Ironman Florida - TriathlonFull Ironman

As they counted down the final 60 seconds before the swim start I looked around to see that people had spread out further down the beach to my right and that I no longer stood that close to the right edge. That was ok because when I looked to my left the alternative was far more crammed and uninviting. I had been looking for Carey all morning when I turned around and finally saw her and Tristan waving to me and smiling...good thing I looked one more time or I would have missed them completely as there where so many people out to watch the start of the race. No sooner had I waved when I heard 30 seconds and realized that this was it...I exchanged my normal back and forth with B and then got ready for the gun...told him I would see him somewhere on the run course later in the day...how true. The gun went off and for the first 5-600 meters it was utter chaos..people swimming over each other, into each other and kicking in every direction. I ended up swimming a sort of modified craw in order to not catch a blow to my googles/head...it is amazing how fast meters roll by when you are working that hard b/c the next thing I knew I was in a pocket of open water and turned into my standard swim stroke and bi-lateral breathing...I also realized my heart rate was still claim which amazed me! Out to the first turn where everyone was collapsing down on it but before I knew it I was half way toward turn 2 and then heading back in to shore. At this point I knew that I would be fine in the swim and that this day was moving in the right direction for me...all of the training was worth all of the suffering. I came out of the water and took the advise of Phat from BT and walked back to the water, jumped back in and swam the second lap in a relaxed way. I even noticed the glowing jelly fish that where all over the place, even knocking a few with my swim stroke. Before long I was back at the beach and walking up toward T1...I passed the strippers b/c I didn't want to go down on the ground and get covered in sand (personal preference), grabbed my T1 bag and headed into the building to change.

Not much, I was prepared for the worse possible swim and it turned out to be much better than I expected. Swim faster : )

This was my first IM so also my first time dealing with T1 bags instead of my normal T1 set up by my bike...I walked over to my bag and grabbed it then headed over to the building to drop my wet suit and put on my bike gear...the building was a mad house and completely jammed inside. It took me a minute to find a place to drop my bag and start putting on gear...I had read in Race reports about trying to stay out of the area but it was unavoidable at that time...I just came out of the water with a mass of humanity. I finally got my socks and shoes on and then my arm warmers and helmet, somewhere in the action I lost my sunglasses but it happened and I moved on. Ran out of the building and handed my bag off had a volunteer throw on some sunscreen and then ran to my bike...out of transition. We actually passed the mount line and continued to jog the bikes out because there were too many people in the shoot and it was too narrow to get on and moving without running someone over or getting knocked into a wall...a few more steps and then it was out onto the road for 112 miles of fun.

Make sure I had gone through the gear again to make sure I had the timing down 100% and the best way to get in/out of clothes etc.

After walking my bike down past the mount line and the narrow curve of the shoot I was able to settle into the bike...my goal was simple: ride the 112 in the small ring and shift on the back cogs as needed. This way I hoped to keep my legs fresh for the run that I knew was coming. The first couple mile weren't bad but as we continued down the coast the winds really picked up a few times and threw the bikes around a bit. I was lucky enough to see it coming when the bikes in front of me would twist and jolt to the side. After 11 miles we hit the first "climb" which was the bridge and it was only about a 120 foot incline and served more as a out of the seat leg stretch than anything else. From there it was a flat ride with the occasional roller thrown in for fun...At mile 50 +/- we got to the first of 2 fingers, or out and backs, on the course...the road at this 6 mile out and 6 back was horrible and had little pot holes every 3 feet...it made you feel as if you were riding on a segmented bridge...bump, bump, bump, for a minute I thought something was wrong with my bike until the rider in front of me splashed his Power-aid all over himself after hitting a bump in the road...anyways, at the end we turned around and went back by the bike SN bags. I did not stop as I had not used up everything that was extra in the bag so I just kept moving forward. It was around mile 70 that I started to get tired of being passed and had to calm myself into continuing on in my plan...I knew that if I started hitting it know I might blow up the legs so it was not worth it. the next 20-30 miles came and went with no real change but when I got the 101 mile I decided that I had enough in the legs to at least bring it in strong and help warm then up. I moved into the larger front gear and started into a nice heavier pace (not as hard as I could go just heavier) and ended up passing a large number of people who where either letting their legs rest in the final miles or had blown their legs out...it felt good to move a little quicker and the next thing I knew I was back at T2 and handing my bike off to the volunters...

