Ironman Florida - TriathlonFull Ironman

Chop and rollers from the southeast
1st lap: Rough
2nd lap: Even rougher
The rough water was a challenge as it was hitting me from an angle at all times. The strong wind kept the chop heavy. After the first stretch to the first turn buoy, I was able to find some good open water about 60% of the time or so.
Turning was pretty good.

Not much...the swim went pretty good considering the chop, waves and mass start.

The changing room was absolutely packed and a madhouse. I was able to find an open seat and methodically got ready for the bike. A volunteer was there to take my bag and tie it up for me.

Not much.

The wind was again an issue, like the swim. When it was a headwind, it made for a long ride. While the course it not hilly, there are sections where the road is a gradual uphill slope. There were sections where the road was sloping up and there was a strong headwind, and that made for tough conditions...and the section where it feels like bombs are going off every 10 feet or so! Holy shit. I was happy my bike held together!

By mile 90'ish, my shoulders were shot from being aero. They hurt. I even consciously stood up quite a bit during the course to avoid the shoulder and back issues.

The last few miles back to T2 were tough as it was straight into the wind.

I was always relieved when I got to turn with a tailwind or at least a crosswind. There were a few sections of the road that were so rough, I thought my bike was going to loose pieces or even break!

I rented some 404's for the race, and I really liked the feel of these on the road.

I was able cleanly grab water and Gatorades from the volunteers at all times.

I only had to stop to pee once, but in the end, that was a bad thing!



Drafting was a joke on the course. I was passed by mini-peletons, and even passed mini-peletons. I saw some guy totally drafting off of some lady, and as I passed him, I yelled "Cheater!" at him (his name was Dan btw...wish I caught his #). Dan, you cheated, and I passed you like you were standing still. :P

Hydrate more.

Again, crowded and a madhouse....and again, found an empty chair and got changed fairly quickly with a volunteer there to help out. Ran out and got sunscreened.

The first loop (13 miles) was fine....the next 6 miles hurt. I was dehydrated. I was taking liquids at all aid stations on the first loop to try and hydrate, but that led to a sloshy belly. Shit--now I was in a realy catch 22. I started to eat orange slices, and eventually the cola and broth.

I never peed (sorry, TMI) on the run either. Dehydration!

My goal for the race was 12 hours---doing the math on the run, I thought I would get it, but that 6 miles I just mentioned took a toll on me. The last 7 miles, I picked it up quite a bit, but fell short. I was 1.2 miles from the finish, with 8 minutes to go...

With 2 minutes to 12 hours, I knew I wasn't going to make it, so I slowed down a bit and enjoyed the party atmosphere that was on the last mile of the run. Still beat my last IM mary time, but it wasn't quite enough....

Drink more on the bike!

Talked to my friend, Wendi, at the finish where she was volunteering. Ate a slice of pizza and downed a cola. Stretched some before I went out to meet/greet the family (who followed me on the course all day and kept me going!!).


Dehydration....was trained well.


IMFL is great if you like flat, salt water, warm and some humidity. Great volunteers and crowd.