GREAT FLORIDIAN 2007

The race began a few minutes late, around 0735.  With only around 425 competitors, the swim was never congested, which was awesome.  The visibility in the lake was awful, but I felt relaxed.  It was a two loop swim course, and I felt strong and relaxed through the entire swim.  I finished the 2.4 mile swim with a 1:11 and I felt like things had got off to a good start.

After a quick transition, I was out on the bike.  Despite being in Florida, the bike course has a lot of rolling hills.  There was a 1/2 ironman distance race going on at the same so there were a good amount of people on the course.  One of the things I really like about this race is the friendliness and good spirits of the athletes on the course.  There is a lot of friendly talk and a lot of athletes cheering each other on.  The bike went well.  The first 60 miles had a lot of rolling hills and I felt strong and relaxed.  There were also some flat sections with a nice tailwind, those were pretty fun.  My fluids and hydration went well.  I usually try to push around 300 calories per hour on the bike, but I have had some intestinal issues during the last 1-2 hours.  So this time I stuck to a plan of 250 calories per hour and it made an amazing difference.  No stomach issues at all.  I took in about 200 calories per hour of Perpetuem, and the other 50 was either Heed or Hammer Gel.  Additionally, I was drinking about 700 - 1000 ml (23 to 33 ounces) of water per hour and my stomach felt great.  I was taking two endurolytes per hour for the first three hours, then, as the temperature increased, I took two every 30 minutes.  The last 30 miles of the 112 mile bike course were a bit of a struggle.  If you go out with the wind at your back, you must have the wind in your face on the return.  My back was also hurting a bit, so I was having to get out of the aero position frequently.  The final 15 miles was back on the rolling hills, and that was not all that fun after 90 miles on the bike.  I was pretty happy with my 5:48 bike split, and my legs felt pretty good as I hopped off the bike and headed to the transition.

My bike to run transition was also quick.  In the transition area I figured that my total time was just a little over 7 hrs and that I needed to get under 4 hours on the run for a sub-11 hour race.  I felt good, but I did not know if I felt that good.  I headed out of the transition with a big smile on my face.  The crowd support for this race is awesome, and all the cheering helps pick you up.  The first few miles of the run had some more rolling hills - how fun - and although I was running well, I was not going as fast as I wanted.  If I tried to run harder, my breathing increased and I knew that was a certain way to tire myself out too quickly.  As I tried to settle down into a nice run rhythm, I realized that I was sweating like crazy and that I was not thinking completely straight.  I was a little behind on my fluids and energy.  There are a lot of water stops on this course, almost too many, but they are exceptionally well staffed by some very enthusiastic volunteers.  I arrived to the water stop around mile 4, took a quick break to urinate (the first and only stop of the day), and walked a bit while I took in a generous serving of Hammer Gel and two cups of water.  Lucky for me it was not excessively hot out, because I was sweating so much.  The short stop helped, and I was quickly back running. Although it was a struggle at times, due to pain, cramping, and fatigue, the run went well.  I walked for brief periods at a lot of the water stations, but other than that I ran strong - a little slow, but strong.  I feel like I did great with my fluids and hydration - this was by far the most I ate and drank during the marathon portion of a full tri.  I attribute that somewhat to the cooler temperatures (your digestive system works a little better when it is not so hot), but mostly to the fact that my stomach felt great coming off of the bike as a result of my lower caloric intake during that segment.  My calories from the run were primarily from Hammer Gel; thanks so much to Hammer Nutrition for their support of this race.  It was awesome being able to get a few additional Hammer Gels from the water stops, adding a little variety to my diet which consisted solely of the orange Hammer Gel I was carrying in a flask in my race belt.  The espresso Gel pack I got around mile 14 was really awesome.  During the second half of the marathon I also drank some cola at every second or third stop.  I get a lot of benefit from caffeine from its ability to improve glycogen utilization.  I also used a large amount of Endurolytes (electrolyte capsules from Hammer Nutrition) - 20 capsules total during the run.  I started off using two every 30 minutes, but I increased that due to some cramping.  I think because of how much I was sweating, I was losing a large amount of electrolytes.  I cannot remember when, but first my right quad started to cramp; I took two Endurolytes and it went away.  Then my left quad cramped; two Endurolytes and that was gone.  Then my calves were cramping a bit.  I would take some more Endurolytes and it went away.  Then it came back and I took more Endurolytes.  So it was like this with my calves - off and on.  But the Endurolytes were awesome at treating my cramps and kept me running strong till the end - a 4:05 marathon, not quite sub-4 hrs, but pretty close.  My finish time was 11:11 and I was very happy with my overall performance on the day.  To me, it is not totally about the time, but more about the strength of the overall performance.  The comfortable swim, a strong bike, and a strong run in which I ran hard and did not walk too much all together made it a great day for me.  And of course, the feeling of crossing the finish line is an indescribable emotional event.  Think about it, it must feel pretty darn good if it makes all the suffering on the day be quickly forgotten.

Enjoy the pics - and video (courtesy of Genevieve Rochefort)!

EnduranceDoc

THE FINISH!!!