Ironman Florida - Triathlon

The sea was angry that day my friends. Once you got past the waves, it wasn't too bad though. Wore ear plugs and did not come out with any motion problems or dizziness. I swam mostly straight from buoy to buoy and had people all around me for the entire swim. I guess the ocean pushed some of the buoys around b/c they were not in a straight line and people reported their Garmin watch reading 2.7-2.8 miles for the swim. I'm not sure as I didn't wear a watch, but my swim was 5-10 min longer than what I thought it should be for that effort. I took in a decent bit of salt water (most from other swimmers splashing me as I breathed or from trying to sight after a left handed stroke, which I never practices and so I was getting it through my nose). It got crowded at the turns (not sure why I didn't expect this, seems common sense).
I peed at the end of the swim, so that saved me some time later.

Not much. I felt very fresh for this and it was almost effortless. Came out of the water feeling fresh and ready for the bike.

Stopped at showers to try and get all sand off. Ran some. Took my time to make sure I got everything.


Not much.

Splits
12.6/12.6 - 18.99mph
50/37.4 - 19.51mph
99.6/49.6 - 19.55mph
112/12.4 - 17.55mph

Course was crowded at beginning and I was stuck behind people the first few miles. I just took it easy and then opened it up once we got off the main beach road. Asked a guy on side of road if he needed help (about mile 10) and he asked for my CO2 head. So, I gave it to him! Thank God I did not have a flat. I only came to a stop one other time and that was to grab a water as the volunteers did not have it ready for a hand up. I never came fully unclipped and those were the only 2 times I came to a complete stop.
This bike felt great. I stayed zone 2 all the way except for a few hills, which I easily crushed (passed lots of people)... legs were glad for the break from pancake flat. I did get into zone 3 going through the headwind on the last out/back. At one point, I could feel my hamstrings. Not sure what that's about since never had any issue in training.

Nutrition:
Infinit Go Far 4 servings X 300 cal = 1200 cal
EFS liquid shot = 400 calories
BASE salt - took it every 30-45 min.


Not much. I think I nailed the bike just right. Could have possibly pushed a little harder. Maybe be more aggressive the first couple miles.

Not much to say here. Made sure to remember to grab my Garmin off my bike before handing it off. Peed before taking off for the run.

not much

Things were going great until about mile 5 when I got a horrific stomach cramp/ache - not sure. I've never had anything like it. Felt like someone grabbed my insides and twisted. It hurt so bad that I was bent over and in tears. I'm guessing that it might have been from taking in too much salt water on the swim or from ingesting sunblock. The volunteers had smeared it all over my face and I was sweating (Sun was out and it was hot/humid at this point) and so the sunblock was being carried by the sweat down into my mouth. I could taste it and after a while I stopped and used my shirt to wipe my face off - there was a ton of it on my face! I did not realize they had put so much on me. After using the inside & outside of my jersey, they were both covered in white goopiness. A mile or 2 later (around mile 5) is when my stomach collapsed me. I tried to make myself throw up, but no luck. This was a tough one to take b/c my legs still felt good. From this point on I basically ran as my stomach would allow me. Sometimes that was 1 min, sometimes up to 3 min. Every time though it would eventually seize up and stop me from running. Also, around mile 5 or 6 my back muscle flared up pretty bad. It subsided later, but at the time when everything was going wrong, it was SO depressing.
I started out with a plan for EFS and BASE, but when everything went wrong, my stomach would hurt worse every time I tried to put something in it. So I ditched the EFS pretty quick and would just take a sip & nibble of something every time I passed an aid station. I did carry a bottle of water the entire time and tried to sip on it as much as possible.

I will never know the reason for the stomach issue. However, it's still nice to know what I'm capable of doing. I have little doubt in my mind that I could have done a 5 hour marathon. And I would have been ecstatic with a 12:30 time. But it wasn't to be this time.

Splits
1.5/1.5 - 9:19 pace
4/2.5 - 11:02 pace
6.5/2.5 - 14:37 pace
9/2.5 - 15:35 pace
11.6/2.6 - 12:41 pace
13/1.4 - 11:28 pace
14.4/1.4 - 13:09 pace
16.9/2.5 - 13:34 pace
19.5/2.6 - 15:55 pace
22/2.5 - 15:26 pace
24.5/2.5 - 14:45 pace
26.2/1.7 - 12:59 pace

1. Wear a visor at beginning of run to keep sweat from pouring down
2. NOT allow volunteers to sunscreen my face. I could have done it myself with just a dab in a few short seconds

Went straight to room and showered. Stomach still in lots of pain.


STOMACH!


This is a GREAT event. Even though the run didn't go my way, it was still a great experience. Well organized, well laid out, well staffed and run. I highly recommend it for anyone that's willing to put the training in.