Ironman Florida - TriathlonFull Ironman

2-5 foot swells and east to west current. The 2 loop swim allows you to exit the swim and grab some water before diving back in, which was nice. This was my first ocean OWS and issue dealing with a cross current. The swells and current slowed down my time. Also, i spent a lot of time trying to navigate around people. Having 10ft visibility is a so much better than the murky lake. I actually enjoyed the swim and would do it again, but faster!

Start on the front line and 40 yards to the right of the buoy. Push hard for the first 300m to get away from the crowd.

Two problems.
1.Could find my bag. It was moved to the wrong row...cost time.
2.I didn’t want to the bike with wet shorts & top for 6 hours, so I only wore swim trunks under the wetsuit. This was a mistake because when you lay down to strip off the wetsuit, you get covered in sand. I spent a few extra minutes trying to get the sand off which cost time AND I didn’t get it all off which caused rub burn during the run. Hindsight, wear the top and change the bike shorts during T1.

- Hang a colored ribbon or marker on my transition bags to help spot them faster.
- Wear the tri top under the wetsuit.
- put sunglasses, gloves and arm warmers while on the bike, not T1.
->lost 5 mins screwing around...

We got lucky that the wind reduced from 15-20mph to 5-8mph from the previous day. Temp climbed up from 75 to 81 at the end of the ride.
All in all it was a good day for riding. Elected to go with a 404/disc; however, the majority of the bikes were 404/404 or 404/808. Mile 50-60 are a few rollers that were a surprise to many. I thought Florida was flat… My only complaint was a 6mi out and 6mi back at mile 60. The road was terrible! Water bottles and spare tires littered the road from being vibrated off the bikes. You couldn’t find a smooth lane to ride in. Fortunately it didn’t last long. I used two concentrated Infinit bottles (1000 calories each) and sipping every 10 minutes with my Garmin alert. Combined with 1 ½ bottles of water/hr and one 24oz Perform matched my nutrition plan. I also consumed 16 salt tabs during the ride; however, I had a lot salt on my jersey. Not sure if I consumed too much salt and that was excess or I needed more?? All in all, it was a smooth ride through the first 85, then I was ready to move on to the run. Unfortunately at mile 105 while climbing the 154ft bridge, several bikes bunched up and we all got a 4min drafting penalty for being too close together. Not sure how you get called for drafting climbing a hill?? They were tough on drafting and I saw no less than 10 people get a red card. Glad to see they were cracking down. My goal was to be consistent, take in 2200 calories and finish under 6hr.

-Don't get bunched up with other bikers to avoid getting a penalty
-Place both 1000 calorie bottles on the bike to avoid having to stop for the bike special needs bag (cost a few minutes)
-Push it up one notch and average 20mph

Well organized. I could have got through it faster. I changed out of bike shorts and changed socks.

-Speed laces
-dont change socks
-do not use fuel belt (too heavy) - trashed it after 2 miles
-> cut off 3 mins

On a positive note, I never slowed down...same pace the entire run.
I planned to hit the first 6 miles under 60 min. and get off to a good pace; however, it was not to be. My stomach was in a knot and I had discomfort with every step. I tried sprinting to push through it then walking and pot o potty… Not sure if it was caused from...nutrition imbalance or the stress of the day on body. I have never had stomach cramps and can eat anything, anytime. My first relief came at mile 15 when they starting serving chicken broth. Up to that point, I had a total of 2 cups of water and 1 cup of Perform; no solids or GU’s. I am not saying I could have punched out 9min miles; however, I wanted to go faster. Everything else felt solid (legs, feet, back…).
On a mental note, I focused on Chucks advice and only thought about the next mile or aid station. Looking back, I never thought about “26.2 or marathon”. The longest stretch was the last 5 miles because I started calculating the remaining time vs. pace to make sure I finished under 13; opposed to just running. That was the longest part of the run.

-carry vasoline and alka seltzer
-no fuel belt
-setup my watch to 1 mile lap counter with pace
-try breaking up the run with faster splits or other
-> cut 1 min/mile off next time

1 chocolate milk, 1 pizza slice and 1 great massage


Good race. Not many opportunities to see family because the bike is out and back and the run is 2 loops.