Race Report - 2014 Ironman Florida

This race report is long, sorry! I’m wordy since I only use little words! I tried to de-geekify my report. However, I’m still a geek! So some of the information I removed from this race report, I included in a very detailed blog post I wrote about my race hydration and nutrition plans, plus my overall race plan. I hope it helps some triathletes out there. When I switched to being a low carb high fat (LCHF) triathlete, I did a lot of searching for information on what others used or recommended. Although I found information scattered all over the internet or via podcasts, I could never find information on everything I personally needed. By writing about it, I feel as if I am giving back to the tri community that I learned so much from!

I also dedicated this race to those with Loeys-Dietz Syndrome (LDS). My fundraiser (Move Your Feet for Loeys Dietz - 2014 Ironman Florida) helped spread awareness about LDS and raised donations to help support the Loeys-Dietz Syndrome Foundation (www.loeysdietz.org). That fundraiser has recently ended. However, I created a new fundraiser page! If you find any information on my blog to be helpful to you, please take heart and consider donating by visiting my fundraiser page at www.crowdrise.com/fitadapted.

Blah, Blah, Blah, get to the race report already, Tomas… :)

The day before I did my first Ironman, Ironman Florida (IMFL), in 2013, I signed up to do it again this year. I signed up since I fell in love with endurance training. I was self-coached in 2013 and I did nearly all of my training in what is called Zone 2 (Z2) training. I did very little speed work. I was happy with last year’s race results but I knew I still had lots of room for improvement. Two weeks after completing IMFL, I hired a coach. For the 2014 training year, I started with a huge base I built from the 11 months of Z2 training! My training this year was significantly harder and because of it, I was improving in all three sports faster than I imagined!

In 2013, my swim was, to put it nicely, pathetic. I could easily swim 2.4 miles but slow; very slow! My swim was by far the worst of the three sports so I had to work hard on it. I performed swim drills after countless swim drills. I watched tons of YouTube videos. I got swimming tips from training buddies that were better swimmers than me. For record, nearly every triathlete was a better swimmer than me! About three months before the race, I even bought a DVD that helped me tremendously! In the last few months leading up to IMFL, I was shocked at how my swim was coming along; so was my coach! My 2013 IMFL swim time was 1 hour 58 minutes. This year I was projecting 1 hour 15 minutes or faster if we had typical race conditions – wetsuit legal race, swimming in cool semi-calm saltwater, and the drafting you get swimming in the good ole Gulf of Mexico alongside some 2,800+ triathletes!

Throughout the year, I also got stronger on the bike due to the interval work built into hard training days. For the run, I improved my pace early in the year and then leveled off throughout the majority of the year. It was not until my long run training days during the peak training weeks that I noticed how much I had actually improved. My heart rate during the runs was amazingly low at my Ironman pace.

I had to make major changes to the nutrition and hydration plans I used last year for both the bike and run! The nutrition I used (a super starch with MCT oil) did not work for me this year. I was dying when my long training days started to go above 3 hours. I was typically bonking just after 2.5 hours during long bike rides that included hard intervals mixed in. I tried tweaking last year’s nutrition for a few weeks but I was still fading early. I then started testing out a few products before I finally found the nutrition and supplements that worked for me.

For my bike nutrition, I had to more than double my calories per hour and triple my grams of carbs per hour. Being a LCHF triathlete, I do not eat a lot of carbs each day – extremely low amounts during the week. I had to increase my daily intake of carbs but I was still able to remain low carb for 4 to 6 days a week. When I changed my nutrition plan, it helped me but I was still dying off early. So as the peak of the summer was approaching, I was sweating more and more. I increased my water intake by 50% and yet, I was STILL dying off! I was drinking 36 ounces of water per hour. Drinking any more than that would make it difficult to deal with on the bike. The bonking was still occurring, but now it happened after 3 to 3.5 hours! I started to panic! I needed to figure this thing out ASAP since my peak training weeks were just a few weeks away! Then I FINALLY figured it out!

Because I am a heavy sweater, I had to nearly triple my intake of salt! I went from 600 to 800 mg of sodium per hour to 1700+ mg per hour! After nailing down my nutrition and hydration plan, the long training days got easier and easier. I also started to see big improvements on the bike and brick runs. For my run nutrition, I decided to use a different type of nutrition than what I used on the bike. My experience from last year’s race was I got sick of using the same product all day and my body rejected it during the run. For the run, I doubled my calories and tripled my grams of carbs per hour. I also nearly doubled my sodium intake to 1100+ mg per hour.

We were tested on November 1st!

During the three week taper leading up to race day, I was gaining more and more confidence about the race; especially my swim! A little over a week out from the race, I started to monitor the weather forecast. The forecast was showing that the conditions could be near perfect for a full Ironman! But, as you would expect, the weather forecasters were wrong; again! A few days out, forecasts were now predicting cold temperatures and extremely high winds! Each day, the predicted temperatures were getting colder and wind speeds increasing. The temperature at the morning of the race was in the low- to mid-40’s (wind chills in the low-30s) and 20 mph winds. Winds were to peak at 23 mph plus gusts during the bike portion. The winds were not predicted to start coming down until after 6:00 PM. The weather was perfect the day before and after the race!

