Battling the Elements: My 1st IRONMAN 70.3 Florida

I chose IRONMAN 70.3 Florida to be my first half ironman distance race because participating in an IRONMAN-branded event carries significant weight within the triathlon community. I was only aware of this from the POV of a spectator of the IRONMAN community, from the outside looking in. IRONMAN truly is the most coveted and recognized brand in triathlon—they host incredible events, and the energy was unlike anything I’d experienced in my local home-town races. I wanted to be a part of this incredible community with all the pride that being an IM 70.3 finisher brings. That said, ending up in the back of an ambulance wasn't exactly what I had in mind.

I planned this to be my first half ironman race, however, due to an unprecedented global pandemic, it wound up being my fourth of the distance. I registered after COVID-19 caused the cancellation of the April 2020 race. I figured there was a good chance it'd be postponed again, but I clicked "register" button holding on to hope as well as my VRBO reservation, that the December race would go ahead as scheduled. A cool late Fall race in Haines City would have been amazing! But that wasn't in the cards for an April when temperatures would soar above 90 degrees and "felt like" more than 100. So I learned the hard way, a trial by fire if you will, about the importance of creating an sticking to a hydration & nutrition plan as well as carrying salts and pacing for warmer weather. Here's the story of my first IRONMAN 70.3 Florida journey.

THE TEST RACE

I was fully prepared for the cancelled December race, so much so that I did what any sane(?) person would do: I coordinated a practice 70.3 with some of my tri club friends a few weeks before the real thing. I aligned this with 33rd race in the the IRONMAN Virtual Club's first season, which was also a 70.3. The IMVC race was to be run as a real-life simulation with an 8.5 hour cutoff just like a live race. This was now part of another journey to complete every race IMVC hosted. I was named an IRONMAN IMVR Legend in 2020, 2021 and 2022 completing every one of the 100+ virtual races hosted by the IRONMAN Virtual Club until it closed its doors ahead of the 2023 race season.

My race plan was to have fun and not take it too seriously. I mapped out a course, but didn't require anyone to follow it. Just get the miles done, that was the goal. We took extended transitions, drafted on the bike, and ran in whatever direction out of T2. In the end, it was just about enjoying a nice day in paradise and putting our fitness to the test. My wife and kids came out and took some "official" race photos and cheered for us all the way to the finish. It was fantastic! Not only did we have a blast, but it also gave me a much needed confidence boost.

• 1.2 mile Swim: 47:36, 2:15/100yds

• 56 mile Bike: 2:51:01, 19.7mph

• Half Marathon: 2:04:29, 9:29/mile

• Total Time: 6:21:48 (did I mention the super long transitions?)

My tri club joining me for 70.3 miles of swim/bike/run/fun

Photo Cred: My questionable selfie skills & my amazing wife for coming out to support us

THE REPLACEMENT RACE

No more than two days later came the dreaded but anticipated email cancellation from IRONMAN along with a few deferral options. I considered Gulf Coast and Boulder 70.3s but at this point I was mentally prepared for Haines City. The race was now set for 4/18/21. Again, my gears started spinning so to say, and I threw together a second 70.3 with my tri club for the same weekend as the cancelled December event. Once again my hardcore teammmates from Team Hammerheads joined me for another practice 70.3 on the Key. This one was better organized. We had volunteers, a transition area with a bike rack (as opposed to our vehicles), a nutrition and hydration station and even finisher towels from the amazing Brie Losego at Wicked Skins Athletics!

I was stoked to see so many finishers and incredibly appreciative of the amazing volunteers. We couldn't have done this without them! No seriously, our bikes would have surely been stolen and we literally wouldn't have been able to do it!

• 1.2 mile Swim: 48:59, 2:19/100yds

• 56 mile Bike: 2:40:55, 21.0mph

• Half Marathon: 2:41:59, 12:21/mile

• Total Time: 6:27:23

Just another fun day on Key Biscayne with some great friends

THE PRE-RACE RACE

Haines City was still a few months away and I was all trained up and ready to go. Fortunately, the Challenge family brought their race series to the Homestead International Speedway in March of 2021. Challenge Miami (now CLASH Miami) was born. A new & local 70.3, I couldn't resist! There's something special about racing an inaugural event. I can always say I was there for the first one and I've raced CLASH 4 times to date.

I'll elaborate in a different post, but the swim was fast (for me), the bike was probably too fast, & I ran out of gas for the run, which was hot and miserable. The heat is not my friend.

• 1.2 mile Swim: 39:51, 2:03/100yds

• 56 mile Bike: 2:38:37, 21.4mph

• Half Marathon: 2:43:23, 12:23/mile (my friends keep telling me to save my legs for the run, maybe one day I'll listen?)

