Orlando Half Ironman

Katie and I arrived in Orlando on Thursday...it was hot!  After we got settled in I did an hour and 30 minute ride, felt okay.  Friday was an off day and we decided since we were there we should do one of the theme parks so we went to Sea World.  It was nice to get my mind of the race for a while.  Sea World is fun because they have a good mix: a few roller coasters, shows, exhibits.  Saturday before going to check in did a 15 minute swim and then a 45 minute ride shortly after that.  Both of those felt rough.

The day before the race.

Checking in was a neat experience, being my first.  They seriously had a little "Ironman Village."  Being in Fort Wilderness, which is part of Disney World, we either had to load our bike on a bus or ride about two miles.  It was raining on and off that afternoon, but not enough to dampen the excitement of the event.  Everyone seemed really nice and talkative.  I will say this now and probably again, I thought the volunteers did an excellent job.  After I signed my releases, got my number and goody bag (magazine, box of Wheaties, eye drops, swim cap in a k-swiss drawstring bag) I headed for the Ironman store.  Picked up a t-shirt, some stickers, a Headsweat visor and a few other nick-nacks.  After that we walked around the village a bit and waiting for the athlete briefing, which ended up being cut short because of a crazy but quick storm.

When we got back from check-in I did a 15 minute run and then it was off to dinner around 6:00.  Reading blogs/suggestions, pizza and pasta came up a lot as the pre-race dinner so I went with pizza.   Went to Giordano's which was awesome.  As far as nutrition goes, I'm beginning to find out what does and doesn't work for me.  Pizza and pasta seem to be okay so far.

Delicious!!!

I think it was around 3:30 when I woke up Sunday morning.  Had a bagel with peanut butter then loaded up and headed to the race.  It started raining when we got to there, which I think was around 4:45 and didn't stop till about 6:00.  This made transition setup a bit messy.  Yes, I know that the first thing is the swim and we're gonna get wet anyways but I wanted to at least keep my shoes dry, which I was able to manage.  Thankfully when the storm finally blew over it was nothing but blue skies!

Water temperature was in the low 80s and it was a dry start.  We ended up starting about 20 minutes late, putting my take-off around/at 7:14.  I felt strong but couldn't find a decent line.  I just kept running into people who were treading water.

Getting through T1 was SLOW, 6m 49s!!!  I didn't do the best job of setting up because of the rain and it took me a few extra minutes to get it together.  I decided to wear socks and sunblock this time because of the distance and time so that took longer.  Also, the run to the transition area from the water was long.


The bike was good except for wrecking in one of the first turns.  The road was still wet from the rain and I slid through the cones and hit a fence.  Decided after that to slow down in the turns.  I had two Accel gels on the ride and several bottles of Powerbar performance sports drink which was being handed out at the aid stations.  I was able to grab it on the move and pour it in my Profile design water bottle between my aero bars.  I made sure I drank a lot because it was hot.  I averaged just under 21 mph, finishing in 2h 40m 22s.

T2 was better but still too long, 2m 52s.  More sunblock, changed my shoes and loaded up with gels, three Hammer and one Gu Roctane.  Grabbed the last Accel off the bike and ate it as I ran out of transition.

The run was a three loops course on and off road.  The off road part was a little rough because of vehicle ruts and dips.  It took about two miles for my legs to make the switch.  I ate all the gels but one and made sure I grabbed water or the Powerbar drink at every aid station because it was HOT.  It started getting tough on the last loop.  At the last aid station on the last loop I grabbed a soda in hope to get a burst of energy from the sugar and I think it worked...or it could of been all the spectators cheering, which definitely keeps you pumped up.   My run time was 2h 3m 37s.

Finishing felt great!!!  My overall time was 5h 33m 14s.  I was shooting for somewhere between 5 1/2 to 6 hours so I was happy with the finish.  I got my medal and a cap, gave a thumbs up to the camera guy and headed for the food tent.  Pizza, cookies, pretzels, and a diet coke...heaven!  I grabbed my share and met back up with Katie to find a spot in the shade to indulge in my post race treats.

We hung around for a while and then headed out.  I decided to ride my bike to the parking lot and Katie rode the bus back which ended up being a bad idea.  They had the original route to the parking lot blocked off for the race and a bunch of athletes and myself had to ride around what felt like the entire theme park to get back.  Eventually got to the parking lot and met back up with Katie.  We headed back to the hotel, got cleaned up, and officially started our vacation!

Hindsight 

First and foremost, the plan I followed definitely prepared me for the event.  I got it from trifuel.com and it was free, thanks to Matt Leito.  It is an intermediate level 20 week program, which I tried to follow religiously.  In my opinion this is by far the most vital part in preparing for this race.  I am going to add more bricks to my workouts in the future.  As I said earlier, it took a couple miles to get into the run from the bike.  I noticed a HUGE improvement in my swimming.  I just need more open water practice and I also want to practice starting fast and then slowing to a maintainable speed.  I feel I'm now a strong enough swimmer to hold my own and need to be more aggressive on the start to get out in front and not have to worry about running into people as much.  Out of the three, the bike is my strong point...just gotta go faster.  A lot more speed work on the bike and run, not just distance.