Casualties of an Ironman: Part Deux

I'm happy to report that thanks to my experience at IMTX 2011, I was well prepared for IMTX 2013 and was able to make some changes that ended up saving me a lot of pain.  While I had at least 6 casualties in 2011, I'm happy to let you know that number is much lower this year!

Casualty #1 - Complexion

Truth be told, I just don't think there is anything I could've done.  Within a few days of Ironman, I noticed a breakout similar to 2011.  A series of pimples on my chin, one smack dab in the middle of my forehead and one on each temple.   I rushed to Walgreen's and bought some Clean & Clear and scrubbed the living crap out of my face.  I needed to get those pores unclogged.  I'm happy to report that today, my face is nearly back to normal.  Yes, I know "normal" is debatable and I'm sure my brother is going to have something funny to say about my face.  Suck it Kevin.

Casualty #2 - My Tan

After getting burned to a crisp in Galveston, I made darn sure to stop at the sunscreen appliers after T1 AND T2 at IMTX.  I had the slightest hit of pink in one small spot and the rest of me was tan.  While the sunscreen prevented me from burning, it sure didn't prevent me from getting the ridiculous triathlete tan lines.  I'm never going to be able to even this crap out. 

While this has faded somewhat, it's still not cute!

While this isn't only from IMTX, it sure darkened up a lot after.

This makes me laugh.  A sliver of tan between my glove line and the athlete wristband.  

The famed Garmin tan line.  

That's it!  Those were my only casualties!!  Yes!  My clothes went immediately into the washing machine and were then washed not once, not twice but THREE times.  My shoes look like new and everything smells like flowers.  I'm also happy to report that I learned to apply Glide & Vaseline much better and came away with essentially no chaffing.  Score!!  My biggest achievement though was saving my feet from the countless blisters I got two years ago.  I learned to avoid Super Soakers, hoses and sprinklers and kept my feet as dry as possible. When I poured water on my head, I made sure I stuck it out away from my body so it wouldn't trickle down my body.  I also stopped at Special Needs on the 2nd loop and put on dry socks...my 3rd pair of the day.  Thanks to all of those changes, I walked away with one, small blister.  Yay me!!!

There you have it.  I'm thinking that for my 3rd Ironman, I'll have no casualties at all...well, except for my previous time because I plan to crush it.  :)