It's November 9th, 2003, 6:50AM and I'm standing on a beach in Panama City, Florida in my wetsuit with 2000 other people ready to begin an adventure that less than a year and a half ago I would have never imagined making. Looking over the sea of red caps, admiring the calmness of the gulf water, the beauty of the sun rising to the east, the warm breeze blowing across my face, I thought "This is going to be an amazing day".

It's eight months later, July 13th, 6:50AM and I'm at Langener Waldsee, outside of Frankfurt, Germany, heading down a narrow, steep incline with 2000 other people ready to begin another adventure that I thought I would never take on again. Unable to see anywhere beyond the sea of broad shoulders and blue caps surrounding me (the Germans are a tall folk) I looked up to observe the dark looming storm clouds to the north and the cool breeze blowing. Desperately trying not to lose Frank among the crowd, what I didn't notice, after what seemed like a lifetime, was the lake approaching. Suddenly and without any warning, a "plop" and I was met with knee deep mud and frigid water. I thought, "This is going to be an interesting day."

Frank and I swam out to the start line (the swim for Ironman Germany begins in the water, not from the shore) where we frantically treaded water in order to stay warm and, of course, to stay afloat. We noticed the long line of blue caps still heading into the water so we had plenty of time to assess what was ahead of us. Looking over the start line, to our right was a line of bright yellow buoys, to our left was a line of bright blue buoys. Looking at each other we simultaneously said, "Which way do we go?" After several minutes of discussion we heard the gun go off. We were headed toward the yellow buoys, which, thank goodness, was the correct way to go.

The swim was pretty much everything I expected. The kicking, shoving and stirring up going on around me was similar to Florida. I fought my way through one lap (36:04 mins) and started my second lap. About 0.4 miles from the shore I was excited to see a familiar stroke. I wasn't sure it was Frank's until he turned his head to breath and I saw his goggles. I immediately got on his feet and followed him in. We finished the second lap together (40.41 mins - a total of 4 mins off my Florida time) and were headed up the hill to transition one (I traveled with two other friends of mine, Claudia and Audra, and after the race we discovered that we all finished the swim within 40 sec of each other). Oh, and the man who got out of the water first did BOTH laps in a total time of 42:17 mins for an Ironman World Record.

Germans are not a modest folk. Unlike Ironman Florida where the male and female transition tents were guarded with maximum security and the threat of disqualification if the opposite gender mistakenly entered the wrong changing tent loomed over our heads, Ironman Germany was a free-for-all. One had the choice of changing next to their bike or in the coed changing tent. I, being a bit more modest, chose the tent. I sat down with my bag. In front of me a sixty-ish year old female volunteer ready to assist me. I did think for a moment to wrap a towel around me but thought "When in Rome ..." Soon I was all dressed and running to my bike, I thought to myself that this woman was probably the oldest woman to ever see me in my birthday suit since I was five years old. Transition one time: 14:13 mins.

One of the cardinal rules of triathlon is never to try something on race day that you hadn't tried while training. I broke that rule (and you will see how it gets me in the end). As part of our goody bag we received at registration (the Germans were quite generous) was a bento box. For those of you who don't know what a bento box is, it's a little box that you can attach to your bike to easily access food items while riding. I already had one at the front of my bike, so I thought I would put this one on the top tube right under my seat. What was I thinking! After a ½ mile of pedaling with the thing rubbing against my inner thighs, I stopped the bike and took the damn thing off. I would have worn away the inner lining of my bike shorts if I attempted to ride the entire 112 miles with this thing between my legs.

Back on my bike, we had a 6 mile ride up to Frankfurt (taking 25:32 mins - which I probably could have done a few minutes faster if it wasn't for my fiddling). And then two 53 mile loops north of Frankfurt. The course had a "Tour de France" spirit. Throngs of enthusiastic supporters, fueled by good German beer, cheered us along the way. On sections of the course we encounter pave'. Spectators, inches from each side of our bikes, cheered us up the hills with chants and spectacle. One man, followed us up the hills, holding a microphone and a hand-held amplifier, calling out our names and chanting "Allez, allez, allez".

I finished my first loop (2 hrs 54:28 mins) about 13 mins off my Florida pace. The course was a bit hillier than Florida and there was a strong head wind on the way back. I was a little disappointed. I began my second loop pushing a bit harder which unfortunately affected me within a few miles. Feeling a bit fatigued I brought the level of intensity down and stopped more frequently. My friend Claudia joined me at the half-way point of the second loop. It was great to see a familiar face. With an exchange of encouraging words I began to feel much better and stayed in my zone for the rest of the second loop (3 hrs 9:58 mins). Total ride time was 6 hrs 13 mins which meant I stopped for total of about 17 mins along the route.

Into the second transition, I decided to put the frustrations of the bike leg behind me, so I could focus 100% on my run. Done with transition (8:44 mins - a good 7 mins off of my Florida time) I was off to begin the marathon.

The marathon is 3 flat loops along the bank of the river Main, with the only incline being the ramps up and down over the bridge to get to each side of the river. I decided to run the first 6 miles at an easy pace. This worked well as I was able to run from aid station to aid station only walking to drink and eat. Concerned about my stomach, I only drank water, electrolyte drink, and coke and only ate oranges and hot broth. The Germans laid out a terrific spread of cakes, cookies and crackers that unfortunately I just couldn't stomach. During the first 6 miles I got to see Audra, Claudia, as well as Frank who I hadn't seen since the swim.

The next 7 miles I picked up the pace (½ marathon time 2 hrs 13 mins - I was very happy). I continued with this methodology (easy, hard, easy, hard) which worked really well. The last four miles were tough, but I knew the end was near so I kept focused. You pass the entrance to the finish five times before you get your turn. About 1/8 mile before it was finally my turn a woman in the crowd told me that if I pushed a little harder I could just make it under 13 hrs. I dug as deep as I could. Running up the carpeted path I began to hear the cheering crowd, I saw the spectators and the lights. Then, I could see the finish line. I took my hat off and started waving it in the air. I was getting closer ... and closer ... a then ... a flash of light ... it was all over ... I turn around to look at my time –

13 hrs 00 mins 56 secs.

Immediately after seeing my time I said to myself, "Damn that bento box".

I was extremely pleased with my performance. My marathon time ended up being 10 mins faster than Florida. In this race I had a personal best time on all of the legs of the course (including transition) except for the bike. I was thrilled.