Ironman 70.3 Steelhead - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

So swimming has always been my weakest of the three disciplines of triathlon, but I feel like I've made strides by swimming on Castaway Cay when the ship is in port. My wave was smaller than most races that I have done, so I just stayed to the back. When we got in the water things got interesting....every time I put my head in the water and swam, I got horrible vertigo. I didn't know what to do...I just doggie paddled for 1.2 miles. It was awful and really shook my confidence. I'm doing IM Florida in November and this CAN'T happen. I know that it's caused from stress...this has happened before. By IM these stresses will be gone, so that's a good thing.

Swim MORE!

I was really out of it when I came out of the water. I needed a minute (or 6) to calm down after the vertigo. My T1 transitions are usually a lot better. I had to collect myself though so I'm not going to worry about it.

As I'm leaving transition, race belt breaks. I had to fumble around with it for a minute. I ended up just tying it in a knot and moving on. Coming from Florida, I am used to being in 90 degree weather. Needless to say, I absolutely froze on the first 15 miles of the bike. I mean froze to the point where I thought I wasn't going to be able to continue. I didn't know the roads weren't going to be closed so having cars flying by me on the course was a surprise. Maybe I should have gone to the athlete meeting. Anyway, coming up to the first water stop I saw the worst wreck I've ever seen on the bike. I don't even know what happened...it all happened so fast. I think it happened when a cyclist was trying to grab a water bottle from a volunteer. The guy flipped over his handle bars and literally slid across the pavement. As this is happening I have a guy on my right yelling "watch out" to me. It shook me to my core. I haven't ever experienced anything like it. I almost got off my bike and said "I'm done." Then I thought to myself I paid for the race entry fee, I paid to get my bike up here and I paid for my flight. Suck it up and get over it. It took me a about 10 miles to calm down and get into a good rhythm. Every thing seemed to be moving in slow motion. I saw my family at mile 27 and that helped a lot. Other than being shaken up and feeling like I was moving in slow motion I felt great on the bike. I saw my family again at mile 40 and was still feeling great. Just as a side note...I would never willingly DNF, I just was pretty shaken up.

Not a lot, I know I could have pushed it more, but with vertigo coming out of the water, it was tough to get going.

I wish I had left out another pair of socks, my feet were freezing and I had to wear the same socks on the run. Went to the bathroom and was off.

Leave out another paid of socks.

The last few races and bricks that I have done I have a horrible pain on the outside of my legs when I came off the bike. I try and stretch it out but nothing helps. I literally have to walk the first mile. It ends up going away, but it's very frustrating. I ran with a guy named Chris who used to work at Walt Disney World. What a small world. Of all the people racing, I find the other Disney person. He has done 5 full IM's so we chatted for a while and he gave me some advice. I felt like my run was really good, so I was disappointed with my time. I saw my best girlfriend back in the Whirlpool complex. I was not expecting it, so that was awesome. She told me I was looking strong. It was good to hear. Went for the other loop and saw her again. She said I was looking good and told me she saw a couple of people puking. I told her you see it all during IM. I was giving salt to a lot of other athletes. I was prepared for 95 degree weather, so I didn't take as much salt as I had planned on. I saw tons of people who were cramping up.

I'm really not sure what I could have done differently except run faster.

Saw my family as I was running down the finishers chute. My brother and sister in law brought my 2 and 3 year old nephews and I got to give them high fives as I was running along. I loved that! It was awesome.


Being on the ship the week before a race is tough. I was exhausted on Friday and just felt I started the race at a disadvantage. I will not be on the ship the week before IM Florida.


Overall, great race.