2012 Florida 70.3
In training for Ironman Louisville, about two weeks ago I decided to sign up for the Florida Half Ironman. I have only been training for about five weeks, but it seemed like a great time...And it was!
I was shooting for under 6 hours and I did it in 5:00:41. So close to the sub-5 hour mark! It was a great experience. I felt really good most of the race so this means my training is working. Here are some of the details.
Swim (34:33): The swim was in Lake Eva and the temperature was about 82 degrees. The water was so murky you couldn't see the person swimming next to you. They did wave starts so you constantly ran into people in front of you. I did like this better than the mass start at Ironman St George. It was much less violent. When I swim outside a race I generally breath every third stroke, but for some reason I felt like I could not get enough oxygen on this swim so I breathed every other stroke. This was good for siting though. I think I swam much straighter this time. The first 250 meters I was feeling claustrophobic. I think this was because you could not see anything. You also felt weeds around you for a majority of the swim. It really was a gross swim. Another reason I liked the wave start was I could judge about how many guys in my age group were in front of me.
T1 (2:56): The transition area was a big 'U' shape. My bike was at the beginning of the U so I had to run with my bike shoes through the whole transition. I need to work on the trick where you have your bike shoes on the bike and you ride while putting them on.
Bike (2:33:28): Another reason the wave swim start is nice is because you get to pass a LOT of people on the bike. For the first half, I was constantly passing people. Then for the second half I still passed people, but not as often. Even though these people were not in my age group, passing people pushes me to try harder for some unknown reason. The competitive edge takes over a little and it feels good to pass people.
T2 (3:11): I'm not sure why this transition is so slow (running in bike shoes again?)... I'll have to work on this.
Run (1:46:33): I am the most happy with my run. I don't think I have ever run this fast for this long. My average pace was 8:08 and I didn't even know I could run this fast for an extended period of time. What I was more amazed with was my first loop (it was a three loop course) I had an average pace of 7:52! I honestly didn't feel like I was running that fast so I am pretty sure I can make these times even better next time!
I definitely have room to get better on all three legs (including transitions), and I am sure I will have no problem doing a sub-5 Half next time if I just continue to keep up the training.
I was shooting for under 6 hours and I did it in 5:00:41. So close to the sub-5 hour mark! It was a great experience. I felt really good most of the race so this means my training is working. Here are some of the details.
Swim (34:33): The swim was in Lake Eva and the temperature was about 82 degrees. The water was so murky you couldn't see the person swimming next to you. They did wave starts so you constantly ran into people in front of you. I did like this better than the mass start at Ironman St George. It was much less violent. When I swim outside a race I generally breath every third stroke, but for some reason I felt like I could not get enough oxygen on this swim so I breathed every other stroke. This was good for siting though. I think I swam much straighter this time. The first 250 meters I was feeling claustrophobic. I think this was because you could not see anything. You also felt weeds around you for a majority of the swim. It really was a gross swim. Another reason I liked the wave start was I could judge about how many guys in my age group were in front of me.
T1 (2:56): The transition area was a big 'U' shape. My bike was at the beginning of the U so I had to run with my bike shoes through the whole transition. I need to work on the trick where you have your bike shoes on the bike and you ride while putting them on.
Bike (2:33:28): Another reason the wave swim start is nice is because you get to pass a LOT of people on the bike. For the first half, I was constantly passing people. Then for the second half I still passed people, but not as often. Even though these people were not in my age group, passing people pushes me to try harder for some unknown reason. The competitive edge takes over a little and it feels good to pass people.
T2 (3:11): I'm not sure why this transition is so slow (running in bike shoes again?)... I'll have to work on this.
Run (1:46:33): I am the most happy with my run. I don't think I have ever run this fast for this long. My average pace was 8:08 and I didn't even know I could run this fast for an extended period of time. What I was more amazed with was my first loop (it was a three loop course) I had an average pace of 7:52! I honestly didn't feel like I was running that fast so I am pretty sure I can make these times even better next time!
I definitely have room to get better on all three legs (including transitions), and I am sure I will have no problem doing a sub-5 Half next time if I just continue to keep up the training.
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