Ironman Florida: Post Race Report

The sun came up Sunday morning after the race and the gulf water was still like glass. I’ve never seen the water down there stay that calm for so many days. People were out swimming as they had been all week. I wished them well and kept my spot on the couch.

We stayed down at PCB through Tuesday. We swam in the pool, hung out at the beach, shopped, played miniature golf, ate out…a lot, toured the marinas, and just generally enjoyed the area. My IT band remained very sore, which made getting around a slow endeavor. Everywhere we went though, there were other folks limping around just as slowly as I was. One particular place we went to eat had most of the seating up a long flight of stairs. It took me a couple of minutes to make it up. We were seated so that we could see the entire stairway. It got to be pretty funny watching the other Ironman finishers climb up.

At one of the marinas

It’s been a week since race day and I’ve had some time to decompress a bit and think about the race. I really don’t know of anything major I would have done differently. My nutrition worked great. I followed exactly what I’d done in training. On the bike, I took in 1 bottle of Gatorade per hour and 2-3 Carbboom gels per hour with water (about half to ¾ of a bottle). That comes to 350-450 calories per hour on the bike. On the run, for the first 15 or so miles, I took in 2 gels per hour with water and drank Gatorade at each aid station, about 300 cals. I also started drinking coke at mile 10. After about mile 15, I took in whatever sounded good…mostly coke and Gatorade. I gave up on the gels after mile 15 or 16. I know I was well hydrated. I peed during the bike 4 times, once in each transition, and probably 4 or 5 times on the run. I never cramped. I felt the tightness that comes before a cramp a couple of times, but I never had a full-fledged cramp. I never felt like I was about to bonk either.

Pace/effort-wise, I stuck to my plan fairly well. My effort on the swim was at or under what I’d planned. The only time I went harder than I needed to all day was toward the end of the bike when the headwind was getting stronger. I kinda wish I’d gone a little harder in the early part of the bike, but, I may have paid for it later. I never had to worry about going too hard during the run. My IT band kept me from going too hard.

What do I need to work on? THE BIKE. Hands down biking is by far my weakest sport. I’m happy with my swim. My run fitness couldn’t really come through due to the IT band, but I’m happy with where my running is. My biking however, is not where I’d like it to be. It is where my focus will be in the offseason.

What’s next for me in 2008? Not an Ironman. I promised my family I’d skip a year and not do another Ironman in 2008. Otherwise, I’d have signed up again Sunday morning with the rest of the crew. It’s gonna be great following Wes, Michele, Lana, Jenny, Trimama and Tac as they prepare for Ironman Florida 2008. I’m shining up my cowbell.
My year will most likely consist of short course racing and working on improving my biking. I may…..MAY….do a half Ironman, but nothing is in concrete. And I’m considering doing our local marathon in March. I’ve also got one other huge endurance adventure I’m considering taking on in 2008, but I’m not letting that cat out of the bag until I’ve totally committed to going through with it.
Otherwise, I’ll be catching up on some things I missed out on this past year… spending more time with D and K, some golf, camping, TV beyond 9 o’clock, etc.

Happy Training,

TJ