I hindsight move into a larger gear but I think for my first IM it was perfect...set up the run wonderfully.

I rolled in off the bike and a volunteer took it from me. Again this was new to me but very welcome, I ran over to grab my T2 bag and into the building to put on shoes and fuel belt. The building was very empty compared to after the swim so it was easy to grab a seat and change out my shoes and sockets. I looked into my bag and spotted my sunglasses (thank goodness and decided to put a separate pair in for the run) handed my T2 bag to the volunteer on the way out of the building and headed to the restrooms...once done it was out to the course for the run. As I was exiting T2 I made a comment about finally having the warm up done and was ready for the real race...half the people around looked at me like I was nuts the other half laughed and the volunteer standing there yelled that it was nice to see someone still had a sense of humor...so far I was even amazing myself that I felt that good. I think the plan to hold back on the bike and keep the legs for the run was working, at least I had 26.2 miles to show that it worked.

Nothing it went very well.

I left T2 with the thought that I wanted to run the first 13.1 miles no stopping and that anything more would be icing on my cake...I had run the full 13.1 at Augusta 5 weeks prior and felt strong so I wanted at least that much of the marathon to go well. My plan was to run at a good pace and then come off of it a little until I had to start a run/walk...as with most plans it is something that goes straight out the window when you get into it...I looked down at my Garmin and realized I was running a 8:00 pace, which is not the end of the world but for 26.2 miles I knew that wasn't going to hold...I pulled back but was still running a 8:20 so I decided to just let myself run by how I felt, if I made it 15 great, if I made it 13 great; whatever I was having fun...I passed Carey, T and my parents at around 1 mile in and smiled and gave them the fist pump...I would later hear that I had surprised everyone at how good/strong and happy I was, apparently I have never looked that happy to be doing a tri not even a sprint...who knew? About a mile later I saw Brian coming back toward the end of his first lap, I gave him a high five and moved on...now my goal shifted to not letting him lap me! The miles came and went and I kept running and passing people left and right and the next thing I knew I was in the park making the turn back, 6.5 down and counting...closed my eyes and I was back at the turn around, still laughing and smiling and happy! I said hello to everyone as I passed and kept moving forward not stopping at the aid stations just grabbing things as I passed through at a constant pace...I looked up at about 1 mile past the turn a round and there was B moving quick! I said hello but he did not seem to know I was there until 10 feet past when he threw a hand out and yelled "yeah baby!"...Now this next part is going to sound a little weird unless you have experienced it but I just looked ahead and ran, 14, 15, 18 miles and I had not stopped yet and my legs felt great! I made it to mile 20 and at this point I wasn't about to let me self stop...it was funny b/c whenever I thought about slowing or relaxing my shoulders my body would revolt and hurt but if I kept running that straight forward pace it was smooth and painless...I was running on simple muscle memory and training! 23 came and went and all of the sudden I was at mile 25...at that point I started to speed up and really starting passing people heading toward the shoot around the corner and onto the final line...I stopped right at the line to get a picture and then walked to the volunteers who handed me water and asked if i was ok...yes I was and I really felt great! Scott was volunteering as a catcher so I looked up and there he was, he came over and grabbed, me wrapped me in the blanket, and took me to get my picture...it was AWESOME!

Nothing...if anything run a little faster! It is 100x true that the run course is littered with people who, for whatever reason blew the bike up...Coldfire told me before the race that there was no such thing as a bad run only a bad bike...he was right

Nothing...I had done all I wanted to do Saturday. I kept walking and did not sit to avoid the inevitable freezing of my muscles...Brian had sat down waiting for me (2 hours) and he could barely walk b/c his muscles had stiffened up on him. We walked around and then headed out to grab our gear while we could still move.


Not much, for my first time I thought it went awesome! I guess just knowing what my body can do I would be able to push a little more hear and there but other all having a plan and sticking to it worked well for me.


Great Race and even better Volunteers!! They were amazing and made my day that much easier...a special mention to the guy at mile 22-23 that ran coke up to me b/c they weren't ready when I ran by...dude you are the man!!! Great race for both a beginner in me and a machine like Coldfire.