June 26: The day started extremely promising as I exited the water in a very comfortable 55 minute swim. The swim felt really short which was a good sign that I was dialed in mentally for the day. On the first lap of the bike, I focused on "holding back" and taking care of my nutitional needs. At mile 40 or so on the bike, both Mirek and Andrew, my teammates, come riding up on me. It was so awesome! 2400 racers and three Zoom riders racing side by side for about 10-15 miles of the bike. I completed the first half of the ride in 2:38, ten minutes faster than last year, and more importantly, I felt fine. At mile 65 or so and the start of the climb on the second lap, I caught back up to Andrew who looked like he was going through a bit of a rough patch. I told him to eat, take salt, and he'll come back to life. Doing my fourth ironman, I knew going into the race that no matter how great you feel, you always have one bad patch on the bike. Mine came at mile 90 or so. I was starting to feel depleted but the thought of taking a gel or eating a bar made me want to hurl. I decided to drink coke and see how long I could stretch the coke until the finish. Andrew caught back up to me and he looked like he had come around pretty well. With 10 miles to go my legs were cramping (I found out later from Tim Sheeper that I did not take enough salt) and I just wanted to get back to T2. I finished the bike in 5:26, putting me 5 minutes ahead of my 10-hour pace. Once into T2, both my legs locked up and I couldn't even walk. After a long transition, I started walking out onto the run course. About half a mile in, I was able to jog and eventually settle into a nice clip. However, my outlook was not positive, usually an early sign of an impending bonk. I needed fluids and calories. At mile three, I drank water and coke and at mile 4 I took a salt tablet. Shortly after taking the salt tablet, I vomited everything I had put in the last 4 miles. I was immediately reminded of Natascha Badmann throwing up during ironman and she went on to place second in the race and I set out to follow her example. I was able to run miles 4-13 but was not able to take in any calories because my stomach could not keep anything down but water. Though my gait and turnover looked good to others, I knew I was shutting down. Shortly after mile 14, I slowed to a walk and did so unitl mile 17 where I collapsed and was taken to the med tent by way of ambulance. To be honest, I don't know if I can fight much longer at this distance. Tim said it would take three years and this is my third year. The start to the day was so promising and I really thought this was going to be THE ironman I've been working toward. I can't believe how ugly and how fast things detiorated. In four ironmans, I've DNF'ed twice and flatted twice. I know I have a good iroman in me but it will have to wait because what I need now is a break from the distance. I will take the next week to rest and see how I heal, mostly emotionally. BTW, the new bike worked beautifully. I also wanted to say "thanks" to the people of Coeur d'Alene. They are sooo supportive of this race and there were so many moments where I found myself so appreciative of not only the volunteers but also the spectators. The weather in Coeur d'alene is amazing and you have lots of daylight because the sun rises at 4:30 am and doesn't set until 9:30 pm. Having raced here twice now, I've really fallen in love with this place.