Florida Half Ironman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Started at the back and to the right. Took it out at a good pace, forced myself to slow down a few times because even though I didn't feel like I was going hard, I wasn't taking any chances. Got hit and kicked a few times, nothing too bad. Had the goggles under my cap which definitely saved me at least once.Drafted well twice off some guys passing me. Stayed on their feet for a few minutes before losing them. This is good, I'm terrible at drafting in the water.

Rounded the bouys nice and wide like I planned. Never had to turn on my back or breast stroke. Just swam and sighted. Navigation was ok. Zigged a bit, but not too much. Passed some guys from the wave before which was different.

The water wasn't that murky, I could see my hands in the water. Swallowed a little diesel, but just once or twice.

About 2/3 of the way through I realized that I was having fun. I enjoyed the swim.

I had a great swim for me. BOP, but not as B as usual. This was the highlight of my race. I was so nervous about this swim because my Olympic distance swims have both been so bad. This was good though.

I seem to do better without a wetsuit. Go figure.


Not much beyond being faster/more efficient.

Jogged out of the water. Not too fast. I wasn't racing this, just getting from the water to the bike. Didn't forget anything, didn't get lost. This was ok.

Saw (and heard) Jessica, jockstrap extraordinaire, during the run to the TA. That's a huge mental boost.

Nada.

Started out very enjoyable. It was cool and overcast, actually a little foggy in places. The sun burned this off after a while,but it was nice to start.

It was tough keeping my effort level down initially. I kept getting passed and my natural tendency was to race, but I had to keep reigning it in. Glad I did.

Got passed by amiine and he yelled 'marmadaddy!' as he flew by me. That was cool. The man is *fast*.

Kept it together mentally, enjoyed the ride and stayed focussed on food and water. I did see one get a penalty for drafting which was reassuring. He was blatant about it and deserved it.

Not much except ride more in training. I averaged faster on this than in some Sprints in the last 2 years. I'm ok with it.

Just moseyed on through. Efficient enough. Didn't take it slow but I didn't rush either.

One thing that surprised me was the volunteers spraying sunscreen on racers. I only expected that at a full IM. I decided to let them put on my sunscreen because I figured it would be more efficient. It was. Mostly because the volunteer I picked had really lousy aim. I ended up pretty sunburned.



Apply my own sunscreen.

Hot. OMG. This was just HOT. It wasn't quite a slow plod, but it was close. It was actually good mental training for the week to follow in Disney with the kids.

I ran the first loop or so with a women name Michelle from FL. We held a 10 min pace then I sped up.

The high points of my day were on the run course. Jess (Tri Take Me Away) and Jeff (Q) were near the finish/loop split and seeing them after each loop really raised my spirits.

I tried the coke on the last loop and it was absolutely vile. It wasn't flat, and it was hot. Not warm. HOT. Hot fizzy coke is not a good thing, I don't care what the circumstances are. Walked most of the aid stations I got something to drink from. Jogged through the ones I got sponges and/or ice from. Those sponges are the best.

I heard 'marmadaddy' shouted out a few times by other people on the run which really helped to keep me going. Whoever did that, thank you.

Towards the end the last lap I saw my wife and girls. They had just made it to the race and were coming from an emergency pee behind a tree for our youngest and I saw them. That moment absolutely made my day. I was trying to push the pace, was hurting and hearing "DADDY!!" and seeing their faces at that moment was the best thing to motivate me.

This was a hard run for me, but I'm glad I did it.

Train for the heat more. Move a thousand miles further south.

Sat on a chair in the finish area and stared into space for 5-10 minutes.

The finish was the one part of the race that was disorganized. I was handed my medal and sent away from the chip people. Took a few dazed minutes of wandering around to find a chair and person to take my chip.

I tried a slice of pizza but couldn't swallow one bite. Drank water and orange juice, found Julie and the girls, tried to stay out of the sun.


Conditioning, heat, poor swim technique.


Incredibly well run on race day. Very efficient. The events leading up to the race weren't particularly super organized (the athlete information packet was a quick cut and paste from a previous IM race and had a lot of mistakes and typos for instance), but it's obvious that IMNA puts the focus on race day. This is a huge production and it went off almost entirely without a hitch.