Florida Aftermath

So it's over a week since race day and I'm back home in the land of jet lag and currently with a huge dose of the post Ironman CBA's. I've no idea if there will be any training at all between now and Sunday's Cornish Marathon (not that it matters).

Florida Finish Line Video

I'm also in a bit of a mental mush so far as the race day performances went. There is no denying it was a tough day, the new course is definitely harder than the old one, it was certainly the windiest of the 5 races I've done there too. Yet you see Ronnie Schildknecht putting in the fastest ever time on North American soil (7:59:42) and I have to wonder if it was as tough as it felt, or if he just had the most amazing day out there. I can't work out if I swam/biked very well on a rough day or if the field was just poor.

Ironman Florida Splits

In 2009 I finished 91st overall (including Pro's) and 8th in the 40-44 Age Group with 9:39, but the swim was real rough that day and everybody was around 5mins down out of the water. This year I was 4mins quicker in the swim, 4mins slower overall yet I finished 30 places higher up the field and 4th in 40-44. Any other year I would need 9:30 to qualify, this year 9:48 got you to Hawaii. Maybe I should just ignore Ronnie's record breaking performance (and Jessica Jacobs new womens record) and write it off as a freak. Concentrate more on my improved positional performance and the fact that as a 'race' it was oh so good - until the run. After all, if I look at 10th position in all of the bigger Age Groups their times are 30mins slower, I should take that as a good thing I guess.

Be here before you know it

There are many lessons I need to learn from the day, especially now that I'm heading back to Kona. The first time there was all about the experience, it's the ONLY big race I've ever wanted to do and I was there, crossing the Finish Line was enough. This time I want to put in a decent performance though, it WILL BE my last Ironman (unless we win the lottery) so I want it to go well.

Can this cope with another TransAtlantic journey?

So, what did I learn?

Swim - I'm pretty good and my once a week swim sessions are plenty. I swim great in my wetsuit but need to practice getting out of it more (not an issue in Kona). My navigation still sucks and I should pay more attention to checking out the course and my sighting points in advance, especially if I'm going to find myself near the front.

Bike - I need to believe in myself more, for all my strength and power weaknesses I still seem to chug along at a fair old rate. Those weaknesses still need a HUGE improvement though. I really need to learn how to pee on the move and to get more comfortable spending hours in the Tri-bars (I moved about far too much). I really need to strengthen my quads! Maybe plenty of squats in the new year!! Who knows what I could do if I'd got the bike strength to get my HR over 125bpm.

Run - I've got to do more brick sessions and longer runs. My general run fitness and form ticks over quite nicely but there are huge area's of both that can be improved, especially my running ability after a long bike ride. I may also need to look at investing in a two piece Trisuit, those trisuits can be annoying when you've 'got to go'.

Time to chill. Mine's a pint

It's all pretty standard stuff and points that almost anybody could have told me long before this race, but Kona has got me thinking a little more seriously about things. I know I'm not going to 'compete' there but I want to do a lot more than 'complete' this year and I'll want to go significantly faster than I did in 2010.

Cracking pic taken by @MattyO_83

In the near future I've no idea what will happen. I'm very tempted to look at getting coached for the first time ever. Just finding the right coach for me would be a whole heap of hassle though - and then there's the cost. I fully expect that by the New Year when I'm thinking more seriously about things I'll be a little more casual and will probably just carry on as normal. Who knows.

IM Florida - The Race!

Ok, this is a long one, a VERY long one!! You've been warned!! So for anybody who can’t be arsed to read through the whole guff here’s the facts and figures :-


61st of 2439 finishers overall, 4th of 419 in Male 40-44 Age Group

Swim - 55:19, T1 - 3:56, Bike - 5:01:40, T2 - 2:43, Run - 3:40:25 = 9:44:03

So now for the ‘War and Peace’ edition.

