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Ironman Florida
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Ironman Florida - TriathlonFull Ironman
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 Swim
Comments: I seeded myself way right of the course with the plan of heading straight for the first turn buoy to avoid being in the main group and give myself open water to swim. I started out slow and easy concentrating on stroke and breathing. There was no current to speak of and the water was very calm. This allowed me to lessen my sighting intervals as I was able to maintain a straight line out. I rounded the first turn with a group and this is when the fun begins. This gave me the opportunity to be thankful of my choice to start outside as I started getting bumped and hit. Nothing terrible but very hard to stay focused on stroke and breathing. Once I made the second turn I again edged my way to the out side as to get into some open water. Again a very good choice. When I arrived at the beach I took a gel which I had placed in my sleeve and the water at the station. I noticed my time at 40 minutes. This was a little disconcerting as I did not feel that I was going really slow but it was 10 minutes slower than I had anticipated. I entered the water for the start of my second lap. I headed for the first turn buoy and went to the outside of it as this was the course. No problems here with congestion as I was the only one that did this. I did not think much of it at the time but after the race I realized that many people cut that corner. During this lap I kept fighting the feeling that I was not doing as well as I had hoped. In order to combat this I kept reminding myself that I was doing an Ironman and it really did not matter. After the last turn on the home stretch I got hit pretty good in the face which caused my goggles to create some suction that forced my left eye to close and not be able to see out of. I did not try to do anything about it and finished the rest of the swim. When I got out of the water the time read 1:04. I did not think much of it at the time but after the race realized that I did the second lap in 24 minutes. Not that’s more like it. What would you do differently?: There is nothing I would do different for the swim. My pace and breathing was perfect. I could not have done any better. As the time indicates swimming is one of my stronger areas.  Transition 1
Comments: The wetsuit strippers were great. I moved down the line and found someone close to the end that was free. I made sure that my wetsuit was off from the waist up and just prior to sitting down on the ground I pushed it below my butt. They pulled it off in record time and helped me up. They handed me the suit and off I went. I entered the transition area where I thought my bag would be handed to me but they did not have time to get it so I went over to it. It was very easy to find because I had tied an orange balloon to it so it stood out like a sore thumb. I entered the tent to find it 98 percent full. I found a seat and started changing. I did not have any help so had to do it myself. No problem with that at all. Exited the tent and got some sun screen applied then headed for my bike. It was not handed to me as I expected but I knew right were it was. I grabbed it and ran for the transition exit. Once I crossed the line I jumped on and started going it was a few seconds later that I clipped in. This is something that I have noticed a lot of people having trouble with at other events. They insists on getting the first foot clipped in before they start ridding so they hold up the people behind them and waste a lot of time. I opted out of wearing the arm warmers and extra shirt that I had in the bag being as I did not think that it was that cold. What would you do differently?: I think that having someone help would have made my transition time faster but it was not that bad.  Bike
Comments: I started off easy. I was not going to do what I always did which was to go out hard and finish with whatever I had left. My bike computer did not read the correct MPH as I intentionally left it un-calibrated. This allowed me to focus on cadence and effort level. I had one water bottle on the bike and 6 gels. I took the first one within the first mile. It was little chilly for the first 20 miles but started warming up quickly. I had decided that I would take a gel every 30 minutes which would work out to every 10 miles or so. At the 10 mile mark I took another gel and looked at my bike computer to see my time. It read 1 hour 27 minutes so I new that this was not right and did not look at it again for the rest of the race. I continued with the every ten mile plan. I also tried to get down on bottle of fluids every 10 miles as well. I knew that I was coming up to the rolling hills and was not worried about them at all as my training included rides with similar hills. I arrived at them and proceeded to pass a bunch of people that were either taking them very easy or having trouble on them. At about mile 56 I got my special needs bag. I pulled over and got the Orange soda and snickers bar. I also put a single cigarette and lighter which I proceeded to smoke. Now this was funny as I had two sets of spectators take pictures of me. One of which said that she was going to make me famous. This also caused mixed emotions from some of the bike riders that were passing me as I was on the side of the road. Most of which could not believe that I was doing this. I finished up and started again on the bike. I passed a few of the bikers that passed me while I was off the bike which made me feel good. I saw the lady that took a picture and said she would make me famous about 10 miles down the road and she recognized me. The rest of the ride was uneventful with the exception of having to avoid those half dozen people in front of me that decided they needed to go and just let it fly while ridding. Lucky for me I was able to tell when they were ready and I would either get past them or fall back enough as to not get any of their urine on me. At mile 100 I needed to go but had not tried doing it on the bike. I could have waited until the transition area but felt that it would probably be busy there so I stopped and used the Port-a-potty. Got back on and finished up. I saw my parents, wife, sister, kids and cousin out on the course 3 or four times which made it even more exciting. Transition 2
