Ironman Florida - TriathlonFull Ironman

Swim was a total melee. More jostling, kicking, etc than I have ever experienced. In fact, at one point, a guy on my left was taking a stroke with his right arm and he hit me in my right ear (meaning he reached up over me and his arm came down on the opposite side of me). Finally settled into a groove at about 600 meters. Could not sight very well, so followed a few pairs of feet. Unfortunately, those pairs all went WAY wide of the corner buoy – too far to the right and turned too far beyond it. But, I figured that if that is the worst thing that happens, I am doing great. Saw several dozen jellyfish spread around the course, some of them more than a foot in diameter. Definitely made sure I was maintaining my “high elbow” form when I swam above them. Lap 2 was easier in the sense that people had spread out much more.

Make sure I have the stuff I need.

Came out of the water and found the wetsuit strippers. (Loved them.) Then jogged to grab my bike transition bag. I think I got to the T1 changing area at the height of the throng, because there was literally no room to change and only one volunteer for about every 4 or 5 of us. I tried to carve out a little space for myself, and started changing. The lack of space and insufficient number of volunteers made my T1 much longer than it should.

I guess be faster out of the swim so there is more space in T1.

Got on the bike and started the ride. Focused on keeping my watts in check. Wanted to stay between 160 and 165 watts. Was cold at the start, but I think that was because the air temp had not warmed up and I was still wet. Planned my nutrition to drink a 24oz bottle of regular strength Infinit per hour. In my training, I had not been sufficiently diligent on hydration. I went through my first two bottles by 90 minutes into the ride – so I knew I was doing much better. Winds picked up on the first couple segments, which slowed my mph. But I kept my focus on watts. Had to pee at mile 20, 56 and 80, so I knew I was hydrating well. At mile 70, a woman (who I had passed several times and who had passed me several times and we had each made a supportive “nice work” sort of comment) came by and said to me “I have a wheel sucker on me.” And, sure enough, there was a guy not 2 feet behind her clearly drafting off her. We all heard the sound of a Harley approaching, so he dropped off her wheel and rode on his own. Within two minutes after the Harley had gone, I had a sixth sense that there was someone behind me, and sure enough, he was drafting off me. Very annoying. But I pulled way out and looked at him and he stopped drafting off me and rode on his own.

Back kept tightening up, so I stopped at all the aid stations from mile 70 onward to stretch my back. Amazing how much better I felt after doing so.

Got back to T2, and could not have been happier to hand off my bike and head to the changing room. Had much more space now, and could completely change from the riding clothes to my running clothes.

Started out on the run, and saw a friend (spectator) just after getting out of T2. Was great to get some words of encouragement at that point. Then I passed my father-in-law at about 1/2 mile into the run. (He had not made the bike cut-off, had been driven back to transition, but was attempting the run anyway.) Had a brief chat with him, and then kept up my pace. Wore a shirt in honor of a friend who passed away from lymphoma a couple years ago and got a big smile every time someone shouted his name in encouragement. The run was tough. Really tough. Hard to keep running at any pace. Walked the aid stations. At this point, my glutes and hamstrings were seizing up. I got a small pebble in behind my right heel, but I was afraid to sit down and take my shoe off because I was worried that I would seize up and cramp and not be able to get back up. I remained concerned about nutrition, so I was oscillating between Perform and coke (until they began offering chicken broth). I could not stand the Perform. Eventually devolved into running (to the degree you can describe what I was doing as running) for 3 minutes and walking for 2 minutes. I just kept repeating to myself, “I can do anything for 3 minutes”, and giving myself the break for 2 minutes thereafter. Got to the half marathon spot and grabbed my special needs. Had a Milky Way bar in there that I had frozen over night the night before and was really looking forward to during the first half. Downed it. And then picked up my run/walk strategy again as best I could. I did the calculus at that point and realized that there was a chance I could go under 14 hours. I expected to do more like 15:30, so I was ecstatic that I was even threatening 14:00. (Plus, John was in the chute until the 14 hour mark, and I wanted to see him at the finish.) That kept me motivated to really keep moving. Garmin gave out at about mile 16, which was frustrating. I eventually gave in to walking more and more until the last mile. But I kept focusing on the 14 hour mark. Every aid station I would pass, I asked them the time and kept doing the calculations in my head, to the degree I was mentally coherent enough to do that math. I could not have been happier to get to the last mile. Jogged it in, knowing that the finish line was RIGHT THERE.

Made it in at 13:47:11. Could not have felt better. My legs were jelly, and I had a blister on my right foot the size of Montana on my right foot, but I felt great. I learned that my family had been tracking my progress and watching the video feed of the finish, and my eldest son (7yo) got really excited when he saw me finish – jumping up and down with happiness. I did not tear up at the finish, but I did when I heard of his reaction.

All in all a glorious day.