Everything on Friday went pretty normally. Of course if you know me then you’ll know that doesn’t mean I sat with my feet up all day like you’re supposed to. I went for a swim, went for the traditional Ironman Florida Pancake Breakfast that the church put on. I strolled around the Iron Village one more time (that didn’t take long), went to see the good folks from www.rennmultisport.com because after days of test riding, deliberating and pondering the purchase of a last minute ‘go faster’ item my head/wallet had ruled and it would be one purchase too far for this non cyclist. Then it was time to pack my transition bags and rack my bike before heading over the Mellow Mushroom for a ‘last meal’. It was quite a busy day really. All I needed now was a few hours sleep and it would be time to roll.

By the time I woke up on Saturday morning many folks would have already been buzzing around the Transition area. After breakfast I finally left the apartment around 5:45am and strolled down to the Transition area to get body marked and put my drinks bottles (and my glasses) on my bike. Then all I needed to do was get my wetsuit on and drop off my dry clothes back before winding my way down to the beach. Easy really isn’t it.

Soon I was following the crowd down to the beach and into the start area. I worked my way down to the edge of the water and looked for an appropriate spot that wasn’t too busy and waited for the off. The Pro’s were already swimming and the swim officials were shouting at people warming up to get back to shore so I knew the race start wasn’t far away. Just a little goggle/hat adjustment before I was ready for the off. I set my Garmin running and within a minute we were away.

As my open water swims go this one was pretty uneventful. The start cannon went off and I hit the water with over 2500 other people. There was a little jostling around as people sprinted past and over me in the early stampede, but soon I was in my own water in my own rhythm and going past them again. From that point on it was just a case of trying to swim in a straight(ish) line. On the first lap this was easy as there were enough people around me to keep an eye on in the hope none of them were using me in the same way. Somehow I found myself hitting the beach at the head of my pack though and I opened a small gap on them as we hit the water for the second time. With my notorious navigation issues the last thing I wanted was to be stuck out there on my own, so seeing a couple of people around 10m ahead I put in a concerted effort to catch them up. The stretch out from the beach was pretty easy and once I’d caught my targets I just swam with them comfortably. Then we turned directly into the sun and I really had no idea where we were heading, several times I’d get lost and have to search around under the water for bubbles or a glimpse of wetsuited arm/leg – it was easier than trying to spot a bouy. On the final leg into the beach there were just two of us swimming side by side, I’m not sure but I think the current pushed us well wide at one point as suddenly the group I’d left starting the lap seemed to make massive inroads into our lead over them. I was just praying my swim companion had better navigation skills than me or we could have been heading in any direction.

We hit the beach pretty much together and you just got a sense off the commentators voice that it was a pretty good swim. Turned out that we were 3rd & 4th Age Groupers out of the water (missing a $2k prize by just a minute) although I wouldn’t know that until much later. I had a real battle with my wetsuit as for some reason I just couldn’t get it off my right arm, it felt like I was stood there for ages losing time before the ‘strippers’ could do their work on me. Then I grabbed my T1 bag and ran to the change area, threw on my bike shoes, helmet and number belt (with my tracker attached) before heading out to grab my bike. Somehow I seemed to have a pretty quick transition time compared to those around me, even with my wetsuit issues. Maybe they were dressing up as it was a cold morning – I wasn’t!!

I ran out onto the bike course having seemingly made up a couple of places in T1 and rolled out along the beach road. It was here that I noticed the multisport mode on my Garmin hadn’t got my heart rate showing for the bike. No worries, my heart rate never gets very high when I’m cycling, so long as I don’t go out like it’s a 10mile TT it’ll be fine. I got overtaken pretty quickly but it was ok although I’d rather he hadn’t been in my Age Group, then as I got to Pier Park (around 5miles) I got passed again before catching and passing a Pro woman (who’d started 10mins before me). Then it went quiet and I just chugged along at my own pace with nobody in sight for a while.

We turned off the beach road to head inland after around 7miles and the wind that had been around all week suddenly became very apparent. Looking back and seeing nobody behind me it was on this section that I had a little chat with myself and decided how my race was going to go. I knew I was obviously in a pretty good position (although I had no idea just how good), I’ve been racing/riding well this year AND I’ve always said that it I ‘raced’ this particular Ironman properly I’d got a good chance of winning my Age Group. It was time to put up or shut up, it was shit or bust time! It’s going to be my last big race, so head down, no messing around, let’s just see what I can do. I might blow to pieces, but then I might do that anyway. If you don’t buy a ticket etc etc etc.

