Ironman Florida - TriathlonFull Ironman

I had a lot of trepidation going into this swim, as the only other ocean swim I'd done in a race made me really seasick. The water here was really calm though and I didn't have any problems like that so that part of the swim was good.
That being said, this was the worst swim, bar none, that I've ever been in. I have never seen so many swimmers in a race who had no clue what they were doing. I lost count of the number of times I had swimmers cut across, almost sideways in front of me, completely clueless on what direction they were going. There were a ton of slower swimmers who seeded themselves right at the front and took off like crazy, only to come to a complete stop 300-400 yards out and cause massive traffic jams. I even had two guys swimming BACK toward shore, right through the middle of everyone, about halfway out to the first turn buoy. All that combined with the normal Ironman swim fisticuffs and wrestling matches made it really difficult to get any kind of rhythm during the first lap. The second lap wasn't quite as bad, except for the people who had no clue how to swim straight, and I was able to get some clear water and get a bit of rhythm going, especially after the last turn buoy.


Not much you can do when there are so many people making life difficult. I expect an Ironman swim to be a slugfest for the first lap at least but the general lack of navigation skills in made it even more entertaining.
Might have been 2-3 minutes faster without getting caught in all the mayhem. Still happy with the overall time.

Ran up the beach and found Wendi doing her wetsuit stripping duties. It was pretty sandy where we were laying down but no worries really. Wendi shucked me out of my suit and headed for the showers. The fresh water was really nice to rinse out my mouth. I really hate the taste of salt water!
The volunteers (who were awesome all day!) had my bag for me without any delays and I was lucky enough to find a chair in the changing tent. Took a little time to relax, wash out my mouth with more water and get a big drink, and then get my shoes and helmet on. Headed out for the bike and got slathered with sunscreen then was off.

Not much. Could have been a little faster probably but it's a long way from the water to the changing tent and then from the bike racks to the bike mount line. I have no idea how some of these guys are doing this transition in less than 2 1/2 minutes.

Started out feeling awesome on the bike and I was hoping that being sick wasn't going to catch up with me. The first few miles I just cruised and worked on getting my legs warmed up. I was surprised at the pace I was able to keep while still keeping my HR low and feeling like I wasn't really working at all. Passed Mimi (MimiR) around mile 10 I think. By about mile 15, I had to pee but I didn't want to stop and lose time so I figured if I held it longer I'd eventually have to go bad enough that I could pee on the fly. More on this later.
The miles were flying by and I was amazed at how good I was feeling, despite being sick and not eating the previous 36 hours. I passed Jeff (Bostic) in here somewhere and then got passed by Rick (Daremo). It was cool seeing fellow BT'ers out on the course. By special needs I was averaging right at 21mph and felt great. Took about a minute and a half there to switch out Perpetuem bottles and grab a peanut butter and honey sandwich. Right after special needs we made the turn to the South and started to fight a headwind, which would steadily increase the rest of the day. It had been a crosswind most of the time up until now. Somewhere in here, around mile 55-60, the lack of nutrition and being sick started to catch up with me. I could feel myself starting to bonk a little bit so I pulled the throttle back and slowed down. I also started to get sick again. I was getting nauseated and couldn't eat or drink much for probaly 30-35 miles along here. Also, the section of road from around mile 70 to 90-95 was ridiculous. It was extremely rough and difficult to get a peddling rhythm going. There were lots of lost bottles and aerobottle meshes along here. One really cool thing though was the Pirate themed aid station! Those guys rocked!
I can't remember for sure but I think it was around mile 60 when I just couldn't hold it any longer and had to stop at a port-a-john and pee. The problem was, there were only two at each aid station and the lines were long. At the athlete meeting they had REALLY stressed automatic DQ if you got caught peeing anywhere but the johns and then they didn't have enough of them. Kind of disappointing. Anyway, probably lost 5 minutes to waiting in line here and had tons of riders go by who I'd already passed. Need to work on peeing on the bike!
The closer we got back to the beach, the worse the wind got. When we turned back onto Highway 79, it was right into the teeth of the wind which seemed to be growing stronger by the minute. I understand the pros and fast AG riders didn't have near as much wind to contend with but that it grew worse as the day went on. The saving grace was when we turned for the home stretch back to T2, we had about 6 miles of a good tailwind.
I don't know if that's what it was but along in here I started feeling better, the nausea went away, and I was able to start drinking and even eat a Gel along here.

