Florida Challenge Half Ironman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Lousy swim, started bad & just felt like there was more drag than usual. Didn't do a good job of navigating as I kept wandering wide of the swim lanes that are closer to the bouys. My left goggle lens kept filling with water & had to stop a few times to drain it.

Probably should have worn the wetsuit.

My family was here including my sister & family from Sarasote...they said they were cheering loudly as I exited the water but among the light headedness & commotion, I never heard them!
No rush here, put the socks & shoes on & hit the road.

Tough course that I rode 2 weeks prior. I took it easy the 1st 30 miles & resisted the temptation to hammer it harder. Just before Buckhill the front small chain ring threw the chain twice & had to stop & fix. Then I stopped almost immediately again to use the porta-potty which I took as a good sign that I was hydrated.
Headed up the Buckhill rollers & the damn bike threw the chain again on one of the climbs! Had to dismount, re-attach the chain & go again...I lost my temper a little (slammed the bike down on the wheels) because I was really climbing well passing everyone & then, boom, I'm pedalling nothing! BTW - I aplogized to the bike...after the race
I get through Buckhill to Sugarloaf & very gingerly shift to the 25 cassette on the small chain ring & it holds up the hill. On the backside the bike develops a skip in chain, it's worse in some of the gears than others. The last 20 miles I kept shifting gears to try & minimize the skipping - payback for slamming it down!
Consumed a Cliff bar in the 1st 1/2 of the ride then grabbed a banana sonwhere in the last 10 miles...a banana never tasted so good!
I'm guessing I finished in 3:10 give or take?

Talk more nicely to the bike?

Once again, no hurry. Had a bottle of ice water in the thermal part of the transition bag & poured it over my head...felt great. Changed into a running shirt & off we go...

What can I say - Until you experience it, it's a tough run to prepare for physically & mentally. I wanted to run to each aid station & that worked for 4 miles then it was periods of random walking/running. Around mile 8 I had developed a side stitch & just walked until it subsided then restarted the "Minneola Shuffle." This continued off & on for a couple miles.

The experience is lesson in mental toughness & I still suck at running & promise to work on it during the off-season.

I finished, slow but finished!
Saw Jig at he finish line, I had to keep walking around, if I sit down, I'm not getting back up for awhile.
Watched James & then Kendall cross the finish line.


Me?


Hurricane Wilma tried her best to affect this race. There were more issues than normal at a Sommer Sports event & both Wilma and the departure of some SS staffers during the prior week created some poor organization experienced by the full IM participants. Some of the aid stations were out of water & some of the aid stations abandoned during the evening hours as full IMers came around.

I'm taking a few weeks off from training & then plan on working on some things over the winter. Over & Out...