I pushed on into the wind for the next 50miles losing just one more place while passing another Pro woman AND a Pro man(what’s going on there?). At 50miles there was a truly awful out and back section of around 10miles, the road surface is shocking and it leaves a bad feeling about what is otherwise a very good course, there are so many other roads the organisers could possibly use it seems a shame. At the turnaround of this horrible section I had the chance to see what was going on around me. Ahead of me I saw plenty of bikes but I couldn’t tell who were Pro’s and had started 10mins ahead and who were Age Groupers. The bad news was behind me where I could see people chasing me down. Lots of people!! In 60miles I’d only been passed 3 times and now it seemed like the whole field were waiting to pounce, then it started as at 62miles a small pace line (NOT a pack!) of 3 cruised past. Damn!!

We’d now had more favourable winds and the pace picked up and I tried to hang with the last man of the trio. Then came the urge I’d been dreading all ride – I needed to pee!! Here lies a big problem, I CAN NOT pee on the move! It’s really not something I care to practice on a cold UK Sunday morning when I’m all dressed up and it’s not something I’ve ever been able to do in 7 previous Ironman races. Normally it’s not a big problem, by now I’m generally in amongst the masses trying my best to ride legally while the infamous Ironman Florida peletons swarm around me, I’ll pick my time and stop when I feel it’s just too much. Today though I was riding well and they hadn’t caught me, the last thing I needed was to lose a couple of minutes doing an ‘Austin Powers’. By now the pace line had split but I was still with the last man of the trio, we were on I-98 which is a succession of rollers and strangely I seemed to be the stronger rider on the climbs. I tried so many times to freewheel and relax on the downhill sections then make up any lost time when we climbed again but it wasn’t to be and at the 80mile feed station I just had to stop.

A volunteer held my bike for me while I went into the portaloo where I peed and peed and peed for what seemed like forever, listening out as I heard the sound of at least three disc wheels go by. I wasn’t happy, what a waste of a solid mornings riding. I climbed back on my bike and sure enough there was nobody in sight, I was an angry man and pretty much time trialled the next 6-7 miles until I could see someone ahead. By now we were on I-79, the road back towards the beach and the only time we had a true tailwind all day. I was flying along but so was everybody else. At just over 90miles we had another out and back section and along here I finally caught my target, this was certainly no easy paced Ironman ride. We turned again into the headwind and it was killing me just to stay close to him but I wasn’t letting go after the work I’d put in to catch up. Then we were back onto I-79 again, we rode up and over the lagoon bridge again (the biggest hill on the course). Just after the bridge somebody came flying past me, he was only the 7th person to pass me (while I was moving) all morning. Then as he rode past the rider ahead I saw the tell tale swerve to the left and he disappeared up the road with a new companion sitting right on his back wheel, I wasn’t riding close enough to respond and just had to let them go.

Then came the nastiest part of the bike leg, the final 7 miles along the beach road with the huge condos funnelling the headwind right at you. Stuck in no-mans land as I had been for most of the ride I just kept turning the pedals hoping that some huge group of 30 weren’t going to swallow me up in the final miles. The last mile was the toughest, I knew I’d put a good shift in and was actually feeling emotionally drained. Strangely I actually felt myself welling up a few times as people cheered me in towards the transition area. I knew that although it wasn’t a bike PB I’d put in as good a ride as I was ever likely too. Now the question was just how badly was it going to affect my running?

I hit T2, handed my bike to the marshals, grabbed my back and ran to the change area. It was good to see a few folks still sat in there changing so my last miles hadn’t lost me too much time. Just socks and shoes to put on, I was out of the door quickly and immediately making up a place. Game On!!! This was the challenge, now I was into the unknown, could I run after working that hard on the bike? I saw Shelly inside the first mile and warned her that the run could potentially turn ugly before heading off again.

