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The last 20 miles of the bike were horrendous.  I timed it perfectly and
began the toughest part of the course when the rain came back and the wind
began to howl.  The wind was blowing so hard at times that I had to stand up
and pedal to keep my speed.  My legs were spent and head wind was offering
no help.  On some of the hills I would have to swerve back and forth in
order to keep moving forward.  I was certain that my chain would break at
any moment.  At last I had reached the final hill.  I received one more
comment on my gear selection for good measure - "hey buddy, you have a lot
more gear back there".  Thanks pal.  I handed my bike off in total disbelief
that I made it to this point.  I thought to myself, thank you Michael
McCormack.

Bike time: 6:55 (my bike computer timer, which stops if my bike has stopped,
read 6:03.  So it took 52 minutes to get back on the road.  My goal was 5:40
and I know that I could have done it.)

The run was better than I expected.  I thought that I would have to walk the
majority of the 26.2.  The first few miles actually felt pretty good.  Then
my legs began to scream and I was forced to shuffle my way through each
mile.  Regardless of what happened on the bike, I am not a good runner and
would probably had to do the Ironman shuffle anyway.  The marathon portion
truly is a mile at a time.  I picked out certain people and made it my goal
to track them down.  After I passed them, I would pick a new target.  I
continued this until the finish.  I don't have much more to say about the
run.  Compared to the excitement of my bike it was almost boring.  Next
thing I knew, I was on my way to the finishing chute.

Run time: 4:25 (pretty bad, but considering the circumstances and my poor
running ability I guess it is acceptable)

The finish is one of the greatest moments and I can almost not remember any
of it.  It was a blur of sights and sounds that seemed to go too fast.  I
wanted to slow down and savor it, but it was like I was sucked through and
then it was all over.

I don't like looking at my results because it just makes me think what could
have been.  But then again, I got what I really wanted out of this and that
was to challenge myself with something that I never thought possible.  Now I
realize how completely possible it really is.

Overall time: 12:35

I know that my overall time is nothing to be impressed with.  On the surface
it would be unacceptable.  But as I said above, this was my own Ironman -
the race was redefined.  Not too long ago I would not have believed that I
could do an Ironman.  I don't think that I ever would have believed that I
could do the race in my 53/16.  Whenever I could, I continually referenced
the PE drills and pedaling thoughts to get me through. The rest of the time
I relied on the muscles we built up over the last nine months.  Whenever I
was going up a hill and the rain was pouring down and the wind was blowing
in my face I would repeat my new phrase "you cannot stop me".  Thanks to
you, the only thing that stopped me was the finish line.

Thanks,

Ryan