Three tiny ships depart Denver on a great voyage. Four triathletes, stout of heart. The Nina, Pinta (me) and the Santa Maria (Joey and Andrew hauling most of the bikes). Just like Chris, we were sailing the great western desert seeking Indians. Not Indians for tech support like Columbus, but Indians of the once great warrior tribes of America. The desert is truly vast. Brown and red hues dominate the landscape. We sailed into Tempe Town Lake where our tale unfolds.

Gallup, NM was 27* when ! Left the hotel at 9am. Still in the 40s when ! Got to Payson, AZ. 73 miles to go down the Beeline Highway. The last 17 would be the bike course. As ! Plunged from 5,100' in Payson to 1,200' in Tempe the temperature rose into the 70s. Now that's more like it. It's 2:30 and the hostel wouldn't open until 5 so ! Stopped by the expo. In the parking lot a crew from IronMan live requested an interview. Wandering the expo, the reality of what we were here to do began to set in. Sunday would be a hard day. ! Picked up my stuff from registration. Dr. Buff was in town already, Yon, Courtney, Megan, Keith, Tim whom the bus system was named after (Tempe In Motion), Louis, Len would arrive over the next few days.

8-10am Thursday-Saturday are the only times Tempe Town Lake was open to swim. Dot.Nate had warned us of cold, brackish water. My squid lid was at the ready. The lake is artificial. An inflatable dam at each end holds back the fluid. A great deal of silt washes down, but not out. Friday ! Went in. 100 yards or so around the 2^nd bridge. ! Couldn't see past my elbows. My face was frozen. Sunday would be a hard day. Back to the hostel to sort my gear into T bags.

Saturday was bike and gear drop-off day. ! Parked my bike in the middle of the corral. One bike gear bag amongst 2,500 on a small patch of grass past the changing tent. One run gear bag amongst 2,500 on another small patch of grass. ! Ran from the swim exit to T1 then the tent. Out to the bike corral and onward to the bike mount line. Then ! Ran from dismount to T2 to the tent to the run start. Then ! Did it all again. A couple times. T1 pass 3 rows of bags and go nearly to the end. T2 run straight in past most of the bags until !'m abeam the outhouses next to the tent. This was starting to get real. It's no longer just something that will happen some time in the future. Sunday would be a hard day. Back to the hostel where “IronMan” met blank stares followed by a failure to comprehend.

Sunday morning came early. 4Am ! Was up and heading out to the patio to feed. As ! Laid into my cereal, ! Looked skyward to see Orion the Jogger. He had his race belt on and looked smooth. ! Decided to take that as a good sign. All my crap was loaded. ! Drove in the dark across town. The route !'d been taking was closed. ! Diverted and dead-ended in a parking garage. ! Emerged to find Mel and Maya setting up on the grass. ! Decided to take that as a good sign. ! Dropped my nearly empty special needs bags, donned my wetsuit and entered the fray along the dock. ! Wanted to hold off as long as possible to avoid freezing before the race even started. ! Had seen no one but Tim off in the distance. A strong urge to pee drove me into the lake. It wasn't so bad after all. The start line was quite a distance. The crowd thickened. This was going to happen. Today would be a hard day. The Anthem played as we bobbed, hands over hearts. Hearts stirred by love of the liberty that allows us the luxury of such pursuits. Hearts racing knowing that today would end in ecstasy for some and agony for others and at this moment none of us knew which would be our's.

The pros took off 10 minutes ahead of us. Kayaks rode herd on unruly swimmers. The cannon sounds. The hard day has begun. A kick in the ribs, several errant hands to the face or head. Time to go inside. Race my own race. Others would be faster or slower. That was none of my concern. ! Was here to swim 1.2 miles then turn around and come back. It was only me. Alone in a sea of red and white caps. Nothing but me and the next stroke. The next strokes just kept coming. Then the turn buoy. ! Was on my way back. Some of those caps were falling off the pace that got them out there ahead of me. Still it was just me and the next stroke. And then the final buoy. The day-glo orange step and the astroturf on the sidewalk.

