Its over

I will just say for now that I made it. It went well overall. I finished in 12 hours and 22 minutes. The run really kicked my butt. I got out of the water in around 56 minutes, which was a pleasant surprise for me. I felt GREAT during the swim. Claire figures that I was 2nd out of the water in my age group. My bike ride ended up taking 5 hours and 54 minutes, which brought me into the run transition in exactly 7 hours. That was exactly where I wanted to be. The first half of the bike ride went great, and I was drinking plenty of water and actually had to stop twice to pee. I hadn't anticipated any problems with food, but I was surprised that there was so little of it at the aid stations. I think I am used to bicycling events where there is plenty to eat. I had brought along three packages of Cliff Bloks, but I went through those pretty fast. I was able to grab a couple of banana halfs and a Cliff Bar, but I knew that I wasn't getting the calories that I needed. At the end of the bike leg, I was feeling worse than I had hoped, and I wasn't too hopeful for the coming marathon. The run consisted of three "out and back" loops, each a bit under 9 miles. As I set out on the run, I was pleasantly surprised at how good I felt. I kept telling myself to take it easy, but I was clicking out 8:30 miles with no problems, or at least I thought there were no problems. I was still having trouble getting water and food into my system. I was again surprised that some of the aid stations just had junk to eat like oreo cookies or fig newtons. So, at the 6 mile mark, I forced down a little coca-cola, some water, and finally a cliff shot. I was excited that I got something down, and I was still feeling light on my feet. Then at the 8 mile mark, I lost everything I had just drank and eaten, if you catch my jist. It was not a pretty sight, but I did at least move off to the side of the road. Anyway, I felt great after that, but knew that there was trouble to come. At the 10 mile mark, the trouble hit. And basically, the rest of the run was spent hobbling along with cramps in both legs and not feeling to good. My first lap took me 1 hour and 15 minutes, my second lap took me 1 hour and 55 minutes, and my last lap took me 2 hours and 10 minutes. I know where I can make up some time next year. I did manage to lose over 15 pounds in the course of the day. That is a lot of water.
Claire, William and Carrie were waiting for me at the finish line. They all said that it took them some time to recognize me when I was running towards them. Claire ran down and took a picture as I crossed the finish line. We then went out to dinner at The Bear Republic in Healdsburg, but I couldn't eat anything, and was only able to drink some Sprite. I did wake up the next day feeling great, and was able to work at the shop with Claire and Nelson.