Ironman 70.3 Florida - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The swim start was delayed by 20 minutes, and by this time the storms had passed. The bad news was, I was soaked to the bone and the wind had picked up a bit. It was also quite cool outside for FL (I heard someone say it wasn't even 70 degrees) so I was freezing. My fingers and toes were blue and I felt like I had permanent goose bumps.

Good news was, the water was 82, and I was anxious to be in it.

Got lined up, ran on in, dove down once it was deep enough and started swimming. Not sure what happened here, but at this point I panicked like I have NEVER panicked before. I now really understand people who say swimming terrified them.

I am SO comfortable in the water, and never get freaked out, so this was really weird for me. The only way I can think to explain it is that my fight or flight response went into over drive and my body tried to do both as hard as it could at the same time. I freaked out so bad I completely stopped and had to tread water as the next TWO waves of athletes passed me (6 minutes at least).

I was no where near a kayak, so I just focused on keeping my head above water and telling my self I was being an a$$.

After the second wave caught up to me and I got pummeled I managed to convince myself that it was going to get WORSE as the really competitive men's age groups started, so unless I wanted to drown from getting beat to death I needed to swim... at least to a kayak.

Put my face in the water and took off, and managed to calm down and swim after about 100 yards.

No idea what that was about, but it was behind me. The rest of my swim was actually really solid. Caught a face full of water a few times because of the chop, and the water STANK like gasoline which was unpleasant, but overall I was really happy with it once I got going. Wish I hadn't had to waste those probably 6-8 minutes acting like an idiot on the front end.



Not panic obviously, and I forgot to pee near the end of the swim. When I got out of the water it hit me how bad I had to go and I knew I was going to have a LONG T1.

This is a LONG run from the swim to T1. I was fine getting out of the water, not disoriented at all, jogged up the beach, over the river, thru the woods, the mulch chips, the slippery pavillion and found a port o potty. Peed for what felt like 25 minutes, and then got my gear together.

The actual time in T1 was short, I just rinsed my feet, strapped on shoes, helmet and race belt, grabbed bike and went.

I had a little trouble clipping in once I got out there as I had wet mulch stuck in my shoes, so that required some try and try again, but it only cost me maybe 30 seconds (though it felt like 2 hours).

Not have to pee and PUT SUNSCREEN ON MY LIPS. Good god, do I regret forgetting that on both the bike and run.

I loved this bike course.

There was a pretty kick butt wind going the entire time, but wind actually doesn't bother me. When it's blasting me in the face I just smile because I know when I'm going the other way I'll be crusing.

The course was much hillier than I expected, which is my own fault. I could have checked elevation maps. I've done some hill training in spin class and what not, so my legs were fine, but by the end of the ride my back was not loving me. I dont have a tri bike, but instead a roadie with clip on bars, so every time I had to shift (which on the hilly segments was often) I was up on the horns. I figure about 20 miles of the bike or more I wasn't down on my bars, and I really didn't train for that.

I did stop at the second aid station to pee (again) which, as much as that peeved me to have to do, I was relieved to know that I was so well hydrated, as that can be an issue for me.

Nutrition on the bike- 4 bottles of water total. 3 packages of chomps, and one gel (EW).

I was really really happy with my ride, so nothing.

Into transition, there were about 6 of us all on teh same rack that came in about the same time so I made small talk with the other girls.

Sat down so I could slather my feet in body glide and not miss a spot, socks shoes, gulp water and I was off. Nothing special.

Nothing. It was a slow transition, but I get blisters so easily, especially when my shoes are soaking wet still from the rain, so the extra time was worth it.

Oh yeah, sunscreen on the lips.

Got off the bike feeling pretty good. The first loop of my run the course was PACKED as all the fast people were on their last loop, and there were lots of people on their second as well. Only a handful of us on our first, but I wasn't alone.

One thing I noticed very quickly was that my heart rate was spiking really really fast. After the first mile I started a walk jog to make sure it didn't go too high. Kept up that madness for the rest of the race.

Second loop my split was a bit faster, which was what I was going for, but my legs were feeling those hills.

On the third loop I had one last port o potty stop right after mile 12. I was REALLY hoping to hold it until I crossed, but this was a matter of cramping life or death, and it was worth the few minutes it cost me so that I could finish without pewping myself in front of my family.

The last mile of the race you run on the same path that all the athlete's that have finished are going out on to get their bikes back to their cars and whatnot and the entire time everyoen kept cheering those of us out there on, telling us we were close, we could do it, we looked good, (lies lies LIES) but at the time, it felt great.

Went down the chute, rounded the bend and saw hubby and my parents and did the girl thing where I almost started to cry. I didn't even look at my time, I was just glad to have finished without crashing, puking, or even for one minute (other than that odd swim start) doubting that I would finish the race.

There are always improvements for me to be made on the run. In truth, I probably only ran about half the time because my HR just kept jumping. Train more, train in the heat... and for this course, train on terrain other than roads. Running thru the meadow was not fun for my legs and ankles, so practicing that would likely help with actual muscle fatigue.

Hobbled back to transition to get my bike and let my husband and mom take care of me and feeeeeed me.


You know, there were a lot of little things that added up to the 1/2 hour that I didn't think I would need in this race, but I can't say I'm disappointed. I will do this distance again, and I will do it faster simply because I will be better trained, but I'm happy with my performance here.


This was a fun race. I LOVED the organization, the venue, the voluteers, etc.

It's worth saying that I LOATHE Disney and likely won't do this one again simply because if one more person told me to have a Magical Day I was going to punch them in the throat, but Ironman puts on a heck of an event.