Ironman 70.3 Florida - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Thankfully there were no alligators. I had some trouble with my front crawl as my neck isn't moving well. I couldn't breathe to the right very well. I did breast stroke about half of this. Just happy as can be that I didn't have anxiety.

Maybe go faster. I did take it a little easy as I was expecting to be all freaked out and hyperventilating. It never happened.

I did have to organize a few things as I couldn't when I first arrived in transition in the morning as I was late. (Arrived at 5:55 and it closed at 6:00. Alot of people were late as the buses didn't show up for a long time.)

Get there at 4:15? Walk rather than wait for the bus?

Neck a problem on the ride. Could barely go into aero. Went off the road a little a couple of times while trying to stretch my neck. Then it was also a bad time of the month for a race of this distance and I had 3 porta potty breaks adding up to 21 minutes since I had to wait in line at 2 of those. A girl in front of me dropped her Gatorade and it bounced right under my front wheel. I made a really good save (got foot unclipped, on ground, with bike nearly horizontal pushed self back up, and grabbed my own Gatorade) and a couple of guys gave me a thumbs up and a pat on the back..."Coolest save ever" one of them said. There was a man down at one turn around and medical was on the way...had to slow way down and let medical get in there.

Had some important stuff in my tri suit pocket that got too wet due to my suit never drying. Could have put in a plastic baggie to keep dry and saved myself a stop or maybe two.

Had to use porta potty again. Dropped inhaler into potty trying to get wet wrapper and cardboard out of tri suit pocket.

I did not retrieve the inhaler, but went back and got another one out of my bag. I always bring extras since I assume I will one day lose one on the swim.

Plastic sandwich bag for supplies.

I think it was into the 90s at this point. Seemed very hot and a few more guys were laying by the side with medics around them. One person threw up behind me. Although I was worried about it, I never got the headache/nausea suggesting my kidney was being overworked, so I was fine.

Not eaten the cookie. Grapes, bananas, pretzels, water and Gatorade worked very well...although I could have done with less of them as well. In hindsight (2 days of no pain or feeling of fatigue) I realize I probably could have pushed harder somewhere. Like moving through the aid stations a little faster at the very least.

Well, I certainly did not get a massage at $1/minute. These are usually free and I didn't come prepared to pay for one.


Let's see. Lack of training pops up as #1. Some had to do with illnesses and injuries, but most of my lack of training was honestly due to my family and work. We did take a vacation and my husband did offer to ski with the girls all day if I wanted to train...I skied with the family instead. Stuff like that I would actually not change. What I would change would be the race itself. It's very difficult to start training for a race of this distance when my daughters are still racing (skiing) and playing hockey and it's too cold for an open water swim or real bike ride in Colorado. But, this was how I was going to spend the day my friend was going to be at a wedding in Miami, and it was much more fun (and rewarding) than renting a movie to keep myself entertained :) #2 would be the injuries I actually had during the race itself. Torn up big toe joint, low back injury and related neck pain. That I could have done without.


Wonderful volunteers! Plenty of aid stations...so much so that I think I gained weight during this race :) I also rather like the run, if I could run. I have alot of joint pain, and the amount of running on a grassy trail would help. If I come again, it will have to be with my family, though. Being at Disney without the kids just made me really homesick.

I did not like that you had to pay $1/minute for a massage (they are usually free, but I noticed alot of "extra" fees for things in the area that you don't usually have to pay for) and that the buses were so late to transport us to the transition area.

This was a race I seriously considered DNFing on purpose. When my back went out the Tuesday before I thought maybe I'd swim. Then I thought since I paid to ship my bike down, I at least wanted to get on it...and the bike was actually the toughest. My orthopedic surgeon had already given me the news about my big toe joint (could need an artificial joint if I tear it up any more) several weeks before the race, so I was already working on my race walk. I'm just really glad I did show up, start, and finish. It was alot of fun.