Awesome. Amazing. Spectacular. What an amazing day in Tempe, Arizona. The race and the several days of Ironman activities leading up to the race were just amazing. Jen and Dave bought me a shirt for Christmas last year that says, ‘The journey is the adventure’. The last year of training was definitely an adventure and the race was just the icing on the cake.

My family and I drove out to Tempe on Sunday. I spent the week finishing up on my taper for race day. Thursday I checked in and received my race number and packet. Saturday was bike check-in and transition bag drop off. What a sight to see so many bikes in one area. Friday and Saturday were off days. Time for resting and soaking in the hot tub. Saturday night I managed to get 6.5 hours of great sleep.

Race day started at 3:30am. I managed to eat a cliff bar and a granola bar, and drink some coffee. Dave picked me up at 4:30 (Holly was so grateful that Dave volunteered) and we were off to Tempe. At the race site, I dropped off my bike and run special-needs bags, put my Perpetuem, Heed, and computer on my bike and pumped up the tires. I met up with Jeff and stayed with him until the start of the swim. Thirty minutes prior to the swim it was time to put the wet suit on and start making my way to the swim with 2500+ other competitors. I downed about 2 servings of gel and some water and headed to the docks.

The water was 63 degrees and I was mentally preparing myself for the jump in off of the dock and the 150 yard swim to the swim start. I took the leap. Let me tell you, 63 degree water is cold. I had to put my face in the water several times to get used to. After that I made my way to the mass of bodies at the start line. I had a huge smile on my face the whole time. I just couldn’t believe that race time was finally here after a year of waiting. I stayed towards the back since this was my first mass start of this size and I didn’t know what to expect. The announcer did a great job of motivating us. Once the cannon went off I had an even bigger smile on my face.

The swim. The only way I can describe the swim start would be the cross between a rugby scrum, an NFL offensive line on the goal line, and a cage fight all in one. I was hit in the head several times, had people on my legs and back. One girl even had me in a head lock and tried to drown me. I just kept praying for some open water and I did manage to find it after several hundred yards of fighting through people. I stayed to right side of the pack the whole time and managed to have a nice relaxing swim. The swim exit was a set of metal stairs and the bottom step was just barely below the water level. You had to exit like a walrus and let the volunteers pull you up. Trying to climb stairs with frozen hands and feet while you are dizzy is quite the experience. I managed to stub my big toe on one of the steps. I thought that I may have broken it but I wasn’t about to stop to find out. My time was 1:18. Right where I wanted to be. From there I made my way to the strippers. Wet suit strippers that is. (they pull your wetsuit off of you). After that I made it to the transition area, grabbed my bike bag, and put on my helmet, glasses, and shoes, and headed to get my bike. Total clock time was under 1:30 and I was still on my goal time. Once again smiling from ear to ear. The volunteers actually find your bike for you and bring it to you. I gabbed it and made my way out of the transition area and jumped on the bike.

The bike. Once on the bike my plan was to follow the plan in the book, ‘Going Long’, and keep my pace slow enough for the first 30 miles to stay in heart rate zone one and not worry about those bikes passing me. The bike course consisted of three, out and back loops. Uphill on the way out. The wind was in our face on the way out. I started eating and drinking as soon as my hear rate came down a little. It took me an hour to get to the turnaround and I was right on with my nutrition. I was a little too well hydrated and had to stop and use the porta-potty. The way back down was great with the wind at my back. I managed to hit 30+ mph with little effort and I was passing people. Approx 4 miles before completing the first lap my front tire tube blew. It was quite loud and deflated instantaneously. I thanked God for not letting that happed on the downhill portion. I took my time in changing it and had a slight problem. It took me about 10 minutes to fix it but I didn’t care since I wanted to fix it correctly. The next two laps were uneventful. I managed to keep eating and drinking. I was still a little over hydrated and had to stop two more times. 30-60 miles I pushed into zone 2. 60-90 I pushed to the upper end of zone 2. 90-112 I could go to zone 3 but I kept it in zone 2 most of the time. My bike time was 6:50. Ten minutes under my goal of seven hours even with the flat and porta potty breaks. Once in the transition area, I handed my bike to a volunteer, grabbed my bag, put on my running shoes, visor, and glasses, and headed out. Time 8:28. Still under my goal time and I knew that if I had a good run I would come in under my goal of 14 hours. If I had a great run I could do it in under 13 hours.

