It wasn't pretty, but I'm happy to share the news of another successful Ironman completion, my third in three years. This one was by far my most difficult race, in large part due to a serious lack of preparation. My preparation was so poor, that I only decided to actually go through with the race last week. I needed to be in Tallahassee for business anyway, so I decided to not let good money go to waste. The overall event experience was great - another well run Ironman. Weather was perfect (low 80's) with minimal humidity. Unfortunately, I was solo this trip. My family wasn't able to join me given the last moment decision to do the race and none of my friends signed up for the race. So despite being all alone, I enjoyed being part of the Ironman atmosphere.
Pre-Race Preparation
As for my pathetic training, here are my workout numbers for the past six months (weekly averages compared to my 2010 Ironman St. George weekly averages):
Total Workouts: 76 (2.9 avg vs 3.5 avg)
Total Hours: 65 (2:42 avg vs 5:49 avg)
Total Swim Miles: 12 (.75 avg vs 1.5 avg)
Total Bike Miles: 487 (18.7 avg vs 49.7 avg)
Total Run Miles: 258 (9.9 avg vs 14.8 avg)
Total Bricks: 3 (.1 avg vs 1.0 avg)
Total lbs: (185 lbs vs. 172 lbs.)
As you can clearly see, my training this year has been extremely pathetic. My longest swim was 1.5 miles. My longest bike ride was 55 miles. And my longest run was 10 miles. In retrospect, the thought of doing an Ironman with such little training is a bit scary. I could blame it on my new job or move to a new city, but it was simply a lack of prioritization on my part.
Registration
As with all Ironman races, the activity starts a couple days prior with registration. I arrived on Thursday morning and made my way over to Athlete Registration to get my number, chip, bags, and swag. After registering, I went to a local bike shop and rented a new LiteSpeed road bike to use for the race (cost $200). I brought my own after-market aerobar. I was actually quite impressed with the bike. After this, I drove two hours to Tallahassee in order to be ready for my business meetings the following day. I finished those meetings on Friday around noon and then headed back to Panama City in order to turn in my bike and gear bags before the 3 PM deadline. I then shopped for some last minute items such as energy Bloks, Gu, Ensure, Gatorade, bananas and sunblock. I pulled together the rest of my support bags, ate a pasta dinner and went to bed around 9 PM.
Race Day Morning
The first thing you should know is that Panama City, FL is on Central, not Eastern Time zone. So when I woke up the next morning at 5:00 AM, I was really waking up at 4:00 AM. Needless to say, I was one of the first to arrive for body marking, tire pressure check, etc at around 5:00 AM (race starts at 7:00 AM). I had a banana and drink of Ensure Vanilla shake for breakfast. My hotel was just one block away from the Start/Finish Line. Despite having completed two Ironman races in the past, I was genuinely nervous about this one. I hadn't swum for over a month. I truly believed the likelihood of DNF (Did Not Finish) was high. Of course, then I would have to face my wife, Camille, who would surely break out the "I told you so" response to my lame excuse for an effort.
Swim (2.4 miles) - 1:47:50
The two-loop swim takes place in the Gulf of Mexico. It is a beach start which requires you to make it through about 30 yards of waves before getting into a swimming rhythm. Fortunately, the water temperature was perfect and given the vastness of the ocean, it didn't feel as compact as other 2,500 person mass swim starts. The sun was blinding as it started rising above the water. Fortunately, I had dark tinted goggles. As you can see by my time, I went extremely slow. I don't think that this had as much to do with my lack of training, but more about the beach start (wading thru the surf), gulping down salt water, large swells, difficulty in straight-line sighting, and the fact that we had to do this twice (short beach run in between laps).
Bike (112 miles) - 6:50:44
The bike was quite enjoyable, at least for the first 70 miles or so. Probably the most flat course on the Ironman circuit. I spent 95% of the time down in aero position with minimal gear changes. My legs and feet became extremely tired and sore and the last 40 miles were a bear. This definitely had to do with lack of training. I simply haven't been out on the bike for any long rides and I paid for it.
Run (26.2 miles) - 6:00:49
And this is where things started to fall apart. I knew after the bike that I was in for trouble on the run. I started out relatively well over the first few miles (9:00 min/mile pace) but ended up hitting the wall at mile 5. I was exhausted! I ended up walking most of the next 18 miles of the marathon. And not only was I tired, but I was becoming sick to my stomach again. Race Day nutrition is something I just haven't figured out. I don't eat a lot of crap. I use Bloks / Gu / Bananas and mix of water and Gatorade on the bike and then shift to Gu and water on the run. By the time I am at the half-way mark on the run, I feel like yakking. Despite feeling exhausted and sick, I knew I had to finish. My single goal was to complete the marathon in 6 hours so that my overall time would be sub-15 hours. In order to do this, I required myself to walk a 15 min/mile pace and intersperse with running. I ended up running most of the last 2 - 3 miles.
FINAL RESULTS (Time - 14:58:16) - 2,049 out of 2,506
Post-Race
Similar to Texas, I could not stomach any food until nearly two hours after the race. I ended up stopping at Wendy's for a single hamburger and large Sprite, taking it back to my hotel room. I ate half my sandwich while taking a hot bath and then ended up falling asleep in bed without finishing the rest. The next morning (Note: daylight savings - yahoo!!), I was sore, but feeling much better. After a hearty breakfast, I checked out of the hotel and returned my bike, then I began my six hour drive to Orlando for another business meeting.
Conclusion
I have mixed feelings about this race. Florida is probably one of the easiest/fastest courses on the Ironman circuit, yet this was my slowest time by nearly one hour. While ashamed at the training effort I put forth this year, I am pleased with my ability to simply finish another Ironman. I'm happy to have kept my continuous string of 1 Ironman race per year alive and commit to never approach an Ironman so unprepared again. It proves that the Ironman endurance sport is almost as much mental as it is physical. I have already signed up for my next Ironman (IM Coure d'Alene, Idaho) in June 2013. I will now take a break from triathlon training for the next couple of months. I have recently started with the BeachBody Insanity workouts and will continue with these throughout the winter season before gearing back up with triathlon training in early Spring. Until next time . . .
