The Most Amazing Experience of My Life

I did it. No, we did it. I am an Ironman....forever. In my life, I may lose a lot of things, but this is something that cannot be taken away and will remain with me forever. I am an Ironman.

On Thursday, Kenny (the camera man!) and I got up to start our journey to Louisville, Kentucky. The bags were packed, and I said goodbye to my roommate Arin as he wished me luck. Kenny and I got in the car and headed to the cemetery. I got there and I wasn't sad at all, as I normally am when I go there. I said a few words to Jared and asked him to help me during what would become the hardest challenge I'd ever encounter. I felt very content leaving the cemetery.

We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare, and at no point were we rushing. This was really good and helped with the nerves. Our flight had a stopover in Chicago, and we finally got to Louisville around 5 PM on Thursday. All we did that night was go over the schedule of what we had to do on Friday and we got to bed at a decent hour. Slept very well on Thursday night, which was great. Friday, we got up bright and early and I went to athlete check-in where I got weighed in, got my body fat reading and my hydration level reading. I tried to gain a bit of weight for this race knowing that my fat stores would be tapped after my carbohydrate and protein stores were tapped out late in the race, and therefore i was 4 pounds heavier than I was when I raced the half Ironman at Providence a month and a half ago. My body fat was at 10%, which was very good...anything less would be too little for this race, for me at least. My hydration level was at 61% which was extremely good according to the nurse. That was very relieving because that told me that I hydrated properly and took in plenty of sodium prior to getting the reading. After I got checked in, Kenny and I went to the Media Center where Kenny received his credentials for race day. He got his official media pass and shirt, and he was one of about only 10 media people there. They ranged from ESPN, to local TV stations, to someone covering the Mexican triathlon team here. I think I should take this opportunity to say Thank You to Kenny for what he did. I want everyone to know that Kenny sacrificed a lot to be here, and it seemed like every move I made this past week, he was there with the camera and he captured the essence of this effort. I can't wait to see the video. Thank you Kenny. After we got finished with that, I attended the athlete race briefing where all the rules were made clear. If anything, it helped to answer many questions about where i had to be at what time on race day. For the remainder of the afternoon, I rested up in bed before waiting for Jared's parents and my family to get here in time for the Welcome dinner. They all finally got here around 4:30 PM, and we all met up before heading over to the Kentucky International Convention Center, where the dinner was held. We got there, and it was HUGE. Picture 2000 athletes and their friends and family in one room, with a huge stage set up, with an Ironman backdrop and huge video screens to the sides of the stage. We ate and chatted as we listened to the speakers. They showed a video and the words will resonate in my heart for the rest of my life. The speaker on the video said, as Jim Collins did in 1978, "Swim 2.4 miles, bike 112, run 26.2....brag for the rest of your life." After we were done eating and the speakers finished up, we took some photos of all of us and we called it a night. We headed back to the hotel and waited for my friend Kelly to get into town, as her flight was a later flight. She got in around 10 and she went with my brother to Fourth Street Live! where all the bars and restaurants are. Kenny and I hit the hay, as I would have to check in my bike and gear bags the next day.
We had breakfast in the morning and I made sure all of my gear bags were properly packed with all the right things. After that, I met up with a teammate, CJ, from HEAT and we went for a light 13 mile bike ride at a very slow pace. We rode the marathon course (which was a two loop course). I noticed that it was very flat, which would be good. When we finished that, we rode to the tranistion area where I checked in my bike and CJ dropped me off back at the hotel. We wished each other luck. That evening, we all went and got dinner at The Spaghetti Factory and I downed as much pasta as my body could take in. I felt like I was ready to go and i was properly fueled for the next day. I made my way back to the hotel, and tried to sleep - the day would undoubtedly be the biggest and greatest day of my life.

I got up at 4:30 AM, and had 1.5 cups of oatmeal before heading to the transition area with my father, Jared's father, and Kenny. I put my iPod on and zoned out, trying not to think about the task ahead. I pumped my tires up to 115 psi, which is 5 pounds less than the max. I did that because of the heat and humidity and did not want to risk a blown tire because of the air inside the tires expanding as the day got warmer. Did my final check on my bike and everything seemed to be in order. I then was driven over to the swim start which was about 1.5 miles away from the transition area. There I got my body marking. A volunteer wrote my race number on both my biceps and then asked me "Who are you racing for today?" and I said "my friends" and he asked their names. He wrote "Jared" in big letters on my right arm, and wrote "Mike, Muff, Kush, Tyler" on my left arm. At that point, I knew I was ready to go.

