Florida Half Ironman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

So they we were, 10 min before 6:30AM and the Pros were getting ready to start. (For a brief moment I was dreaming awake that maybe soon I might be able to start in that wave!) I was waiting patiently with Jess while sipping some water and trying to remain relax. My wave was the very last one and it was not going to start until 7:30AM so I tried to stay off my feet as much as possible and enjoy the moment. 15 min before 7:30AM I said goodbye to Jess and I headed out to get ready, I begin to stretch and picture the swim start. It was pretty cool as we had to run from the beach to the lake (good thing I practiced this last season with my coach). My plan was to start far ahead and sprint for 200 meters to try to stay with the fast swimmer and draft my way. As soon as the horn went off I sprint as fast as possible jumped in the water and began swimming as fast as possible, and soon settled on my race pace as my HR was pumping hard off my chest, I began searching for those strong swimmers but for my surprise I was ahead with other 2 guys behind me. The water was VERY murky so you couldn’t see anything at all, not even bubbles from swimmers in front or around you. I kept swimming at my pace waiting for a few swimmers to pass me so I could draft but nothing. All of the sudden I began to feel feet/arms and bumping into swimmers. By then I caught the 35-39 AG who started 3 min ahead of us and all of the sudden the swim began to get crowded. At this point I was passing people all the way and this made the swim very tricky because as I mentioned the visibility was terrible. I was zig zagging my way through and I swam over many people by accident (oopsss!) finally after rounding the last buoy I saw this guy swimming fast passing by me, I caught onto his feet and draft for like 400 mts until I ended lost him in a big group of swimmers who yet again were doing breast stoke or floating around catching their breath. Finally I saw the beach so I just kept my face down and power my way through…

Maybe try to keep a faster pace but I am certain the fact tha we started in the very last wave made it difficutl for me to keep a constant pace.

The beach was kind of far from the Transition so that made it longer than what I was hoping. I got to my bike, place my glasses and unrack my bike to run out. As soon as possible I jumped onto my bike and I was off

nothing

As soon as I got into my bike I began sipping a bit of Gatorade and trying to get my HR down. I looked at my power tap computer and switch the display feature to make sure everything was working and all of the sudden I realized I DID NOT erased the data from the ride from the day before. Usually on normal conditions such as a training ride my brain would have actually functioned and I would have erased everything and re-start the computer to start fresh a very simple fix, after all I was only a few min into the race. BUT been in my racing mode I totally spaced out big time and for some reason I figured I couldn’t do that (stupid). Why this was a big deal and a huge mistake, well if you don’t re-start the computer and have data from a previous rides the computer reflects the info from everything, hence the data reflected is not necessarily representative of what you are doing at the very moment That simple stupid mistake threw me off completely and my inoperative brain assumed I was not going to get the correct average watts for the entire ride and I had to rely only on the real time watts and sort of wing it. (I am still laughing at this stupid mistake). So for the bike leg I err on the safe side and I focused on spinning my way through. For nutrition I drank 24 oz of sports drink plus hammer gel and ½ a salt tablet every hour. For those who train with a power meter my goals was to avg 205 watts, but due to my brain malfunction ;) I only avg 185 watts yet I was able to avg 22.3 mph *sigh* I wonder what kind of speed I could have logged at 205 watts. Anyway, there was a lot of drafting as the course was very busy in several portions of the course and definitely there was more than a few cheaters doing this on purpose. I can’t understand why some people do this but honestly I didn’t care, as I was focusing on my own thing. The last hr of the bike the heat began to kick in so just in case I took and extra salt tablet and some hammer gel 20 min before getting off the bike to begin the run with enough electrolytes

take a min to think clearly. but I am happy as I know there is plenty of room for improvements in this department whihc I still consiser my weakest sport.

the entry from the bike to the transition was a bit busy so I had to almost run over some people ;) but I made my way as fast as possible, I lupt on my socks/shoes on and spriont my way out.

