Ironman 70.3 Florida - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Thought I had a pretty decent swim going, stayed 30 or so feet of of the buoy for the most part, had to deal with people not navigating properly and those that just wanted to STOP right in front of me.. Pulled up a few times to get my bearings but right back at it. Found that with my sighting I was keeping my head/eyes higher in the water dropping my rear torso.. once I figured that out I felt smoother but it was late into the swim.. was a good 6-7 minutes off of where I wanted to be on an average swim.. had the distance no problem, but need to work on my technique more.. wasn't happy with the swim, but dealt with it..

Practice my sighting/positioning more/earlier.. somewhat hard to do in a pool but to get a rythym.. swim harder too..normally a good 30-40 seconds per 100 faster than what I swam.. disappointed in that..

took a bit of time to get situated in T1, wasn't super worried about flying out but didn't think I took THIS long..part of the problem was being racked back in the dirt/leaves.. wanted to make sure feet were clean so took a little more time/effort to make sure I didn't have to pull over to get a stick out of my shoe later, guess it took a little longer than expected..

hurry a litle more, ran from swim finish to T1, but dirt/mulch was a pain..
overall wasn't bad, but I can pick it up.

so coming out of T1, I've learned that if I hammer too hard it takes forever for my HR to come down and get settled in.. took it "easy" if you will coming out for the first few miles all the while taking an inventory of everything. Took a gu, water and settled in for a couple.. looked down to check my speed.. 0.0mph.. WTF? messed with the computer to no avail. pulled over to ensure the pickup was not spun around or something, nothing.. no HR monitor either so i was somewhat blind on this ride.
figured it could be worse and moved on.. used my watch to some extent to get an idea, but not enough.. as I was passing people (which I was doing frequently) I was asking their speed, avg was 18mph and I was passing pretty easy, so figure i was doing ok.. unless they were not exactly honest.. my avg should've been around 20mph and ended up just south of 18.. was PISSED..everything else on the bike was fine, minor cramping but standing/stretching took care of that, nutrition was fine, hydration was good. from training in TN, the hills kept me working all the time, on a flat course it felt "easier", but didn't think i took it THAT easy..not happy about this, need to return and resolve..

push harder, use better mathmatics via my watch, not let my bike fall over durring the expo and potentially screw my computer up.. what can you do.

people were really moving slow back to T2.. lots of walking off of the bike.. finally able to run around them and back through T2.. crowd support was excellent..
slipped of the shoes/on the running shoes, race belt, visor and ready to go.. hydration was soo good on the bike that I had to hit the port-o-let.. for the worlds LONGEST PISS EVER.. I think half of my T2 time was in that port-o-let..

ride faster INTO T2, to get around a lot of those who were walking..other than that, use Yankz inmy shoes.. wans't sure about those in a 1/2, have used them in shorter distances but not of anything longer than a sprint.. next time..

coming off the bike I knew it was going to be HOT..and man was it ever!
First loop was more of a "get my legs under me", wanted to keep a slower pace to make it all the way through.. first mile was an 8:57... uhh.. with this heat let's slow that down.. backed it WAY down..
walked the water/aid stations to make sure I got what I needed, wasn't worth the few seconds if I couldn't finish the entire race.
rythym was as follows: dip visor in ice water pools, water over head, gatorade in, water in, ice down back/front/sides.. repeat.. eventually got some sponges and kept them on my shoulders and kept re-cooling them too.

Second lap I felt pretty strong, probably the strongest 4 miles out of the run.. met up with a lovely woman named Anna who we ended up keeping about the same pace.. she was a lap ahead so we paced eachother for her last 1.5 laps, she was awesome and the company took the mind off of the task at hand.. was great to see her turn towards the finish looking strong.

Last loop, followed above procedure but man it was getting hot.. right hammy was wanting to cramp, had to walk/stretch a little bit.. but kept the walking mainly to the water stations.. speaking of which, they needed a small one on that long stretch on the out and back.. that leg was BRUTAL into the later stage of the run.
Kept at it, hit the last station and said.. no more walking.. ran until my right calf cramped.. enough that my toes curled under.. hard to run that way.. pulled over to stretch it out enough and ran the remainder in, feeling pretty strong and passing a couple of people in the chute..

Finished...

salt tabs on the run maybe, did 2 gus but not enough with the heat I guess..was taking in gatorade at pretty much every stop along with water so thought I had it covered, but looking at my body i wasn't sweating as much as I thought I should.. dehydrated for sure. was a decent run though considering the conditions..

walk/hobble to find my buddy and his family.. pictures and then pizza and a coke.. wish they had s better selection, just seemed kind of BLAH.. not sure what I would've wanted, maybe fruit? Gathered our stuff and rode back to the truck, soaked in the hotel pool/hot tub and grabbed some grub at Bahama Breeze that night..


on the Run it was the heat.. was just brutal.. on the bike it was myself not pushing hard enough and my computer not working to give me my avg speed.. no excuses though.. should've pushed harder.
Swimming? hard to say, need to work more on the form..


Considering this is the first 1/2 I've done, I'm going to say i'm happy with the race.. just not my performance IN the race.. was hoping to have an OLY or two under my belt before this but alas this is the way the schedule worked out.. The volunteers were AMAZING, i'm always in awe of all that they do.. Race was very well organized, just some nit picky things that I don't need to make a deal out of. I've told my wife that I HAVE to do this race again next year, I need to be sub 6.. if not closer to 5:3x... I WILL do that..
overall a great experience.. thinking about Augusta, just trying to figure if it's the right choice starting a new job here in a couple of weeks as i'm not sure of the impact on my training..

We shall see!
Derek