Travelling to Florida to race was my 30th birthday present to myself! I figured I'd treat myself with a vacation, and race while I'm down there anyways. I was convinced to race Ironman 70.3 Gulf Coast by a friend in my triathlon club. He had raced it the previous year and wanted to have another vacation. It's a flat and fast course, or so should be!
The beach was under red flags the entire time we were in Florida! The morning of the race was no different. We went down to transition for 4:30am to set up and get a check at the surf. It was calmer than the previous days and we found out it would be a non wet suit swim. We went back to our resort villa to get race ready.
Swim:
Upon returning for the start of the race (5:45am) the surf was a lot worse, and I thought the swim may be cancelled for age groupers. It had 4-6 ft waves crashing at the sand bar and 6-8 ft swells along the whole course. Well, the cannon went off and the age groupers were in the water! It took about 25 min until my self seed in the 45-50 min group actually entered the water, and during that time, the surf got even worse. Mentally, I was in for a horrible swim.
Crashing through the waves took a little energy but I got through the sand bar and then tried to settle into a rhythm. With all the buoys being pulled by the current, I set my eyes on the only ones that matter - the turn buoys and set course for them. The surf and swells were bad and I could not keep swimming freestyle so after about 200m I had switched to breaststroke and settled into a great rhythm that I could maintain for the whole distance, as well as site while swimming. At some points, I thought I was completely off course, only to notice that I was on course, but the mass of swimmers were completely off course because they were following each buoy and not just the turn buoy.
I made it out and around the two turn buoys (about half way) in 26 minutes, and remember thinking, this is going to be a struggle to get back into shore. Well, it was screwing with your mind. I could see the sandbar below, and although I was swimming, I wasn't moving because the pull in the swells were to powerful, and so I was sitting still at times. I managed to fit all the way into shore, and post my fastest non wet suit swim on top of that! Something went right for me!
- 47:34.0 ; 2:30/100m ; 108/184 M 30-34
Transition 1:
During this transition I made sure to take my time to wash off the salt water and get cool. I had stashed frozen water bottles in my transition area (which were now already melted) to cool me off before getting on the bike. I knew if I didn't rinse the salt water off well enough, I'd be chaffing in no time!
- 6:55
Bike:
I usually can crush the bike course, and this was to be no different. It was a simple, flat, out and back course along a highway, with no technicalities. Well, the wind coming off the ocean made for a great tailwind and I posted a great bike ride out @ 32 km/hr! Unfortunately, I then had to fight the head win all the way back which slowed me down to 26 km/hr. Overall, not my fastest bike, or prettiest. Due to the heat and not being acclimatized, I was making sure I stayed well hydrated, but this also meant having to stop for the bathroom at every aid station, which ate up some time. But the course was pretty boring, nothing too spectacular like Muskoka or Mont Tremblant.
- 3:11:02 ; 28.31 km/hr ; 123/184 M 30-34
Transition 2:
I finished what little ice cold water I had left to try and cool down again prior the run. For a forecast of overcast and cool weather, it turned into being a hot, sunny, and humid day. Nothing that training in 5 degree weather can prepare you for!
- 3:11
Run:
I attempted to get up to speed and settle into a groove for the run. I knew my plan is to walk all aids stations, and I had my Gatorade and fuel on me in the belt, but after starting to run, my knees were screaming. I guess swimming 1.7 km using whip kick, and trying to run later on just doesn't work. My pace dropped drastically and I focused on doing a run walk protocol of 10:1. This actually coincided with most aid stations already so it was nice to just enjoy the day, mind you I could feel the heat coming through my shoes while on the newly paved sections! Not my fastest half marathon by a long shot, but also not my worse, and this is during a triathlon as well, so I was happy with the performance!
- 2:43:51.0 ; 7:46 min/km 118/184 M 30-34
Overall:
It was a great race, and I thoroughly enjoyed the vacation afterwards of golfing, beach days, and Go Karting on some of the most deadly tracks imaginable. There were over 300 DNF from the swim alone, so I'm just glad I made it through the swim and could complete the whole race, injury free!
- Finish: 6:52:33.0 ; 930/1973 <- middle of the packer!!!
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| Ironman 70.3 Gulf Coast Finish Line |
