Ironman Florida 2006 Race Report
Posted by FLATOUT JIM in Iroman Florida, ironman, panama city beach
It’s less than two months to the start of the 2008 Florida Ironman. I thought some people participating this year, or thinking about participating in the future might appreciate some insights from a 2007 finisher.
If most people are like me, they are spending a lot of time in front of the computer, surfing and reading anything remotely associated with Florida, or Ironman in general. Articles about nutrition, tapering, race prep, etc.
I figured a good place to start would be my race report from the 2007 race.
If most people are like me, they are spending a lot of time in front of the computer, surfing and reading anything remotely associated with Florida, or Ironman in general. Articles about nutrition, tapering, race prep, etc.
I figured a good place to start would be my race report from the 2007 race.
Pre-Race
Race morning was not what I expected. It was cold. In fact, at the awards banquet on Sunday night, we were told that at the start of the race, the temperature was 32 deg F. The most painful part of the morning was taking off my warm up clothes to get marked. BRRRRR. I went into the boardwalk hotel with about 1800 other racers, and put on my wetsuit in the nice toasty warm lobby. The line-ups for the washrooms were long, and I didn’t really have to go bad, but I figured by the time I got to the front of the line, I would be busting. And I was right, good thing I was thinking well in advance. Once I finished my business, it was off to the beach.
Swim
The sand was snow white, and with the temp that morning, it almost felt like snow. In addition to being cold, it was windy, as a brisk onshore breeze from the southeast was blowing 2 foot breakers onto the beach.
Thankfully the water was warm, and with a full wetsuit, it was quite comfortable. By the time we turned the buoy to cut across the course and head home, the waves felt like 3 or 4 foot swells directly at in our face. Sometimes I would be ready for the catch at the start of a stroke, and there would be no water there.
After the first lap, I was about 40 min. across the timing mats, and back in for lap 2, It felt like the waves were getting worse. When I hit the beach, I was 1:23 and change. Not bad for the conditions I convinced myself. My stomach was a little queasy, and I hoped once I got to the T1 tent, the nauseous feeling in my stomach would go away.
Bike.
Once I left the tent, and found my bike, I immediately started to feel better. I stopped once to fix my chain, and again to adjust the sensor for my computer, then I started to spin and get into a groove. My cadence was up to about 90 to 95, and my HR was down to about 130. I was getting passed by a lot of cyclists, but it was important to stick with my plan. Besides, I was used to being smoked on the bike, I just kept telling myself, "at least I could swim better than they could."
It was time to implement my nutritional plan. The plan was to drink water for the first ½ hour until my heart rate, and stomach settled down. Then every 15 minutes, ½ bottle of Gatorade, then a GU gel, ½ bottle Gatorade, ½ powerbar. The only problem with my strategy was that I showed up that morning unprepared, thinking there would be lots of food at the start. Unfortunately there wasn’t. So I filled up a water bottle in the sink in the washroom, so I would have something to sip until the first aid station. That’s until I dropped it 10 minutes into the ride. I didn’t go back, and didn’t panic. Once I hit 10 miles there would be an aid station and I could stock up. I kept watching the miles tick off on my computer. Then the 10 mile marker, and guess what, NO AID STATION. Now I started to panic. I was almost 2 hours into an ironman, and I hadn’t eaten or drank anything.
The panic was short lived though. The station was strategically located at an intersection about 11.5 miles in. Once I got there, I went on a shopping spree. I loaded up on gels, powerbars, Gatorade and water. I was determined not to be caught without proper nutrition again.
The bike route was mostly flat with a few gentle rollers once we moved inland, but there was a fairly strong headwind for most of the first half. As well, a lot of the route was on some of the back roads on the North side of the bay. Some were pretty rough and after about 5 hours, my butt was really getting sore, and I still had a good bit of riding to go. After 90 miles I was sick of pine trees, Gels, Powerbars, and Gatorade. At the last aid station, I tried to eat 1 more bar, but I almost threw it up, and spit the rest out. Hopefully I had taken in enough.
