Florida Ironman 2007

By: Jack Shannon

Well, I can cross “Do an Ironman” off my life list.  I’m not entirely sure how it got on the list, but it’s crossed off now.  I was hoping to finish in less than 13 hours; I finished in 12:47:58.  What follows are my thoughts and impressions throughout the day.

The Weather: WOW, what a perfect day.  Sunny, high of 75, relatively very little wind (considering we were on the coast).

The Swim: I have done open water swimming before, but this was my first salt water swim.  My only concerns were getting through the waves on the way out, getting bumped and slapped by 2200 other swimmers, and how the saltwater would affect my stomach (you always swallow some water).  Well, the water was very calm, so waves were not an issue.  I did get bumped and slapped, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought.  As for the saltwater belly – no issues.  The cool part was how clear the water was.  It was like swimming in a pool.  Coming out of the water I felt great.

The Bike: This was the event I felt would make or break me.  It’s very important to remember there is a 26.2 mile run after the bike.  That sounds pretty obvious, but when you are on the bike and you are being passed, it’s easy to start cranking up the speed.  “I’m feeling GREAT!  I can go faster!”  It works for a while, or even a long while, but then you run out of gas and it turns into a suffer-fest.  My goal was to average 18 MPH; I finished at 18.06.  As I got off the bike, I felt as good as could be expected – with one exception: my feet were killing me.  Fortunately, it went away after a few minutes of walking.

The Run: I was not looking forward to this.  I’m not a real strong runner, and I was about to start only the second marathon of my life.  The first one was tough, and there wasn’t a 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile bike ride before it.  My plan was to run to an aid station, get what I needed as I walked through it, then run to the next aid station, and keep on doing that until I was done.  Since there was an aid station about every mile, I had to run a mile 26 times.  I did execute my plan, and it did get me through it.  The only aid station I skipped was the last one.  My desire to finish was stronger than my desire to stop.

The Finish Line: This was really cool.  For about 2-3 blocks, there were hundreds of people cheering me on.  I was getting high fives, people were calling out my name (it was on my bib number); it was great.  There was no pain.  My pace quickened, and when I got near the finish line, the announcer said, “Jack Shannon, YOU are an IRONMAN!”  How cool is that?

The Support Team: Ther is no way I could have done this without the support of my family, training partners and friends.  Their encouragement, advice, love and friendship keep me going.  It was a great day, but the journey there throughout the year is what made it special.