Ironman 70.3 Florida - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Felt that I accomplished my plan to the tee. Used swim as warmup, staying outside of main pack and kept breathing and stoke smooth and easy. Sighted often to stay on track. Swam up until I felt ground, coming out I felt great and ran up beach, others were walking so that made me feel good.

Continue to work on OWS, staying straight and sighting.

Came out of swim feeling great, ran to bike. Put on garmin, sunglasses, helmet, then shoes and took off. Everything went smooth, except bike pedal got stuck on transition bag when leaving. Good thing the guy next to me just came in while I was leaving and was bent over, he reached over and unstuck me...this was a small but special moment of being helped out by another athlete. Jam up at exit, had to walk bike.

Keep practicing this I guess.

Followed plan to keep it easy and low HR for most of ride, especially starting. Was passed at beginning like crazy. Miles 40 and 50 it appeared I caught some bikers that passed me early and were running out of gas, that was fun. Tried to follow nutrition/hydration plan. I took in GU gel every 45 minutes. Drank gatorade every 15 minutes and water as needed. Overall faster than my goal, but course was flat, little wind and this was my cushion area in my race plan. Pleased with my performance and time considering I just started biking in late March.

I am not sure if I took in enough nutrition/hydration, but I thought I was ok. I probably could have drank more water. Maybe swap out warm water/gatorade for cold throughout bike. I did this on a later aid station and the cold gatorade was really refreshing. I expect that as I get more time on the bike, this aspect of my race will improve. I am considering getting a trainer and more group rides to get advice with more advanced riders.

Overall went well. Put on shoes, ball cap, took 1 GU, considered more sunscreen...decided not to waste time and off I went. I asked volunteers where exit is, I never got time to walk through bike/run transition.

Seemed like a smooth transition, not much.

Started the run feeling exceptionally good, felt like I paced myself perfectly up to this point. I started out of transition and noticed my time was low 9 mins and my goal was 10 min, so I knew I was going too fast and tried to slow down, but ended mile 1 at 9:21. Next 4 miles were just under 9:30 but started to feel the heat/humidity and running getting tougher through the grassy field. Broke race down into 4x-5ks. Next 3 miles kept it going but started to walk through aid stations, then it became a race to the next aid station. Was taking full glass of gatorade, poured in ice, then would put ice down front/back of racesuit, dipped hat and sponges in ice pools. Then the monkey jumped on my back, his name was pain and he was carrying a very big stick at this point. I knew he was coming to visit at some point and was mentally prepared for him. Walking through aid stations were getting a little longer but then the last 5k came and mile 11 was 11:33 pace due to longest aid station walk, mile 12 just fighting to stay in my goal range and closed it at 10:09 ppm. I made a strategically bad decision to skip the last aid station and keep running as I thought I could fight through one last mile. The end seemed near, but would never seem to come in the last mile. I passed a guy with no legs and couldn't imagine how he felt even though he looked like he was doing much better than me. He inspired me, but unfortunately that led to my last and final strategic mistake, I continued to increase my pace. I barely remember entering the finisher chute and then collapsed of heat exhaustion/stroke. My final mile was 9:04. I woke up in the ambulance and barely could remember where I was other than the race I was in. I asked if I had finished the race, they said yes you did and they held up my finishers medal that was on my lap. I didn't know how to feel at this point, but slowly got my senses back and recovered pretty fully by next morning. I couldn't believe my muscles weren't sore at all.

Follow my plan, had I done this, I likely would have finished close to or under 6 hours still, way ahead of race goal. Not start out so fast and listen to my body and garmin/HR monitor.

ice packs and IV in ambulance?


nothing...this wasn't an issue!


I really enjoyed the race overall, I was having a great time in the swim and bike. Obviously, I knew the run was going to be a challenge and it was. The way I finished was clearly unexpected and scary, but I did it and beat the hell out of my goal (6:30)!! I will chalk this up to a very important learning experience.

Race Photos: (not looking too good at the finish)
http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=59924&BIB=1141