Ironman #8 12:01:22!!!

Just a quick post to report a new Ironman PB!!!! Woohoo!!!!!!  I will write up a proper race report soon but a brief recap:  swim was insanely fast!  The current in the Hudson made for some fast swim times and I came out of the water in 46:57!  That was fast and I will never replicate that time again!  The bike was challenging and fair.  I, on the other hand, got an unfair drafting penalty!  I am still shocked I got a red card and was not sure what to do.  I was in the process of passing two cyclists who themselves were drafting off of each other up a hill and I guess it took me longer than 30 seconds to pass them both, but I was going up a hill!!!!  So I lost 4+ minutes in the penalty tent for this!  Argh!  Bike time was 6:26:01.  Run was very challenging complete with lots of hills, running up and down stairs, with some heat and humidity.  I gave it my all and ran my fastest marathon in an IM at 4:40:30.  Total time was 12:01:22!!!!  Woohoo!!!!  I wanted sub 12:30 and wanted close to 12hrs as possible, but did not think this was possible yet!  It was a thought I put off to the side.  If I did not get that damn drafting penalty I would have went under 12hrs!  Well, my effort was a little much for my body (and the fact I lost all my salt pills on the run), I pretty much collapsed at the finish line.  My legs started cramping and I was held up by one catcher and soon enough a second catcher was holding me up as I was no longer able to hold myself up and a 3rd volunteer was directing and making way for the catchers to take me to the med tent.  At that point I was pretty much out of it, I heard everything going on but I wasn't responding.  And I couldn't.  More details in my race report but I ended up being in there for almost three hours and getting 3 IV fluid bags for me to start feeling better and become more responsive!  When I was finally let go and I saw my friends I started cramping again and had to be held up by them! Lol! Other volunteers were asking if I needed to go into the med tent and our response was that I just got out from there!  Haha!  Yep, I was in pretty rough shape!  Looks like I came in 16th in my age group and 638th overall!  Not bad at all!  I am enjoying NYC today and overindulging on some treats including cupcakes, gelato, and some cocktails!