In my rush to make up time in transition I’d forgotten something. Once again I needed to hit the toilet, but this wasn’t as simple as a pee in the bushes. Hmmmm! Then just after a mile I came to the first feed station and was straight into the porta-loo, race belt off, trisuit unzipped, trisuit down……….. just bloody wind damn it!!! ………. Trisuit back on, number belt back on, another minute wasted. Grrrrrrr!!

I hurried through the aid station keen to make up some time while not pushing too hard and came to the infamous ‘Girl Zone’ which was hosted by the Renn Multisport crew and their friends. After the disc purchasing dilemma then knew to look out for me and I’d promised them I’d be animated when I ran through there. I was very animated, especially when my left hamstring cramped and turned into a lump of concrete. Damn that hurt, another minute lost in agony as I waited for the cramp to go and tried to massage my leg out a little. No more animated feed stops for me. More time lost, were these daft avoidable things going to come back to haunt me?

I set off running again, keeping my stride short and my heart rate low. I was moving along quite nicely but it was obvious that this pace was pretty much all that I had in the tank, it wasn’t going to be a quick run but I knew another 3:30 Marathon split would give me a nice PB to go home with. The first lap wasn’t too bad, it was tougher and slower than I’d have liked, partly because of my first mile issues, but I wasn’t feeling too bad. The second lap was more of a chore as my body started to suffer from the days fun and games, it wasn’t helped by my Special Needs bag treat either. One of my pre-race specials when I race an Ironman is a bottle Ensure+ for a few extra calories. I’d got a bottle in both of my Special Needs bags too but I had chosen to ignore my bike collection. How I wished I’d ignored my run bag too when I spent the next three miles with a grumbling stomach before spending a couple of minutes leaning against the 16mile marker while throwing up the entire contents of my stomach. From then on my stomach was all good although unfortunately it didn’t rejuvenate my legs. By the time I got to St Andrews Park for the 2nd time my fingers were starting to cramp up which is never a good sign. I walked the next feed station grabbing hold of grapes, cookies, water, sponges and several cups of coke before deciding to continue walking until the 19mile mark to give my feast a little time to settle. I knew it would cost me a lot of places but if it helped avoid the risk of a total blow up then it would be worth it. From now on it would be run (ok, jog) all the way home.

I slowly but surely made my way back around the course, knowing the sub 9:30 target was well out of my reach I was in no rush and just enjoyed it the best that I could. With a mile to go I saw Shelly and collected the Devon flag off her. There were a couple of people just ahead of me but nobody close behind, I debated the Sprint Finish approach but we all need a good finish picture right? (damn, that cost me 3rd place!!!).

So that’s about it, the long drawn out tale of my race at Ironman Florida is finally over. I was going to go further into the mistakes I made and things I learnt but they’ll have to wait because this has dragged on far too much already and if you’re still reading I’m amazed. Looks like the Iron retirement is on hold for a while, I’ve got a rematch with Hawaii lined up now.

Nearly there!!

We’re just one day away from Ironman so I expect this will be my last post before it’s all over.


So for anybody bored on Saturday you’ll be able to track the race happenings on http://www.ironman.com/. You’ll find me on the race tracker by looking up number 1826. If you’re REALLY bored I’ve also got a personal tracker which ‘should’ hopefully track me from the moment I leave T1 until I finish(the same one that died in Kona). The link for that will be at www.Track.MyAthleteLive.com/vemap.aspx?name=051651 . If I remember correctly there will be a map of the course and links to other people wearing the device so you can see how we’re comparing to each other.

So now that’s out of the way, what has the day before the day before involved? Well it started with a blog post, I’ve never posted so much! Then I popped down to the beach with Stuart and we went for a short sea swim just to get the feel of things. It was all good and there weren’t too many jellyfish, although we only swam 10mins out and 10mins back. That was followed by a browse around the Iron Village(s) which are still pitifully small. Small as they are I’m somehow now pondering buying a www.rennmultisport.com Disc Wheel after taking one for a test spin on my bike. Reading reviews and forums they seem pretty popular but a local bike nerd that I know doesn’t appear to be a fan at all. The price is more than right and if future bike plans work out it could actually free up some much needed money long term by allowing me to sell my ZIPP 808’s. At this moment in time I’ve no idea what I’ll do, but if I get one then I’ll be racing on it Saturday. Watch this space!!

