The 3:45AM wake up call never sounded so good. After a sweet 5 hours of Britney-induced sleep I was ready to go. After a nice warmup jog along Alligator alley and some stretching in my hotel room I was ready to head to the starting line. Despite a frantic 10 minute search for my wallet (which I eventually found,) I was feeling pretty good.
Setting up the transition area was relatively smooth. Bathrooming it was smooth. I was happy with my hydration. So far so good. Nice to not have a wetsuit for a change (No need to piss in it during the warmup swim).
I was in the 4th wave. 6:31AM start. The sun rises at about 7:30AM. So we relied on ambient light as we headed to the starting line. I was definitely getting some butterflies. I chatted with some of the guys I had met on the Tri-Gator team. Took one last bathroom trip at about 6:18 during the national anthem. Nothing more American than taking a dump in a porta-pottie while singing along to the Star Spangled Banner.
Feeling great now, pumped up and ready to rock. The swim was going to be long but the water was perfect temperature, had decent visibility, and my body was fully shaved and silky smooth!
BANG!
And we're off, feeling good, God this is nice to not have a wetsuit. I'm staying inside the buoys on the way out, trying to getting some space, getting some kicks but doling out some kicks as well. Breathing every other stroke, not as good as I'd like, trying a few 4 stroke breaths, but that's not going too good. I swam pretty straight from buoy to buoy so that was good. No 50 feet out of my way nonsense.
Sweet, I'm passing some slowpokes in the blue swim caps, made up 3 minutes on them. I made it to the halfway point before I got passed by a green cap who started 3 minutes after me. That was disheartening, but expected. My goggles stayed relatively dry, not takin on any water which would have sucked. I took in a few gulps of water, but it was fresh water and that was a welcome change from the triathlons I am used to. After making the final left turn back towards shore, it seemed like forever to get back, but I knew I was feeling really strong... YES! Swim exit! 35 minutes in! Hmm I thought I felt good enough to hit 32 but oh well.
Exit the water, now it's a long run over sand, grass, and mulch (why the hell couldn't they put some mats over the mulch). Had some trouble getting the tri-top over my head. It was bunching up on me since I was all wet. Then as I jumped on the bike I knocked off my endurolytes which I had taped to the top tube, so I crumbled up the piece of tape and stuck it in my back pocket. That was kind of messy but oh well there should be plenty of electrolyte replacement options along the way.
And we're off on the bike in my new tri shoes, no socks. This was risky because I hadn't really trained without socks and had no idea whether or not I would chafe. But I got out on the course and felt fine. The course wasn't very packed with riders so I was pretty comfortable, picking people off one at a time at first. About 5 miles in, I was passing a guy around a curve and I slowed down while turning and passing him. Eventually I got passed him and kept going, when a motorcycle comes up besides me and a guy shows me a yellow card! What the hell is this? A penalty? Is this soccer? I was pretty pissed and I asked him what it was about and he said I did not complete my pass in 20 seconds. Whatever. So that meant I had to stop and sign in at the penalty tent at like mile 28. Oh well, live and learn.
Back to the bike, everything again was still smooth. I was upset that I got passed by like 2 or 3 draft packs (which is A MILLION TIMES more illegal than failing to pass within 20 seconds), but otherwise, no complaints. Eventually I passed a female pro, who had started 6 minutes ahead of me, so I felt pretty good about that. There was a rough headwind about 45 miles in, I probably slowed to about 15mph to fight through it, but afterwards it was smooth sailing on the return to transition, and I was finishing up the last 5 miles of my ride at about 24mph, passing back a few people who had passed me earlier on. When all was said and done, I had finished the bike in about 2:34, averaging 21.7 mph so I was again, very pleased.So I get to the transition area, quickly get my socks and running shoes on, and hit up a portapottie to take a well-deserved piss. I check my watch and see that I am about 3:18 into the race, which is well ahead of my goal, and I am pretty stoked. I realize that I can run a 1:42 half marathon and break 5 hours! Since I have ran a 1:33 half marathon before, I figure this is a legit possibility. I know 8 minute miles are 1:45, so I do some quick math and figure I probably need to average about 7:45 minute miles to break that magic 5 hour mark.
By now, it was about 9:45AM, and the sun was getting pretty high in the sky, but it was time to roll. The course was like half street, half dirt trail. The street portions were all well-shaded but the dirt trail was just deadly in the heat. My first mile on the blacktop was about 7:15 so I knew I was going too fast. I slowed down to near 7:35, 7:45 for the next couple of miles, but it kept getting harder and harder. As I was finishing my 1st of 3 laps, for the first time since the swim, I was passed by a woman. That is always a very disheartening moment in triathlon and one that I desperately try to avoid at all costs. Luckily, it turned out to be the overall female winner Katja Schumacher, who was on the 2nd of her 3 laps.
As the 2nd lap started, I was at mile 4 and still on pace for 5 hours. I did not need to stop and walk at all until I hit mile 8 out on the dirt path. By now I had been running for an hour and it was getting really hot and I was just dying. I checked my watch as I finished my 2nd lap, and I was now right on pace for 5 hours. I knew that miles 7 and 8 had been slower than 8 minutes, thus negating the time I had saved by running the first few miles sub 7:45.
As I started the 3rd and final lap, I knew it was now a battle of will. At the 9th mile, I realized I was not going to break 5 hours, but I could still beat my goal of 5:30 by a huge margin. I went as hard as I could, drank whatever they were serving at the aid stations, and just powered through. By now I could care less if I was being passed by anybody. I just kept pushing and eventually saw the homestretch in the distance. As anyone who has ever finished an endurance event knows, you automatically get some adrenaline boosters in that last quarter mile.
I turned my speed back on, and triumphantly sprinted down the finishing chute, high-fiving every spectator along the way. Given my vanity, I also made sure that I had a good spacing behind the finisher in front of me so that my finishing picture would be unobstructed. Needless to say, I was successful in that endeavor.So yea, when all was said and done, I ran a 1:49 half marathon and finished the entire half Ironman in 5:07. That was good enough for 14th out of 89 in my age group and 313/2000+ overall. Given that the Ironman field is the best of the best and there aren't very many flimsies competing, I was very pleased with those results.
I greatly enjoyed my post-race euphoria for about 10 minutes, singing in the finishers area as I always do, until I realized that there was NO RECOVERY FOOD! This was no good. At even the lamest marathons that I have done, there is always SOMETHING to eat after the race, but there was nothing. My body was cramping up as I waited in line for a massage. I went to the medical tent and got a small gatorade which was helpful.
Finally, about an hour after I finished, they delivered about 500 PIZZAS! What the hell is this? I guess that's what you get after a half Ironman - pizza. Oh well, food is food.
So that was that. I hung out for a bit before finally deciding to leave. It was quite a schlep to get out of there, carrying all my gear to my car a mile and a half away, and during the course of doing so, I managed to somehow lose my cell phone. That was a bummer, but I did not let it take away from the joy of having just completed the greatest physical accomplishment of my life thus far.