Comments: Great transition. I got out of my shoes before entering the transition area and handed my bike off when I got to the line. I took my helmet and started for my bag. I again had an orange balloon on it so it was easy to find. I entered the tent and this time had a help getting changed. I exited the transition area and was off on the run. What would you do differently?: I will leave my helmet on until I get into the changing tent so that the volunteers can see the number and get the bag easier.  Run
Comments: I started out and my left foot was numb. I kept a nice easy pace and only walked through the aid stations. At mile three my Left IT band started hurting. So every mile (aid station) I grabbed water, Gatorade and Ice to Ice the leg down. I reached mile 7 with a 10 minute mile pace. Wow I was doing it and feeling really good. I started the second leg of the run. I had decided to break the run up into four sections and not think about the total distance I still had left to go. This technique really helped because each leg was just over 6 miles and a lot less daunting. Through out the entire run I had this great big smile on my face. In fact it was there so long that my jaw and face muscles hurt because of it. I just kept thinking to myself what could be better I was out doing an Ironman and nearly done feeling great. I saw my support crew again about mid way through the return of the first lap where my cousin Sarah, who I had not seen in about 15 years, came from Panama City to watch me do the race ran next to me for about 100 yards and talked for a bit. I got to the turn around and picked up my special needs bag. Again I had the Orange soda, Snickers bar and cigarette. I grabbed the smoke and lighter and continued on till I found a place where I could get off the course so that I would not subject the other runners with my habit. Once I lit up I felt like a rock star. So many people started taking pictures of me it was really funny. Most were in awe of how a person could be doing an Ironman and still smoke. I even had one person ask if I just smoked during races. My reply was no I am a pack a day smoker. So off I go for my last loop. This is when my right knee started to give me a little trouble so when I iced the left IT band I would also Ice the right knee. I finished the last turn and was heading for home. At mile 20 one of the many blisters on my feet popped which then became painful. I stopped took my show off and positioned my sock to create a barrier for it and that did the trick. I was able to finish with less pain there. I got close to the end and started looking for the Family Pen so that I could run in with my son Justin. I was getting a little nervous as I did not look for the pen before the race so that I would know where it was. I asked some people and they said it was just up ahead. I reached it not knowing that I had and then I heard his voice right next to me. Cool now everything is good. Nothing else to worry about. I took his hand and we rounded the car that blocked the finish line. I saw for the first time what the time was. Wow under 12 hours no way could that be right. In all of my training and calculating did I think that it would be possible. I crossed hand in hand with Justin at 11:45:49. What a great day!!! What would you do differently?: Nothing else could have been done I ran the whole thing only walking through the aid stations. The run was great. Post race
Warm down: I went up to my parents room to get a smoke, different shoes and sit for a minute. I then took a quick shower and put on some warm clothes. Then I waited for Steve to finish while talking to my family. What limited your ability to perform faster: This is a pretty standard response but more long rides so that I get off the bike feeling even better than I did. Also to add in speed work for running. The running is where my time started really falling off of everyone else. Not that it was a bad time but it needs to be faster if I ever want to get to Kona. Last updated: 2007-12-27 12:00 AM
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 2008-11-03 8:39 AM |
Regular  85  Augusta, Ga |  Subject: Ironman Florida |
| 2008-11-03 9:12 AM in reply to: #1782917 |
Elite 3683    Whispering Pines, North Carolina | Subject: RE: Ironman Florida |
| 2008-11-03 11:38 AM in reply to: #1782917 |
Elite 2552 Evans, GA | Subject: RE: Ironman Florida And you owe it all to your fantastic training partner!  great job! |
| 2008-11-03 12:29 PM in reply to: #1782917 |
Regular 137 Fort Collins, CO | Subject: RE: Ironman Florida Congrats on your finish, my brother would be proud of you, he smokes before his marathons to "get his lungs warmed up." Anyways great finish and congrats again |
| 2008-11-03 12:45 PM in reply to: #1782917 |
Extreme Veteran 398 Southeastern Michigan | Subject: RE: Ironman Florida Great report! Your time was amazing considering your smoking habit! (I have my own bad habits...) Congrats! |
| 2008-11-03 12:50 PM in reply to: #1782917 |
Expert 623 Wye Mills, MD | Subject: RE: Ironman Florida Congratulations, Andy!!! Awesome accomplishment. That is a great time for most people, and even better considering that it's your first IM and you don't have a ton of races under your belt. Impressive bike split. |