The run. The run course consisted of three loops around Tempe Town Lake. The plan was to keep in heat rate zone 3 until after mile 16 the just push it from there.  After I left the transition area, I immediately had pain in my intestines and stomach. I just figured that it was from whatever food I had left in my stomach and that it would eventually empty and I would be fine. It hurt rather badly but nothing that would stop me from running. I started drinking some coke and water. The coke wasn’t flat and it just added to my stomach problem. At mile seven I remembered that I had some Tums on me. I took two and almost threw up. Actually I was trying to throw up just to get rid of whatever was hurting me. I walked for about two minutes until I felt a little better. At the end of the first loop I managed to see my family, my sister, and Dave, Jen, and Jace. I stopped shortly and talked with them and then started my second loop. It was great to see them and to have them cheer me on. A few hundred yards away there was a water stop and they had chicken broth. Darrick, another member of Tri4Him, had told me that chicken broth helped him with his stomach problems. I downed a cup of it and amazingly my stomach felt much better. I picked up my pace a little and hoped that all of the pain would go away. At mile 11, I tried to take some Endurolytes and they made me gag. That was followed by throwing up, twice. After that I felt great. From there on I picked up my pace even more. I drank only water from there till the end since I didn’t want to upset my stomach any more. I knew that I would have to get some more Endurolytes in me or risk cramping. (I did get two Endurolytes down about 30 minutes later) I was just hoping that I had enough calories in me to sustain my pace until the end. I figured I would run as fast as I could while I felt great. During my last lap I was not passed by anyone and must have passed several hundred people just walking. I had accidentally stopped my Garmin computer and I didn’t know how long that I had been running or what total time I was going to finish in. I decided just to wait until I neared the finish line and then see what my time was. I just wanted to run as hard as I could and leave it all out there on the course. When I neared the last 500 hundred yards, the crowds were so loud cheering everyone on. I continued to give it all I had. As I rounded the corner with about 50 yards to go I saw the clock. 12:50. I couldn’t believe it. I could hear Holly screaming from the bleachers. I crossed the line at 12:50:50 with my hands in the air. It was awesome to hear the words that I had been waiting to hear for a year, “Steven McCullough….You are an Ironman’. I nearly hurt myself smiling. What an amazing feeling. Once across the line, a volunteer put the medal around my neck. I knew then that I had done it. Of course not alone. It was God’s grace and the prayers of many people.

I had spent the day whole day praying and thanking God for this amazing opportunity. I never felt any physical pain throughout the whole day. My ankle, toes, and knees never had any signs of pain and no signs of any muscle cramps. I kept to my race plan from the ‘Going Long’ book and to my nutrition plan. (2 Endurolytes and one Race Caps Supreme every hour, plus gel and heed). Plus, I used all of the advice from the guys in my triathlon club, tri4Him. You guys are awesome and I thank all of you for the advice and wisdom that you have shared with me. I believe the 1.5 mile walk to the hotel after the race also helped me to stay loose.

My most memorable part of the day was seeing a lady with a sign that said, “Chuck Norris never did an Ironman.”

Thanks to my family, Holly, Adrianna, and Kendall, for letting me to this. Now it is time for some Saturday morning pancake breakfasts that Adrianna has been asking for.

I also want to thank everyone for the great comments on Facebook and all of the emails. They were an additional source of motivation for me. Plus, I knew everyone was watching on the computer and tracking me, so I had to keep pushing to the end. Hopefully you all will find your own ‘journey’ to take and see the rewards at the end.

Most of all, I thank God for giving me the ability to finish an event like this. If it wasn’t for him, none of this would be possible.

I can’t wait to do another Ironman.

My year of training and racing included:

95 miles and 55 hours of swimming

1964 miles and 113 hours of biking

52 hours on the bike stationary trainer

575 miles and 88 hours of running

Steve McCullough