A stripper had me stripped in no time. ! Was running up the chute to the field of bags. Got it. Into the tent. No chairs. ! Sat on the grass outside and put my shoes on. ! Worried about the grass and dirt on my soles. Andrew greeted me on his way in. Helmet and gloves on, bag to the volunteer. Sprint through the tent, into the bike corral. They were yelling numbers. There was someone to lead me to the row and pull her off the rack. Mounted up, pedal troubles. Finally rolling. My neck was hurting a block into the ride. Today was going to be a hard day. Some back achiness joined in. ! Was in the big ring moving fast and passing the swimmers. The neck pain was not subsiding. ! Thought to myself “!'ve done this twice before. !'m already an IronMan. ! Could stop now.” IronMan is 90% in your head. ! Rode on. ! Knew a DNF would not be that easy. It's bad even when it's just a short race and there is nothing you could have done about it. This would be a nightmare.

The first half of the first loop was uphill into the wind. It was a grind. ! Stayed low and pushed. It went on and on. All ! Knew was to turn around at the cactus :). It got to a steeper part with no end in sight. The pros had passed on the return leg already. Their clock said 1:58. ! subtracted 10 minutes. My usual swim time was 1:18. The bike computer said 30:00. ! had gotten through the tent and started rolling my bike in the time it's always taken to do the swim. PR!!!!!!!! Then came the turn-around. The long steady climb into the wind was now a descent with a tailwind. Andrew was close behind still climbing. ! Was flying now. As fast as 39mph squeezing between groups of triathletes on bikes and the cones down the center line. ! Came upon Louis fresh off Silverman. He didn't care to get into the fray so he was hanging back from the pack in front of him. ! Chose to pass them and the next and the ones beyond them. Off Beeline the roads were flat. Still had the tailwind and still moving fast. By now the field had sorted out. Turn-around. Lap one done in 1:45. Triple that for a 5:15 ride. That would be excellent if ! Could hold it. And the math was easy. Today would be a hard day, but this lap wasn't too bad.

! was heading back up hill now. ! Seemed to be going a little faster. Descent number 2 wasn't quite as fast. No surprise. Turn-around at the end of lap 2 was 8 minutes slower. Even so, ! Was 2/3 of the way done and deep into a great ride time. Lap three seemed faster on the uphill. ! Could tell the wind had changed. A push up the hill. ! Took heart knowing that climbing 1mph faster saves more time than descending 1mph faster. ! milked that wind as much as ! Could. Just a little extra churning to maximize the benefit. Good thing ! Did too. Turn-around and the wind was in my face. The steepest part was near the top. ! Was cranking hard and not getting very fast. Up to 21mph on the descent. It was going to be a long way back. ! Was starting to ache. Staying in the aero bars was painful when ! Needed them the most. A marathon was coming up. Today would be a hard day. No respite from the wind on the cross roads. 3 miles to go a guy passed me and started taking his shoes off. 3 miles out? Really? Why? ! Waited until ! Was into the crowds and that was a little early even.

! raced up to the dis-mount line like a 'cross racer and hit the ground jogging. A volunteer put his hand on my damp saddle and my ride was over. Run down the side of the T2 bags until abeam the outhouse. They had my bag for me. Into the tent. Lots of chairs. Tri kit off. Run gear on. New socks. Lots of Bacitracin ointment on the soles of my feet. Putting the 2^nd sock on ! Remembered to hit the timer on my Garmin. It thinks ! Had a really fast transition. 5:35 on the bike. Out of the tent. Time to run. ! Have never run farther than 18 miles. Today would be a hard day. Louis was right behind me for the first ¼ mile. After that he was a shrinking image with funny looking hair. This is where ! Realized ! Could get a Kona slot. All ! Had to do is run like ! Did at Harvest Moon and then to the 2^nd half marathon in 30 minutes. Just over 1 mile in ! Came across aid station #2. Now ! Was confused. Shouldn't it be 2 miles in and what happened to aid station #1? ! was thinking. The first rule of running is “don't think” If you have sugar getting to your brain you aren't running hard enough and if you think about running you realize how ridiculous running is. If you have any sense, thinking about running will lead you to call a cab.