Yesterday afternoon we had an Ironman ‘Tweet-up’ organised by Frayed_Laces. In typically useless Iain fashion I’ve no idea who most of the people are and my useless memory where faces and names are concerned mean that I didn’t really make a big effort to find out as I’d only forget again. They were a great bunch though and all very friendly and I’ll be doing my best to recognise them out on the course (I really am that hopeless), especially the two girls riding with the draft bikes. I certainly don’t want to be upsetting them 

The evening was the Pasta Party and Race Briefing and possibly the worst Pasta Party I’ve ever been to. Not only was there not enough tables/seating but for long spells they ran out of food, then even with a makeshift buffet with whatever was left lining one table they were still selling tickets at $30 a pop. A guest ticket is possibly the worst $30 you’ll ever spend at this Ironman, but we still all do it to get our other halves in. The Awards Banquet will be the same but we’ll no doubt still be there for more disappointment.

So onto today……… It’s time for any final bike tweaks, like maybe a new wheel – or maybe not. I need to get my race bags packed and get everything down to transition. There could always be a swim, bike or run thrown in there along with the traditional Pancake Breakfast and maybe even a massage. We’ll see.

See you on the other side.

48hrs

Hey, it’s Thursday morning. Just two days to go! We’re another 24hrs closer to this craziness being over. So what’s been happening?

Chill man, just chill...

I was up at my normal early o’clock, so after bumbling about doing various things (including yesterdays blog) I headed on out for my now regular 4.75mile run. This time I tried to keep my HR as low as possible (below 130bpm) to replicate what I’d like to do at the start of Saturday’s race. It was a real trudge and felt nigh on impossible to do without walking. The pace was still good though and if I can turn along at that pace with that ease on Saturday I’ll gladly mix some walk breaks in to keep things low. Of course it will be a whole heap different then though.

After the run we strolled down to the Ironman Village which seems tiny this year compared to the past. There’s hardly anything there at all, it’s very disappointing. We did manage to time everything we did there perfectly though which was nice! When we got there registration hadn’t opened yet and there was a queue almost out of the car park. I wasn’t having any of that so I headed for the Ironman shop and stalls. We had a quick look around and bought a couple of nicely discounted items (I’m skint remember) and got paid up at the cash tills pretty much straight away. It was fun to spot the first timers with bulging pockets, on woman just ahead of me spend $800 (almost £400). She seemed to almost have one of everything and she was LOVING it.

Busy times in the Iron Village. Ker-ching!!

After the browse around the shops we headed back to the registration tent and guess what………. there was no queue – bonus!! Things there seemed a little slacker than normal too, maybe they were just chilling a little after the initial rush. They even let Shelly come in and walk around with me which they’ve never done anywhere before. Then just as we were about to leave the Iron Village my phone rang……

Our house guest/lodger Stuart had appeared in PCB. A few weeks ago we heard an old BCT club mate from way way back was racing, he was struggling a little with his accommodation plans and ………… well, we’ve got a spare bedroom in our place. So here he is! We met up, got him and his luggage back to our apartment and sat down for a chat and a catch up. It’s been a long time!

Part of the 'tiny' Iron Village. Some of the chosen few!

Once the chatting was over Stuart put his pretty Argon bike together and we headed out for a spin. I was meeting up with fellow Twitter nerds @GardenTri and @trijon who are also racing on Sunday. With both of their real names being Jon it’s slightly confusing, but easy for me to remember at the same time! @trijon brought a couple of racing friends too, so after a little pre meet spin with Stuart we rode a lop of the run course in our little group of 6. It was nicely chilled, an easy pace (except for an effort at the end) and great fun. I got 20miles in altogether and averaged close to 17mph which was amazing, especially considering the stop start nature of the route as it zigzags along the beach road.

