Ironman Florida - TriathlonFull Ironman

I am not a fast swimmer. I was expecting to finish around 1:30 so I couldn't have been happier with my time. I went in about dead center and in the middle. I was a bit panicked about 10 minutes before the start but not for the normal reasons. My zipper had broken off my suit on Thursday's group swim and I had it repaired that afternoon or so I thought. I zipped up my suit very carefully and it broke again. I didn't want to try and carry my zipper with me and I didn't want to loose it so I was scanning the crowd for a familiar face. Luckly I was able to spot a BT shirt, it was Katiefrog, and I asked her if she would hold on to it for me. Thank You! Went to get into position and ran into another Bt'er, said good luck and the gun went off.

We made our way into the water, waded out about 30 yards and then were off. About 3 minutes later I took a pretty good right cross to the chin, a little later another blow to the head and realized, this was awesome! I'm not a physical person but all of the contact and chaos made me realize I was finally doing it. I had not been nervous since I had pulled into town late Tueday night. I guess also being around so many great athletes I kind of felt like I really didn't belong. This was only my 5 triathlon in 3 years. Amazing what can go thru your head in such a short time. Got to the first turn and it was pretty much a stand still. A lot of folks were dog paddling, myself included because you couldn't move. Also at that point we were swimming directly into the sun. Made the next turn an it had thinned out pretty good and then I took a heel in the mouth pretty hard. A few seconds later I felt something crunchy in my mouth. No not sand, a piece of my tooth. Somebody has got a pretty good kick. No wonder you were in front of me. Got out on the beach for the second loop and I know I must have had the largest shit eating grin on my face. I had finished in just under 38 minutes, felt great and knew the second lap was not going to be a problem. The swim was the part I was most concerned about but it was by far the most enjoyable part of the day. The second lap was pretty uneventful and a lot less crowded. I got to the beach and it was crazy! A volunteer handed me a glass of water and I started making my was up the beach. I looked over and realized I had almost walked right past the wetsuit strippers. ( I would apoligize to Papson14 for being one of those deer-in-the headlight people he mentioned in his race report but he was in front of me anyway!) Got my wetsuit, a bar of soap, shampoo, conditioner, and luffa and headed of for a nice warm shower.

Swimm lessons? I could be faster but this was a better time per 100 than my 1/2 IM so I'm happy.

Damn. More madness. Thru the shower into a hallway and shouting out numbers to volunteers. Got my bag and realized it was still a bit chilly. There were people getting dressed all over the place, outside and inside the tent. Found a empty seat towards the back and put on a long sleeve dry fit, and a cycling jersey, gloves socks and shoes and headed out. The volunteers were awesome! Heled with the bags, helped get my shirt on over my back, helped with sunscreen. And it was like that all day. Left the tent and waited in line to use the bathroom. Got my bike and went to get on. More crazyness. A narrow area and a ton of people trying to mount their bikes and swerving all over the place.

Put a small towel in my T1 bag, put on sunscreen before the swim, get further out before I mount my bike instead of trying to navigate thru all the other bikers.

This was a good ride for me. I got in aero right after I got on to front beach and got in a grove pretty quickly. Waved to my family as I passed our hotel and looked at my time and realized I was about :15 minutes ahead of my projected time. Set my timer to go off every 25 minutes to remind me to take in a gu. Had 2 the first time it went off and 1 every time after that. I took 2 bottles of Gatoraide endurance with carbopro in it and my aero was filled with water to take in at the start. The first 50 went by pretty fast. I stopped one on the side of the road to use the bathroom and I was a lot more discreet than others were. Some people just stopped on the sholder and let it fly. The last 62 were pretty tough. It seemed like time just stopped. I started hating my gu and eating power pars instead. My butt started hurting pretty bad and it was difficult to stay in aero. There were a few stretches where the roads sucked and it was like a yard sale. Whoever cleaned up those areas will never have to buy co2, tires, tubes, gels, water bottles, or endurolytes for the rest of their life. The out and back was the worst. You were jarred about every 10 feet and you knew you were going to have to so it again. I reached the 100 mile mark, only the second time ever, and stopped taking in any nutrition because I didn't want to feel bloated on the run. The last 6 miles were great because I knew I was definetly going to finish this race. I kept myself from looking at the time for the entire bike ride. I didn't want to be disappointed if I was slow or tempted to push harder than I should. When I got in and saw that I was under 8 hours I felt pretty confident that I would finish under 13 hours