My right foot was swollen. Somewhere in mile 6 Andrew patted me as he tried to pass. ! Hugged him. He ran faster. His ride was 5 minutes slower than me. He had to stop to pee several times. ! Asked him why he had stopped. “Etiquette” Brits. Joey should be along soon. ! Got to the aid station at mile 6. Took off my shoes and walked through it. The rough concrete massages the feet. All the way through and no improvement. Just past there was the biggest, baddest hill on the run. ! Walked up it. Keith passed. He was concerned. If ! Didn't get this solved, today would be a really hard day. ! Kept walking. No improvement. Near the top, suddenly they were all better. Not gradually. Boom. Better. Shoes back on and running again. 2 miles later they were swollen again. ! Took them off again. This time ! Ran in my socks. ! Was fit enough to run. Someone said to take the insoles out. ! Did. Once the swelling subsided the shoes went back on. Soon they felt puffy again. Not as bad with more room to grow. My throat was sore. ! Was stopping at every outhouse. Still moving forward. Lap two as ! Entered aid station #2 a volunteer ran over to me to see how ! Was doing. Just like the 1^st time through. ! Didn't feel that messed up. She got me some Vaseline for the nipples. Chicken broth was out now. It soothed my throat. ! Ran on. The inflatable dams that create the lake don't let any water out. It's 15' deep on one side and dry dirt on the other.

Past the mile 6 aid station and walking up that hill again. Tim is running well. Good thing !'m a lap up. He doesn't know the joys of chicken broth yet. We run down the other side and ! Let him go to pop into an outhouse. ! Should have cut the fluid intake. !'d seen Dr. Buff, Megan, Courtney, Yon, Len , Nina and even Elvis (Perezly) off in the distance. There is no way Joey could have gotten by me unseen. Ten miles into the run was too far for him to be behind me still. Lap 2 down. One to go. The mile marker on the Garmin beeped 18. Every stride from here is a record. My quads are cramping. Aid station #2 (again) promised cramp relief. A massage table. The girl dug her knuckles into my thighs. ! Chanted “ow, ow, ow” We came to an agreement that ! Could continue running. The sun was setting. ! Was still wearing shades and my neck cooler. It would be ½ a lap to special needs. When ! Got there that stuff and my hat and insoles got dropped. 4 miles to go. Too far to sprint. Too short to be undoable. It hurt, but ! Just couldn't quit running now. If ! Kept going ! Would have RUN my first marathon ever. Time to dig in. ! Was feeling better without the extra stuff. There was a sign out there that said “You can do anything for 15 minutes” In 15 minutes !'ll be 15 minutes closer to the finish. It just doesn't get not uncomfortable. !'m into the crowds. Under the last bridge. Past the bike corral. There's the sign. Laps 2 or 3 straight ahead. !'ve done those already. Finish left turn. ! Make the turn. Into the parking lot. Out the other side onto the road. Slap a low-5 for a little kid on the curb. The fences are packed. More hi-5s. 90* left and it's ½ a block to the finish. Lot's of hands out. Arms up for all of them. The guy ! Passed in the parking lot must still be back there. Sprinting now sort of. Under the finish kite. It's over. Joey withdrew on the swim. Today was a hard day.

My catcher earns her keep. Another comes to assist her. Hair check then the official finisher photo. !'m still wobbly. Maybe a visit to the med tent to get checked out. ! Look back at the clock 12:21. this catcher becomes my new best friend as he hands me off to a red-head. Life is grand.

12:18:24