I then got in line for the swim start. It was a time trial start, so athletes started the race in the order they were lined up. There was a few hundred people in front of me, so I wouldn't start until about 7:20 AM. Right before the cannon went off, I saw all my friends, who had gotten there at 3 AM that morning. They ran down to where I was in line and wished me luck. It was incredible seeing them. Muff, Mike, Kush, Kelly, Jeff, Kristin, Ashley, Jared's parents and my family were there. Then the line started moving and athletes were entering the water about every second. As I made my way down to the pier, all the sudden there was only about 20 athletes ahead of me, and a volunteer said in a stern voice to me "Goggles on" and I dropped my goggles over my eyes and I was at the timing chip mat (which would mark my personal start time, which was about 7:20) and the chip mat beeped and I was jumping in the water. I was officially starting my Ironman.

As I started my swim, I just thought, "My God, here I am, doing an Ironman. I have sacrificed so much and worked so hard and it's here." I was really settling in and my swim stroke felt great, even going against the current at that point. I wasn't worried about going fast, just being efficient, after all, this was 2.4 miles, this isn't just a half mile swim. You would think it would be pretty spread out, but it was packed in the water. I got kicked and punched and did some inadvertant kicking and punching myself. With that being said, once I hit the turnaround about 3/4 mile upriver, it spread out much more, and then all of a sudden I was swimming with the current. At that point, i think i was going into a swimming daze, everything felt very calm and relaxed and I was really enjoying myself. Before I knew it, I could see the swim finish, and then i was about 100 yards away. At that point, I started to kick (which I don't do during the whole swim to save my legs) to get the bloodflow back to my legs and to get them ready for the transition. All of a sudden, I was there, with a volunteer helping me out of the water. I just swam 2.4 miles! My swim split: 1 hour, 20 minutes. So fast compared to what I would have done had I not hired a swim coach for the past month and a half. Fans were everywhere and the roar of the crowd got my adrenaline going. I ran into transition and got my bike bag and headed into the changing tent. I methodically got all my bike gear in order and then ran to my bike. My fans were screaming "Go Tony!" "Great swim!" as I put on my sunglasses and cycling shoes. I grabbed my bike and ran to the bike out Ironman arch where I mounted my bike. I was off on a 112 mile ride. About 200 yards into the ride, there was my cheering section again! I cannot tell you what it feels like to see those people. Lifted my spirits.

