Ironman Florida - TriathlonFull Ironman

Well I put it all on the table for this race. Knowing that it was going to be fast, I seated myself right on the buoy line and about 3 deep. My goal was to get out front of the thrashing and try to catch as many feet as possible. This worked for the most part...but I still got trampled. It was a good fight for about 600m, then it cleared out until the turn buoy. Then it became another clusterf*ck until the next turn buoy. Coming back on the first lap was smooth.

And then my race nearly became unraveled. I put my goggles on my forehead as I began to exit the water and realized I couldn't see the clock. I can make out 31:xx I rub my eye. Nothing. I realize that I have lost my contact. OMFG. I try to not panic. If it is gone, I am pulling out of the race. There is no way I will do 10 hours with sight in one eye. I take my goggles off and finding it hanging on the rim of the sealer. Ok, now I need some water because it is folded over. I grab a volunteer and ask for help. I tell her to keep me calm.

Neither of us can get the contact to unfold. I am doing my best to remain calm and not pay attention to the 1000 people passing me. We solicit the help of another volunteer. He adds too much water and the contact slips out of my hand. We find it hanging on the other volunteers hand. WHEW. We keep trying and finally it unfolds and I pop it back into my eye. I easily lost 3-4 minutes there but was extremely grateful to have the help from the volunteer

As I re-entered the water, I tried to clear my mind and remind myself that it is still a long day. I found some feet and went. I just tried to maintain long strokes. I felt really slow in the water and didn't feel like I was having a good swim. I focused on just turning over my arms.


Not lose a contact. I still need to work on being more aggressive in the swim start. Even with the mishap, I came out at my target time.

I came out of the water with a whole heap of people so I knew transition was going to be a madhouse. Experience really pays in Ironman transitions. I wasn't going to change so that cut down the time. My plan was to run to the transition exit to find a spot and a volunteer. So many people take the first seat they see and the congestion starts there. This worked flawlessly. I got the seat next to the exit and grabbed a volunteer who was standing outside.

He dumped my stuff in front of me while i briefly dried off. He then sorted everything out and even put on my race belt for me. He rolled up my arm warmers and pulled them up my arms. How awesome is that. I was in and out in no time.

I went out running and beat the volunteer to my bike.

Putting on the arm warmers slowed me down a bit.

This ride went from bad to really bad to good to really good for me. My goal was to ride 20+. I was pretty confident that I could pull that off and not trash my legs. My second goal was to get my HR DOWN for the first 60-90 minutes. So I let the hammerheads go. My HR came down but I was really slow. I was struggling to keep it together in my head as I was passed by dozens.

Drafting: There was a lot of blatant, cheating-style drafting. And there was a lot of drafting that you couldn't avoid. From mile 12-20 I rode the 4-5 bike lengths off two guys who rode side by side chatting. I couldn't believe what I was watching. But the legal side of drafting was benefiting me too. Pacelines were flying by too. Around mile 20 the pelotons were roaming. The course is just too flat and fast. When you put 40% of the field on the bike within 5 minutes of one another, bunching will occur. And there was no avoiding it.

I tried to stick to the far right but the shoulder became the piss and hydrate line. Literally the only people on the shoulder were peeing or reaching for bottles. And the problem with riding on the right was that you got boxed in big time. If you got stuck behind someone slow, you couldn't move. This wasn't fun. So I really didn't have a choice but to move into the peloton. It was a madhouse. We were riding 4-5 wide on our hoods chatting at 22-25 mph. Not cool

I was growing really pissed at this point. My legs had no power and I had no energy. I wasn't riding like I wanted. Well this aggression and anger continued to grow. So I decided to push the bike. I was going to force it out of me. So I came around the peloton (had to go across yellow line) and began pushing the pace for about 20 minutes. This seem to work for me.

I hit special needs and swapped out bottles and was off. When I turned onto 231 I was into my groove. I dropped the hammer and took off. A few guys were on my wheel but I was focused on my race and my race only. The next road we turned onto sucked. It had rivets about every 10 feet so it made for an uncomfortable ride. Then we turned into the only real headwind I felt all day. To make matters worse, it was on a false flat. It was interesting to watch the people hammer through it. They were frying themselves.

Coming back on 388 I was in a good rhythm. My race plan was to pick it up between mile 75-80. I thought about it. Maybe 85-90. Not then either. I had what felt to be an aggressive but VERY comfortable pace going on. I didn't want to change anything about the way I was approaching the race.

I ended up riding the last 30 miles with the same 2-3 guys and we would just leapfrog one another. The final stretch was back along the beach and the gusts of wind would hit you at different times. I was ready to be off the bike and began to mentally dial in my marathon plan. I was really shocked that the bike went by so quick...and that I felt fresh.


