Ironman 70.3 Florida - Triathlon

I positioned myself outside front row as I am a fairly strong swimmer. The first "leg" of the course went great. Clear water, not much bumping. Got to the first turn and started running into people from the wave in front of me. The entire rest of the swim was a struggle swimming over, around and through swimmers from the waves in front of me. When I exited the water, I was running up the beach with a guy wearing a cap from 4 waves in front me. Just a really crowded swim course. Felt great coming out...even felt that I should have taken it out harder but this was my first half and what lie ahead was so unknown, I didn't wanna blow it out so early.

Not much could have been done differently

I have never been a "shoes on the bike guy." I've always put them on in transition and run with them on. I might do it differently next race. The distance was lengthy and I definitly could have run faster barefoot. But, that aside, go the arm coolers on and everything else in average time.

Put shoes onto bike

I think I took the bike out too easy. I was so afraid of killing it on the bike and having nothing left for what I knew would be a tough run in the heat, that I think I rode it too conservative. My goal was to stay firmly in Z3 HR. For the exception of a couple times that I coulght myself creeping up into high Z3, I stayed mid-low Z3 the whole time. I got nailed with a red card around mile 35 and had to serve a 4 minute penally. The girl that hit me with hit was nailing all kinds of people for ridiculously wrong reasons. Anyways, I served the 4 minutes ad tried to use the time to my advantage. I refilled my Speedfil, ate a waffle and refocused. The majority of the ride was smooth. A couple rough spots just outta transition and at the end. The rollers weren't that bad and the down hills allowed for good rest opportunities. Overall, a decent bike, but one I felt I could have taken out a bit harder

Ride mid-high Z3 the whole ride with spikes into Z4.

Not bad. Saw my wife and kids right next to my transition area which gave me a huge boost. I felt awesome coming off the bike. Probably b/c I took it out too easily! Rest of T2 went smooth.

Nothing

My coaches always say "there is no such thing as a great bike and poor run." There were alot of people that learned that lesson the hard way during this race! It was HOT and the first 2 miles of each lap were brutal. Huge hill just out of the race expo area. Coupled with the heat and most people were walking. I passed ALOT of people throughout the run. I walked the water stations taking just water and ice in my hat. Keeping the ice on top of my head inside my hat really helped keep me cool. I felt good on the second lap. By the third lap, everybody was walking the hill at the start of the lap. My legs felt good until around mile 9. Some minor hip pain into the finsih. I was pleased with my run given the conditions. Gotta give props to my coaches for steering me right and pounding it into my head not to kill it on the bike. It made all the difference on the run! Most people were not successful in doing that. I passed alot of people on the run that clipped me early on in the bike.

Nothing...executed the run just as I wanted to.

Met up with my wife and kids. Waited for my other training partners to finish. Ate alot of the food they had in the athlete tent and drank alot of water trying to stay cool.


HEAT


Great race!! Great organization, great community support. Would definitely do the race again and would recommend it to anyone. I'll be back next year!