Miami Man 1/2 Iron Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Swim was great. Once we started it was a large rectangle. Had to get out at the finish then run across a timing mat then back in for another loop. No issues on the swim once I got about 500 yards or so. Takes me a while to really get comfortable. Same in the pool - the first 500 is the toughest. Once I get past that then I am usually OK. Not real crowded. Very little hitting going on. Tried to grab some fast legs but couldn't hold on. Looking back, I was pretty much beside the same guy for almost the entire first lap. I should have just dropped back and drafted a bit. I could have pushed quite a bit harder. Since I'd never gone this distance I held back a lot more than I needed to. But, who knows maybe that would have made the run even worse.


Swim a little faster

Bike transition was only about 20 feet from the swim exit (you paid for it on the other end). Wet suit strippers just inside the transition entrance. My bike was on the first rack. Sounds great but I had to run my bike the full length of the transition to get out and run the full length to get back to my spot. Pretty much the worse spot possible. But it might have added a whopping 30 seconds :) Took a GU immediately when I got on the bike.


Nothing

We had to walk quite a ways to mount, wore me out. Bike course was great with a few exceptions. The wind! I know it wasn't as bad as last year but holy cow. Great wind at our back going out for I guess 8 miles? But from then on it seemed like there was always wind and not at my back. I'd be cruising along thinking the wind was a little tough then turn a corned and BAM, get blasted right in the face. There must have been a decent wind at our backs somewhere because I averaged a little better than I thought I would. The volunteers were great. Just point and shout an they handed off perfectly. Not an issue at all.

I must have seen 20 - 25 bikes on the side of the road fixing flats. One of our crew ended up with a flat too. Heard a rumor that someone threw thumbtacks out in the road. Pretty disheartening to work that hard then get a flat.


Go a bit slower in the wind. My nutrition on the bike might have contributed to my run difficulties. I seemed to take plenty of water and Gatorade. But, I usually use Cliff Bar pieces every 20 minutes and electrolyte capsules every 60 minutes (kept up with the electrolytes the entire race). We so far I had 2 Gu's which I usually only use on a run. I tried with the Cliff bar but just couldn't get it done so I ended up using 2 of the Hammer gels they were giving out. I usually use Gu but didn't bring enough as I was going to use the Cliff bar.

Great transition except for the long run with the bike.

Nothing

The run was a great course. A little bit of blacktop trail, some dirt trails then of course running through the zoo. Wish I felt better so I could have enjoyed it more. First lap was pretty sunny but thankfully the second lap was a little overcast.

Starting the run was brutal of course. Always is when we practice bricks but I thought everything would be fine after the first mile. But I never got into sync. Something wasn't right the entire run. My legs were sore but that was to be expected. Thought I'd work it out. But my stomach was feeling pretty bad by this point. Not sure what caused it. First lap wasn't too bad, took a Gu and some water/sports drink. By the start of lap 2 I couldn't stomach water, let alone sports drink so I'd grab a glass of both and mix it so I ended up with a weak mixture. Drank a little and that was about all I could manage.

For pretty much the entire second lap it was run (slowly) for about a quarter mile then walk 30 sec or a minute. It was brutal. Luckily I met up with Chris from Sebring (didn't know him) and he was having IT issues so we finished the last 4 miles together. What a blessing it was to meet up with him and It was so much nicer finishing with someone. We'd pick each other up and although slow we made it. I was never so happing running down a finishers chute. One cool thing is when you cross the line they immediately give you a printout of you race stats. Overall, splits, etc. Very cool. I was shooting for under 6:30 and ended up with a 6:05. Could have broke 6 hours but just didn't have it in me that day. Who knows, if I took it easy on the bike I might have been better on the run but I would have been slower overall.

Not sure. Sitting here I'd say run more but honestly, yesterday I just couldn't run any more.

Walk a bit, sat down, had some muscle milk.


Swim and bike were great. Run just plain stunk. Not sure what I would do differently. I just felt miserable. Not just my legs, but my stomach was hurting the entire run. I went in trained so it wasn't all of the issue. I might take the bike a little easier just to save myself for the run.


It was a very well run race and a great race overall. The weather was perfect. Water temp was great. Just a perfect day to suffer :) I will definitely do it again but just not next year. I have IMFL the preceding weekend so it will probably take a week just to walk again :)