what an Ironman is like--super long

I woke up at 4:30, got up and dressed in my tri gear: tri shorts with a little biking pad, a sports bra and a tank in bright fuschia and black and a bit of turquoise. I put my hair back, grabbed my wetsuit bag, a banana, a granola bar and a bottle of gatorade and hopped in the car. Everything else (bike, helmet, running shoes, etc) had already been set up the day before in the various transition areas. Wonderful 16 drove me and my husband to the buses where my husband realized he had forgo...