Ironman Arizona - Race Recap

Next Level Coaching athlete, David Benton, recounts Ironman Arizona. It was his third full Ironman 140.6 distance event with the Next Level Endurance team.

Ironman Arizona Race Recap:

Yesterday was definitely a day I will never forget.

Ironman Arizona is definitely the hardest thing I've ever done. The swim was a little shocking with one big 2.5 mile loop in Lake Tempe in somewhat cold water (67 deg).

The bike Course was 112 miles (3 loops). The first loop was awesome and I literally thought this will be a walk in the park. Wrong...half way through the second loop the wind cranked up and it was bad. At one point the dust blowing across the highway was so thick you couldn't see.

The 26.2 mile run started great, but by mile 10 my body was beat down and I started a walk/run mix.

Seeing Ashlie and Adelaide cheering me on was a great help. I looked forward to each and every time that I saw them.

Seeing my friends along this journey was awesome too. Everyone dealing with their own circumstances and hammering through it. Putting up their best fight to the finish. I definitely have awesome friends.

And most importantly fighting this with 2 of my closest friends, who also have the "never give up" mentality. We were all together for this fight in the wind. (Reminded me of the day we fought a monsoon on the nola levee while we were doing intervals. We did the intervals right through it. The sun is always shining on the other side.) Michelle and Craig thank you guys and I appreciate yall more than you know.

And last but not least, thank you to my coach Todd Judice. I really appreciate you man. We have now been through 3 fulls together and I've learned so much about myself along the way. Definitely couldn't do this without you.

In conclusion, what I thought would be an easy Ironman, was not easy at all. But isn't that life. Life constantly throws us a curve ball. How you react defines you.