Ironman Florida : Official Thread (Page 97)

Ha! I know what you mean, as I wore my gator bike jersey. I think I literally hot 200-300 " go gators!"

Congrats everyone. Had serious withdrawals from last year so I am in for 2011. It was fun watching the coverage on the computer.

Hey All - It was awesome catching you at the finish line from 6:00 - 9:00 pm.  Great atheletes with great stories.  I am in for 2011!!!!

Looks like it is still open for 2011

It is and was....I'm in!

A lot of the fast bikers didn't have gloves.  I was passed by about 1500 people on the bike and I would say the first few hundred surprised me...most of them were in just their sleeveless shirts and bike shorts and no gloves.  I thought they were crazy!

After the first few hundred folks passed me I started to see arm warmers but no leg warmers.  Eventually more folks were wearing leg warmers too.  But fewer people wore leg warmers than I expected.  I mean, 50 degrees is the fairly universal standard for leg warmers and we were well below that for a few hours...

Congratulations to Jack Chen, 2010 Ironman Florida finisher, swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 then ran 26.2, all without the benefit of sight a true inspiration & an incredible Ironman

I put on a long sleeve Under Armour shirt under my jersey.  That was the only thing extra I went with. I was cold the first couple of hours but felt okay the last half of the bike.  I could have done without the wind. 

X2

Oh, I saw him!  On the run tethered to his guide...he was moving!

I also saw the guy that had pooped himself.  He was flying.  Heard he finished around 9 hours.  Support on the course was incredible.  Some of the lines for different things like registering were a little frustrating.

Boy, out from the shore the water was really warm.  It was really surprising.  I got punched more than kicked.  

The T1 changing tent was super crowded.

The most silly thing I saw was an ambulance driving up the shoot later in the evening in the way of the finishers.  If he came in the other way he would have arrived much quicker and been able to help probably 15 minutes sooner.

Overall a total blast.  But I am sore.  Now it is time to heal up.  I bet anyone on the forum it will be warmer next year




Edited by bartturner 2010-11-07 10:23 PM

Wow what a race !!!!! This was my third IM and just freaking amazed about it. I got my PR, my PB , my goal and I'm just so so happy!!!! My goal all along had been to go under 13...to run the marathon . I have to say too Jack Chen is such a great guy ! I was waiting before the start in the host hotel to warm up and there was two seat empty at our table. His guide ask if the seats we're taken and we told him that they could sit with us not realizing who they we're. Wow Jack Chen is such a nice guy !!!!! We had the coolest 30min conversation with him and his swim guide !! He is so down to earth and such an inspiration !! I am so lucky to have been able to talk to him. I had an great day, broke 13..came in at 12:58 and I have to say the talk we had with Jack Chen carried me the entire day !! I got a finisher's shirt that says limitless with the IM logo in the back and it's so true....you want it bad enough their is no limit in what you can do !! Awsome job Jack !!!!

My best experience in an IM by far! Great swim (1:14), broke my PB of (1:15), bike ..wow such a fast course !!! Lots of headwind though but the coolest tailwinds!! So fun to go so fast in an IM !!( 6:15) on the bike and the marathon was hard but ran it and walk only part of the aid stations which was my goal. Breaking 13 was my goal and had to pull everything I had to do it!! So so happy that I did !! The highlight though was meeting Jack Chen..a true inspiration. It really moved me and changed my perspective about the sport . I signed up for next year on Friday . So glad I did now!!! Hopefully it will be warmer ; ) Congrats to all the BT finisher's !!

Nathalie

I don't think I really got kicked either, I did get hit in the face a bunch of times though.  Always on the left side.  I have two bruises on my left eye from my goggles being pushed into my face and got clocked in the jaw at one point, made chewing my shot blocks very difficult.  I have a pretty great time on the swim though and only had two people try to swim over top or me, and I was pretty rough to both of them. 

It was a good day out there. I was a little tired of the wind and holy crap the t1 tent was crowded. One of my friends was watching online and asked my wife if i was cooking bacon and eggs. I wish! The spectators and volunteers were AWESOME and x2 on Jack. Man, what an inspiration. Thanks to all for answers and support. Funny thing happened yesterday on the way home. I signed up for next year! Sure wasn't thinking i would saturday nite because i was worn out. Good to meet everyone. I will be more social next year as i wont be quite as overwhelmed. Congrats to all. Get some rest or things done that you've been neglecting (my to do list is long).

It's been covered and discussed many times on BT and it's defentially NOT illegal. And if you've ever tried to breathe through one it's very tough.

Hey all! Just a quick note to say that I finished! And I accomplished my goals!