• Total Time: 6:12:57

THE RACE!!!

This was my planned first 70.3, but turned out to be my 4th. My family and I rented a VRBO about 20 minutes from Lake Eva Community Park in Davenport, FL. Balmoral Resorts would have been the ideal location, walking distance from the race venue, but those book very quickly. We drove up Friday afternoon to settle in and get a good night of sleep before packet pickup the next morning. The race venue was awesome, and they made a lot of safet accommodations for COVID. There were some opportunities for the family to come cheer just outside the race venue, but we weren't sure how difficult that would be with no access to restrooms or food.

Saturday morning packet pickup was when we were assigned our bike drop-off times. I was concerned that I'd have to come back later in the day but fortunately I was able to rack my bike right away. I had a GREAT spot on a rack that had considerably fewer bikes than most. There was plenty of room throughout transition due to COVID protocols. This was good for me because I tend to pack a little heavier than I need to on race day. Don't judge, but I even brought a lunch box with a PB&J sandwich and a coke on ice. I knew I'd need it in T2 with the hot weather forecast for Sunday's race.

The weather all week was in the low 80's but the Sunday forecast was closer to 90. Of course Monday's high was an amaizing 72 degrees, just my luck that the hottest day of the week was race day! Did I mention how much I dislike the heat?

RACE DAY! I woke up early Sunday morning. I had set alarms in 5 minute increments starting at 4am just to make sure I got up in time. But who am I kidding? I barely slept and my anxiety woke me up around 3:30 and I didn't even bother going back to sleep. I left the VRBO at 4:45 and got to the venue about 20 minutes later. I got lucky with a parking spot close to the race venue and walked a block and a half to the transition area. I met up with some friends, took some pics, and waited for the 7am rolling swim start.

By the way, IRONMAN has the BEST staff and volunteers! All around this was an outstanding event. They did a fantastic job with COVID safety too. They were very organized from packet pick up all the way through the swim start and beyond. They gave out masks, had hand sanitizing stations throughout, and offered regular reminders to social distance. Remember when that was a thing? The bikes were well spaced apart, you can barely even see my neighbor's bike in the picture. The only downside was that transition was much larger than normal for social distancing, which made it a much longer run through T1 and T2

.

THE SWIM was a rolling start with 3 athletes starting every 5 seconds. Everyone was supposed to be on their way within 45 minutes from the AG start although I think it took closer to an hour. I started 22 minutes after the pros at 7:12am. As I approached the starting line, the cloud coverage didn't allow my Garmin to connect to the satellites before I started. I didn't realize this until around 20 minutes into the swim when I saw the elapsed time but 0 yards. Whatever though, not a big deal. This probably helped because I spent the rest of the swim distracting myself with triathlete math; how many strokes between buoys, how much time it would take to finish based on my current time and position, how many gators are in the murky water (definitely >0).

Overall my swim went well. I train in Biscayne Bay with the buoyancy benefits of wearing a wetsuit and salt water. This was a fresh water lake and wasn't wetsuit legal so my swim pace ended up exceeding expectations. This was a unique swim course in the shape of the famous IRONMAN M-Dot. A few years later I got to meet the course designer who shared some good stories as to how this unique design came to be. A story for a later time. There were a lot of swimmers but with the rolling start they were well spread out across the course and it was never too crowded for my comfort. The swim went quickly, and was overall uneventful. Before I knew it I was out of the water and starting the 1/2 mile run through T1. This might have been the only real run of the day.

• 1.2 mile Swim: 52:41, 2:18/100yds

THE BIKE was a hot and windy, as expected. IRONMAN used to call this a "flat course" but it's not. There are a good number of rolling hills on the back half of the course. The course hasn't changed since, but they now refer to it as "rolling hills", which is much more appropriate. However, riding the full route virtually a few times on Rouvy really helped me to familiarize myself with the course. The only exception was the dead hog surrounded by a dozen vultures in the first few miles. That smell was rancid! There was a small climb coming out of T1 which got the heartrate up and the legs warm pretty quickly. It was super motivating seeing some Hammies (what we call our Hammerheads teammates) cheering me on up that hill. The bike course was never crowded but there were always other cyclists in view. Unlike Challenge Miami, which might as well have been the Tour de France with all of the packs that formed, I only saw one rider who was obviously drafting. Everyone else appeared to respect the rules of the race and kept their distance.

The bike is always my favorite discipline. Why? Because I am not a fast swimmer or runner, and the bike for me is an equalizer. This is always my chance to catch up to the faster swimmers, who will probably pass me back on the run. The course was beautiful through rural Central Florida. The rolling hills were a nice change from flat Miami.

