Ironman Florida

Well.... I did it..
I finish.... the most amazing thing I have ever done. An ironman Triathlon.... 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking and a mere 26.2 miles of running. It only took me 13 hours and change..

I loved the experience... I loved the fact that I could do this, I love the journey to the finish line.

For a long time, I only dreamed of accomplishing such a feat. And today, I am savoring my accomplishemet..

The race report is as follows.


IRONMAN FLORIDA2005-11-05Panama City Beach, FloridaUS76F / 24CSunny
Triathlon - Full Ironman Total Time = 13h 14m 13s Overall Rank = 1263/Age Group = M35-39Age Group Rank = 256/353

Pre-race routine:Got up... took a shower.... (why? routine, I cannot start my day, any day without a shower)... got dressed drank a double expresso (Starbucks cold drink) ate a cliff power bar and a banana... sat down and just relaxed.. I could not believe how relax I was, no jitters just anticipation. I went to use the bathroom..... got my things and Ken and I drove to Walmart where the shuttle picked us up to the starting race. I had a sense of tranquility in me, I keept thinking that this is what I have studied for.. Saw the fear and the anticipation in the faces of other racers, and for some reason I felt great.

Event warmup:Got the see my bike and realize that I had a flat front tire... SHUT... i don't have tubulars, so it if it flat.. it is probably damanged. I changed the tire and got into a lane to access a floor pump. A nice volunteer pumped my tires and I re-rack my bike. Went looking for water to fill up my aerobar bottle and finally got time to go and get body marked.. Now.. this was an experience... I looked for Jessica (tri_take_away) and Renee... they bodymarked me.... felt great.. They were indeed a great support group.... many thanks to them.. so by the time I was body marked, the were herding us to beach.. Put on my wet suit, Ken found me and we walked to the beach. That was a warm-up... I watch the pros start and then I just waited and started to vision my swim stragegy....

Swim
Comments:The start was a litte intimidating.... all of those athletes there and I had no idea how I was going to tackle this part of the race.. I moved a little to the right, made sure that my googles were tight and clear (spitted on them) and when the cannon went off... I just started running.. I actually did some of those little dolphin jumps.... and started to swim..... Now I know what my socks might feel when I put them in the washer because that how I felt the first, I dont' know.. maybe 10 minutes of the swim.. I stopped looked around and decided to swim a little to the right to avoid the blender effect.. I was not nervous I was happy to be there. Started to find my groove and decided to let other sight for me.. With all of those people looking at the same object it would be a waste of my energy looking at the same object as well.. So I found a girl (she had painted toenails) and drafted her all the way to the first turnaround.. I could feel somebody else was drafting me as well cuz I kept feeling his/her hands on my feet all the time. That made me feel good... Wow somebody is drafting me.... After the first turn things got better, no more chopping and not more people swiming on top of people, i found my groove and just kept on going. My wetsuit was a little tight on the neck so I stopped and loose it up a little and then kept on going. I finish the first lap and realize that I had forgotten to start my watch so i had no idea how fast or slow I had done the first lap... I asked a guy and he told me 35 minutes... and I thought... this is great... i wanted to finish in 1:10 and I am right on target. Ran, got some water to remove some of the salt of my mouth and went for the second lap. After I got to the last turn and was heading back to the beach I kept thinking... wow this is great. I was not tired, all those long swims on fridays really paid off and I was thinking.... I can do another lap....
What would you do differently?:Nothing... absolutlly nothing...

T1
Comments:Now... transition in an Ironman is a great thing. Got out of the water and the "peelers" wonderfull volunteers just strip you out of your wetsuit in a flash.... ran to the transition area where somebody (by magic) already was waiting for me with my transition bag on hand. Went inside the tent and took my time to change.... I did not want to forget anything and a 2 minute transition or a 12 minute transition time will not make a difference in the end result of the race.... to FINISH....
What would you do differently?:only one thing... remember to let the volunteers to rub sunscreen on you... and add some vaseline to the boys... I will get to that later...

Bike
Comments:I took my speed sensor out of my bike.. the only thinkg I had working was my HRM.... I had decided to bike only paying attention to my HR. I had envisioned a race with a HR below 150, and my HR average was 152.... I think I did great keeping my HR down.. It was funny, I knew I could go faster, and It was very hard not to grind and hammer.. but I also knew that I was undertrained on the bike and I needed to pace myself. So I did... frustrating to see all sorts of atheltes passing you on the bike.... When I reached the 56 mile mark, I was doing soooo well, at 2:54.... wow.. i thought... I am going to have a 6 hour bike split.... I could not believe it.... but then the way back started and the wind picked up... topped with the rough asphalt... it just took all the time I had banked.... The truth is though, is that I only saw my watch two times, at the 56 mile mark and at the end... Did not wanted to see how long it had taken me, just wanted to know my HR. The last 12 miles, I am sure I average 12 MPH or less.. the wind was incredible hard, and all of the sudden my legs started to feel the effort... but I just kept thinking... almost there, almost there, almost there... My nutrition worked like a clock... I had experimented all summer long to find the right formula... My ironman cocktail, 1 spoon of cytomax, 2 servings or CarboPro and 2 1/2 servings of perpetuuum.... Blended it all and each bottle will last me exactelly 3 hours, taking one sip every 15 minutes and washed down with water and Gatorade Endurance. I complemented my nutrition with ONE cliff bar eaten little by little and a banana. I also took 4 gels (1 every hour)... One of the gels was given to me open and I squeezed too early and pour the whole gel on my face... I had to stop and found a bottle of water on the ground (half empty) and proceeded to wash myself... Felt really great... Brett (Alpine87) caught me at mile 56, and slapped my butt.. the bastard... Then.... a few miles later I saw him again... It seems he was preparing some sort of illegal drinking stuff... the only thing I saw was a cloud of white stuff comming out of his hands... I assume it was some illegal stuff and since he talked a lot about how much fun he had in South America, I can only imagine what it was... ") :) It was a great ride.... way too long.... way too long and boring. I am glad I paced myself the way I did.. When I finished the bike I thought, I could have gone faster... That thought was a great thought to have at the start of my run...

