First of all I would like to say that this was the experience of a lifetime and I have absolutely no regrets about doing it.  I certainly experienced ups and downs throughout the entire training process and especially on race day, but the feeling of accomplishment and pride were so amazing that they make you forget all the pain.

My race day started with a minimal night of sleep due to excitement about the race.  This was my first down of the entire trip and a learning experience to bring some form of sleeping medicine.  I ended up getting four hours of sleep the night prior to race day.  Everything leading up to race day went so smooth thanks to Adam Lee, Kirsten Lee, my supportive wife, and my amazing friend Casey Merrill.

I was surprisingly relaxed and confident the morning of race day, which I really attribute to the great coaching I received from Chris White and several others in the Salt Lake Tri Club.  Once I got into the swim there was the usual bumping issues you see in an Ironman swim, some hits to the head, and a couple sighting issues.  However, overall the swim went smooth and was a lot of fun.  The canal you swim in at the end really helped because there were fans lining both sides and you could hear Adam yelling for us.  The only issue I had with the swim was the water quality, which I did not realize at the time but caused stomach issues for many of us all day long.

Transition went about as I expected from what I had been coached on for an Ironman event.  It was a different experience having gear bags and a changing tent, but I really liked the setup.  The bike was flat and fast with the only issue really being the lack of scenery.  It sounds crazy to say that lack of scenery was an issue, but riding on multiple loops on a road with absolutely no scenery actually takes more of a toll on you mentally than you would expect.  I actually slowed down in the last stretch because it seemed to drag on over the last 30 miles.  I did a pretty good job keeping up with nutrition and hydration on the bike.

The second transition went pretty well also and took about the amount of time I expected, but coming out of transition I was surprised to see my friend Casey Merrill standing just outside transition in some pain (heat exhaustion).  I walked with him for a minute and encouraged him to continue then decided to do some running and was feeling really good for the first lap (just under 9 miles).  At the turn, nicknamed boomerang corner, I was still feeling strong and went too light on my hydration thinking I could just take extra at the next aid station.  I failed to realize that there was a little bigger gap between aid stations, it was the hottest part of the day in Texas heat, and there was no shade for these miles.  By the time I reached the next aid station I was light headed, a little dizzy, and felt like I was going to bonk.  I loaded up at that aid station as much as I could, but by this point my stomach was hurting also so I could only take so much.  I continued and did not want to go to medical for fear of being pulled from the race which was a big mistake.  As I approached the bridge over the lake I nearly passed out and decided to go into one of the Port-A-Potties by the lake.  I sat down in a very ripe Port-A-Potty and unintentionally passed out for 15 minutes, but when I woke up my light headedness was gone so I was able to continue (this also affectionately earned me the nickname Honey Bucket).  However, the long gap in movement locked up my legs and killed my time for the latter half of the marathon causing me to walk a lot.

I was able to catch back up to my friend, Casey Merrill, and we were able to finish at the same time which was an amazing experience.  Hearing Mile Reilly announce “Michael Humphries come on home, You are and Ironman” really did make all of the pain I experienced worthwhile.

The biggest take-aways that I have to learn from my race were to plan for sleeping medicine so I can get enough rest, recognizing how difficult/essential the nutrition/hydration pieces are, and how truly difficult of a mental challenge it would be.  Some of the things I feel like I did really well were my endurance conditioning, pre-race preparation, and enjoying the moment.  I tried to take it all in and remember to have fun no matter what pain I was in.  I am also so glad I took my time into and through the finish chute to high five people, wave to family, and just soak in the moment.