Ironman 70.3 Florida - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Orlando, Florida
United States
Ironman North America Athlete Services
Total Time = 7h 19m 50s
Overall Rank = 1685/1995
Age Group = ATH 40+
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

we arrived at Fort Wilderness on Friday evening. Got in the cabin and DROVE over to the expo. WE couldn't find a parking space and only then did we know you are supposed to take the Buses everywhere on the site. oh, well. So back to the cabin and hop on a bus, by then it's too late to sign in so we went to eat at the first place we saw- Trail's End buffet. Worst, most expensive meal I've ever ate.
Saturday we slept in sorta. Woke up, got on the BUS over to the expo site. Got there just before 10. Nobody knew where the check in was, I got like 5 different answers. Finally we figured it doesn't open till 10am, so stood in line about 10 deep which quickly grew and folks were getting anxious all these volunteers were standing around and nobody was doing anything. "we can't start till 10am". whatever.
So, eventually checked in without any hassle and everythign moved without incident, except the swim cap guy was taking TOOO long to write the numbers on the caps. ??
So in true Disney fashion, the "ride' exits to a gift shop (NAS merchandise). Looked around, bought a cup and Tom scored some hiking socks. By the time I got out of there not 10 minutes later, check in had become this one big cluster feck. Thank God I got that done with early!
Dinner was in our cabin with Tom's friend Steve who is, like, JeffyFast. Then I chilled out watching mindless Disney TV and Irene and her hubby Mike came over and we hung out on the porch for a little bit.
Event warmup:

okay, Sunday breakfast, up at 4am. Went out on the BUS again. I sorta like not having to drive. Arrived, set up my T area, ran into the G8R family, not long after that, a sleepy headed Bridget and Jeff walked up. Hung out a bit, went to beach, I had to go potty again, so to the lines which are ridiculous, and I got done and back to th beach just in time to get in the corral.
Swim
  • 46m 28s
  • 2112 yards
  • 02m 12s / 100 yards
Comments:

I was feelign really, really good about this swim before I started. Lake, calm, nice, no problem. WE weren't allowed to practice swim or even wade in. The first thing I noticed was the taste. It needs more salt. Anyway, almost immediately, my goggles started leaking. Adjusted them, no go. Just a little bit o' water, no biggie.Kept on swimming, caught some feet and before i know it I was in the front. yikes!!! But... my left goggle kept filling up and I kept having to empty it, tried to tighten them, but no go. Why is this a big deal? Because I have contacts in!!! I have, like a -3.75 Rx in that eye. I need my eyes!! I couldn't clear it and it bothered me the whole swim. I kept having to stop and drain them. Then, before I knew it, I was in the back. yikes!!! Then I drained them again, and this time I am like 10 feet awayfrom a boat and a LG is yelling at me to get back on course or something like that. So... I lost time and this should of been WAY better than it was. And... during one of those drainage acts, I inhaled and water went in my mouth. So I had to cough and hack and recompose myself. That was horrible. I mean, it's a freakin' LAKE swim, people!! It's supposed to be a piece of cake!! Even though it coulda used a tad more salt, though.... :) REally disappointed, I KNOW I can do better. Just bad luck.
What would you do differently?:

I am never wearing those goggles again. They were my "lucky" ST A's goggles. Not so lucky anymore, are they?
Transition 1
  • 04m 50s
Comments:

This was a LOOOONG run. First sand, then sidewalk, then mulch, then grass.... I knew I had a sucky swim when the bikes were half gone. What a downer.... I ran the whole way over though. Got feet semi dry, socks on, shoes on, glasses, helmet, and remember I still can't see out of my left eye and it's irritated. Made a mental note to stop at med tent for saline on the way out but I never did see a med stop on the whole damn bike course.... It was okay but my eye was irritating the heck out of me. Something was lodged n under the contact and it wasn't in the right place, so it was blurry.
Bike
  • 3h 22m 18s
  • 56 miles
  • 16.61 mile/hr
Comments:

oh good Lord. We started out easy enough, with an overcast. Nice!! Then the hills came. Then the wind blew. Then the rain came down with a venegance. I was wishing I had my MTB on. I didn't mind the rain too much. But, with my left eye irritating the hell out of me, and the bike course was freaky crowded b/c the guys started after me I was being whizzed by like nothing ever. Then we went to this one area with heavy traffic, plus a little construction detour, about 3 feet wide carpeted sidewalk, no passing, with live traffic....
Hills. Let me tell you, if someone tells you this course is flat, slap them. I was about to cry when I saw the last hill in the distance, I was really pushing to make it up there and let out a scream when I finally hit the apex of it. I just coasted down the damn thing I was so tired!
And, what's with those sharp hairpin turns? That was scary. With the wet conditions, man. sheesh!
And... I had to pee like halfway into the ride. I just couldn't do it. It's hard. So, because I had to pee I didn't drink like I should..
What would you do differently?:

hill train? Learn to wet my pants on the bike?
Transition 2
  • 04m 50s
Comments:

