Ironman Florida - Triathlon

Worst swim ever. I completely panicked for the first 1000 yards. I was not able to settle into a rhythm until the first turn buoy. I was hit in the face within the first 3 yards and my right side of my goggle filled up with water. There was no way to stop and clear it so I had to swim that way for the first lap.
There was lots of contact. Believe it or not I found that the women were the most ruthless. I had more contact with them than the men it seems like. It amazes me how people have no regard for others. When someone swims up on my feet I stop kicking and only pull until they are clear of my feet. Why on earth do people think it’s cute to kick someone in the face? Why would you want to ruin someone else’s race is beyond me.
I thought the self seeding was useless!


Line up with the 1:00 and under and swim on the inside of the buoys until the first turn.

I exited the water and bypassed the wetsuit strippers. I did not want to lay in the sand and have sand where the sun don’t shine for the rest of the race. I found a small bench near the showers and took my own suit off. Made my way to the T1 bags and had to get mine myself. My bag was all the way at the back of the row. I retrieved my bag and started the long run to the change tent. I wish they would out carpet here, the asphalt is hard on the feet. Once in the tent I found a chair but had no volunteer to help me. I stuffed my pockets with cliff bars and tucked 2 more into the legs of my tri pants. I put body glide on my feet; shoes, helmet, and sunglasses on then stuffed my wetsuit into my bag and threw it between the 2 rows of chairs. I headed out the door to find my bike, when I got to my rack a volunteer handed me my bike.

Not much! Typically I am fast at transitions but I was not in a hurry. I did not want to forget anything.

Avg Power: 178 W
Max Power: 549 W
Max Avg Power (20 min): 204 W
Normalized Power (NP): 185 W
Intensity Factor (IF): 0.727
Training Stress Score (TSS): 264.0
Work: 3,208 kJ
My bike was almost spot on. My power number was just a little lower than my target. I did my best to ride clean although at times it was pretty difficult. I did see lots of draft marshals on the course but not a lot of people in penalty tents. On the out and back sections I saw large packs of people, but most of the folks riding near my speed were making an effort to ride clean as far as I could tell. The last 20 miles on 79 I was all by myself. I actually backed off the power a little to start to prepare for the run. At that point it looked like I was going to be around 5 hours and that was exceeding my goal time by about 10 minutes so I was happy with that.

Not much. Maybe not back off on the last section of 79.

Took my time here again. The tent was almost empty. I had a volunteer offer assistance but I declined. I have a procedure I follow and having someone talking to me as I am transitioning might make me miss a step.
Made a pit stop to use the rest room on the way out of transition.

Nothing.

This was my first Marathon so I wasn't quite sure what to expect!!!
My longest run leading up to the race was 15.2 miles which I only did once. I injured my back right in the beginning of my training and had to miss a month of running.
I ran the first loop in 1:57, right on target with my training pace. I ran to each aid station and walked through them. I would take water, a sip of perform, cola, the ice at every station. I would hold the ice in my hands until it would melt into smaller pieces then chew/suck on it until it was all melted. I took a gel every 3 miles. I stopped at run special needs to get a pair of socks in case a blister decided to form on the second lap, I run sockless. About mile 15-17 my quads started to hurt. It felt like someone had punched me in each one about a thousand times. At that point I started to walk/run. I knew my lack of run training was going to come and find me sooner or later and apparently mile 15-17 was where it caught me. Then I started to get a bit nauseous. Nothing at the aid stations looked appealing. I dropped the Perform and sipped water, cola and ice. There was a guy throwing up behind me that did help with the upset stomach. I stopped at mile 18 to pee and try to stretch my quads some. At mile 22 I could feel a blister forming under my foot. I stopped and removed my shoe, wiped the bottom of my feet, put on my socks and started to run/walk again. The socks actually made it feel worse. I stopped again and removed the socks. I made my about a mile out I could hear the finish line. I walked one more time near Alvin’s Island and decided to run the rest of the way to the finish. The fans on South Thomas Dr were great. I tried to high 5 everyone that had their hand out as I made my way through the finishers chute. Crossed the line and tried to hear the announcer call my name, he got my name right but was way off on the city and state. I finish line catcher came to my assistance and walked with me over to get my medal, shirt, and hat. After I assured her that I was fine she let me go. Then my family made their way over too me. Lots of hugs and kisses from my awesome family who followed me around all day long. After lots of pictures with everyone I walked the .5 mile back to the condo to shower and try to eat.
My brother used the ticket to go and collect my bike and T1 & T2 bags.

Get more long runs in. I would have liked to get 2-3 more runs in around 16 miles.

Walked back to the condo with the family. Took a cold bath for 15 minutes then drained the water and soaked in hot water to loosen back up.


I needed a little more run training.


I could not have done this without the support of my wife and family. IronMan training takes a lot of time away from your loved ones. It was great to have all of them make the long drive to Panama City to come and out and support me. There is no better feeling than seeing your family out on the course throughout the day. Remember that their sacrifice is just as big as yours.
The volunteers here were amazing, second to none. They did a tremendous job at the aid stations.