The first 10-12 miles were very flat with some slight downhills. I knew I had to be smart and had to take the advice of my teammates Dave and Doug, and my father. I would not push it at all and would not "eat the paste." I relaxed and went easy. At about mile 7 or 8, a motorcycle pulls up next to me, and Kenny is on the back, filming away. I said some words to the camera. I think after Kenny pulled away, I got into my bike daze state. The course was a lot tougher than I thought, a lot of rolling hills. The scenery was amazing though. The countryside was incredibly beautiful. All the while I was enjoying the scenery I was sticking to my nutrition plan as well as I could, eating a half powerbar every, taking 3 electrolyte pills every half hour, while taking in 5 oz of Accelerade every 5-10 minutes. Before long, I noticed my nutrtion strategy was failing. I developed a stitch pain in my side and I concluded that it was because of the solid food and the accelerade. I had to make a quick decision to go to my backup nutrtition strategy, or my race would be going down the tubes. I switched to all water, electrolyte pills and PowerGel only. My body was rejecting any solid food I was putting in it, and clearly telling me "No" to solids. That's ok, as there were so many aid stations with gel and water. I knew that I'd have to take in a lot of gel to replace the calories that would have been in the solid food. But it seemed to be working, as the cramps subsided and I felt pretty good. All of a sudden it was about noon, and the summer Kentucky heat started to kick in. It was getting very hot. Already it was in the mid-90's, although I did not feel like it was bothering me at all at that point, even with the fact that I wore an Aero helmet rather than my standard highly vented road helmet. At mile 38, I passed through the town of LaGrange which held a huge Ironman festival. The streets were lined with spectators and fans, both from that town, and people that came from Louisville on the free shuttle that was provided by Ironman. I looked around for my cheering section, all the while going over 25 mph (as it was a downhill for that whole stretch) but I didnt' see anyone. That was ok because my spirits were still high, and I was ok mentally. The bike course again took me through LaGrange at mile 68 and I was desperately hoping to see my cheering section. I slowed down a bit on the main strip to look for them, but no luck, didnt' see anyone. I was feeling a bit down because of that. Why didn't I see them? All of a sudden about a half mile up the road, I saw Jeff and Kristin. SOOO awesome to see them! It was literally touching to see Jeff out there, as he used to go see his father race in Ironmans before he passed away in 2005. I slowed down so I could hear him, he asked me how I was doing, and I said good, and gave him a thumbs up. All of a sudden I felt good again. I continued on and continued to race within myself to save as much energy as possible for the marathon that lay ahead. I kept seeing the mile markers get higher and higher..."mile 80....mile 90....mile 100." All of a sudden, I was thinking about my transition to run! I saw the river and at that point, I think I got a little excited. I picked up the pace for the last 12 miles and then I was on the cusp of the tranistion area when I saw my fans AGAIN! I dismounted my bike and handed it to a volunteer and ran down the transition chute to get my run gear bag. Back into the changing tent I went, a volunteer grabbed me, emptied my bag, put on my running shoes for me while another volunteer sprayed sunblock all over me. I felt like royalty. I must have thanked them about 30 times before I headed out onto the marathon course. I started running down the chute again when I saw Kush and Stasiuk to my right. I stopped and gave Mike a hug and gave Kush a high five and then took off. i saw the rest of my fans a few hundred yards up. I then took a right over the bridge to a turn around and hit the Mile 1 marker. I remember thinking "wow, I have 25 more of those signs to see before I can call myself an Ironman." I looped back into town and there was my cheering section again. I was so glad that I was running at a good pace. I hit the marathon course like I was possessed, running an 8:28 pace for the first 4 miles. I was running through the aid stations, taking in Gatorade endurance formula and water. Then the heat started to wear on me. This heat was like nothing I've ever come across. Debilitating I think is the correct word for it. At mile 5, I decided to start walking the aid stations and decided on the strategy of making it a race to each aid station, where I would enjoy the small victory of getting ice cold sponges to put down my shirt, ice cubes in my hat, and cold water and gatorade to take in. I was diligent about taking in fluids because i knew how dangerous this heat was, as I constantly heard the ring of sirens and saw the sights of countless competitors on the side of the road, being put on a stretcher and being taken away by ambulances. I refused to let myself become one of them. The pain started, and my legs were hurting like they've never hurt before. It was excruciating. Somewhere between mile 10 and 12, one of my worst fears were realized. I stopped sweating. This could mean certain failure had I not been taking in as much fluids as I was. I refused to stop. Around the same time, I started running with another guy, Andy. He was 40 years old from Allentown, PA, and he was pretty much in the same condition as I was. I would say about 70% of the field was walking at this point. I chatted with Andy and we decided that we would pull each other through. We would pick landmarks and say 'Ok, let's run from this fire hydrant to that yellow sign 200 yards up the road.' And so that's what we did, we'd walk for about a minute, and then run for about 3 minutes. This seemed to be working! All of a sudden, we hit the halfway point, which was right near the finish line, and that's where i saw my fans! I remember seeing Ashley and she was recording me on her videocamera and i said 'Next time you see me, I will be an Ironman!" Seeing the thousands of people waiting at the finish line was enough motivation to start running again. I think me and Andy actually ran from mile 13 to 14, which was a small victory in and of itself. I just could not wait for that crowd to cheer for me. Andy and I continued on and on and on, all the while both of our conditions worsening. At mile 19, I went under a bridge which was not well lit and I got very dizzy, I almost fell over. At that point, I said to myself "You can't give up, no matter what, keep taking in as much fluids as possible." I did not fall down and made it to the other side of the bridge where i felt a little better. I think at that point, as if it was a sign or something, I had to pee, which was another small victory. That sounds very gross and weird, but having to pee is a good sign when it's that hot. That meant I was taking in enough fluids to have and stop at a porta potty. I finally made turn around at mile 20 and said to Andy, hey, I might still make my 13 hour goal! He really picked me up, and at times when I said I had to walk, he would say "No, you have it in you to run to that next street!" We pushed each other so much. He told me that I was getting heat stroke, but that I could probably still finish the race in OK shape if i kept drinking. I did that, but then I felt my toenail on my right big toe starting to fall off and peel away from the foot. It hurt like hell. I just had to focus on the finish line, I had to. At mile 23, we hit the Ford Motivational Mile. This was where an athlete's fans leave a message that is displayed on a huge electronic billboard, and the message is displayed as your timing chip passes over a timing mat. I passed over the mat and looked up, the message to me was "Tony, I am here. Love, Jared." I lost it at that point, started to cry. I get teary eyed even thinking about that. I was reminded at that point of the whole reason why I was there. I had to get to the finish line, I could not quit, I had to realize this was about something bigger.