| 2008-11-03 1:45 PM in reply to: #1782917 |
Elite 2998 Fishers, Indiana | Subject: RE: Ironman Florida Wow, what a race report--you're going to have to search the internet for some of those pics people snapped of you! Congrats on a great race Ironman! |
| 2008-11-04 8:29 AM in reply to: #1782917 |
Champion 7704 Williamston, Michigan | Subject: RE: Ironman Florida Great Job!! I think you passed me on thebike because I remember a guy with oange soda in his bottle cage and I thought it was a good idea....I had diet coke in my run SN  |
| 2008-11-04 1:18 PM in reply to: #1782917 |
Extreme Veteran 407 Greenwood, SC | Subject: RE: Ironman Florida Congratulations on a great race! Sorry I missed the sight of you smoking in the middle of the race. |
| 2008-11-04 2:34 PM in reply to: #1782917 |
Extreme Veteran 363 Georgia | Subject: RE: Ironman Florida What can I say. I am so proud of you. When you told me a little over a year ago that you wanted to do this, I was more than a little surprised. I mean you had never done a tri, not to mention a marathon and you didn't have any swim experience at all. Who could blame me? But I know you, and I know you give 110% to everything. I knew you would finish if you did it, but that was all my mind could accept at that point. As you started training and diving into all things tri I grew more impressed. You would work from 6am until after 2:00, come home exhausted, lace up your running shoes and go on a 2 hour run in 90 degree heat. If Steve couldn't meet for a long ride, you would go by yourself. Many days you would work, train, and still have to do homework with the kids and make dinner since I work 4 nights a week. Once I saw how commited you were to your training, I never doubted you would meet your goal time, I just didn't know you would blast through that goal also. I have always respected those that could complete an IronMan, but the respect is much more now. I also respect the spouses of those athletes. I thought I had some idea of how hard it would be on me and the family and gave my blessing and support. I was very surprised when I had days where I felt resentment over your training time. There where a few times where BlueJack would drive up and I would think, ugh! Go away! (sorry Steve). I can't imagine how spouses manage that have children younger than ours, or no other family members close by. Without my inlaws and my dad to rely on it would have been impossible. Spouses that give the green light without knowing what they are getting into, deserve a medal also. It takes a special person to be an Ironmate. I always thought that one day I would like to train for an Ironman also, but wondered if I could. I question myself even more now. Many people will read your race report and feel inspired to give it a try. They might think that if someone can go from no swim experience, very little cycling, and only a handful of 1/2 marathons, to an Ironman in one year all while smoking a pack a day, that anyone can do it. They would be wrong, so wrong. There are very few people that could go from where you started and give their absolute all for an entire year of training without faltering. Most would have to slack off at some point, the body and mind can only take so much. I couldn't be more proud of you, I am so lucky to have you for a husband. ps. for those that are irked by the smoking, you should know I don't approve either and while he may joke about feeling like a "rockstar" on his report, he makes sure our kids know that his smoking is not cool and he does not want them to ever do it. (resizedironman.jpg) Attachments ---------------- resizedironman.jpg (33KB - 36 downloads) |
| 2008-11-04 5:16 PM in reply to: #1782917 |
Extreme Veteran 333 | Subject: RE: Ironman Florida Awesome race and great race report. I love that picture of you and your family and can see how proud of you they all are! Great job! |
| 2008-11-04 5:34 PM in reply to: #1782917 |
Champion 19812 MA | Subject: RE: Ironman Florida Congrats Ironman! We must of been there at the finish line when you finished. Now just think how much faster you would be without smoking. Smoking fast times PS The time on the first lap was the pro time, so that is why first lap and second lap where goofy...take off 10' first lap.
Edited by KathyG 2008-11-04 5:42 PM |
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50F / 10C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 880/2270
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 154/351
I went to bed at 8:00 pm Friday night. Slept well until 2:30 AM at which point I got up. I tried to go back to sleep but it was only a light sleep. Finally got out of bed at 4:00 AM. I threw on some clothes and headed to Waffle House with Steve for breakfast. While walking up to WH I noticed a lot of people there and thought to myself that it was odd to see so many people that early in the morning there. Turns out I forgot that Halloween was the night before and these were the people finishing up their long night of parting. So we saw a bunch of people in their costumes which made for a funny start to the morning. I ate 2 eggs toast and grits. I drank orange juice and coffee. We then went back to the condo where I took a shower and put on my bathing suit and clothes to stay warm on the walk down to the event. We then arrived at the event which was about 1/4 miles from the condo and dropped off our special needs bags and get the body marking. Then we went to the bikes and filled the tires with air. I then proceeded to my parent’s room which was located at the event and put sun screen on as well as my wetsuit. At about 6:20 am Steve and I headed to the start line.
I did about 300 meters of warm up in the water just prior to the start. This felt really good nice easy stroke and breathing pattern.