It was the morning of the big day and all I had to do was stick to the game plan.  I had told everyone my only problem would be holding back and not going after fast guys like an idiot. 

Getting ready for the swim I once again forgot to pull up the straps on my 2 piece DeSoto wetsuit before putting on the top (Tony was there to remind me at the Soma ½ and my little sister saved me this time).  I jumped in the water and made my way to the front, figuring it was my best shot at following a decent swimmer.  With a few minutes left before the cannon, the National Anthem began and we all sang along.  We were louder than the person with the microphone and it was a good way to warm up the lungs for a long day.  The cannon went off and I kept telling myself to relax and find some good feet to draft off of.  I never really found the feet I was looking for, but I was lucky enough to keep the underwater cage fighting to a minimum.  About ¾ of the way through the swim it felt like my face was bruised from the goggles being on my eyes for so long.  This was the first reminder that I had never gone this far before and I couldn’t wait to get out of the water.  2.4 miles in 1:08 and change.  Not bad at all for me and ahead of schedule as I was expecting 1:15-1:20.  I just hoped I didn’t burn too much energy going that fast.

Exactly 2 year ago, I met Tony at the Drayon center.  I told him I wanted to do an Ironman and he told me that he did it so I could do it too. I didn't have a bike and I barely know how to swim.

So becoming an Ironman seemed like a dream. Very next day, I bought a bike from Costco and trained for two weeks and I did a Possibilities Sprint triathlon. That was my first triathlon and I was hooked.  That day I bought a bike from Tony. He had a black Felt tri bike.  That was my first tri bike.  Of course I returned the other bike to Costco. I love Costco.  Two years later, my dream came true.  How did I do it? Very simple.  I used Coach-Tony's Training plan.  If I followed the whole plan, I could have better time than what I did.  I was so lazy and I missed work-outs here and there.  Swim was my weak point.  So I spent many many hours with Tony.  He taught me how to swim and how to swim effortless and effectively. And the result is very satisfied.  My goal was to finish the swim portion in one hour and 15 minutes.  I made it exactly one hour and 15 minutes.

oh where should i begin...

almost exactly a year ago i was glued to my monitor watching ironman arizona 2007 live webcast as athletes were still crossing the finish line at almost midnight. i remember thinking that there is no way i could do something like that, being out there for 13, 14 or even 17 hours trying to finish an ironman...that's a loooong time to be out there. but the thought of doing an ironman never left my mind since then.