I didn't log nearly enough miles to expect better. Only about 2000 miles in the last 2 years. I will spend more time in the saddle before the next one and I will push myself harder on my trainer

Not a bad T2 time. It was a pretty good distance between the dismount line and the changing tent. I should have left my shoes on the bike since I planned on changing socks anyway. It sucks trying to walk in bike shoes after riding 112 miles! Put on socks, socks, shoes, and tritop, hat and sunglasses. Got out and got sunscreen on may arms from a volunteer the hit the bathroom and off to the run.

Other than leaving the shoes on the bike and sunscreen in the morning nothing.

A damn good run for me. My marathon PR is 4:40:30 so I wsa pretty satisfied with my time. I felt pretty bloated on most of the run and had difficulty not getting sick. I tried to take just enough in in fluids to keep me going but not enough to put me over the edge of getting sick. I wish their was a way to see my splits because I think my first 3/4 of the run were on pace to break my PR. I could not believe how many volunteers and supporters were out on the course. We had a cheering crew for my tri team in front of Spinnakers and that crazy group around mile marker one from another local tri group that made my run. Ya'll had to see them. They were the ones with whips and chains and partying like crazy. My goal was to run between stations and walk to take in fluids. I stuck to that pretty well unless I felt like I might get sick. If that happened I stopped and walked for about a minute and then got back into it. I got a huge boost around mile 14 when I saw my family. I got a kiss from my wife and twim boys and saw the smiles on everyones faces and couldn't quit smiling myself. I saw several BT'ers on the course. Jasha, always with a smile on his face, Aimmee, who was very encouraging at the end, my training partner, Lisa, who kicked major butt, even with a cold! I saw Papson14 about mile 25.5 with his wife and his metal looking very happy. Man, you killed your goal! I ran past the Memphis Thunder tent and into the chute. I heard my name but no "You are an Ironman!" Oh well, there's always a next time. Did I just type that?

Maybe walk less the last 6 miles? Easy to say now but maybe I could have pushed a little harder. Always room for improvement, right?

Got my medal and shirt, hugged and kissed my wife and went to get a massage. My Dad had two ice cold Dos Equis with him for me but I couldn't drink them just yet. Went for a massage, got my bike and bags and went back to the hotel for a sit in the hot tub.


Where do I start? A 2-1/2 yr old son with a broken femur who spent 8 days in the hospital and another 6 weeks with a cast on. Dropping a hot water heater on my toes and loosing a week of training, A week of for a MRSA infection that put me in a hospital for surgery. A few colds, a minor surgery foy my wife, etc...

I could not have asked for a better 1st IM. I beat every projected time and goal I set for myself. I put a picture of my kids on my bike frame and 'No Regrets' on my bike tag. I wanted to give it my all and not look back and say what if. But guess what? I am saying what if. What if I trained more, what if I had gotten up and not hit the snooze button so many times, what if I had taken swim lessons, what if 'I had gotten of my computer and rode! (thanks Lisa) I can't wait to try and do better.

I will do it again. And I'm sure I'll question my performance again. But I had a damn good time and I smiled a lot and I have no regrets. Who's in for Cozumel in 2010?


My wife made the comment earlier in the week that she thought that triathletes have a bit of an air about them. She is a runner and agrees that a lot of runners do as well. I think her perception has changed after meeting so many of the cool BT'ers at the party and afterwards. This is the coolest support group anyone could ask for. I really enjoyed our Tuesday dinner with Chris, Chris, Jen, Melissa, and Rick as well as the early morning swims. You guys are awesome.

I am very glad I spent the extra money for a M-dot race. Everything was top notch. The volunteers were amazing. The expo area was good and the day after we got a paper with everyone's times, our certificates, and our photos were ready. Missed out on the video at the awards dinner. I hope I can still get one.