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 Swim
Comments: I seeded myself to the right a little bit back. I didn’t want to get swam over but also didn’t want to have to pass a bunch of people either. I wanted to make sure I was kind of close to the middle so I could take advantage of all that drafting. When the gun went off we all kind of walked in. No one was in a real hurry around me. I mean we weren’t taking our time but weren’t running in either. Need to keep the heart rate down. Started swimming then within 20 yards had to stand up and walk because of a sandbar. Actually it was nice because it gave me a chance to reset, make sure everything was OK. Took off again then I felt a little panic start to rise up. I had an issue in Augusta and I certainly didn’t want it to happen here. It only lasted probably 1 - 2 minutes but I was wondering. After that all was well. It seems to only happen when I don’t swim for a warm up. There was a little beating throughout the first leg but nothing too terrible. Wanting to conserve energy if I got boxed in I would just pause for a second and move over to an open area. For the most part this worked just fine. Going to the first turn seemed to take a very long time. After that the rest of the swim went fine. End of first leg we got out of the water passed the timing mat, grabbed a drink of water then back in. I was thinking about taking a gel at the turn but decided against it. Second loop was a little more spread out than the first. Coming back in on both loops seemed to be pretty crowded. What would you do differently?: Great swim for me. No complaints  Transition 1
Comments: Wow - can it get any worse. Just couldn't get coordinated. Next year I will number the bags. I put on my helmet before my shirt. Stuff like that. But darn it was so cold I put on pants and a couple of shirts, gloves, etc. I wasn't in a hurry but.... What would you do differently?: I would not use the wetsuit strippers because I got too sandy. Also would number my bags so I knew what order to use them without thinking.  Bike
Comments: Bike was pretty uneventful as I purposely took it easy since this is my first IM and I wanted to save energy for the run. I stopped twice to go to the bathroom and once at special needs to get my Uncrustable. Nutrition went pretty good. Going into this I was having problems with my hydration and getting enough nutrition in. This time I made little baggies of 100 cal each. This way I could take whatever and know it was 100 cal. I had Payday candy bars, Stinger waffles, gels, chews and a couple other items. I tried to take something at least every 30 minutes then top off with Perform (which I can barely handle). This way I took in my 250 calories each hour. Also made sure I drank a lot as I wanted to make sure I stayed hydrated. There were 2 tough areas on the bike for me. Once was on the out and back that had cracks every 5 feet. It was bang, bang, bang all the way out and back. Probably only about 6 miles or so but you’d think they could find another 6 miles somewhere else on the course. The other tough area was probably the last 10 miles. Wind was brutal. There were times when thought I was going backward. Felt good getting off the bike What would you do differently?: Go faster now I know what to expect. But my run was good - for me - so who knows what would have happened if I went faster. Transition 2
Comments: Pretty empty but I was in no hurry. Changed but just wanted to sit there for 30 seconds and think about the run. Also hit the port potty on the way out. What would you do differently?: Faster again, pretty darn slow. I spent a total of 29 minutes in transitions. That is sad :)  Run
Comments: Took off on the run and felt pretty good. I had to keep telling myself to slow down though. I was going a little fast for me so I pulled it back a bit. Name of the game is to conserve. The course is supported great. There are aid stations going out and coming back so at times they are only ½ mile apart. I pretty much kept to water and gel the whole way. I can’t stand Perform and the Coke and chicken broth didn’t do it for me. Have to admit the park is kind of lonely even with everyone around. Probably because this is the only area that doesn’t seem to have an aid station every ½ mile. When I hit the turnaround I grabbed my special needs bag, sat in a chair and changed my shirt into a new long sleeve shirt. Felt good to sit for 60 seconds. Off I went for the second loop. Nothing out of the ordinary. Great volunteer support though. No complaints at all. Scantily clad women, Santa Claus as well as numerous other themed areas. Awesome! On the second lap I was running about ½ mile then walked for about 10 seconds. Worked well for me. As I got closer to the finish I didn’t stop. I still had energy left as I took it easy all day. Going down the chute I stopped to