Ironman 70.3 Florida - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Pretty good swim...My strategy was to go out the first part HARD to break away from the pack, then settle in to long, smooth strokes. I did this. I was breathing HARD the first 400 or so, then settled in. I tried to draft, but couldn't really find one to hold. I seem to swim to the right. Sighting was easy, as there was no sun yet :) I did stray off course a few times.

OWS practice!! And practice drafting. I feel pretty good with the swim, but know I can do a little better.

It's a long run to transition from the swim, just trying to catch my breath. I was about 20 seconds faster than last year, so I didn't lolly too badly...I forgot to practice getting on my bike leading up to this...guess I'll work on that this summer!

Not much. I ran as fast as I felt I could, and got out as quick as I could...only thing I'd like to do is to be able to hop on my bike with my shoes on my bike.

We started under cloudy skies, and it ended up raining around mile 35, I think it was for me...first a sprinkle, then a downpour. My shoes were filled with water, but it was so nice and cool I didn't care. I was a little worried about leaving my super wet socks on and getting blisters on the run.

I had a good bike. I had my Garmin set to show me my time every 14 miles - broke it up into 4ths...The first 1/4 was 40:29, 2nd - 41:34, 3rd-40:41, 4th-41:43. Should have been 2:44:30, but then we had an extra .97 according to my Garmin. My pace and HR for the 4 sections was 20.7/147, 20.2/146, 20.6/148 and 20.1/149. The final extra .97, my pace was 15.9! Damn. That was frustrating to be ready to get off the bike and then have to keep going...slow...But it was the same for everyone. My zone 3 on the bike is 143-150, so I was upper z3, but ok.

At some point, maybe mile 35-40? the insides of my knees were starting to hurt. I had to go into the little ring and focus on spinning. A new pain - haven't had it during training - I am thinking it is from the hills, as I never train on hills in South Florida.

Hydration/Nutrition: I had added protein into my infinit a few weeks before the race...have had it before and felt like it was messing with my stomach to I took it out...then decided I'd give it a try again. Mistake #1. My stomach just can't process it at that level of intensity. I felt sick to my stomach, was burping and almost puking, so I backed off from drinking it. Bad idea, but it was that or puke. I had put 3 bottles on the bike, plus my aero bottle full of water. Drank about 2 1/2 bottles of water, took 3 GUS on the bike, and drank not quite 2 bottles of infinit. The cloud cover and rain also made it seem less important to drink...but it was actually UBER humid, and I totally should have been taking in more electrolytes. Should have grabbed the gatorade endurance when I realized I the Infinit wasn't doing it. I will be taking the protein out and just sticking with good old carbs from now on!!!

I did play leapfrog with several boys...18 and 24 year olds. I saw one on the run..he was walking slow. Also had to stare at a guy's crack through his too thin bike shorts for much of the ride :(

Tried to think more clearly and come up with plan B when A doesn't seem to be doing it! Also, try to get some more hill training in when a race is going to have hills. Happy overall this bike.

Again, gotta practice this..however, it was about 1 minute faster than last year. I saw a woman I race locally come in right as I did off the bike - she's a faster runner than I am - so I tried to go as fast as I could on this! (she ended having trouble on the run and only beat me by about 4 minutes). I did stop and squat for a few seconds thinking I could pee, but didn't want to wait for it (foreshadowing here).

Not much. I was all business on this. Just a little practice.

UGH. At .5 of the run, my knee/quad began to cramp. Curses. Stop, stretch, rub...Curses. Must find salt. Keep moving. Walk, jog, run. Shuffle, run, walk, stretch. Find a pace where it doesn't hurt. I kept major cramping at bay by drinking 2 cups of gatorade at every aid station through about mile 8 or 9. It's a bit blurry. I just remember grabbing sponges, sticking under my armpits, squeezing them on my head, shoving ice down the front and back of my tri suit, dumping water on my head. Searching for salt.

On the second loop, I saw a baggie with 4 capsules!! SALT!!!! I turned around and picked them up and said "THANK YOU GOD!!!!" and put them in my pocket until I got to the next aid station. This and the GE saved me from total spasmm but didn't take away the pain.

My garmin time was 2:05, because I had it set to pause when I pause from training. I wasted 11 minutes - probably about 1 for every aid station I suffered through. It was hard to start running after the aid stations. I wanted to quit a ton. It was pure torture. The best part was coming around the corner into ft. wilderness on the 3 loops and having the crowd for a few minutes. Otherwise, it was lonely and quiet and hot and steamy and dirty.

The positive thing I took away from this run was that about mile 8 or so, just past an aid station, I peed myself while "running"!!! I had to go so bad, and I just didn't care, so I went. And went. And went. Good grief. I filled my shoes, then squeezed the wet sponge I had in my hand down my legs and my shoes filled again. But boy did I feel better!! Now I just gotta pee on the bike!!

HA! Another race!

Found my daughter and coach's wife. Sat in the tent and drank 1/2 a semi-cold coke. Felt sick and tired and sore and just wanted my mommy!!! We eventually got up, I got my bike, rode it to the car, and drove to my coach's hotel so I could shower before driving Quinn and I the 3 hours home. Next race I do that far away I will stay overnight after the race.


Not enough hydration/nutrition in the wicked, humid heat I think was the biggest factor.


I will not do this race again. I don't like how difficult it is to get around. The swim is fine, the bike is fine, the run is awful. I didn't like it last year, and I didn't like this year.

I don't really like Disney to begin with, so it's just not the race venue for me. I still PRed by 11-12 minutes, but I was hoping to go about 15 minutes faster at this distance. I gave it all I had, so I am happy enough.