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This past Sunday was my very first race of the season: Ironman 70.3 Florida in Haines City, FL. I did this race last year but it was in a different location. And let me start out by saying, the course this year was SIGNIFICANTLY harder. Nevertheless, I finished 16 minutes faster than my previous fastest Half-Ironman time and am now extremely excited for this year’s Triathlon race season because I think it’s going to be a great one.
RACE BREAKDOWN:
THE SWIM
Swim Split: 31.00 (1:36/100m)
Swim Division Rank: 3
I’m extremely happy with my swim. If you convert my swim pace this breaks down to a 1:26.02 in short course yards which is pretty fantastic. The course was a bit odd and narrow which made everyone very clumped together so once I caught up to the waves in front of me, it was a very big struggle to swim through the sea of people. Additionally, I lake water was so dark and murky that I couldn’t see my own hands let alone a person in front of me. So I frequently found myself just toppling over people with no forewarning to swim around them. To some extent I feel bad that I did hit many people on the swim, but it’s a free-for-all in a race like this so there really isn’t any way around it. Even with all the people in my way, I still managed to bust out my best half-ironman swim to date by over a minute. So for that, I’m very proud.
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TRANSITION #1
T1 Split: 3:18
I knew that I’d be a little tired because I pushed so hard on the swim. But, I also knew that I’m in good enough shape to be able to bounce back from a hard swim rather quickly. There was a long run up the beach, up a hill, and into transition. I felt a little tired on the run up but as soon as I hit “swim in” I was focused and ready to go.
My Transition time isn’t all too terrific because the transition area was VERY VERY LONG, two separate levels, and took forever to get through. I successfully fought the urge to sit down in transition to get my shoes on, which was undoubtedly an excellent decision and will save me a lot of time in the future. My only problem was that my bike shoes aren’t meant for Triathlon and I had a hard time getting the Velcro to stick once they got wet. This added a bit of time to T1 because I had to stop before “bike out” to adjust them and get them to stick adequately. But, I know I need new shoes so that problem should be taken care of before my next race.
Bike Division Rank: 14
The bike course was significantly more challenging than what I was expecting. However, I really feel that I rose to the occasion. My first 40 or so miles were FANTASTIC. I was averaging about 19-21mph rather easily which is far better than I’ve ever been able to bike before. It was a great feeling being able to hold such a strong pace on such a challenging course. I have no doubt that I’m really going to be able to maintain a strong bike pace for some of my races here in Miami. Biking has always been my weakness and this time I was able to hold off much of my competition until about mile 40. I’ve clearly made great strides on the bike and have now become a different class of Triathlete altogether.
The last 15 miles didn’t feel so great however. We hit some very large hills and I was starting to feel extremely dehydrated. I had two bottles with me on my bike. I had one bottle between my aeorbars with water and one bottle below with Accelerade. I went through both these bottles and was still thirsty. The main problem was that although they have aid stations on the bike, I didn’t have anywhere to put these bottles once I took them. So I had to grab a few quick sips and then chuck them before the end of the aid station so that I wouldn’t get penalized for littering later on. I think so long as I get 2 more cages behind my saddle with room to put these extra bottles, I’ll be okay from now on. I’m so used to just carrying 1 bottle and refilling it on my long rides that I never really practice the logistics of not having that luxury in a race. So, I’m going to get those two extra cages and actually practice not refilling all but one bottle on my long rides to see if that will work. I’ll keep you updated…
Additionally, as I got dehydrated I felt my mind start to wander a bit. I had done such a great job staying focused on the race for so long and it was becoming a struggle to keep my mind on point. I’m not sure if my focusing issues were from Dehydration or just difficulty staying focused on biking for that long. But, I did still stay more focused that previously in races so although it’s a problem, it’s getting better. I think a lot of improvement in this area will come from practicing on longer solo rides.
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TRANSITION #2
T2 Split: 3:16
No real comments to make other than what I’ve already mentioned regarding T1. My only suggestion to myself would be to have a bottle of water available for myself in Transition that I can carry onto the first part of the run just in case the first aid station isn’t very close. I didn’t know it at the time, but the first run course aid station was well over a mile from T1. So I was extremely dehydrated and had to struggle up two hills before I could finally drink. It would be a good decision to have a bottle in Transition available for me to grab just in case I need it.
The run was a bit of a struggle for me. I was extremely dehydrated coming off the bike and unfortunately the first aid station wasn’t nearby and the sun was out blazing. And, after about a ¼ mile run on flat land out of the expo area, we made a right turn DIRECTLY into 2 large hills. That wasn’t all too enjoyable. But, finally after making it over the second hill we rounded another corner to hit the first aid station where I grabbed about 2 cups of Gatorade, 2 cups of water, and 2 cups of ice to mix together and chug. Luckily, I started to feel a tiny bit better. I had to stop a few times over the next few miles in because I felt as though I needed hurl into the bushes (my stomach was having a hard time digesting all the liquid) but after a little while, the liquids finally settled and I felt much more coherent. Just because my stomach had a hard time digesting all the liquid, didn’t mean that my body didn’t need it. Feeling better, I slowly decreased my pace over the next two laps and was able to finish the race.