What would you do differently?:Train harder....
T2
Comments:Again, transition in an Ironman event is great... I came off the bike, some wonderfull volunteer took my bike and I ran to the changing tent. There, again, I took my time to change and dry my feet really well. Put lots and lots of vaseline and my put on my socks, removed my biking shorts, took a Gu, left the changing tent and found a bunch of volunteers putting sunscreen, I let them do their job and started my little 26.2 mile jog. Great to find Jessica and Renne on the course... they took pictures and held a sign of encouragment.... Thank you guys...
What would you do differently?:Nothing... Are you kidding me?

RUN
RunComments:Started to run easy and clocked about 9 minutes for my first mile... I knew then I was going to fast and started to slow down... I kept a 10 minute mile for the first segment of the run and felt great. I ran from station to station and walked the stations drinking gatorade in one station, chicken broth and pretzels in the next, and a banana and coke in the next, I kept that routine for the rest of my run.... I would also get a sip of water on every station and ice that I would place on my hat so it will cool me down as it melted. When I finisht the first segment, I got to my special needs bag area where I changed my shoes and my socks. Again, I took my time, I dried my feet, put lots of vaseline and a fresh pair of dry socks and dry shoes and kept on running. when I passed by Jessica and Renne I asked about Ken and they told me that he was not very far ahead of me, I knew there was something wrong cuz he is much much faster than this. I found him and he was not feeling good, I stayed with him for the next 1/4 of the marathon... I was getting cold and my feet were starting to feel heavy so I decided to take off... and I did.. The last segment of the run was my best... I passed a million people, nobody passsed me on the last 6 miles. I was cruising, I caught a guy that obviously was having a hard time just walking.... He told me that that was his first loop and I felt bad, I stayed with him for a couple of minutes and encouraged him to keep on going.... I took off again and comming into town was exciting. I could hear the sound of the crowd in the distance and I reached mile 24... I could hear people two miles away (or I thought I could hear them), and I just kept on running.. Finally reached mile 25.... and I knew then it was all down hill from there.... ran and passed Jessica and Rennee again and it was a wonderfull sight... they were there for us all day long... What a duo... I saw the end of the course, the only thing left was the little hill to the finish line..... had nobody in front or me, or nobody behind me for maybe 5 seconds.... so I wanted to enjoy this moment... people were giving me high fives and I reached on my back where I had been carrying a homemade sign to hold high as I cross the finish line. I unfolded the sign and my tears started to fall.... What a finish... what a wonderfull experience and a wonderfull feeling... and I was enjoying every second of it.. I held the sign high in the air and I cross the finish line.... The sign read.... SARA I LOVE YOU, since she was not here with me, I wanted her to know that I had been thinking about her all the time and throught the whole race...
What would you do differently?:Nothing.

Post race
Warm down:Finish the race... and could not believe how fresh I felt after crossing the finish line.. found a massage tent and got a really good massage... the lady was strong and really flush my legs well.. It felt great... I could not eat anything, so I just found an apple and a banana and some more gatorade and ate that. Sat down, took a finisher picture and went to retrieve my bike and my transition stuff... Found Ken and Alpine87 (Brett) and waited for the bus to take us back to the hotel.. Took a shower, and went to bed...
What limited your ability to perform faster:huh!!!
Event comments:Just after I went to Bed, Ken and I stopeed at Walmart and bought IceCream... and ate a whole deal of it... Felt great, Got a call from my ex-wife and went to bed... aaaahhhhh...what a feeling It was great to meet all the Bt'ers... Jess and Renne, karl (motivated), larry (Ladavidson) and Brett (alpine87), and of course Ken, and Sherry (Oliveview). I must tell you guys... the incredible feeling of accomplishment has not left my body yet... I loved every minute of it.... I loved the feeling of getting there and knowing I would finish..... time was unimportant for me, just the fact that I was out there is indeed a blessing. I am not an athlete, I consider myself a guy happy to be alive, happy to be able to put one foot in front of the other, happy to cross that finish line. I am an Ironman, yes I can finally say it.. I am an IRONMAN, OOOOHHHHYYYYEEEAAA!!! Before the start as we started to position for the race, I notice an incredible amount of people that in many people's eyes had not bussiness there... they obviously were overweight.... then i saw them in the bike course when they totally smoked me.... I realize that anybody can accomplish this race with the proper training, and with the courage and determination. I saw a 72 year old walking her marathon, and told her... "When I grow up... i wanna be just like you!!! She smiled and say Thanks... and I meant it. I hope to get that old, and I hope I can do what she does at that age.. Thank you guys for all the encouragment, and the inspires and for keeping me accountable... I will be here for a long time..... or as Long as I can.. now.. back to reality.... Work that is...