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 Swim
Comments: Started pretty fast as I always do to get some space on the 2000+ friends in the water. Doing the race with bronchitis was interesting to say the least. A few hundred meters in and I was having full fledged wheezing attacks, to the point where I had to breastroke. This slow down allowed my 2000 friends to swim over the top of me, at which time I had 2-3 more coughing fits. I also always seemed to be off course and was fighting to get right back to the buoy line. I hated the fact you had to wade in and out twice, just make it two loops out in deeper water. What would you do differently?: Not be sick.  Transition 1
Comments: I decided to not wear my tri top, which was impossible then to get on. It rolled up in a ball and dumped all my gels out of the pocket on the floor. The changed tent was way too small. There were tons of people changing on the ground outside the tent. Missed the sunscreen people on the way out. What would you do differently?: Don't put gels in tri top, instead swim with my tri top under my wetsuit. Water bottle to rinse sand off my feet (more on this later). Make sure I get sunscreen.  Bike
Comments: This is where the day got good. My HR was low and steady on the bike, so my breathing was light and hence did not have any coughing fits at all on the bike. I felt strong but smooth the entire time and my neck/back didn't bother me at all. I made one stop about mile 60 for 5 or so minutes to pee, dump trash, reorganize gels, put on sunscreen and stretch; which was nice. Stayed in a smooth and conforable ride the whole time and the day flew by. The headwind was not bad, and the tailwind was fantastic, wind seemed to build all day so what should have been headwind early (first 30), was light... either that or with fresh legs it just felt that way. Road surface was either really good, or moderately crappy. There were a couple 10 mile stretches of bad roads. Saw Nate at the out and back and he said Laura, Tim, Heidi, and Brad were all flying and about 45 minutes in front of me. No sign of Kristin so I was a little worried until I saw her on the run and found out she had two flats. Hydration was good and this year I also ate a 1/2 banana at every food stop, which seemed to eliminate the empty stomach feeling I've had at every other IM. What would you do differently?: Nothing, a fun ride. Transition 2
Comments: Took a slow transition to baby wipe off the sweat and change all my clothes (except my socks: big mistake). Got sunscreen this time and used the port-o-let in transition. What would you do differently?: Change your socks!!!  Run
Comments: The run was somewhere between the swim and bike. My legs felt great but the coughing would come back after running 5+ minutes stretches. Ran/walked 50% of the time on the first half. Saw the whole group and they were all flying. Tried to avoid being lapped by Brad, but he caught me at mile 12 for me/25 for him... Second loop was slower, blisters kicked in from the sandy feet and not changing my socks, ended up with 3 huge nasty blisters. Seond half I did a 2 minute run 2 minute walk, which turned into a 2 minute run, 3 minute walk. A few of the lights weren't working in the state park turn around, so it was pitch black in some spots... couldn't even see my hand in front of my face. Very surreal, you just heard the shuffling of people on the road. I wanted to break 14 hours and set the marathon pace right at that. One first from my other IM's, I didn't make any new friends to run with for parts of the race... did it all on my own, so the race as a whole was a little lonely. Post race
Warm down: Nothing, immediately went into a 20 minute coughing fit when I stopped moving, to the point where I didn't want to eat or anything. Amy and Heidi took me to the car so I could go back to the condo and take a steam shower, which helped. Missed Kristin finish, which sucked, but I owe her waiter service in Jamaica on the swim bet, so I'll make it up to her. What limited your ability to perform faster: Sickness and not enough training. Event comments: I was happy with the race, especially given how I felt 2-3 day before it. I think we have been spoiled by the other IM we have done, this one was not as well run as the past ones. The amount of drafting on the bike is ridiculous, I got passed by several packs of 25+ riders and tons of groups of 5-10 riders....stop cheating people, it's not that tough, self police yourself and have some pride. The run course was kind of boring compared to the other races, the changing tent was way too small, and the pasta dinner was bad food and too small a space. North America Sports still runs a very good race, I just think the setup, scenery, and execution were better in Placid, Idaho, and Wisconsin. They should probably make this race a little smaller to accomodate these problems. A good race, just not a great race. You still can't beat the sound my Mike Reilly on the loudpeaker in the chute and I'll take the PR by 50+ minutes. Last updated: 2008-05-22 12:00 AM
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United States
Ironman North America
74F / 23C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 1763/
Age Group = M30-34
Age Group Rank = 207/236
Amy, Ben and I fly into Tallahassee on Wed night and got into the condo early Thursday (1AM). Slept in on Thursday and then took in the beautiful view off our condo balcony. Everyone else went for a swim and we upacked. Headed down to the athlete village to check in and see the setup. Seemed like not as many vendore as past IM's, maybe the economy? Pasta dinner was on Thursday night and we crazy, way too many people packed into too small of a space. It was so tight when everyone stood to give the Everyday Hero a standing ovation, we had to fold our chairs to stand. The food was bad and we bailed on the athlete meeting.
Friday was more relaxing and Amy and I went shopping for a bit, although Panama City would not be my choice destination outside of the race being there. The condo and beach were great, but the town is kind of a dump.
Race day: Woke up around 4AM to the sounds of the rest of the condo getting ready for the race. Ate one banana and one bagel and sat and waited for everyone else to get ready. Brad's sister drove us down to the start and we were able to finish getting ready really fast, had about an extra 1/2 hour to kill so we sat in the grass and chilled as a group. Walked down to the swim start and saw Amy and Ben on the beach, said our goodbyes as a group and hit our various spots for the mass start.
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