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Ironman Florida - TriathlonFull Ironman

View Member's Race Log View other race reports

Panama City Beach, Florida
United States
World Triathlon Corporation
68F / 20C
Sunny

Total Time = 13h 47m 11s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/

Pre-race routine:

Woke up very early to take in breakfast (3am). Had principally liquid breakfast, so that I would have sufficient fuel but my stomach would be empty. Tried to rest thereafter but only did so fitfully. Left to go to race site at 5:30.

Event warmup:

Was nervous before the swim. Not nervous for the swim necessarily, but for the whole day. And in my nervousness, I forgot a key piece of equipment. On my previous tri, I had lost my earplugs while waiting for the start. And I get major swimmers vertigo – making me nauseous and destroying my sense of balance. In order to make sure that did not happen, I stuck my ear plugs in early and slid an extra pair in my sleeve just in case. But all that focus on my earplugs meant that I got to the beach 14 minutes early only to realize that I had left my goggles in my “morning bag.” Ooops. So I raced back to the morning bag drop off and luckily enough my morning bag was right on the top of the bin, and I found the goggles quickly. Raced back to the start and was about 5 feet from the water when the gun went off. Phew.

Swim

1h 18m 43s
4156 yards
01m 53s / 100 yards

Comments:

Swim was a total melee. More jostling, kicking, etc than I have ever experienced. In fact, at one point, a guy on my left was taking a stroke with his right arm and he hit me in my right ear (meaning he reached up over me and his arm came down on the opposite side of me). Finally settled into a groove at about 600 meters. Could not sight very well, so followed a few pairs of feet. Unfortunately, those pairs all went WAY wide of the corner buoy – too far to the right and turned too far beyond it. But, I figured that if that is the worst thing that happens, I am doing great. Saw several dozen jellyfish spread around the course, some of them more than a foot in diameter. Definitely made sure I was maintaining my “high elbow” form when I swam above them. Lap 2 was easier in the sense that people had spread out much more.

What would you do differently?:

Make sure I have the stuff I need.

Transition 1

10m 46s

Comments:

Came out of the water and found the wetsuit strippers. (Loved them.) Then jogged to grab my bike transition bag. I think I got to the T1 changing area at the height of the throng, because there was literally no room to change and only one volunteer for about every 4 or 5 of us. I tried to carve out a little space for myself, and started changing. The lack of space and insufficient number of volunteers made my T1 much longer than it should.

What would you do differently?:

I guess be faster out of the swim so there is more space in T1.

Bike

6h 31m 20s
112 miles
17.17 mile/hr

Comments:

Got on the bike and started the ride. Focused on keeping my watts in check. Wanted to stay between 160 and 165 watts. Was cold at the start, but I think that was because the air temp had not warmed up and I was still wet. Planned my nutrition to drink a 24oz bottle of regular strength Infinit per hour. In my training, I had not been sufficiently diligent on hydration. I went through my first two bottles by 90 minutes into the ride – so I knew I was doing much better. Winds picked up on the first couple segments, which slowed my mph. But I kept my focus on watts. Had to pee at mile 20, 56 and 80, so I knew I was hydrating well. At mile 70, a woman (who I had passed several times and who had passed me several times and we had each made a supportive “nice work” sort of comment) came by and said to me “I have a wheel sucker on me.” And, sure enough, there was a guy not 2 feet behind her clearly drafting off her. We all heard the sound of a Harley approaching, so he dropped off her wheel and rode on his own. Within two minutes after the Harley had gone, I had a sixth sense that there was someone behind me, and sure enough, he was drafting off me. Very annoying. But I pulled way out and looked at him and he stopped drafting off me and rode on his own.

Back kept tightening up, so I stopped at all the aid stations from mile 70 onward to stretch my back. Amazing how much better I felt after doing so.

Transition 2

06m 54s

Comments:

Got back to T2, and could not have been happier to hand off my bike and head to the changing room. Had much more space now, and could completely change from the riding clothes to my running clothes.

Run

00m
26.2 miles
min/mile

Comments:

Started out on the run, and saw a friend (spectator) just after getting out of T2. Was great to get some words of encouragement at that point. Then I passed my father-in-law at about 1/2 mile into the run. (He had not made the bike cut-off, had been driven back to transition, but was attempting the run anyway.) Had a brief chat with him, and then kept up my pace. Wore a shirt in honor of a friend who passed away from lymphoma a couple years ago and got a big smile every time someone shouted his name in encouragement. The run was tough. Really tough. Hard to keep running at any pace. Walked the aid stations. At this point, my glutes and hamstrings were seizing up. I got a small pebble in behind my right heel, but I was afraid to sit down and take my shoe off because I was worried that I would seize up and cramp and not be able to get back up. I remained concerned about nutrition, so I was oscillating between Perform and coke (until they began offering chicken broth). I could not stand the Perform. Eventually devolved into running (to the degree you can describe what I was doing as running) for 3 minutes and walking for 2 minutes. I just kept repeating to myself, “I can do anything for 3 minutes”, and giving myself the break for 2 minutes thereafter. Got to the half marathon spot and grabbed my special needs. Had a Milky Way bar in there that I had frozen over night the night before and was really looking forward to during the first half. Downed it. And then picked up my run/walk strategy again as best I could. I did the calculus at that point and realized that there was a chance I could go under 14 hours. I expected to do more like 15:30, so I was ecstatic that I was even threatening 14:00. (Plus, John was in the chute until the 14 hour mark, and I wanted to see him at the finish.) That kept me motivated to really keep moving. Garmin gave out at about mile 16, which was frustrating. I eventually gave in to walking more and more until the last mile. But I kept focusing on the 14 hour mark. Every aid station I would pass, I asked them the time and kept doing the calculations in my head, to the degree I was mentally coherent enough to do that math. I could not have been happier to get to the last mile. Jogged it in, knowing that the finish line was RIGHT THERE.

Made it in at 13:47:11. Could not have felt better. My legs were jelly, and I had a blister on my right foot the size of Montana on my right foot, but I felt great. I learned that my family had been tracking my progress and watching the video feed of the finish, and my eldest son (7yo) got really excited when he saw me finish – jumping up and down with happiness. I did not tear up at the finish, but I did when I heard of his reaction.

Post race

Event comments:

All in all a glorious day.

Last updated: 2011-11-07 12:00 AM

Swimming
01:18:43 \| 4156 yards \| 01m 53s / 100yards
Age Group:	0/
Overall:	0/
Performance:	Good
Suit:
Course:
Start type:		Plus:
Water temp:	0F / 0C	Current:
200M Perf.		Remainder:
Breathing:		Drafting:
Waves:		Navigation:
Rounding:

T1
Time:	10:46
Performance:	Below average
Cap removal:	Good	Helmet on/ Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck?		Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:

Biking
06:31:20 \| 112 miles \| 17.17 mile/hr
Age Group:	0/
Overall:	0/
Performance:	Good
Wind:	Some with gusts
Course:
Road:		Cadence:
Turns:		Cornering:
Gear changes:		Hills:
Race pace:		Drinks:

T2
Time:	06:54
Overall:	Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes		Good
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal

Running
00:00:00 \| 26.2 miles \| min/mile
Age Group:	0/
Overall:	0/
Performance:
Course:
Keeping cool		Drinking

Post race
Weight change:	%
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?

Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized?
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]

{postbutton}

Tobey91

2011-11-07 4:00 PM

Extreme Veteran

333

Subject: Ironman Florida

Ironman Florida

Ironman Florida - TriathlonFull Ironman

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