. To think you ran your 20 (after the 30) faster than I did 20 yesterday just blows my mind. 
Makes complaining about that cold wind today seem pretty silly.
ooof. What luck that guy has. Luckily today is a SDO. Now tomorrow may be a different story. I may have to juke my wife to get out the door. 