I kept spinning. My body couldn’t tolerate the aero position any more. The boardwalk resort couldn’t come soon enough. Finally, I was on the main drag of Panama City Beach, through the chute, and off the bike. I handed her off to a volunteer, took off my shoes, then searched out my bike to run bag, and trotted off to the tent in my sock feet.
Run
In the T2 tent, I took my time. I was 7 hours on the bike. I was hoping for faster, but I was satisfied that I was still feeling ok. In fact once I hit the pavement with my dry socks, and runners, I actually felt good. My legs felt fresh, maybe all those bricks during the last two months paid off. At the first mile marker, I was about 10:02, after a stop at the aid station.
My plan was to run from aid station to aid station. I would keep taking in solid food until my stomach had enough. The tables were stocked with a nice variety. Pretzels, bananas, oranges, chocolate chip cookies, as well as the standard gels, bars, Gatorade, etc.
That plan lasted about 4 stations. Then it was on to diluted Gatorade, until the end of the first loop. By then I had enough of that and from there on in it was chicken soup. By now the long day was starting to catch up with me. My feet were getting really sore; I knew blisters were setting in, so I changed into dry socks when I got my special needs bag. That helped a little, but it only provided temporary relief. In hindsight I should have taped my toes.
The walk breaks were getting longer, and by mile 24, I had to just take my time. At 4:34 and change, I now bore down and focused on breaking 5 hours for the marathon. At mile 25, I had about 14 minutes to run 1.2 miles the pain was pretty bad, but off in the distance I could hear Iron Mike Riley on the loudspeaker bringing people home. When I finally heard him announce my name, I was about five steps from the finish. It was all a blur, from there. I remember Tammy with a volunteer, a tin foil blanket, a medal, then I was whisked away to make room for the 711 people behind me.
That was it. I WAS AN IRONMAN. Finish Time, well you can see that on the picture.
Final Thoughts
It was a unique experience to say the least. For a first Ironman, it fell together pretty good. Some things I did really well, but there were certainly mistakes. In a future post, I plan to do a write-up on the things I did right, and why, and the things I did wrong, and why, and how to fix them. This is where anyone signed up for 2008 Ironman Florida, or any other Ironman can take advantage, and save some pain, suffering, and a lot of time. Check back soon.
Race morning was not what I expected. It was cold. In fact, at the awards banquet on Sunday night, we were told that at the start of the race, the temperature was 32 deg F. The most painful part of the morning was taking off my warm up clothes to get marked. BRRRRR. I went into the boardwalk hotel with about 1800 other racers, and put on my wetsuit in the nice toasty warm lobby. The line-ups for the washrooms were long, and I didn’t really have to go bad, but I figured by the time I got to the front of the line, I would be busting. And I was right, good thing I was thinking well in advance. Once I finished my business, it was off to the beach.
Swim
The sand was snow white, and with the temp that morning, it almost felt like snow. In addition to being cold, it was windy, as a brisk onshore breeze from the southeast was blowing 2 foot breakers onto the beach.
Thankfully the water was warm, and with a full wetsuit, it was quite comfortable. By the time we turned the buoy to cut across the course and head home, the waves felt like 3 or 4 foot swells directly at in our face. Sometimes I would be ready for the catch at the start of a stroke, and there would be no water there.
After the first lap, I was about 40 min. across the timing mats, and back in for lap 2, It felt like the waves were getting worse. When I hit the beach, I was 1:23 and change. Not bad for the conditions I convinced myself. My stomach was a little queasy, and I hoped once I got to the T1 tent, the nauseous feeling in my stomach would go away.
Bike.
Once I left the tent, and found my bike, I immediately started to feel better. I stopped once to fix my chain, and again to adjust the sensor for my computer, then I started to spin and get into a groove. My cadence was up to about 90 to 95, and my HR was down to about 130. I was getting passed by a lot of cyclists, but it was important to stick with my plan. Besides, I was used to being smoked on the bike, I just kept telling myself, "at least I could swim better than they could."