Tom has a great pic of me getting off the bike. My face says everything! Jumped off, racked my bike, socks off, they were soaked, turns out it rained there too. So everything was wet! Socks on, shoes on, down a salt pill, grab some gels, put salt tab thingie in my pocket. Took one step and ow! Rock in shoe. I am not doing 13.1 with a rock in my shoe, so sat down and took off shoe, sock... it's not a rock but a nasty cut on the bottom of my toe. Shit. I put the skin flap back where it should be and put sock/shoe back on. Tried to pee sitting there but just couldn't. Ran to porta potty.
What would you do differently?:

Learn to wet my pants while sitting down on the grass. Not cut my toe.
Run
  • 3h 00m 32s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 13m 47s  min/mile
Comments:

oh my gawd.... this was like, shoot!! Legs felt great. Surprisingly great. But the toe hurt. I had to adjust my stride to alleviate some of the pain on it. Saw the fam right out of the T area, nice. Water stop right there. Dang, it's crowded! Started running. First loop was okay. Not optimal, but okay. I knew I'd get faster. No such luck I later found out. Hit the dirt part and it's horrible, I can't get my footing. Got to the turnaround. It's nasty. Hot and humid, the rains stopped and the sun came out which I'm sure the Disney tourists loved but we all hated!! Plus the dirt path is right next to a canal, so more humidity. Dust, heat, humid, gag! Saw Jeff pass me. Near the end of the first loop saw my coach. Two other chicks I know ran in front of me to say hey. Freddie ran to the other side to see me again and check in... he did tis the second lap also. The second lap I told him "I'm gonna DIE!!!" Saw Tom out there in a similiar way, coming and going. Bridget ran into me on the second (or wasit third?) lap and kept on going. I told mysef this is the third and final lap, make it hurt and make it count. I sorta did, I had such a hard time making my legs go... the heat and the unstablepath was just too much for me. EVERYONE was walking the second and third laps. I mean, EVERYONE. Except Jeff and Bridget! And the girl I was trying to catch with "40" on her leg. I gave up on that. The third time I hit cement, I tried to keep running, it was on cement and in shade... but I was so freakin' tired. HIt the 13 mile marker and I was so happy but it seemed to take FOREVER!!! I mean, how far can 0.1 mreally be??? I found out later it was long. oh, well.
I also saw quite a few people down on the course being tended to in one way or another. A girl in front of me stepped in a hole and she couldn't get up, so at the rest stop 1/2 mile up, they alerted medics and they came running back, they were the only people running!
What would you do differently?:

control the weather.
Post race
Warm down:

RAn down the chute, high fived Tom and my kids, and broke the tape! That felt soooo good!! Shirt, hat, medal. Had Tom look at my toe, Dr. Sue determined it didn't need stitches, since it didn't cut deep enough (bottoms of feet are tough, eh?) so Tom went to medical and got some stuff to clean and badnage it, that burned!! Sat on cooler and had a beer and Freddie and Christian bought me some pizza. Hung out for a bit and decided to haul ass out of there, it was already a long day and we still had a longer evening ahead of us. Hugs, pictures, etc, etc. Grabbed bike, Tom rode it back to the car and I sat on the bus with the boys carrying all my stuff.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

fat ass, sore toe, heat, humidity, dirt trail. Why do I have to make excuses?

Event comments:

I have three rolls of film on the way to being developed so I will post when they come in. We kept the obys busy with my old SLR camera with a zoom lens. Hope they come out good.




Last updated: 2007-09-04 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:46:28 | 2112 yards | 02m 12s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/1995
Performance: Below average
Suit:
Course: 3 sided rectangle
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 04:50
Performance:
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
03:22:18 | 56 miles | 16.61 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/1995
Performance:
Wind:
Course: If anyone tells you this is flat, slap them. They are lying.
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 04:50
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
03:00:32 | 13.1 miles | 13m 47s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/1995
Performance: Below average
not even gonna say.
Course: out, around, up and down an unstable dirt path, back up the park entrance, times three.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized?
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]