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TRANSITION #1I knew that I’d be a little tired because I pushed so hard on the swim. But, I also knew that I’m in good enough shape to be able to bounce back from a hard swim rather quickly. There was a long run up the beach, up a hill, and into transition. I felt a little tired on the run up but as soon as I hit “swim in” I was focused and ready to go.
My Transition time isn’t all too terrific because the transition area was VERY VERY LONG, two separate levels, and took forever to get through. I successfully fought the urge to sit down in transition to get my shoes on, which was undoubtedly an excellent decision and will save me a lot of time in the future. My only problem was that my bike shoes aren’t meant for Triathlon and I had a hard time getting the Velcro to stick once they got wet. This added a bit of time to T1 because I had to stop before “bike out” to adjust them and get them to stick adequately. But, I know I need new shoes so that problem should be taken care of before my next race.
THE BIKE
Bike Split: 2:58.06 (18.87mph)Bike Division Rank: 14
The bike course was significantly more challenging than what I was expecting. However, I really feel that I rose to the occasion. My first 40 or so miles were FANTASTIC. I was averaging about 19-21mph rather easily which is far better than I’ve ever been able to bike before. It was a great feeling being able to hold such a strong pace on such a challenging course. I have no doubt that I’m really going to be able to maintain a strong bike pace for some of my races here in Miami. Biking has always been my weakness and this time I was able to hold off much of my competition until about mile 40. I’ve clearly made great strides on the bike and have now become a different class of Triathlete altogether.
The last 15 miles didn’t feel so great however. We hit some very large hills and I was starting to feel extremely dehydrated. I had two bottles with me on my bike. I had one bottle between my aeorbars with water and one bottle below with Accelerade. I went through both these bottles and was still thirsty. The main problem was that although they have aid stations on the bike, I didn’t have anywhere to put these bottles once I took them. So I had to grab a few quick sips and then chuck them before the end of the aid station so that I wouldn’t get penalized for littering later on. I think so long as I get 2 more cages behind my saddle with room to put these extra bottles, I’ll be okay from now on. I’m so used to just carrying 1 bottle and refilling it on my long rides that I never really practice the logistics of not having that luxury in a race. So, I’m going to get those two extra cages and actually practice not refilling all but one bottle on my long rides to see if that will work. I’ll keep you updated…
Additionally, as I got dehydrated I felt my mind start to wander a bit. I had done such a great job staying focused on the race for so long and it was becoming a struggle to keep my mind on point. I’m not sure if my focusing issues were from Dehydration or just difficulty staying focused on biking for that long. But, I did still stay more focused that previously in races so although it’s a problem, it’s getting better. I think a lot of improvement in this area will come from practicing on longer solo rides.
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TRANSITION #2No real comments to make other than what I’ve already mentioned regarding T1. My only suggestion to myself would be to have a bottle of water available for myself in Transition that I can carry onto the first part of the run just in case the first aid station isn’t very close. I didn’t know it at the time, but the first run course aid station was well over a mile from T1. So I was extremely dehydrated and had to struggle up two hills before I could finally drink. It would be a good decision to have a bottle in Transition available for me to grab just in case I need it.
THE RUN
Run Split: 2:08.32 (9.48/mi)The run was a bit of a struggle for me. I was extremely dehydrated coming off the bike and unfortunately the first aid station wasn’t nearby and the sun was out blazing. And, after about a ¼ mile run on flat land out of the expo area, we made a right turn DIRECTLY into 2 large hills. That wasn’t all too enjoyable. But, finally after making it over the second hill we rounded another corner to hit the first aid station where I grabbed about 2 cups of Gatorade, 2 cups of water, and 2 cups of ice to mix together and chug. Luckily, I started to feel a tiny bit better. I had to stop a few times over the next few miles in because I felt as though I needed hurl into the bushes (my stomach was having a hard time digesting all the liquid) but after a little while, the liquids finally settled and I felt much more coherent. Just because my stomach had a hard time digesting all the liquid, didn’t mean that my body didn’t need it. Feeling better, I slowly decreased my pace over the next two laps and was able to finish the race.
THE RACE AS A WHOLE
Finish Time: 5:44.12I’m satisfied with my final time because it’s technically a PR. But, I know that I could have done better. I think that if I fix my nutrition issues and do some more tempo runs in an attempt to get my run pace down, I’ll be able to improve even more. Additionally, I'm looking into getting a good bike trainer to be able to do some more hill work at home.
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