Ironman 70.3 Florida - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Great swim! Loved it! Felt strong, smooth, and consistent. Had no trouble with sighting the buoys. Stayed pretty tight to the short distance between two buoys at all times. Tried to draft occasionally, but totally not my strong suit. So I just stayed focused. Passed lots of people from waves ahead of me and aside from being overtaken by the often not-so-polite Mens 35-39 group that was 2 waves behind us, everything in the swim went stellar!

Not much. Maybe get better at drafting? Honestly, I was thrilled to be out in 44 min! I told my family, anything under 50 min they could yell out my time to me. Anything over 50 min, I told them to yell out, "You're doing great!" LOL

OK. Obviously these transitions were a little slow ... depending on who you compare it to! HAHA! Lance was out in just under 2 min for both T1 and T2, so I'm feeling pretty good with 4 min! LOL I just took my time to make sure I felt great and had everything I needed.

I could definitely get out faster. But I was taking in every moment and didn't take any chances by rushing out!

As I was leaving the mounting line and riding away, I yelled out ... "I AM HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE!!!" HAHA!! I really was!

Launched one of my rear water bottles out at mile 3! Fortunately, it was the one with water. Drank all my Infinit from my Speedfil by mile 25. So I had the brilliant idea to take water bottles at the two remaining aid stations and fill them into my Speedfil! Worked great! Had 1 Hammer Gel at the first hour mark. Another Hammer Gel at the 2 hour mark and random bites of a Bonk Breaker when I was feeling the need to have some substance. Finished a good portion of my remaining Infinit in the other rear bottle. I ended up launching that one at mile 52. Ugh.

Was SOOOO happy to average over 19 mph!! I was averaging 19.8 up until around mile 28 when the hills became prevalent. I was pushing myself, but never felt tired or "done" on the bike. Minor issues with the chamois at first (from being wet I think), but got it worked out just fine. And a few minor (but scary) shifting issues with a slipping chain, but some prayer and smart reshifting fixed it!!

My new wheels ROCK!!!! They climb AMAZINGLY well! I was "flying" up the hills past disc wheels, aero helmets and sponsored jerseys like crazy! LOL Well, OK, not FLYING, but passing them with complete ease uphill! It was great!

Honestly, I was really having the time of my life and the bike FLEW by!

Figure out what bottles won't launch out of my rear cages or use coach's "homemade rubber band" system! I used the insulated Camelbak Podiums and I noticed that of the hundereds of bottles that had been launched along the course, TONS of them were the Camelbak Podiums.

Same exact deal here. Could I have been faster? YES. Did I think about that at all? No.

Maybe next time I will actually think about time and just be plain faster! LOL

OK. This is where it got a little hard. I was running GREAT off the bike. A little too fast but that's just how I roll. On the first loop/first hill, about 25% of the people were walking it. I felt great and flew up it. Pace was great and everything was great. Only problem was that I quickly discovered I could not get deep breaths without coughing. So I adjusted to shallow breathing and just focused on positive things. Second loop/second hill, 50% of the people were walking. I contemplated the walk up the hill, but then saw a very heavy guy running past the walkers and I told myself, "THIS IS MENTAL!" The plan was to walk the aid stations ... not the hills! So I pushed! Third time around/third hill? Only ME and ONE OTHER PERSON were running! It was exactly the mental boost I needed on the third lap! The run was really not bad at all. I was slower than I wanted to be, but a lot of that I think was the breathing and the heat. I LOVED loops (since I had a big cheering section).

Saw training buddy at my mile 6 (his mile 2). He was struggling with leg cramps really bad. So I stopped and walked with him for a bit and gave him the pep talk! Once he was refocused he told me to get on my way and that I looked strong! I felt strong, too!

The turning point of the run was mile 10. I started to get nauseous. I figured it was the heat. I was having trouble even keeping ice in my mouth. At one point I walked and looked at my watch and for the FIRST TIME saw my overall time and realized ... I COULD BREAK 6 HOURS! Only in a perfect world. Yes, I could have run 9 min miles the last 3 miles and broken 6 hours, but physically I wasn't there. Walking made the nausea worse, but there was nothing in me that cared about breaking 6 hours as much as I cared about finishing strong. So I refocused my mind and KEPT SMILING!!! I was going to finish strong with a smile on my face!! Slowed the pace and took in every moment of the rest of the race!

Random side note: On the run, I earned the nickname "Smiley!" Fellow competitors, photographers and spectators were all calling me that!! I had been smiling from the word GO and purposed to keep that smile on my face! I look like a total CLOWN in all my race pictures, but I loved that the HAVE FUN goal came to pass!!

Go to the doctor more than 3 days before the race so I could BREATHE!!! :o)

After crossing the finish line with tears and a HUGE smile, fist pumps and shout outs, I became instantly WAY WAY WAY more nauseous. Took me a bit to get my bearings. Got in the food/drink tent line and got up to 3rd person before I had to duck out and just find shade. Took about 45 minutes for the nausea to go away. I wasn't the best company at that point, but I tried to remain SMILEY!

Waited for training buddy to cross the line. He finished about an hour after I did. Sadly though, he lost hs timing chip in T1 and didn't know it so he didn't get an official race time.

After nausea went away, unexpected "rear" chafing appeared. I've never chaffed in this particular area but now I know there is a need for lube back there! Sorry for TMI but I had to make that mental note for next time!


Being sick/on meds/not being able to get full, deep breaths. And it was H-O-T!!! But this is Florida and though I was prepared for the heat, after 5 hours in it, it started to take a small toll.


I really did have the time of my life!! Loved it! And as I was writing this report, I loved how even things that in the past would have been not so good for me, I was able to say they were GOOD ... because mentally, I was exactly where I needed to be!

I AM A 70.3 FINISHER!!

And I love Infinit! LOL