walk for a few seconds as someone was pretty close behind me. I didn’t want them making a mad dash for the finish and ruining my finish photo ïŠ He passed and I had the whole chute to myself. Raised my arms and the crowd started yelling. All my teammates and wife were right there at the finish and were surprised to see me since I was at least 45 minutes early. YES! Heard the announcer say “Duane Rice from Ft Myers Florida, You’re an Ironmanâ€! Wow, what a feeling. They took my chip, led me to the medals, shirt and hat then made me stand in line for my picture. That was brutal. I felt like I was going to be sick. I mean seriously sick. What would you do differently?: Not much. The run was great for me. Don;t expect to do much better. This was actually 10 minutes faster than my first marathon back in 2008. No complaints. Post race
Warm down: Not sure if making us stand in a line after just finishing the race is the best option. Need to move the picture out a ways so we can walk around a bit. Took the picture then went over to see my wife and friends. Stayed around for just a little bit then headed back to the condo. Wish I had stayed for a while, grabbed something to eat, massage, etc. But, I didn’t have any warm clothes so I needed to go back. Once there I knew I wasn’t going back out. What limited your ability to perform faster: This being my first Ironman and not knowing what to expect. I think I took it too easy on the bike and transitions. Event comments: What a great race. Signed up for 2012 and I’m glad I did. Great volunteer support all around the course. Swim was great, bike was a bit slower than I needed to be but I didn’t know and the run was, for me, fabulous. I’ll take a sub 5 hour marathon in an IM any day. My transition times were terrible but I can fix that. Not sure I’ll do much different for next year. Push the bike a little faster on the bike and that’s about it. Last updated: 2010-11-08 12:00 AM
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United States
Ironman North America
50F / 10C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 1537/
Age Group = 50-54
Age Group Rank = 117/
Where to start? Wow is all I can say. It was a long journey getting to the start but everything went as planned and I showed up healthy and in shape. What more could I ask for? This was my first full IM. I completed in 3 HIM’s and numerous Sprints/Oly’s. Going into this I rarely missed a workout. Don’t think I missed any of the long workouts and only missed a few smaller ones.
We went to PCB on Wednesday and got there early enough to check in. More importantly we made it to the Ironman store before everything was picked overïŠ. Scored some decent sale stuff then went to check into our rented condo at the Shores of Panama. I’d love to stay at the condos at the Boardwalk but they are renting almost double what the Shores are so we’ll stick there in 2012.
Took a practice swim on Thursday morning. Tried to find the BT group but I was too early. Thinking I missed them I went in for a swim. Water took my breath away. But, once my face got use to it the swim was fine. A little rough but nothing that caused any concern. When I got out the BT team was just breaking up from their picture. Oh well, I’ll try and catch up with them on Friday.
It was getting colder every day. Friday I went with my coach and a couple others and signed up for 2012. Yea, signed up before I ever did my first. We were also going for a swim but none of us wanted to freeze our butts off getting out so we nixed it. Went back and got the bikes for a 30 mi ride followed by a short run. That was it, no other exercise for the last 3 days before the race. My goal was to rest. Took the bike and T1/T2 bags down later in the day and I was set.
Raced day I forced down some cereal then went down and dropped off special needs, got body marked and put my wife’s Garmin on my bike. The week before I rode in very wet conditions and my Cateye computer stopped working. Ugh, so I just used her Garmin as I wanted to save mine for the run. Came back to the condo and took a shower, ate another bowl of cereal and then went to the start.
Did I say it was cold? It was in the 40’s at the start of the race and would top out in the low 60’s. I hate the cold so the order of the day for me was to stay warm! Wind was 15 – 20 mph with gusts.
I found a door open into the ballroom so I popped in and changed into my wetsuit. Put my clothes in the morning clothes bag and went to the start. I was lucky enough to see a bunch of my teammates that came up for the race. It was so nice to talk to them before the start. I hung out at the fence with them until it was time to start. They took a great picture of me with my white tube socks, flip flops stocking cap and gloves with my wet suit. I heard it was cold on the sand so I was taking no chances. I was warm until the start.