Ironman 70.3 Florida
- April 13, 2014 – 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run
I had done this race before, when it was held on Disney
property. I hadn't done it since it was
moved to Haines City (near Orlando). My
boyfriend and I drove down on Thursday, April 10. It’s about a 10 hour drive. He has an uncle that lives near there and we
went to go visit him on Friday. We left
Friday afternoon to drive about an hour to Davenport, FL (which is about 10 min
from the race site).
On Saturday morning, it was athlete and bike check in. The
bike check in was optional but I like having my bike in transition already on
race morning. That’s one less thing I
have to worry about. I picked up my
packet, dropped off my bike and by the time that was done, it was dinner
time. We went to a little Italian place
just down the road from the hotel that was really good. We both had pasta and after that, it was bed
time. Gotta get up at 3am!
Race Morning
Woke up at 3 am, started the coffee and started getting my
stuff ready for the race. Bag was packed
the night before so I just had to get my super comfortable Fleet Feet tri kit
on. I ate my traditional oatmeal and
banana and by 4:15, I was ready to get to the race site. Transition opened at 4:30. I got to transition, got my stuff together,
pumped up my tires (and myself for that matter), and I was ready. We had some time to kill because my wave
didn't start till 7:22 so we went back to the truck to warm up. It was cold that morning. When it got closer to time for the pros to
start, we walked down to the swim start and before I knew it, it was time for
me to go.
Swim – 1.2 miles – 1:03:26
The swim was very cold.
It was wetsuit legal, the water temperature was 74 degrees, but because
the athlete guide said it was going to be in the 80s, I left my wetsuit at
home. Oh well…I can suck it up for 1.2
miles. It was also very choppy as I got
completely mauled by the wave that was behind me. I can’t tell you how many times I swallowed a
mouth full of water. I finally make it
to the finish – glad that’s over with.
T1 – 4:10
I finally make it to the maze to T1. Put on my helmet, sunglasses, race belt, and
shoes. Grabbed my bike and I’m off.
Bike – 56 miles – 3:49:44
Whoever said that central Florida was flat was sadly
mistaken. They managed to find every
hill in Florida and jam it into that race.
Holy crap! And when there wasn't
a hill, there was a massive head wind.
Oh well…I tried to stick to my routine of a Honey Stinger waffle every
10-15 miles and two Endurolytes every hour.
I also had Infinite in my aero bottle and managed to drink most of that.
T2 – 4:50
I felt pretty good about my bike when I made it back to
T2. I fought with getting my bike racked
as there was other bikes in the way. I
got my bike racked and debated about whether or not to put my compression
sleeves on. Oh screw it….I forego the
compression sleeves and just put my socks and Hokas on. Grabbed my visor and
water bottle and I was off.
Run – 13.1 miles – 3:14:50
I usually do a 4 minute run/1 minute walk ratio but today I
decided to run for as long as I can and just walk when I need to. The run is three loops, which I like. It’s very spectator friendly. There are aid stations about every mile and I
definitely walked those because I grabbed oranges at every station. This was very hilly as well and was very
thankful to see the finish line.
Overall – 8:17:00
Even with all the hills and wind, it was a very good race
that I would do again. Ironman puts on
very good races. Thanks so much to Fleet
Feet for providing everything I needed for the race. The goggles, Hokas, Honey Stinger waffles,
socks, and the super comfortable kit.