Ironman Florida - TriathlonFull Ironman

My goal time for the swim was 1:15:00.

I started the swim about mid pack and a few yards off the bouy line. The cannon went off and I headed into the water. When I was waist deep I started swimming. It was the typical washing machine I've experienced in other races, x10. Lots of bumping going on. At one point I got an elbow in my face. It was my own fault as I swam right up on the side of this guy. After the first turn bouy, the crowd thinned out a bit. The chop wasn't too bad on the first loop; maybe 3 foot swells. I hit the beach at 36 minutes for the first loop. About 2 minutes ahead of my goal.

As I was heading back into the water for the second loop, Aaron slapped me on the back. We waded into the water and started swimming. The second loop was nothing like the first. The crowd was really thin and the chop picked up significantly. At the turn bouys the swells were 4 - 6 feet. In the trough all I could see was water; the land, bouys, people all disappeared. I quickly learned that sighting in the trough was a bad idea. All that got me was a face full of water. So, started sighting on the crest of the swells. The final leg into the beach is where I lost some time. For some unknown reason I ended up about 50 yards from the bouy line. Maybe it was the current or maybe bad sighting.

I really enjoyed this swim. The currents and the huge swells made this swim a challenge. But, it was fun.

I hit the timing mat at 1:18, about 3 minutes behind my goal time. I'll take it given the epic swim conditions. As I was running up the beach I saw my wife and my in laws. They were screaming their heads off. It was fun seeing them.

Looking at my average HR of 144, it looks like I didn't swim as hard as I usually do. Swim harder.

The change tent was a rediculous mess. There were about 400 people crammed in there. I started to make my way to the exit. I had decided to go outside the exit and sit on the ground to change. I already had my tri shorts and tri top on under my wet suit. All I needed to do was put on my bike shoes and helmet. As I was about to hit the exit I found an empty chair, sat and changed.

For anyone doing IMFL next year, consider skipping the change tent completely. Grab your bike bag, run around the outside of the tent, sit on the ground to change then run to your bike. I could have knocked off at least 5 minutes of T1 time had I done this.

My goal time for the bike was 6 hours. The plan was to ride 0-40 miles in z1, 40-80 miles in z2 and 80-112 miles top z2 to z3 if my legs were feeling OK.

We headed out of T1 into a stiff headwind and cool temperatures. I bought a long sleeve T shirt at the IM village (last year's on sale). I had arm warmers, but figured that wouldn't be enough because the temp was in the low 40s.

I stuck to my plan and kept my HR in z1. It was really difficult not to speed up becuase I was being passed by a lot of riders. I kept telling myself I would see them later on the bike course or on the run course. During most of the first 40 miles my HRM wasn't working correctly. I would only get a valid HR every now and again.

I saw May (Type A Girl Pilot) on the ride and chatted with her for a few seconds.

I picked up my special needs at about mile 46 and ditched the long sleeve T shirt. I gave it to the volunteer at special needs (it was an IM Florida T shirt). At 50 miles we turned into a tailwind. That felt really good. I picked up the pace and moved my HR to mid z2. My HRM started working correctly.

At mile 80 I was feeling really good. Took an Espresso GU and kicked my HR up to z3. With my HR at z3 and the tailwind, I was averaging 23-25 mph and steadily passing people. I kept up the z3 HR all the way to the finish. Something occurred to me as I was passing all of these people. They may have gone out too hard too early in the bike and into the headwind and now were too whipped to take advanatage of the tailwind.

I skidded (literally, I wasn't ready for the dismount line) into T2 at 6:06, a few minutes outside my goal time. I was happy with this, especially since I was feeling good and still had a marathon to run.

I saw Michele and my in-laws at the start of the bike and when I came in from the bike. They did a great job of getting around on course.

Nutrition: 2 bottles Perpeteum, 6 GU, 1 cliff bar, 1/2 PBJ sandwich, 3 bottles of Nuun water. My nutrition was spot on, no stomach issues and felt great.



Nothing. I rode this exactly as I had in training. If I'm going to be faster on the bike then I need to train faster on the bike.

T2 was much better than T1. Grabbed my bag, ran to the tent, sat down and changed shoes, hat on, and out the door. A volunteer bagged up my stuff for me. Hit the port-a-let and then the sunscreen girl. I saw Jess (tri take me away) in T2, high-5'd her and out to the run course.

