Ironman Florida 70.3 Race Report

 

I wanted to use the Ironman Florida 70.3 in Haines City as a tune up race for my next full Ironman in Florianapolis, Brazil on May 28, 2017. It fit perfectly in my training schedule at the 18th week. Plus I haven't raced a triathlon in over a year and a half so I certainly needed the practice. When I first arrived in FL, the weather was hot and muggy, in the low 90's the first few days. Fortunately, the Thursday before the race, a strong cold front came through the state and lowered the temperatures to the low 70's with no humidity and plenty of sunshine, which was ideal for the race. 

Pre Race

I didn't sleep very well, if at all, the night before the race. I wasn't nervous, I just wasn't comfortable in my hotel room. I ended up leaving the hotel at 4 AM  and arrived at Haines City as transition was opening at 4:30. It was quick and easy to get setup so I just sat near my bike until about 6 AM. It was a cool morning and I wore my wetsuit just to stay warm. I worked my way over to the pool for a warm-up, but quickly saw people pretty cold after swimming. An old man told me the warm-up was worthless since he was now wet and cold. I figured it would be best to skip it than to be wet and cold before the race. I made my way over to the beach, where my sister spotted me and hung out with my family on the beach until my swim wave assembled. 

Swim
The swim start was very clean. I think everyone sort of knew where they needed to be within the wave as we waited in the water for the wave to start. Within 100 meters, the wave had thinned out and everyone was on their own. I had plenty of room to get into a good rhythm, except my right goggle kept taking on water. I rolled over onto my back three times before I finally got it cleared out and stuck to my face so I would not take in any more water. 

The swim course in Lake Eva is an "M" shape which was a little confusing in the center portion. It seemed like people weren't sure to swim with the buoys on the right or left. I wasn't sure either but tried to follow the instructions that were given at the Athlete's briefing. After getting out of that area, I made the final turn to finish the swim. This was probably the most congested area for me as I caught up to a lot of slower swimmers from earlier waves.

As I reached shallow water, I went to get up and tried walking out of the water. As I took a step, I must have stepped in a hole or something and my right hamstring knotted up. It was a bit of a struggle to work that out while exiting the lake and heading to T1. Fortunately, it finally let up and I was able to slowly jog through T1 without it acting up again. I was able to complete the swim in 36:11, which was a little slower than the 35 minutes that I had expected.

 

 

T1 
Transitions should be pretty automatic. Unfortunately for me, I got to my bike and couldn't get the wetsuit off my one leg. I had to sit on a curb and yank it as hard as I could to get it off. The cramp plus the wetsuit issue cost me a little more T1 time than I hoped for. 

Bike

The bike course starts out pretty flat in the first half and then some long rolling hills in the second half. I wanted to hit the flat part hard to get my mph up since I knew the back half would certainly be slower. I felt that I succeeded there and felt good when I did hit the hills. The hills weren't too bad (certainly not the Andes Mountains where I train) but there was also a headwind to fight as well, that made them a little more challenging.

I finished my bike ride in 2:39:19 which was five minutes faster than my goal. My new bike, a Quintana Roo PR5, exceeded my expectations and I felt good coming off the bike. 

T2
Again, I hate writing about transition mistakes but I screwed this one up too. The transition area was an oval parking lot. When I came out of the swim, I ran along the lower portion and then turned around and ran the upper potion to get to my bike rack. I thought we were going to have to run the oval again, which wasn't the case. So I ran right past my bike rack and to the end of the parking lot before I realized this. I had to run my bike back to my rack to drop it off and get ready for my run costing myself additional transition time. I guess I should have paid more attention to the Transition map.

Run

The run course was three 4+ mile loops around Lake Eva. Each loop starts off with three decently challenging hills. After the hills, the course levels off and is a slight downhill and a light uphill or two. I felt this made the course fast after the initial hills.

My first lap went pretty fast and my splits on each successive lap were slightly slower. My hamstrings were a little achy so I was careful not to go too hard since I had already cramped in the swim. I passed a lot of people on the course which is always fun. The course does have a slight downhill finish to the finisher's chute so I hit the last half mile hard and practically ran over another guy at the Finish line. I felt strong throughout and ran the entire course without walking or stopping. I was never winded during the run, probably from the high altitude training where I live.  I finished the run in 1:39:37 which was over 5 minutes faster than I expected. 

Final Thoughts

I think this was a near perfect race for me, despite the hamstring knot and transition mistakes. The weather was perfect for a 70.3 race and even with full sun during the run, it felt comfortable. I hoped to go under 5 hours and maybe I could have without the small mistakes, but I'm not disappointed with a final time of 5:02:59. I knew when I started the run that it would take a really great run to go under 5 hours, but I still had a better run than I expected. 

This race was a tune-up for my full Ironman and to get back into race mode again. The swim went well and the bike and run were better than expected. My new bike worked great and the Retul bike fitting kept me comfortable in aero during the bike portion and ready for the run. That was a great takeaway for me, especially running a half marathon faster than expected.

Thanks to my family who came out and cheered me on during the race and my friend Robin who also trekked over to Haines City. Now, on to Florianapolis, Brazil for the Ironman South America Championship on May 28, 2017......