The Ironman starts with a 2.4 mile swim in Tempe Town Lake. The pros start early, and then the "age groupers" get in the water, and tread, tread, tread, for 15 - 20 minutes until they start the race at 7 a.m. The start line is in the water, so all 2,000 competitors are in the water waiting. The smart ones wear wetsuits, that are naturally bouyant. Mark finished his swim in about an hour and 36 minutes. When they get out of the water there are race volunteers that rip the wetsuits off of the competitors. It is fun to watch. Then the athletes head into the "transition area" where they have a bag waiting for them with their bike clothes and gear. They suit up, have a little something to eat if they're smart, and head out. There bike is waiting and off they go! Mark's transition took him about 15 minutes. When your talking about a race that could take over 16 hours, you want to be ready to get on that bike for 112 miles. The bike portion of the race took Mark from 9 a.m. til 4:30 ish p.m. Temperatures on the race course were sunny and over 95 degrees in the afternoon.
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