1) Finish. CHECK!
2) Take care of myself. CHECK!
3) Have fun. CHECK!

Finish time was 15:54. I'll post back later with some more thoughts and experiences, but man, what an awesome and surreal experience! So glad I did it.

I am an IRONMAN!

And a HUGE thanks to all the volunteers for helping to make this a reality for me. You guys and gals ROCK!

2x on it not being illegal.  But how in the heck could you swim with one.  I honestly don't think I would be any faster.  How would you keep from swallowing tons of water.

 

WELCOME TO THE CLUB!...  Remember, you get to brag for the rest of life....

Mr Steve
IMFL 2009 Finisher

http://www.aqua-gear.com/Finis-Inc-Dry-Top-for-Swimmers-Snorkel-p523.html

I have something like this on my snorkle. Keeps water from flowing into the pipe. Sort of acts like a check valve..air out, no water in...but I would never think about taking this into the Ironman race.  It was bad enough with Finman in 2008... I too saw someone with a snorkle in my race and thought that it was illegal...but I was wrong...

Mr Steve
IMFL 2009 Finisher

WOW what a great experience!!  First IM ever and as the days and hours go by its hitting me more and more as to what I've accomplished.  Not sure if anyone experienced this or not but it was kinda surreal at the finish, I wasn't emotional at all and Im one to ball after a good 5K time not to mention every marathon I do.  I'm still waiting for it to hit me I think.  

Swim- Lots of fun!  Didn't get kicked at all, just a little bumper boat action.  Enjoyed the sunrise! Minimal chaffing and a decent effort I felt. (1:13:09)

T1- Thankfully I volunteered there last year or I would have been overwhelmed.  Got in and out in 15 min with only a few "moon landings" ;-)

Bike -  3 words for LONG, SLOW, and BORING.  Seemed like 3000 people passed me on the bike but I guess thats mathematically impossible.  Biking is just not my strong suit especially at this distance.  Stopped 6 times to pee which was kinda annoying (I don't even pee 6 times in one day usually.) Got to see Jasha which was great! Gave my bike to the volunteer and told him he could keep it.   (7:08:37)

T2 - Plenty of room in changing room (see bike time).  Got changed and ready to go in a few minutes then just sat there letting the realization that I had to run a marathon set in.  Quite an experience.  

Run - Started feeling strong running 9min/mile and walking the water stops every 2 miles as planned.  Definitely smelt and saw the crapper.  Poor guy!  That only existed on the internet for me until now!  Got to see Kathy G, Jasha, Chris (cjkelly0729), and Laura (Daffodil) which was great.  Was really thinking and hoping that I could run the whole thing, then of course the park on my second loop is where I kinda shut down.  Nausea, chills, etc.  Decided to walk for a mile to see how I felt.  Laura came by and gave me some great much needed encouragement!   Was able to pick up and run by mile 22.  Started pounding the coke and by mile 24 I felt like a new person.  Ran the last 2 miles under 9:00/mile!  I felt amazing.  All my family and friends were there waiting for me at the finish!  I even heard my name!  And as an added bonus the hat even fit my big head, which is rare!  

I still can't believe I did it!!!!!!

Oh and there was pizza at the end!  How did they know I fueled my entire training season with pizza!  

It was so great meeting and racing with everyone.  Not sure I will do another, but never say never right ;-) 


 

Great job Chris!  Nice meeting you and Brian.  I ended up having lunch with Brian at the bike special needs.  Let him know he had an impressive run!   

The short version of my IMFL race report is that I went into the race thinking a 12 hour finish was best case scenario. 
I had a better than expected swim at 1:01. T1 wasn't bad, but I heard some stories from others that were a bit later that made me glad that I beat the masses. 
I biked a good 30-60 minutes faster than I had thought I would at 5:31 (~20.2 mph), and then I struggled a bit on the run.  I tried governing by RPE and HR, but I was running out at sub 9 minute miles.  My best open mary is just over 4 hours, if that gives you a hint as how poorly my decision making processes were functioning at that moment.  I distinctly remember thinking, "Now's as good a race as any to go sub-4 hr marathon".

I started slowing down around 4 miles, but then started having some GI issues.  I went easy on the nutrition till that passed, but by that time I was starting to bonk a bit from lack of calories.  So, I walked about 3 miles (miles 10 - 13) and tried to get back into shape.  Eventually, things started getting better, and I was able to run the last 6 miles at around 10:20 pace.
My final marathon time was 4:44, and my overall time was 11:27.
The much longer version is here for anybody interested:
http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=233176&posts=1#M3201948

Thanks,
Eric