Nothing. I did a lot in 6 and a half minutes.

My plan for the run was a 4'/30" run/walk routine for the first 18 miles. At 18 miles I would evaluate how I was feeling and then decide to run the rest straight through or continue the run/walk. My goal time was 4:30.

The swim and the bike I knew I could handle without any problem. I was really worried about the marathon.

As I was heading out onto the run course, I saw Michele and my in-laws again. They really did a great job getting around on the course and cheering me on. It was great. I also heard Mike Riley announce my name and that I was heading out to the run course. That was pretty cool.

I got into the run without any problems what so ever. I guess all the bricks in training worked. The first couple miles were too fast so I dialed it back a bit. I wanted to keep my HR in z2 until mile 18. I took a GU every 45 minutes and Gatorade as needed. I stuck pretty close to the 4'/30" cycle. I only deviated if the walk portion looked like it would coincide with an aid station. Then I would run a little longer or shorter and walk the aid station. I had my watch timer set to beep every 4 minutes and 30 seconds. That's how I knew when to walk.

The first loop went by fast. At some point I ran up behind a BT jersey. It was Jim (run4yrlif). I ran along side him and chatted for a few minutes then continued on. As I was coming in to finish my first loop I crossed Aaron (jeepfleeb) starting his second loop. Then I saw my wife and in-laws. Stopped to get a kiss from my wife (is that outside help?). She ran along side me for a couple of blocks until we reached the in-laws. High-5'd the in-laws. I also saw the awesome BT jockstrappers Jess and Chris (cbost2678). At one point, Jess was out in the state park on a bike cheering us on. I also saw Jannell (runnergirl) a couple of times; we crossed on the run course. After crossing Aaron, I realized that I was probably 20 minutes behind him. This gave me some motivation to keep up the pace and see if I could run him down.

The second loop was run in the dark. When I say dark, I mean dark; as in no lights. Out in the state park, we couldn't see anything. If I ever do this race again, I will bring a headlight.

There was another group of BT jockstrappers on the course but I don't know who they were. They yelled and cheered when I passed. Thanks, whoever you were.

When I got to mile 18 I felt really good and decided to run the rest of the marathon straight through. I turned off my watch timer and ran. I did walk the aid stations and started trying to negative split the miles. However, all I could do at this point was maintain the pace I had been running. At about mile 24 I saw Jess again. She said "Aaron's about 2 seconds ahead of you". Tried to pick up the pace and catch Aaron. By this time my legs were really hurting. At the last aid station I saw an American flag leaning against a port-o-let. I just kept on running. I had caught Aaron (thanks for the motivation).

It was at this point that I looked at my watch and saw 11:48:00. All day I hadn't thought about my overall time. I was just executing the plan and checking my times at each leg. I now realized that I was going to go sub 12 hours in my first IM.

At about mile 26 I started getting ready for the finish. Checked for athletes behind me. Tossed the glow stick to a kid, put my sunglasses in my jersey pocket, stripped off the reflective tape from my jersey.

I ran into the finish chute. My mother-in-law was screaming like a mad woman. I high-5'd her. My wife was up in the grand stand taking pictures. I crossed the finish and don't remember much of anything else about the finish. I don't even know if my name was called.




Nothing. I ran a marathon PR. My only other marathon was White Rock last year where I ran 4:33:00. I knocked off almost 30 minutes.

Walked around a bit. Talked to Aaron. Then went to get some food. I was starving. Found the pizza table and scarfed down 3 slices and coke. Then found my wife and the inlaws.

I went up to my room in the hotel, took an ice bath and showered. Then Michele and I went back to the finish line to cheer on the rest of the athletes. We stayed until the last finisher came in. During this time I saw several BT'ers finish.

I need to say a few 'Thank You's'. First, thank you to my wife for putting up with a year of training. She never, ever complained about the 8 hour training days and was always encouraging. Thanks to all the BT jockstrappers out there. You guys were great, not just at IMFL but at the other races also. Thanks to Ron and his great web site and to Mike Ricci for putting together the trianing plans. I followed the HIM to IM bridge plan.


Experience.


This is a great race. The venue is absolutely the best. Panama City Beach has the best beaches.