A great, candid shot of my world famous coach, David Warden and me only seconds after the finish. He got me through this and helped me accomplish one of the toughest goals I have ever attempted in my life.
Well I finally achieved my goal of completing a FULL IRONMAN!! I was joined at the finish line with my wife, my son, Connor, my great friend Kelvin Shields and of course, David Warden.
Throughout the day, I was supported at every turaround by my great friend Kelvin Shileds who surprised me by driving all the way out to Tempe to be there. I was also grateful to have my world famous coach, David Warden to keep me focused on our carefully structured plan designed to finish "standing up and with a smile on my face."
Soon, I will post a photo log and hopefully find a way to upload a video of the finish where Connor jumped through the line to run the last 200 yards or so with me.
I will detail the race and the week leading up to the race, along with a lot of photos, in just a few days.
The highlight of the day was hearing the announcer say,
"John Callos.......YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!"
I really couldn't believe it.
All these months as documented on IronAmbition, and it all came to an end in just 13 hours and 58 minutes. Sounds like a long day, but it really only felt like a 3-hour workout.
One little tidbit though: At mile #2 of the run, I was thinking, "What? over 24 more miles to go? No way!" But before I really knew it, I had somehow progressed to mile 22 and only had less than 5 miles to go. At that point, I knew that I would be an Ironman that night.
