Ironman Florida - TriathlonFull Ironman

I was much calmer than expected standing on the beach. I had done a practice swim with some BTers on Wednesday but the water was much more still that day. Today the waves were crashing... The cannon fired and I was off on my first ironman! The start was actually better than I had expected. There were people everywhere, but I wasn't getting too much contact with other swimmers. I had started toward the outside and was gradually making my way closer to the buoy line as I watched the ocean floor get further and further away. The race was going well and my sighting was great...until the first turn buoy. It was chaos. At the turn buoy all of the swimmers were packed into one tight little corner. I was on somebody's back, someone was on mine, people to my left and right. My goggles were knocked off, if they weren't strapped underneath my swim cap I likely would have lost them. I just kept swimming. Often times my stroke would just hit another person instead of water. Once, the only way I could get a breath was to push down on the person I was on top of to get my head out of the water. I felt bad but had no other choice as I thought I might drown. Really. I shot a bit outside once the pack started to slightly thin out again. I tredded water for a moment to fix my goggles and started toward the next turn buoy which was only about 150 yards away. Sighting was difficult as this small section was looking directly into the rising sun. I made the turn buoy, and it was chaos once more. I was "experienced" now and had an idea of what to expect. It was still really crowded but I made it through a bit easier and goggles in tact.

At this point, I was able to swim the buoy line for the remainder of the race. Swimmers finally spread out a bit. Many times I thought I had some open water only for it to get promptly filled by someone else. As the ocean floor returned into sight I knew I was almost done with the first loop and that the hard part of the swim was over. I ran onto the beach and was pleased to see 33:xx on my watch. My goal was to swim 1:10.

The next couple minutes were the dumbest part of the race. Instead of running down the beach, they had us get into the water and wade (parallel to the coastline) toward the start of the second lap. I still don't get it. We had to wade for much too long. Finally started swimming again and was feeling very confident with the swim. I felt strong and sighting was going fairly well. I could feel the waves taking me up and down, but I didn't really think they were slowing me down too much. I rounded the turn buoys much easier this time and headed back for shore. I took a little time to look around and enjoy the experience and before I knew it the swim was complete.

My finish time was 1:11 so the second lap was strangely slower. Less traffic and I didn't feel tired. Maybe it was the wading or maybe it was the initial adrenalin rush at the start. Either way, I was happy with my time and happy to be out of the water.

Take the turns wide on the first loop.

I wasn't worried about my transition times at all. And it showed! 10+ minutes?!? Crazy. Oh well. I layed down and got my wetsuit stripped. Volunteers were awesome. Spent a little extra time under the showers to get all the sand and salt off. Did a complete change in the change tent to put on cyclind shorts. Also loaded up on body glide. As I ran out to my bike my number came off and I had to stop to fix it. But really I have no idea where 10 minutes went. Oh well!

Um, speed up?

Volunteer grabbed my bike and I was off for a nice 112 mile ride. My goal was to finish under 6 hours but I wasn't going to worry if it took longer. I knew I was in for a long windy ride.

The first couple miles were along the coast line and a fun ride. Then the course turned inland for the next 20-ish miles. I was feeling good and was thinking I might be going a little too fast as my pace was over 20mph. We then made another turn toward the east. The next 30 miles would prove to be the most challenging part of the bike course physically and mentally. It was directly into the wind. And where I hadn't seen too much drafting up until this point, these 30 miles were insane. Groups of wheel huggers were flying by me. More than 20 people in some of these groups. I did see draft marshalls bust a couple cyclists but theres no way they got all of them. Pissed me off since I was working my ass off to go slower. Again...oh well.

During this section I probably averaged just over 16mph but I knew I'd get some of this back later in the race. My nutrition started to falter a bit around the half way point of the race. I didn't really want to eat anything; gels or solid foods. I just kept forcing it in though, as long as I didn't throw up I would continue my nutrition plan as followed. I was drinking a 20oz bottle of gatorade every hour, two gels an hour, and some water with the gels. It was working well and I was able to continue this throughout the entire ride.

Once I hit the timing mat at mile 73, the rest of the ride was great. I was ready to get off the bike but was easily riding over 23mph since the wind was at my back. The last 5 miles or so was again along the coast line but against the wind. I didn't even look at the speedometer, I just took it really easy in preparation to run a marathon!

At mile 110 I thought my race might be over. Literally with two miles left on the bike, my right knee started to throb. Every down stroke was brutal. I still have no idea what that was about. I thought about unclipping my right shoe and just finishing with only my left leg pedaling. When I made the bike finish I was glad to be done and never felt an issue with my knee again. Too strange.

