Ironman USA report

Arrived in LP on Thursday, settled in and went for a swim.. 1-Lap. During the back half of the lap, I was pacing off another swimmer and ducked under one of the inflatable buoys with a breast-stroke kick. All of a sudden it feels like I had a needle stuck in the inside of my right knee… I had tweaked the meniscus tear I had since last November. Back in the hotel I loaded up on Advil and Ice and took it easy. It hurt enough to cause me to limp a little, but I knew from previous setbacks with this injury that I would be able to work through it on Sunday.
The next few days were fairly relaxed. I felt good about my preparation and was ready.
Race morning I lined up ~5 rows back, far to the left by the dock. I figured someone was going to swim the buoy line and it may as well be me. Lining up so far forward you take some knocks waiting for everyone to settle in. I had my goggles kicked up a few times, but no big shots. I decided not to kick to try and keep from further aggravating my knee. I swam solo for a while then found a good set of feet to draft off of. Getting out after the first lap the clock read 39:00… WTF??? Could I be going that slow.. back on the 2nd lap I swam alone for most of the lap… exited the water 1:04:31… It turns out the clock time from the first lap was still on the Pros who had started 10:00 earlier.
Out on the bike things went fairly well the first lap. I did not hit any of the big groups on the downhill to Keene, and had smooth sailing most of the way. Things were a little slow because of the rain, But I kept my focus and stuck to my nutrition plan. The second lap did not go as well. Somewhere out on 9N I began to lose focus, and started to slow down. I did not pick up on it and was suddenly distracted, cold and irritated by a bunch of petty problems. The slower I went the colder I got in a downward spiral. Out on Haselton Rd, A guy from my town passed me and I decided to try and keep up. This was all it took to get me warmed up and going again and to regain focus. I never did catch back up, but I was back focusing again. (5:42:20)
In T2 I downed a PB&J on a potato roll, some Advil for my knee, and headed out. A few hundred yards up the road I am doubled over coughing hard. Was that blood or Advil? I can’t tell. Run farther -same thing. At the aid station by the airport I stop, get some water and clear my throat. Spit… no blood, blow my nose …no blood, cough.. yup that’s blood. I never heard of this before… Is it a big problem?? Should I stop… yes.. NO..yes… the last thing I want to do is screw something up long term….. I put in all the time training, maybe I should just stop… don’t quit now…. OK wait a while see if I can cough it all up… no it just keeps coming… OK I’ll turn my chip in. The volunteer at the Aid station does not know the protocol for turning a chip in. I turn around and start heading back to town…. THIS SUCKS! … walk a few minutes toward town, stop …change my mind -I’ll keep going:…turn around & start running again. Run ~200 yards stop cough hack.. repeat.. Things did get a little better on the 2nd lap & went much further between stops. (4:56:20) Finish 11:57:34. Faster than my previous best by 5:54. All in all a pretty good day ! The MD in the medical tent has no explanation for the blood… must have irritated something. Bleeding stops on Tuesday morning. I have a small cough the next few days. MD at home has no explanation… must be minor irritation aggravated by running. Chest X-Ray is clear…. Good News.