Great Floridian Triathlon - TriathlonFull Ironman

This was the choppiest swim that I have ever done. I got tossed around on the first leg of the triangle course pretty bad. The second loop was a little better than the first. All in all I was happy with my swim. I took it really easy the whole time and just tried to stay smooth.

Nothing at all.

7 minutes? Are you kidding? That's a really long transition, but then IM transitions are a little different with a changing tent and what not.

Not much really. I wasn't all that concerned with the long T1 at the time.

I will admit that the course was much hillier than I had expected. I figured the race was in Florida, so it had to be flat. Not so much. The first 45 miles or so was pretty hilly, the next 50 were flatter, and the last 17 were hilly again. Still, I felt pretty good the whole time, I just got a little tired of being in the aero bars. I had hoped I would be a little faster, but then the course was harder than I expected.

Nutrition: I ate 33 shot blox and drank 8 bottles of cytomax. That got a little old, but it worked pretty well.

Here's a secret: IM racing is boring. The bike course is 112 miles long and the whole time you're just trying to stay aerobic so you don't blow yourself up for the run.

I probably should have trained solo on some long rides a little more than I did. I wasn't really prepared mentally for the hours and hours of solitude.

I felt pretty good getting off the bike (ok, I felt great just because I was off the darn bike). I didn't have any trouble changing clothes, etc. and pretty much just headed out for the run ready to see what was going to happen.

Nothing at all.

The course is an out and back section that is 5 miles total followed by 3 7-mile loops. For the first 5-6 miles I was really feeling all those shot blox and cytomax from the bike. I was a little worried that my stomach was going to revolt on me. Luckily, I was able to convince my digestive system that it really needed to function for the next 20 miles or so. Luckily, it agreed.

At mile 6, my IT band started to act up like crazy. I had terrible pain on the outside of my left knee for the next 20 miles. The rest of the race went as follows: run for several minutes until the knee pain becomes unbearable, stop and stretch, walk about a minute or 2, then start running again. It wasn't the most fun I've ever had running, but there was no way I was going to quit.

When I was running, I was running great. Probably 8:30-9:00 pace. I never felt tired aerobically. The only thing that slowed me down was the ITB issues. I feel confident I would have broken 4 hours for the marathon without the knee pain, but I'm happy with the result.

I enjoyed the run much more than the bike as the 3-loop course allowed for more interaction with other athletes. The last two miles were great. I was flying through the course, passing people like crazy, probably running 7:30's or so. It was a nice way to finish.

Not sure what caused the ITB issues. I haven't had that problem for 4 year. I figure it had something to do with riding 112 miles right before running a marathon.

I crossed the finish line, got my finishers T-shirt (which I'm wearing as I type this) and medal. Honestly, I felt great. I was tired for sure, but after a minute or two I felt good enough to walk around, collect my gear, go back to the hotel to shower, and then head to Chili's for some chips and salsa and a burger.

I did weigh myself after the race in the med tent. Somehow I managed to maintain my weight from the morning. I guess my hydration plan worked. I'm sure that contributed to me feeling good the whole race as well as post-race.


The only thing that slowed me down were the ITB issues. I think I could have broken 11:30 and maybe 11:20 without the inflamation. Even so, I'm incredibly happy with my time and wouldn't change anything in my preparation for the race. I enjoyed the whole year of training.


Huge thanks to my support crew (wife, mom, and dad). I couldn't have done it without them. They all wore Carolina blue t-shirts with my name on it and some motivational sayings. Knowing they were there cheering me on got me through some tough moments on the run when my knee was really hurting.

GFT is a great independent IM race. It was well run and much lower stress than what I'm guessing an m-dot race is like. This was my first (and likely my last) iron distance race. I couldn't be happier with the experience, my time, or my support crew. I owe everyone who helped me, trained with me, etc. along the way.