As Andy and I made our way back into town, Andy told me (and I'm paraphrasing, but this is almost dead on, we had a conversation for about 5 minutes) "listen bro, when we get a half mile away from the finish line, I want you to go ahead of me, I'm going to hang back. I want you to cherish this moment. Think of your friends and family. Look in the eyes of the people in the crowd. Think about your life. There are so many things that can go wrong in life - marriages go bad, people screw you over, sometimes things just suck, but this moment will make you a new person altogether. This will be the beginning of your new life as an Ironman. Please take it all in, and never, ever forget this." About 10 minutes later, I turned a corner of a street that was about 1/4 mile from the finish line and saw muff, stasiuk, kush, my brother and ashley. They were going crazy. They started running with me, my brother handed me a shirt that they were all wearing with jared's picture on the front. Muff was screaming louder than I ever heard him scream, my brother was running and yelling in his cell phone "He's coming! He's going to finish in the next 2 minutes! Get ready" It was surreal. I turned the last corner and saw the thousands of people, cheering for me. I raised the shirt to my chest and showed Jared's picture to the crowd. I started to bawl my eyes out, I cried and cried and cried as I ran down the chute. The finish line was just hundreds of feet in front me. I couldn't take any more, I got to the finish line, raised the shirt above my head, and collapsed at the line. I cried uncontrollably for about 30 seconds as a volunteer picked me up off the ground and put the medal around my neck and looked me in the eye and said "Congratulations Anthony, You're an Ironman." Those words, from a total stranger, will stay in my heart forever.

I got my picture taken with the shirt with the Ironman backdrop, and could barely walk. Made my way to the end of the finish line corrale where I saw all my fans. I gave them all big hugs. That moment was incredible. After i settled down, I realized again the type of pain I was in. Walking was a chore, to say the least. Beyond that, the heat stroke was realized. I was freezing, and it was still 90 degrees out. The volunteer brought me and my fans to the convention center where I got a massage and got more fluids. I felt terrible physically but was the definition of happy emotionally. I got a chance to talk to everyone there after the massage, and I told Jared's parents "We did it! The last mile wasn't just me, Jared was carrying me. My body was almost completely shut down at mile 24, but Jared got me through" and Susan said "I know." I hugged all my friends, and Jeff came up to me and I told him that I talked to his father during the marathon and that I'm sure he was also watching over me. At that point, there was nothing left to do except smile and head back to the hotel room for a shower. I got in the shower and cried again. I was overwhelmed with emotion. More than a year of my life was dedicated to just cross that finish line, and I had done it. I had done something that was once considered humanly impossible.

I then checked my phone and computer. I had countless messages from people tracking me online throughout the day. I can't believe how much support I got. People were telling me that I am an inspiration to everyone and that they were so proud to call me a friend. I guess I can't really understand it as much as I wish I could. To be called an inspiration and to say that I inspire people blows my mind. I just see myself as an ordinary guy with an extraordinary group of people around me.

I will be posting pictures when I get home, as I'm still in Louisville now. But for now, I want to take this opportunity to say thank you...first and foremost to my friends and family. Paul, Sue, Tom, Mom and Dad....you guys are the best. Secondly, Muff, Stasiuk, Tyler and Kush....you are the best friends I could ever ask for. Without you, I would not be the man I am today and I surely would not be an Ironman without you guys. Friends forever boys. Kelly, Ashley, Jeff and Kristin....words cannot thank you enough for coming to Kentucky to support me. Driving 14 hours overnight to watch my race start speaks volumes about what kind of people you are and for that alone, I will always have a place in my heart for you. Lastly, to my other awesome friends, Gary, Godard, PJ, Kev, Ally, Jess, Mary, Nicole, Carly and anyone else I may have missed, thank you for believing that I can do this, thanks for being such good friends. To Kristin and Jon, thanks for always reminding me to smile. To Rohan - my Mount Everest-climbing freak training partner - thanks for pushing me harder than I thought I could go on those long 100 mile bike rides and those tough runs afterwards, you helped me more than anyone else when it came to physical preparation. To Team Heat, thank you for giving me the resources and advice that I desparately needed. To Dave Couture, thank you for calming my nerves about this race and believing in me. To Doug Lord, thanks for all the advice. Thank you all so much.

WE DID IT! I am an IRONMAN!!!!