nothing

Per my coach’s advice before the race: "Jorge be smart and pace the bike smart because everything will happen on the run!" How right he was…
I was off to the run and feeling very good. I quickly settled onto my pace and began passing athletes. My plan was to make sure I could get water and coke at EVERY aid station and I did it religiously. (a couple of times I had to almost completely stop to sort among the crowds to make sure I could get my fluids and pour some cold water on me). I new I had to stay focus and relax the first loop as it is very common to fall on the “I am feeling great off the bike” trap and screw up the race in a few miles by racing faster. I was thanking every single volunteer ahead of me and trying to play with the crowd to keep my self relax and from rushing things up. Also I was determined to NOT let ANYONE pass me so I was focusing on my pace and running form all the time and skimming runners legs to determine who I should pass. Getting back from the 1st loop I could hear and saw the BTer cheering up incredibly loud. (It was amazing) This good vibes reenergized me and I was off for the second loop. At this point the heat was making me feel like I was carrying a big back pack on my shoulders and it was making my breathing hard and elaborated. I picked at my HR and it was rising too much so I slow down a tad and kept drinking and pouring water all over myself. All of the sudden I began having the urges to pee like crazy but I new I was cutting it close in my attempt to break the 4:30 hrs mark so I decided to ummm go :) it was VERY hard to do this cuz I am not used to do this and I was feeling dirty and embarrassed. I pass through and aid stating and stop to get extra water and pour it in “that” area to clean myself, LOL! I came back from my second loop and after hearing the BTers cheers yet again I felt rejuvenated and with lots of energy. My original plan was to try to push harder the last 5 miles if possible so I went for it. My HR went up through the roof but I knew I could handle it. I began to feel my legs heavy and my legs burning. These last miles were very HARD physically and mentally. The heat was making my lungs scream for oxygen and I could feel like smoke was coming out of my head. At every aid station I kept drinking coke and screaming for water and sponges which I was pouring into my legs. I came into the last turn and I knew I had a little over a mile to go so I just speed up as much as my legs allowed and began running as fast as I could. At this point I was running totally over my lactate threshold zone and the burning sensation on the legs was painful. I kept thinking I wanted to get a Championship slot and how hard I’ve trained over the past 6 months. The crowds were cheering loud and hard which made the pain go away, I kept running as fast as I could and I saw the turn into the finish line which I tried to run all out, I picked at my clock and realized I was off the 4:30 mark but I was finishing strong so that didn’t matter… What was important was that I did it and I was able to deliver a strong performance based on months of training and a planned race.

I start the run on 114 place and mannaged to pass 78 athlets to finish 36! I also had the 2nd best run on my AG and the best 17th run overall

nothing

light walk, drink recovery drink and relax


nothing really it was a great race and I can only keep working hard to dream to accomplish more


What a great experience. Prior the race I was VERY nervous for at least 2 week leading up to race. I was nervous because I knew I had done lots of training and this time I really had no excuses if the race would have resulted in a bad performance. Also I was a bit nervous because my last race was 8 months ago and you do lose a bit of the feel for the racing experience but fortunate it came back to me very fast. Through the race I felt like I was working steady but right. I made a huge effort to avoid getting caught in any macho games and focus on my OWN race. In a long race such as a HIM you cannot afford to worry too much for the others and you have to rely entirely on your training and plan. Looking back at what I had accomplish in just 2 years in the sport is just amazing and I am so happy and thankful to be able to be healthy to do this and to all the BTers who keep me motivated when I am down or honest when I am wrong. This was the very 1st place which I used to seek information when planning my 1st sprint and it had helped me through these 2 years to learn a lot of GREAT tips for racing, training, nutrition, etc. This forum had made fall in love with Tris and appreciate the comrade among athletes. I am just blown away by having people such as Jess and Jeff among others to drive just to meet/hang/help/cheer for perfect strangers. This place rocks and I am happy Ron and Mike have the dedication to keep it up and running and make it available for us. Thank you thank very much

This was my just 2nd HIM and I can not be happier with my result. I am daring to dream a lot more and I will work twice as hard to hopefully get to where I want to go. For now I think the sky is the limit and I’ll work with that in mind. I have the championship slot and now I can focus in getting my Pro card which I'll try to get in the newxt month or so.
I’ll also make sure to help as many beginners in the process and encourage others to Tri to continue to help growing/promoting this sport that I have come to love so much. ALL OF YOU ROCK (ok I am going to stop now because I am getting all mushy ;))

Train Smart, Train LOTS, recover hard and then just do it again :)