First Ironman 2012 Couer d'alene

The ironman. Super cool event. Started the day off with a nice swim. Followed by a pretty tough bike ride up hill. In fact, even the pros had slower bike times than usual. Best words to describe the course-up hill and against the wind. They say this ironman is amongst the toughest in the U.S. (i'm not one hundred percent sure). There were moments when I wanted to walk the bike. But the thought of being seen by one of my friends and being labeled was unacceptable. So, I pushed through. I started this race knowing I would finish, and I would finish somewhere between 12 and 13 hours. In order to make this happen, I would have to consume at least 300 calories every hour. Easier said then done. There were moments on the bike where I didn't want to eat at all, which is dangerous. Not eating will cost you the race, and not finishing wasn't an option. At mile 56 I stopped for lunch to force myself to start eating again. I sat down at the turnaround point for 15 minutes and ate solid food...one musubi, Doritos, and a peanut butter sandwich. I'm sure 200 bikers passed me. With the bike finally out of the way it was on to the run. The run proved to be a lot easier than the bike. My strategy was simple, keep my heart rate low and eat. So I walked though each aid station eating and drinking. Between the aid stations I would focus on not throwing up. I would repeat this process about 25 times. There was one solid hill on the run-I walked. Finally, the last 500 meters. The most important part of the entire race. The town is going crazy. Thousands of people line each side of the street. Yelling and screaming at the top of their lungs. This was the moment that I was told by a few of my friends to enjoy. I did, I worked the crowed as much as possible. I gave a few arm and hand gestures that caused the crowd to erupt. Nothing but smiles all the way to the finish line. I also had a pretty good pose for the finish line. A pose that I had been perfecting for a year. Everything came together perfectly. The moment that I had been waiting for was finally here. Crossing the finish line, and hearing the word, "Makani Christensen from Honolulu, Hawaii with board shorts on. You are an Ironman!" It is an overwhelming feeling. Crossing the finish line after 140.3 miles. If you have time and you want to do something crazy...my recommendation is the Ironman.