Ironman 70.3 Florida - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Got in the water and started swimming right off the bat. A few strokes in I got freaked out and did some breast stroke to calm my nerves. Talked myself into putting my head down and going for it. Swam or a while with my head down hammering the freestyle. Then I looked up and was WAY off course - boats were to my left. Got myself angled right and swam a bit more. Realized I have a major tendency to swim to the right. Need to figure that out. Swam great from then on, but had to do a lot of sighting. Ended up a little sore in my low back from lifting my head up.

Need to work on sighting and more OWS to figure out tendency to pull right. But was happy with my time over-all- imagine if I hadn't gotten so off course!

LONG run from the water to the bike. Husband ran along side with me, so I got to talk to him about the swim. It was good. Feet were nasty - so sat down to clean them off. Got bottle necked at the bike out - several people came around me then stopped to mount in front of me, so I was stuck for a bit. Annoying.

Not get blocked in.

Bike was just ok for me. I struggled badly with the headwinds. Also, I trained the majority of the time based on my HR, not necessarily speed, and my HR monitor didn' work at all until 50 miles in - so I had to go off of RPE, and I was confused. Having said that - I LOVED every minute of it. I'm a good swimmer, and a slow biker, so I'm used to getting passed on the bike portion. I usually just watch everyone go by, say something nice, and then get excited if I happen to see them again.
I trained at 16-16.5 mph, so I was surprised at how much slower I rode, but I was nervous about my legs for the run, and this pace felt good. At about mile 52 my low back seized up. I was dying, but pulled it out. Had moments where I wasn't certain I'd be able to run - but once I was off the bike, back pain was gone!

Just need to get more time biking.

went good. Had to visit porta potty, but other than that it was a quick transition

nothing

I enjoyed the run - I love the loops and hate the loops. What I loved - the crowd support at every turn, and I loved knowing when the next water/support station would be. What I hated - passing the finish line 3 times, seeing all the different mile markers, it was confusing!
I did ok on the run. Slower than I'd hoped, but still good. My biggest mistake was allowing myself to walk through the water station in the back of the second loop on the grass. Felt REALLY good. Too good. Then I started negotiating with myself about whether I could walk or run. After 6+ hours, it's hard to argue with "this feels good". When I started doing the math and realized I'd be under 7 hours if I picked it up, I managed to run the majority of the last loop, but man, that second loop was brutal. Had a nice finish and ran it all with a smile on my face.

NOT WALK unless I was dying!

walked back to the RV with the family. Recovered with 3 fun filled days at Disney world with the family!


My own head. Need to learn to push through.


Great race.