Towards the end of the bike the air temp was now well into the 80's and my pace started to slow. I wasn't hydrating enough, I had only gone through 2 bottles while averaging just over 20mph through mile 50 which made those last 6 miles brutal. I felt a little dehydrated, which is never good because there is no catching up. There's just surviving the rest of the race and trying not to get more dehydrated. I started to realize I was going to pay for my lack of hydration on the run...

• 56 mile Bike: 2:52:46, 19.6mph

I wasn't sure if I was going to buy the pictures, but I really liked this one.

THE RUN ended up being more of a walk, followed by a hobble towards the finish... I knew from the forecast it would be a hot one, but I didn't expect it to be 90+ degrees kinda hot.

I took a solid 10 minutes in T2 to change my socks, put on my shoes, eat my PB&J and chug a Coke. I needed the calories as my body was already in severe deficit. This was the same plan that worked for Challenge Miami, why wouldn't it work today? The extra 4-5 degrees was the reason.

I started a slow jog out of T2 through Lake Eva Park that may have lasted 1K. I made it just long enough to get that first picture taken. I walked up and jogged down the 1st hill and the same for the next. Each time I finished a short jog I felt nauseated. I had to downshift to a fast walk. For some reason I felt I had to keep going through the water stations rather than take the time to pause and hydrate. I grabbed some liquid, but not enough. I made it through the first lap incorporating a few more jogs but lap 2 was going to be 100% walking. It had to be. I was feeling terrible and it was getting hotter.

To help me keep going I was doing more triathlon math. Can I finish under 7:30 at a walking pace? Maybe. I then ran into a good friend somewhere in mile 10. He was cheering us on and it was super motivating. It gave me a little reprieve from the sufferfest, even if just for a minute or two. He told me something that stuck with me through the rest of the race, "Fake it 'til you make it!" So I fake smiled for a picture and kept moving. I even tried a little run. Big mistake, about mile later my calves started to cramp. My right calf seized up, then my left quad and I went to the ground in pain. I was hurting, couldn't stand, and lying down didn't make it any better. My back started cramping now too. But I was at mile 11.3 with just 1.8 miles from the finish!

A golf cart with two support staff stopped to offer some help. I was pretending to be okay while lying on the ground in fetal position and in immense pain. It wasn't getting better and somehow I was just a block away from an ambulance, how convenient?

The paramedic said I had heat exhaustion and was very dehydrated (duh). He walked me to the back of the ambulance where I chugged a couple of Gatorades. I was thinking how the hell can I DNF (did not finish) this close to the end? I wasn't feeling much better, but at least the cramps subsided. As they were contemplating putting me on an IV drip I started to wonder if I was DQ'd or if I could finish. When I asked, they said that while they didn't recommend it, I was able to go finish. I signed up for this race, I trained hard, I wanted that medal!

"Fake it 'til you make it!" These are two pictures of me doing just that. Don't trust that smile!

I got out of the truck and started walking, okay it was more like a slow hobble. There was an out and back through a neighborhood, a few more turns that I remembered from the first lap and one more water stop until the finish. I kept trekking along and drinking what I could hold. The cramps started again just before the final water station. I was now 12.9 miles into the 13.1 mile run. Seriously??? I'm not quitting with less than a quarter mile to go! I didn't care that I was frozen in pain and the cramps were everywhere.

I AM GOING TO FINISH. There was an abundance of encouraging participants and spectators. Our triathlon community is truly amazing! I asked someone to pour water on my neck to cool me down but when my eyes started burning I realized she was pouring Gatorade on my head. If you don't know, Gatorade has a high salt content and salt is not necessarily something you want getting in your eyes. Whatever, it still helped get me going.

The finish line was calling my name, figuratively. And it will be soon enough for real. It was just a short, painful stroll to the finish line.

I hobbled along that last 0.2 miles, trying to keep my right leg as stiff as possible because my calf cramp did not really go away. As I approached the finishers chute I told the IM staff member that I was going to run it in, and that it was gonna hurt. He laughed and agreed. As I started my jog I remembered what I heard 3 miles and over an hour ago, "Fake it 'til you make it!" I willingly signed up for this & I wanted a good finisher picture, so I did just that. I ran the last 50 yards through the famous IRONMAN arch, smiled, pumped my fists in the air and headed straight for medical.

I'm greatful for spectators and the IRONMAN staff member who followed me to the finisher's chute. I am also appreciative to the rest of the amazing IRONMAN staff and volunteers who make this such a great race. I've been back every year since and in a few months I'll be going for IM 70.3 finish #4 and hopefully a new PR!

• Half Marathon: 4:11:09, 19:01/mile

• Total Time: 8:15:20 (14 minutes and 40 seconds under the cutoff time)