Ironman 70.3 Miami - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I have never done a Deep water start and actually thought it was more sane than I had anticipated. The start wasn't the problem, it was getting 200+ people in each wave into the water from the end of a small dock. Could tell that was an equation for disaster as people were losing goggles, landing on other athletes, etc. One "volunteer" was just tossing people in one after another. I slipped to the side and jumped 90 degrees to avoid the log jam.

right when I got into the water I realized the cardinal sin I committed, didn't try on tinted goggles before race. I brought several pair with me, but decided on tinted pair with sun coming up. Naturally they were the ones that leaked. My left side would fill with water as soon as I put my head down. With contacts, this is not cool. I had to deal with it and about every 5 strokes come up and drain it. by some miracle they stopped leaking about 1/4 mile into the swim. Finally I could get into a rythm of some kind. Felt good with stroke and just followed the herd. Last wave behind me was wetsuit folks and I tried to draft off one guy for a while who had great pace going. Lost him somehow in merky water though. As we rounded last buoy I saw my friend who I drove down with and said hey. I think that was first time I actually recognized someone on the swim, so random. When we got to the exit, you had to pull yourself up to first step. Not a big deal, but it slowed the process.

Test goggles before event. That cost me a few minutes at least. I really wanted sub 38:00 here and with the current, anything sub 40 would have been fine.

Decent trot to T1, but nothing crazy. This was largest T1 area I had ever been in, but found the bike pretty easily and just kept calm. Put on the tri jersey, helmet etc and off I went.

I can always run faster from the water to bike, but not sure worth the HR jump, will have to try it once to see pro's/cons for me. Dont forget to put race bib on for bike. Didn't realize it was needed until I saw others heading out of TA and I wasn't going back to get it.

Left feet on shoes for first 1/4 mile because soon as you head out of mount area it is pothole city. Waited a while to get into aero and then slipped feet in. The roads were a bit rough first 5 miles or so and then seemed to get better. The amount of cops needed to block the intersections was unreal. The natives were not happy and can't say I blame them unless nobody told them about road closures etc which is probably the case. Started to see the "packs" of riders bunching up. This was blatent and worst I have seen in a race. I tried to ignore it and not get frustrated and share my opinions. Shame that it can't be like golf where usually honesty prevails. I went for a gel after 45 minutes and in grabbing it, all of my salt tabs dropped to the road. In all I took 3 gels and a Powerbar. IT Band for 1st time really bothered me on the bike. I had to slow to message it a few times on left knee. Really thought that I would finish bike and if still hurt on the run, I would have to bail. After about an hour it started to feel better though:)

The water stations were a complete joke. Thankfully I always bring my own nutrition and hydration, but an extra water bottle is always nice. Kept riding and got to turn around point near a wonderfully smelling city dump. That lasted about 5 minutes and I notices water coolers set up where folks had to get off and fill their bottles, wow. My bento box was real loose and kept hitting my knee so had to ditch it. Put the tube, co2 etc in rear jersey pocket and tossed the bento box at one of the (no)water stations.

Ride back into wind was not as bad as I thought and houses and trees blocked most of it. I kept trading spots with same 4-5 guys who drafted off each other. Wish the officials would have been more dilegent out there, but long course and tough to manage. The cops at the intersections were GREAT and even cheered a lot of folks on. Luckily for me things started to deteriorate as I got closer to the finish and not sooner. Hit a major pothole and there went my left arm pad for aero bar. So the joy of bone on plastic was on for another 10 miles.

I was feeling really good which suprised me after not training as much last 4-5 weeks. Overall this was my best HIM bike split and really pleased with performance.

Left some in the tank I suppose, but who knows how run would have gone if I didn't pace this way

I had good dismount, but somehow lost water bottle from behind seat in process, way too many people to stop and turn around. Right in the entrence to TA 2 bikes collided and got tangled. I had to lift my bike over and kept going. Found my row and somehow passed my spot. Passed it by 50ft and quickly turned around. I thought my time would have been worse since I was in no rush. Sat down and put on socks, loaded up nutrition in back pocket, put on fuel belt, race # and headed out.

Not much here, make sure not to lose nice polar bottle:)

I was suprised I felt good starting out since my IT Band bothered me so much on the bike. Kept about a 9:00 pace and with little running time the last 3-4 weeks, I was ok with that pace and it was getting warm out. Got to the first of 8 bridge climbs and it was just a slow trot. Good downhill and off to the the turnaround. At the aid station I would grab ice and put in back pockets of tri jersey and down my pants. Should have worn hat vs. visor so could put ice on head as well. This really did the trick in keeping body cool. I lost a lot of time doing this each stop though. I kept that 9:00 pace much of race and between bridges and ice cool down, it cost me another 10:00+ on this course.

Happy that I never walked other than aid stations though. I kept feeling pretty good and suprised by that. Never pushed outside limits as I knew it could easily change with long way to go. After first aid station I reached in back pocket for my nutrition I had in a baggy (gels, salt tabs, etc). Somehow it had fallen out and I was left with 12 miles with reliance on aid stations. Of course they had nothing to offer so would have 2 more hours of hoping I had enough in me to make it to finish. This was on my mind the whole run. I had 2 bottles of Gatorade endurance on my belt and that would have to do.

The 2nd loop was more of the same with more people walking the course. I saw a few folks in my AG, but most were ahead of me or behind. I tried talking to a few folks along the way, but such a large international precence, I needed to brush up on my Spanish if I was going to chat.

I saw that I had an outside chance of 5:30:00 at one point, but that was unlikely. Going in I thought 5:45:00 was realistic goal and anything south of that was a good race. With a few miles left I knew it was going to happen so forgot all my troubles and aches. Picked it up the last .5 mile and was VERY happy to have that race over. Crossed the line and grabbed an ice towel and bottle of water. Had to go back for medal and T-Shirt later.

If I can keep body temp down, I think I can easily cut off 10-15 minutes next HIM. I have yet to break 2:00:00 and it is new goal. I can't complain with results after the training time I put in since Clermont. Just wish I could have trained more and seen what I am capable of.

Waited in line for food and not much looked apetizing. Just knew I needed to get some salt in me and re-hydrate. Sat in the shade for a while not knowing if my friend had DNF'ed or was still on the course. Went back to transition to wait and text him. He finshed about 45 min later and we packed up and headed back to car.


Last 6 weeks of training... It was a year I really never took off and can associate some of it to burn-out as well.


This was my first "Ironman" branded race and I guess I had high expectations. But their level of organization or lack there of was well short of even minimal expectations. Commedy of errors really... I just feel bad for folks later in the race who ran out of water and didn't have any gels, salt tabs etc out on the run course.

I highly doubt this race takes place next year and if so, with same director. Heard they were late with start becuase permits still were not in. Come on, that is crazy. Gave me new appreciation for local races and the quality product they put out. Will be back @ Miami Man next year and regret not doing it for a 3rd year. Sad part is the race venue has so much to offer. It is a great setting for a race and 80 degree water in the fall? Thats awesome. They just need someone who knows what they are doing to lead to show.