It was time to implement my nutritional plan. The plan was to drink water for the first ½ hour until my heart rate, and stomach settled down. Then every 15 minutes, ½ bottle of Gatorade, then a GU gel, ½ bottle Gatorade, ½ powerbar. The only problem with my strategy was that I showed up that morning unprepared, thinking there would be lots of food at the start. Unfortunately there wasn’t. So I filled up a water bottle in the sink in the washroom, so I would have something to sip until the first aid station. That’s until I dropped it 10 minutes into the ride. I didn’t go back, and didn’t panic. Once I hit 10 miles there would be an aid station and I could stock up. I kept watching the miles tick off on my computer. Then the 10 mile marker, and guess what, NO AID STATION. Now I started to panic. I was almost 2 hours into an ironman, and I hadn’t eaten or drank anything.
The panic was short lived though. The station was strategically located at an intersection about 11.5 miles in. Once I got there, I went on a shopping spree. I loaded up on gels, powerbars, Gatorade and water. I was determined not to be caught without proper nutrition again.
The bike route was mostly flat with a few gentle rollers once we moved inland, but there was a fairly strong headwind for most of the first half. As well, a lot of the route was on some of the back roads on the North side of the bay. Some were pretty rough and after about 5 hours, my butt was really getting sore, and I still had a good bit of riding to go. After 90 miles I was sick of pine trees, Gels, Powerbars, and Gatorade. At the last aid station, I tried to eat 1 more bar, but I almost threw it up, and spit the rest out. Hopefully I had taken in enough.
I kept spinning. My body couldn’t tolerate the aero position any more. The boardwalk resort couldn’t come soon enough. Finally, I was on the main drag of Panama City Beach, through the chute, and off the bike. I handed her off to a volunteer, took off my shoes, then searched out my bike to run bag, and trotted off to the tent in my sock feet.
Run
In the T2 tent, I took my time. I was 7 hours on the bike. I was hoping for faster, but I was satisfied that I was still feeling ok. In fact once I hit the pavement with my dry socks, and runners, I actually felt good. My legs felt fresh, maybe all those bricks during the last two months paid off. At the first mile marker, I was about 10:02, after a stop at the aid station.
My plan was to run from aid station to aid station. I would keep taking in solid food until my stomach had enough. The tables were stocked with a nice variety. Pretzels, bananas, oranges, chocolate chip cookies, as well as the standard gels, bars, Gatorade, etc.
That plan lasted about 4 stations. Then it was on to diluted Gatorade, until the end of the first loop. By then I had enough of that and from there on in it was chicken soup. By now the long day was starting to catch up with me. My feet were getting really sore; I knew blisters were setting in, so I changed into dry socks when I got my special needs bag. That helped a little, but it only provided temporary relief. In hindsight I should have taped my toes.
The walk breaks were getting longer, and by mile 24, I had to just take my time. At 4:34 and change, I now bore down and focused on breaking 5 hours for the marathon. At mile 25, I had about 14 minutes to run 1.2 miles the pain was pretty bad, but off in the distance I could hear Iron Mike Riley on the loudspeaker bringing people home. When I finally heard him announce my name, I was about five steps from the finish. It was all a blur, from there. I remember Tammy with a volunteer, a tin foil blanket, a medal, then I was whisked away to make room for the 711 people behind me.
That was it. I WAS AN IRONMAN. Finish Time, well you can see that on the picture.
Final Thoughts
It was a unique experience to say the least. For a first Ironman, it fell together pretty good. Some things I did really well, but there were certainly mistakes. In a future post, I plan to do a write-up on the things I did right, and why, and the things I did wrong, and why, and how to fix them. This is where anyone signed up for 2008 Ironman Florida, or any other Ironman can take advantage, and save some pain, suffering, and a lot of time. Check back soon.