Bike time was 5:39!! I couldn't believe I rode that fast and was nervous that it might affect the run.

Learn how to pee on a bike. I didn't pee a single time! I had to REALLY bad. At mile 40 I had to pee, and didn't until I got into T2 three and a half hours later. I tried while pedaling...nope. Coasting...nope. Pushed as hard as I could, not a drop. Weird. My bladder would have burst before I peed on that bike...

I might should have rode slower, but honestly if I had to do it again I'd ride the course exactly the same.

Had my feet out of my shoes when I got off the bike. Threw my bike to a volunteer and was off to the change tent again. Another complete change, this time into tri shorts and a tri top.

Well. Still a slow transition but not as bad as last time. And this one included my only bathroom break of the ENTIRE race. Thats right...11 hours of constantly eating/drinking...one pee break. Thats it!

Notta.

My nervousness about biking too hard didn't last long. I took off out of T2 and the crowd support was unreal!! I couldn't hear myself think there were so many people cheering. It was just amazing. As the crowd thinned out I glanced down at my garmin and noticed that I was running well under 8 minute pace! I immediately slowed down my pace and got into "run" mode.

My body still didn't want to eat, but I kept forcing it in. Even though I didn't want it, I didn't feel like I was going to yak...so I kept on with my nutrition plan. Glad I did! As I did my first loop I saw the mens leader go by, and the womens leader passed me aroudn mile 9. Really cool to be on the same course as those freaks of the triathlon world. After the first half marathon I knew my pace was slowing dropping, but I was still thrilled with how fast I was going.

It was at this time that I realized just how good of shape I was in. With 10 miles left, I knew I wouldn't have to walk one step of the marathon. I did walk a few of the aid stations just to make sure I got all the nutrition I needed but that was it. It was hard to resume running at time, but I kept on pressing.

My goal for the run was around 4:15 and my goal for the IM was sub-12 hours. I figured I was going to come in just over 11 hours! AWESOME! I was so pumped after I made the final turn and started the 6 miles back to the finish line where I would become an ironman. I was watching my watch, and knew that I could finish under 11:10 if I was able to run under 9 minute pace for my last three miles. It had gotten dark by now and I was trying to watch where I stepped. I switched from gatorade to Coke for the last 5 miles.

Side note: I've heard such great things about how amazing chicken broth is during the late stages of the ironman run. I tried some at mile 21. NOT impressed. That was the first and last sip of chicken broth I had during the race. /side note

I put on arm warmers with three mile left and got to work. Mile 24 was right at 9 minutes. Mile 25 I dug down and managed to run under 8:30. I have no doubts that my last mile was under 8 minutes. I was flying down the streets. I almost felt bad for those that were suffering and still have another 13.1 to go. I got back to the crowds near the finish line and was more pumped than I've ever been in my life. Words just can't do it justice. There were a few runners in front of me but I saw a clearing about 4 people up. I wanted the finish line all to myself! I easily caught them and got Mike Reily alone. "Steven Creek from Florence, SC...you are an ironman!" Crossed the line, and was again filled with all kinds of emotions.

The volunteer finish line catcher asked me how I was feeling. I told him, "amazing". Looking back, I realized that he really wanted to know how I felt physically, not mentally. Ha, I was just too overcome by what I had just done. Got my finisher stuff, medal, and picture taken. Then took a few minutes to reflect on the journey I had just completed. The race, the training, the sacrifice. All 110% worth it.

Probably could have pushed harder...but this being my first ironman and second ever marathon, I didn't want to. If I ever do another IM, I probably will push the run harder.

Best case scenario I thought I could run 4 hours. I ran 4:00:59. Really happy with the run.

Ate almost a whole pizza, got a massage, drank a couple cokes and a gatorade. I also weighed myself and was shocked to see that I only lost 3 pounds! This tells me that my nutrition was dead on. And really, I felt like it was the entire day.

After about half an hour at the finish I really slowly walked back to T2 and got my bike and gear. Went back to the condo and showered and got changed. Made a few phone calls and then walked back to the finish to watch about another hour of people realizing the ironman dreams. I would have stayed longer, but I was tired for some reason and a bit cold, so I made the 3/4 mile walk one last time back to the condo and went to sleep.



Dunno. Not enough time in the sport yet I guess. But I really couldn't have asked for a much better race based on my young tri career.


The most amazing day of my life.