Ironman Florida - TriathlonFull Ironman

Could have done a better job sighting on the way back in, but the waves were so bad it was really hard to spot the buoys and current pulled me out to the right of them a good bit.

Overall pleased with my ability to stay calm and breathe only every 4th stroke. While my watch was working I could tell my heart rate was still high (about 175 or so) but I did not feel like I was really pushing it on the swim.

Rob stayed by me the WHOLE time - it was amazing. He kept sighting for me and managed to swim near me for both laps. Boy was that nice. We would do the gopher head pop up and smile at each other then get back to swimming.

I don't know - I feel pretty good about the swim overall. Came in 8 minutes over goal pace but attribute this to strong chop and poor sighting on the return both loops.

Used the strippers to get my suit off. Man those folks must be sore today! They really worked hard.

I felt like I spent too long in T2 but actually came in under my goal of 15 minutes. It was frustrating to not have my watch so I couldn't tell how long I was in there. Felt like an eternity.

Have a working watch! Otherwise I did okay - did not rush in order to make sure I had everything I needed. Only way to cut on time is not have a pants change, but I need biking shorts for this long of a ride.

The first 3 hours were not great due to headwind. Quite a challenge, since we were also hitting some rolling hills - not bad, but not fun either. I stayed in the big chain ring cuz I've had some issues with the chain popping off when I switch to the small one. Just sucked it up and mainly kept in big ring and this fried my legs on the hills.

Tried to have fun on the bike. We took pictures of several mile markers along the way. After we had the tailwind it went by pretty fast. Stayed aero for most of the ride which helped a lot.

About 5 hours in I could not stomach any more Perpetueum and was taking in only water for maybe an hour or more. I tried half a shot of hammer gel at 6 hours and 6:30 and it sat okay but couldn't go back to perpetuem after that point. At least I had gotten my calories in early on the bike, which is what "they" say to do.

At some point towards the end of the bie, this big guy starts drafting off me bigtime - really sucking my wheel. I can hear him back there breathing all heavy and huffing to keep up so he can draft. Man did that tick me off. Here I am busting my hump to do my best at IM and this guy is going to draft off me? The nerve! So I say something to Rob in front of me about speeding up so that I don't draft off him cuz I don't want to get through IM drafting. I said it REALLY loud so the guy would get the hint. Either he got it, or he just couldn't keep up cuz I didn't see him when I looked back a little later.

Need a working watch and heart rate monitor! Also get my bike checked pre-race to ensure shifter, chain, etc. all okay.

Volunteers were great - they took the bike from me. My volunteer asked if I wanted anything off the bike and I told her I never wanted to see any of it again. Got a chuckle.

Again, didn't know how long I was in T2 but it felt like forever. But I still beat my goal time of 10 minutes.

Use what is provided on the course. A lot of prep time was getting the Heed bottles, hammer gel, etc. all set up - fuel belt on, etc. It was a pain in the bootay to have the fuel belt on. I took it off at special needs.

The run was definitely the hardest part. I was very very very worried about my knee holding up on the second loop. Went out a bit slow and conservative on the first loop and Rob was getting nervous about our average pace and projected time. So after about 10 miles or so we picked up the pace. I was walking about 5 minute chunks to start and reduced that to maybe 2 minutes.

Legs were really tired and we were doing only about 15 minute mile pace when we did run, but we had figured this pace in our projections. Was expecting to bonk on the second loop but never did. Surprising, as we both were not able to take in any Heed or hammer gel after the first loop. We were still using the bathrooms and taking in water, so I wasn't too worried. I started taking in the coke a little bit at each aid station and that seemed to help. Rob started on the chicken broth about mile 20 and then we both hit that at each aid station since we stopped the Heed.

Physically the run was very rough as we were really worn out. I think it was mental effort that pushed us through. I had to keep repeating in my head "pain is temporary, quitting is forever" over and over again to get through. And I would say positive things out loud to Rob to convince myself that we were doing good and going to make it, even though I felt pretty pooped and worried about my bod holding up.

Just ticking off the miles on the second loop. Rob said he felt like he was starting to "peter out" around mile 20, so I tried to do my cheerleader thing and keep reminding him how good we were doing and how close we were to our dream of becoming Ironmen!

When we got to mile 23 or so we knew we were probably going to make it based on our pace and that we were still physically feeling okay - no bonking, no stomach issues, my knee was holding up, etc.

We got to mile 25 with something like 40 minutes to go until midnight so we walked the last mile or so and just enjoyed the experience and started talking about how to cross the finish line and we couldn't believe that we were only 1 mile from being Ironmen. I had enough energy left to start waving my hands in the air and shaking my bootay.

We let about 2 or 3 people walk in front of us across the finish line so that Mike Riley could say their names without us screwing up their finish. We had plenty of time, so no hurry. I was high-fiveing people in the crowd like crazy. I could not believe how many people there were at almost midnight. I was shouting at them "You guys are awesome!". They were smiling and hollering like we were celebrities or something.

When we finally saw Mike Riley he turned to look at us and he cracked up laughing at Rob who had the camera out and was video taping our finish. He pointed and yelled "YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!". I was so happy that he did his shout out for us that I ran over, grabbed his face in my hands, and kissed him on the left and right cheek.

Caught up to Rob and he reminded me to stop and kiss him before breaking the finish line tape. We had a big nice smooch and then both crossed the line with our hands high in the air smiling like lunatics. It was the best feeling ever.

Not hurt my knee during training.

Got finisher's medal, picture taken, talked to May at the finish line. Watched the oldest competitor (Frank) finish about 5 minutes behind us and then after the midnight countdown went back up to the room. Just wanted to get off our feet at that point.

Drank 4 scoop of Recoverite up in the room. Took pictures of my right pinky toe which looked like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it. That'll teach me to skip the Bodyglide before a marathon!


The limited time I have for training and not many years in the sport. Also, need to lose a few more pounds. And the knee injury did not help matters!


This was a great race, especially the excitement and energy at the start and finish. It was the accomplishment of a lifetime and I have to say that something I read is true: Finish at all costs - you'll thank yourself later.

I am glad that I had been warned ahead of time that at some point, or several times throughout the day, I was going to feel bad.... really bad, and that this was normal. Otherwise it would have been easy to throw in the towel and take a few minutes of feeling bad as a sign that my day was going south.

I am glad that we are finished and can cut back on training a bit and spend time with our families. We have sacrificed a lot of time with them during training. It was amazing to get through the entire day with Rob and become and Ironman with him at my side.