Miami Man 1/2 Iron - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

This was the best swim I've had ALL YEAR. I've never felt so trained, so comfortable, and so ready for a swim since I started doing tri's. I was nervous because of the amount of people around me, but the swim itself I was psyched for!

On the first loop it was really physical for the first 200m or so. But I kept my head up alot so I could see what was going on. I did get hit and kicked a few times, but nothing out of the ordinary. Once we were out on the course though, it thinned out alot. Once I got into a groove, I just went. I passed a bunch of people in the water. Upon exiting the water on my first loop, I looked at my watch and it said 18:xx...I smiled big. After that I felt great. Got back in the water and continued on that pace. The sun was in my face a bit on the back part of the course, but I still sighted ok, didn't go off course at all. I was thrilled at the fact that I never got tired, and never had to stop to catch my breath. I actually felt like I was going slow, but this was probably close to the fastest pace I've swum in competition all year. Came out of the water at 37:13 and I was just ecstatic.

Nothing at all. It feels great to say that after a swim!!!

Wow, the run from beach to TA was probably about a quarter mile. And then the TA was hella long too...had to go by ALL the racks for the international distance racers, and then I was about 20 racks in from there. Once I got there, I didn't take much time. I'd planned on taking my time in transition so I could catch my breath, but I wasn't even winded after the swim. I saw Terri, Jim, and Shane standing there, and I smiled for some pictures, but I don't think I was concentrating on anything but what I was doing at that point. But I was so happy to see them there. So I got my helmet and shoes on, put on my sunglasses, and grabbed my bike and headed for the bike course.

Nothing.

OK, so...I'm an IDIOT. Here's why. 13 miles in...I'm feeling good, I've got my two water bottles filled with water, in my cages. My aerobottle is filled with Gatorade endurance. I've got skittles and gel in my Bento Box. I drank the Gatorade and some of the water in the first half of the bike. I took a gel at the halfway mark, or just a little after. But every time I passed a water bottle exchange, I took water instead of Amino Vital. Water. Water. Water. 25 miles of nothing but water. Anyway, I saw Don (DRM) out there, he said "hey are you Jeff?" and I answered "yes". He said "hey I'm Don!" He put his hand out to shake but I said I couldn't do that or I'd fall. Still not too confident with taking one hand out of aero and balancing with the other just yet. Anyway, by the time we got to the final turn where we headed back for 13 miles I was probably OVERhydrated. About 50 miles in I heard someone behind me saying, "come on you can do it!" and I said, "yay, almost there!" I turned out to be the person I'd finish the race with. But I didn't know that yet. Well at about mile 51 or so, all of a sudden it hit me. My legs stopped working. My eyes were rolling back. My arms fell limp. I saw spots. I couldn't push the pedals no matter how hard I tried. I felt right next to passing out. Then I remembered the Skittles. THANK YOU JESSICA. It was on our 62 miler that she told me that Skittles got her thru IMAZ. Well lemme tell ya, it was those Skittles that saved my ass at Miami Man. So...Jess totally saved the day even though she wasn't there. See? You CAN be a jockstrap without ever being there! LOL


Anyway, as soon as I downed those Skittles I could feel my blood sugar coming back up. At that point I hammered it back cuz I thought if I didn't, I might not hit my sub 3-hour goal on the bike. Once I was back in the park, I felt fine again, but started to wonder if I'd be able to run. Maybe I was just FEELING ok, but my legs wouldn't work?

NUTRITION!!!! I must be the stupid cyclist alive!! How could I not remember to eat???

I dismounted at the line and tentatively put my feet down. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to stand up. Miraculously, it felt ok. My legs didn't hurt and they didn't feel limp. So I ran my bike in, racked it, threw off my helmet and put on my running shoes. I reached down and thought I might fall over, but I was amazed that I didn't feel dizzy either. Hmmm...amazing little things, those Skittles. Anyway, I was ready to run a half marathon.

Nothing at all.

OK, so I figured I'd just use the run portion to get my health back. I'd walk the aid stations and make sure I filled up on Amino Vital, gels, and REAL FOOD. I did most of this. The only REAL FOOD they had was bananas and oranges, and I just can't do bananas. But I did take water, Amino Vital, and a gel at every aid station. I walked only enough to take my nutrition and get back on the run again.

As I came out onto the run course, the first thing I saw was Shane. To see him there really made my day. He, Jim, and Terri were cheering for me. I felt REALLY REALLY slow. The girl who passed me on the bike who I said "almost there!" to was right there in front of me. She said "yup, I knew you'd get me on the run". But I told her not to expect me to stay in front of her for too long. By mile 3, I had managed two 10-something splits and a 9:30. But I was tired. I saw Janice at the Hammerhead aid station. She gave me a big hug and a kiss and some life-saving Amino Vital. By mile four, I really wanted to just stop. I kept going and finally had to stop to walk (and to pee) at mile 5. Felt better after peeing. I wasn't so bloated. Kept going and saw some animals, talked to some other runners. I kept seeing the mile markers for the second lap and I just couldn't wait to be passing those FOR REAL. Finally I came around to the six mile marker and realized I was almost halfway done with the run. After passing the halfway mark, I saw my gang again. I looked at them and said "please kill me". But I heard Terri say "still smiling!! Awesome!".

Over the next 4 miles or so, I really ran out of gas. It was so hot out there. Hardly any shade at all on the second loop. I walked a minute and 30 seconds of mile 8. Walked all the aid stations and shuffled the rest. At mile 10 I saw that same girl again. This time she was passing me, trying to get me to speed up. I told her "30 seconds and I'm back to running again". As I caught up to her I asked if it was ok to run with her, cuz she looked like she had a good pace. She said no problem. So we ran, talked, laughed, etc. It made the last part of the run so easy. Suddenly there was only one mile to go! We had been talking about how cool it was to have people you know there and I, without thinking (cuz who can think at this point in a race this long) said "yeah my boyfriend is here". And I was like...oh crap! So I just went with it. I was like...ummm..yeah, I'm gay by the way. She said "Really? Me too!!" So we laughed and slapped hands and then I said "we soooooo have to run across the line together!" So that's what we did. We ran past that 13 mile mark, and she said "let's go!!" so we sprinted to the finish holding hands high above our heads!! I never felt so good in my life!! We got our medals and I hugged her and thanked her for helping me get thru the run. Her name was Dara. She's from London originally but lives in South Florida...so I know I'll be seeing here again next year!!

OK so it was over. I felt great, even though my legs didn't agree.

Run faster!!

Lots of water. Met up with my gang, gave Shane a big sweaty hug, and met Dara's other half. I in turn introduced them to my crew. We hugged one last time before they headed off and then I just rested a bit, and we headed on home. I was on a high for the rest of the day.


Heat. Lack of nutrition.


I will definitely be back next year. It may only be for the international distance, but who knows...I might be persuaded to do the half again. Right now I'm on a quest to not do long races after IMAZ.

It could have been a bit better organized, but it was still a great day. I have no "race" complaints at all. Everyone was AWESOME!!!

Thanks to EVERYONE who I came in contact with this weekend. I won't even start listing cuz I know I'll miss someone, but lemme tell ya, everyone who I dealt with this weekend made it an amazing time for me. If this is only half of how I'll feel after IMAZ, I just can't wait to do it!!