Nutrition-5 bottles of Infinit at 285 calories each. I had a 6th bottle but didn't want it. And I laid off nutrition for the last 20 minutes.

I took water from every aid station on the 2nd half of the course. I used the water to dump over my head and cool off. It wasn't hot...but getting too warm was a major concern of mine.

Not much. I would have liked to push it more

I tried the flying dismount but my legs were too tired to swing over the bottles. No worries, the volunteers caught the bike. I had to stop for my T2 bag because they didn't let us retrieve them on our own. I kept yelling and pointing to the location.

I ran into the change tent and there wasn't much to do. Again, I grabbed a volunteer to sort everything out. I cleaned my feet, applied body glide to them, slipped on the socks and shoes and I was off.

Nada. That was 30s faster than CDA and the transition was much larger.

Well this was the biggest mystery. Those who follow my logs know I have been injured since June. My run volume was embarrassing. My longest run leading up to the race was 9 miles. That is all I could put together. So I had NO clue what to expect on the marathon. My plan was to run the first out if I can. Then switch to walking all the aid stations. Then switch to 9/1 or 8/2 as needed.

I started the run feeling pretty fresh for 6.5 hours of working out. I hit my first mile in 8:17. Oops...too fast. I slowed down to 8:50 during the second mile. It was getting hot, so I grabbed sponges and put them in my top on my pecs, one on the back of my neck and one on my lower back. At every aid station, I dumped at least two cups of water on my head.

Somewhere during the second mile I locked into the race. I was in the zone. I saw my family ahead, glanced at them, gave them a brief thumbs up and didn't break my concentration. Jess came up behind me on her bike and I even waved her off. I was in the zone and wanted to hold it as long as I could.

At mile three I stopped for a gel and some water. My mouth was a bit parched. I was also feeling a bit tired. At this point I thought it would be smart to switch to walking the aid stations. This would keep me cool and force calories in the bottle. I finished the first 6.55 miles averaging sub-9s. Too fast.

I stopped for a much needed pee break at mile 7 and what a relief that was. Just like IMCDA, I hit my wall early. It was between mile 8-9. I was tired and it became a struggle to move. I was still walking the aid stations and able to run when I passed the last table so I focused on staying cool and reminding myself to just run to the next station. On my return I was averaging 10/min miles.

I glanced at the race clock when I began the second lap. I probably let out the only emotion then...in the form of a grin. I was still ahead of schedule. I bypassed special needs as there wasn't anything I needed. At this point all I had to do is make it to 13 aid stations. I could tell that I was behind on hydration and nutrition but stomach was still open and I was forcing belches out.

I had also switched to cola at this point. The sugar rush was good but it didn't sit well with the stomach. I slowed a bit on the return but I was still locked into the zone. I was able to start running, relatively pain free at the end of each station. And the knee/hip was holding up. It was a struggle but I made it to the final turnaround averaging 10:37s for the stretch. I was still pleased.

At this point I had a 10k let. That is a really good feeling. Then I saw the clock. It read 10:02:xx. Gulp. Could I run a 57 minute 10k at this point? I began to push and the body pushed back. I tried a few more times without too much success. I backed off the pace a bit. Just like on the bike, what I was doing was working. I didn't want to change that. I contemplated running through the aid stations. But again...what I was doing was working. I just kept moving...and glancing at my watch

The math wasn't working out in my head. I knew it was going to be close. And my times were coming down. At the last mile I found my friend Marc and he began pacing me to push me a bit harder. I pushed and began moving quicker...but it hurt even more. I could see the clock and knew I wouldn't be sub-11 so I wanted to enjoy the final half mile...though it went by in a blur.

Nothing. I really shocked myself. No walking except aid stations on very little run training. I was mentally dialed in and nothing broke my concentration.

I needed more calories but couldn't stomach much more on the run. Even chicken broth wasn't comforting.

The only thing I would change is to actually have a marathon nutrition plan. I thought I would do much more walking and it would allow me to take in more calories to I didn't carry a gel flask or e-caps. Next time it is a must.

I was pretty beat...my quads/knee were screaming. I took a couple of steps and began to wobble. I grabbed a volunteer and told him to guide me to Jess and my parents. I realized how trashed I was and told her I needed to lie down for a few minutes due to how lightheaded I was. The only cots were in the med tents to we went there.

The doctors took my vitals and I refused additional care. I told them I just wanted to hydrate and get warm. After about 15-20 minutes I was good to go...just really cold and wanted to get out of my wet clothes.


There isn't much to complain about here. I really executed a nearly flawless race. I held it together between the ears and it provided me a great result


NAS puts on great races. You can complain all you want about the cost until you realize exactly how much goes into stocking that many aid stations with food and volunteers. Putting on a race of that magnitude is amazing and they do a great job with it. Thank you to ALL who volunteered.