After we went our separate ways post ride it was time for food. We were starving!!! So we headed over to Pier Park and ended up in The Olive Garden. It’s somewhere I’ve always fancied but never been to as I’m such a ‘pie & chips’ type fella. It was very different, but very nice. They seem to like their salt there which is ok by me, but I can imagine some folks might find it a little OTT. I enjoyed it though and as an added bonus I fully expect to be ‘cramp free’ today.


Most of my club pals will want these for 2012. Get in :-)

So that’s about it. More of a diary post than anything today. Today, if I get into gear I might manage my first swim in the gulf. Have a browse around the other ‘unofficial’ stalls at Spinnakers and put in my final run before hopefully another meet up this afternoon and the Pre-Race pasta party/race brief. I’ll take my ipod in with me to listen to some tunes for that one.

Enough for now. Go get yourselves training!!!

Bike Panic/Florida Training

It’s Tuesday at 5:30am and I’m in the land of jetlag, by 9pm last night I needed matchsticks to hold me eyes open but now I’m WIDE awake. It’s not a worry though, I’ll need to be up earlier than this on Saturday, so if I can wake up fresh it’s a bonus. Not sure how I’ll feel about trying to get down to the Finish Line for the last hour though if I haven’t levelled out by then.

We’re all settled in the apartment at the same place we’ve stopped every year. It’s nice and tidy, but as always there are a few issues. I’m sure for example that an apartment that sleeps 6 people should have more than 2 knives!!!

The first day in PCB started well (other than a bit of an aching back). Of course we woke up stupidly early so I headed out of the door while it wasn’t too hot for a 4.5mile run. The run was great but I was still sweating like stuffed pig at the end of it even though the sun had hardly risen……… then the fun started.

It was time to build up my bike!!

First up I had to open my bike box up (it was half open after customs didn’t shut it properly) to find a nice chip/gouge out of my bike frame. Nothing structural (I don’t think) but damn annoying all the same. Then I started putting it all together, bit by bit it went together and then suddenly “AAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!” came the shout along with lots of swearing. Shelly came running in asking what was up, “I’m screwed, in deep shit” was the response. “My seatpost clamp is sitting on the dining table at home and it’s unique to my bike. Without it there’s no bike!!!”

For 15mins everything went mental. Shelly went into organisational overdrive trying to figure out how we could get this little wedge across the Atlantic while I tried to work out how the hell I could afford to hire a Cervelo from the Ironman Village. We called the neighbours, they went round our house and then we called them at our house. I tried to explain what they were looking for and they tried to find it………………… Then a lightbulb went off in my head, I looked in my bento box and THERE IT WAS, tucked away where I’d put it – safely where it “couldn’t get lost”.

I looked like an idiot, but the panic was over and I could finally finish putting my bike together. 15-20mins of panic, panic and more PANIC was over. Phew!! The rest of the day was spent walking around shops while my heart rate and blood pressure slowly came back down to earth after the mornings shock.

Today (Tuesday) started with a repeat of Mondays 4.75mile run, but at a steadier pace. The triathletes are starting to arrive as on Monday I saw nobody out running, today I saw 6 other runners only one of whom had the race week ego on him not to return my greeting. Then after a quick trip into town I went out with Shelly so that I could ride the far end of the new bike course. It was a tough ride, much tougher than I expected. There are some real good drags out there and there was a good breeze blowing which made the early sections feel real tough although of course it also helped the return sections fly by as I chased along trying to get my average speed up to something nearer what I’d like it to be on race day. If I have to work that hard on race day I’ll be in trouble when I’ve got to run after it.

Once the bike ride was over I changed and we popped into Pier Park for a walk around the shops and to people watch as people walked around there in bike gear, run gear and of course compression gear. For some reason I still can’t see myself like that, a race tee-shirt is about as much as I can muster the courage to wear.

Tomorrow it’ll all kick off in earnest. Race Village opens, registration opens and I fully expect the hoards will come to town. I’ll be shaved/waxed bodies and 4% body fat everywhere. How on earth are they all going to cope when this hairy 40 something with his muffin top kicks all their butts??? (Ok, I’m joking :-D).