Ironman Florida - TriathlonFull Ironman

To the first couple of bouys was insane!!! I was getting the crap beat out of me. My adrenaline was going CRAZY…I was almost breathless…and kept getting clocked in the head by the guys and their extra wide wingspans! Decided I needed to settle down and find my rhythm. Tried to site as best I could-seems the current was pulling me right a bit. Made a good turn at the bouy, got kicked in the pelvis about there, then swam to the next turn feeling pretty good. The swim in was a little rougher and I felt a little cramping in my calf from the cooler water temps, so I just tried to keep long, smooth strokes, do a little kicking and stay on course. Got out on loop one at about 32’, so I thought I could be on track for the 1:05 swim I had anticipated. Took a GU and swig of water and made my way back in. As I was running back in to the water, my hamstring was cramping a little so I decided to swim at that point. The second loop was much less congested and not really remarkable. Got out and the clock read 1:09…was a little bummed it took me that much longer for loop two, but in hindsight with the conditions it wasn’t so bad. Started peeling the suit, found a stripper, then ran up to T1.

not much

The ground was so cold running to T1 that it was nice to have the carpet in the ladies tent! Saw Kathy G, she asked how I was, then had an awesome volunteer help me get into my gear….leg warmers, arm warmers, race number, sunglasses, helmet, shoes and GO! Stuffed my pockets with my gels and electrolytes then took off running for my bike. Got on the bike pretty easily and took off.



I had budgeted 10' for transitions and my total T time was just over 11 minutes so I did ok.

I felt comfortable on the bike temp wise…glad I took the time to put on the leg / arm and ear warmers! Heading out on 79 was crazy…so many packs of people. It was hard to stay away, as you either had to work like mad to get in front of them, only to get passed a moment later, or drop back so far that it killed your momentum…say draft marshalls a few times, and saw a few red cards being passed out. Blatant cheating and some unintentional getting caught up in it from what I could see. I just tried to stay within myself and “let the day come to me”.turned onto the back part of the course (20??) and felt the headwind. Not super duper strong, but constant….no break from it. I kept it in my little gear and spun and just was careful not to go too hard, hoping the way back would yield a nice tailwind!! That stretch seemed to last FOREVER! I stopped at special needs to remove the warmers and get some biofreeze for my knee, which was not feeling awesome from the start…so weird – this has only happened on race day for me. Took 2 advil and grabbed another gel or 2 and was off…spent maybe a minute there. Once we turned on to 231, things got better as far as the wind goes. Took some other roads, including an out and back that had mixed wind, then once we hit 388 it was hammer time! This was about 4 hours in I think and I suddenly felt ALIVE! The pavement was smooth and we had a tailwind. I had been averaging 19.5 thus far, and wanted to average that for the whole ride, so I was so far so good….the next hour I hammered, but stayed within my parameters, and averaged 23mph. Time in the bank is what I was thinking for the stretch on front beach coming in. During the course of this ride I had 3-2 hour bottles of infinit with 400mg of sodium in each…8 endurolyte caps and 5 or 6 gels – calories in about 2400…garmin says calories out was 6302. I think the garmin is high or else I could have had about 600 more calories.



hmmmmmm...I was pretty happy with this. I had hoped for a 5:45 bike...even a sub 6:00 would have made me happy...so to come in under 5:35 was a nice surprise!

The volunteer grabbed my bike – I had slipped the feet out of the shoes so I ran barefoot..they were calling my number for my bag…then Jaimie (Piperfl) appeared with my bag!! Gave her a hug and ran to the changing tent. Had another great volunteer help me..slipped on socks, run shoes, visor, grabbed a couple gels and endurolytes and a mint. I think I took some electrolytes and a mint here? It’s fuzzy. Took off running and realized I needed to pee…do I pee my pants or spend a minute in the port a john?? I decided since I was right there I would spend the minute and stay comfortable for now…had it been on the course, I would have just peed myself

Not much.

My first loop was good…I was trying to stay within my parameters..”let the day come to me”…watching heart rate, knowing the sun would go down and it would in theory be a little bit easier to keep the hr down. At mile 3 I had a bad cramp in my hamstring and thought “NO!!! TOO EARLY”…stopped to stretch it, and as I bent over, my stomach cramped!! OH NO! I opened an endurolyte and poured it on my tongue..no water..foaming at the mouth :-p..started running again and about 20 seconds later there was a water stop! Haha. Took more endurolytes and Gatorade and went on… Made it through the first timing mat, looked at my watch and it said 1:55. I was thinking I was on track for a 10:45 race if I could hold it together…grabbed my long sleeve shirt as it was cooling off and the sun was going to go down. My crew had told me I was 12th off the bike and I had to run some girls down…by now it was hard to know where I was. Hard to see ages on calves – who was on first or second loop??!! Just about mile 14 the “fun” started…the cramping!!! The last loop was total damage control. I was pouring the endurolytes on my tongue, taking Gatorade and just waiting for the sun to go down so I could grab some chicken broth!!!! I stayed fairly on course with my gels but the cramping was awful…I had to stop a bunch...totally killed my pace..saw 10;45 slip away, then was just hoping to go sub-11. I tried to hang on, but it got pretty difficult at the end. Once I got to the last aid station, I saw my family and they said everyone was at the finish..I wish I could have laid it down at that point – I could have gone sub-11-but I just couldn’t…I cruised in at a comfortable pace and finished in 11:01:27. I ended up running my way up from 12th to 9th in my age group, but at one point was in 7th...won't let THAT happen next year!!!

I have to figure out what happened with the cramping..I took in 1200mg of sodium with my infinit and about 20 endurolytes during the race...on a day that was MUCH LESS humid and hot than what I train in...maybe I had too much?? I shall figure this out this year. I also wonder if I went out too hard on the first loop, although my heart rate stayed quite low. Hard to know for sure but I am still happy with my performance.

Wendi caught me, was very kind, then I got my stuff and found my support crew. Grabbed a water, hid behind a mylar blankie and put on my dry clothes, then head out to grab all my stuff from transition.


I like this race enough that I did it in 2007..again this year, and signed up for 2010.

I have an awesome coach who inspires me(he raced KONA after being hit by a car the day before...then raced IMFL to take 1st in his AG and was 3' shy of setting a course record)....and had an amazing support crew of Toni, Betsy, Bridget and Kris there...I wanted for nothing! I will be back next year and now know for sure what it takes to Kona Qualify. Watch out ladies - I'LL BE BACK ;)