Not be sick the day before the race. Other than that, I think I would have had a real good ride. As it was, it was still ok.

Nothing much to say here. Took my shoes off and was able to run to the changing tent. Again, the volunteers were awesome and took care of us well. Saw Chris (cbost2678) right after I handed my bike off; great to see a familiar face helping out! Put a fresh tube of Endurolytes in my pocket and headed out.

Nothing.

As crummy as I'd felt the last couple hours on the bike, I was really not sure how the run would go. But when I ran out of transition, I felt surprisingly good. All of a sudden I was ravenously hungry so I was looking forward to the first aid station!
I intentionally kept my pace slow the first mile, just getting my legs under me again, and even so the first mile wa 10:10. Got to the first aid station and got a water, cola, some grapes, and a cold sponge. I would repeat this little sequence at every aid station for the next 22 miles. Kept my pace nice and easy out to the turn-around, usually under 11 minutes per mile. By the turn-around though, I was again starting to feel the lack of nutrition the last part of the bike and being sick. Aerobically I was fine, in fact I don't think my RPE ever really got above Z2 or low Z3. But my legs just didn't have it in them. No cramping but they just didn't have the oomph they usually do so I resigned myself to finishing with a decent time but not making my goal time that I had hoped for. Somewhere on the first loop I passed Rick (Daremo) who was having a tough run and got passed by Jeff (Bostic) who was paying me back for passing him on the bike! You had a killer race Jeff! Also saw Ed (Ellasdad) running in his kilt!
The second loop of the run was more of the same, only my legs were fading more on me now. My lungs felt like I could have run another 30 miles but the legs were just not there. This course is really flat, except the speed bumps in the residential sections seemed a little steep at times on the last 6 miles!
Finally, with about 3 aid stations to go, the chicken soup came out! Whoohoo!! I'd been waiting for that all afternoon! Did the Ironman shuffle for the last 3 miles until the finish line came into sight. Then all the aches, pains, and stomach troubles faded into nothing! That is such an awesome feeling to come down that chute to the finish! Saw Wendi (G8RSAX) along here; again, it's so great to see a familiar face! Hit the tape with a better than 3 hour PR over IMCDA last year.

More run training and not get sick.

Got my finisher swag, got the picture taken, then headed over and scarfed a couple pieces of pizza. Slowly gathered up my bags and bike and walked them to the car.


Obviously being sick limited me some and I know I need to work on my running before IMCDA next year.


Overall, the race went about as well as I could have expected, all things considered. The water was great, and most of all, it never did feel too hot. I was really worried about that, coming from the already cold northland but it was just about ideal conditions.
Really enjoyed meeting so many cool BT folk! A big thank you to the G8R's for their hospitality and a huge congratulations to all the BT'ers who perservered and finished the race.
I was a little disappointed in the organization of the race here. Parking was an issue on race morning, kind of far away. They ran out of finisher medals for the people finishing toward the end and I understand the voluteers were handing out medals to everyone who crossed the finish line at the beginning...family members included. C'mon! Bike special needs bags drop-off was a hike too. And I understand the medical tent was grossly understaffed and unprepared. Mostly little things but I guess I'm spoiled by IMCDA.
All in all though, it was a great experience. The volunteers were great (especially all the BT volunteers!) and the atmosphere surrounding an Ironman is just so cool! I would do this race again in a heartbeat.