The day before the race, a few training buddies and I did a quick swim, bike, and run. The water conditions were near perfect. Even with the strong North winds predicted for race morning, we all still expected the waters would be great come race morning. I arrived at the transition area about 5:15 AM to place nutrition bottles, water bottles, and my bike computer (turned on) on the bike that was checked in the day before. After a quick check of the bike, I pumped the wheels up to race pressure. It was cold and windy so my girlfriend Anne and I met up with some friends in a building to stay warm for as long as possible. As we headed towards the beach, the water conditions did not look nearly as bad as I remembered from 2013. But as you got closer to the beach, the winds were howling and waves were really moving!

Waves kept rolling kayaks over!

As the crowds were slowly funneling onto the beach, an announcement was made stating that due to the high rip currents and for the safety of the athletes and water safety crew, the swim was cancelled. Several people around me were happy about the news. I was totally disappointed! I wanted to swim! I had worked so hard to improve. It is what it is and you move on! This year I did two races in Panama City Beach (PCB), IMFL and, back in May, the Gulf Coast Triathlon (a half ironman). Oddly, in both races, the swim was cancelled due to high rip currents. They then announced that the race will now only be a bike and run. The first bikes would go out starting at 8:00 AM in a time-trail format. Pros starting first one at a time with, I believe, 30 second delays. The rest of us Age Groupers would start 5 minutes after the Pros by race number.

I need to get this car magnet!

It was a little chaotic as everyone started heading to change into their bike gear. My race number was 2655 so I knew I would be standing around for a long time. No need to rush but I still did a little since I had adrenaline flowing through my body! We all stood around our bikes waiting and waiting and waiting... At one point, my friend Art and I went into the changing area to get warmed up for minute. As we sat there, I was thinking about how nuts all of this waiting around was. I was just still disappointed that the swim was cancelled. I turned to Art and told him “this is crazy!” He starts to laugh and says, “wait, this is crazy but not the race itself!?!” We both start laughing and then we head back out to our bikes. They initially started letting bikes out two at time. The process was very slow going. They switched to three bikes at a time. By the time they got closer to my number, it was four bikes leaving at a time with probably only 3-second delay. Race numbers went up to 3198! I heard the last bikes out of the transition area was roughly at 10:00 AM! Get this, race was supposed to start at 7:00 AM with a swim. Everyone is getting on their bikes NOT warmed up as if they would be after swimming 2.4 miles. Everyone’s nutrition plan is “off” because of the change in the race format. So off on the bike we go with tons of bikes bunched up on the roads.

Heading North into major headwinds

The 112 mile bike ride of this day was probably the toughest ride I ever did. Heading North into 23 mph winds was tough. The main road heading north was by far the worst part of the long ride. Later in the ride, I was nearly blown off the bike twice by crosswinds. How I did not fall off the first time still puzzles me! The ride back to transition was fun due to the awesome tailwinds. My bike plan was based on targeting a specific wattage. However, shortly after 2 hours of riding, the battery in my bike computer went dead. I had turned it on at 5:15 AM and I had the auto-power down feature turned off. I was not expecting to be standing around for 4.5 hours. I also did not have the bike screens set up on my Garmin watch so I was riding “blind.” I could not monitor my heart rate, my bike power, or even my current speed! I was riding by feel! I think that may have been one of the best things to ever happen to me on that day. My average power (175 watts) was lower than my planned 185 watts. I trained using 20-minute intervals to monitor my average power and to take in my nutrition. At the end of each interval, I would drink my nutrition, take a minute or so to spin my legs out on the bike, and then take a few seconds of putting the bike in a big gear and grinding it out. That “game” kept my mind occupied to where I was not “zoning out” a lot like last year.

I believe that riding by “feel” did not allow me to burn up my legs on the bike. This allowed me to be fresher for the marathon run. I was starting to feel fatigued on the bike during the last 20 to 30 miles. But this was no different than any other long training day. Oh and I nearly crashed just a 100 yards or so from the transition area. There was a guy just ahead of me and a girl just behind me. As we were approaching the bike dismount line, two teen-aged girls were riding their bikes and came into our lane. They were nearly all the way into the lane before the first one started turning to ride towards us! The three of us had to slam on our brakes and move to the right quickly. I screamed out to girls (nothing nice was said). What on earth was on their minds - nothing apparently! Everything was happening so quickly. I then started yelling at the guy in front of me to speed up after the near disaster since I was about to run into him. He could not speed up as he was trying to recompose himself after nearly taking a spill. After we all composed ourselves, I apologized to the guy as we approached the dismount line. It was just a survival instinct on my part. Or perhaps, I’m just an ass… :)

I knew, due to the high winds, I would not meet my projected bike time but I had hoped to at least match my bike time from last year’s race since I was now a stronger cyclist. Well, I missed it by 6 minutes. Off into transition I go. After grabbing my run gear bag, I noticed how fresh my legs felt! I was feeling strong! I start running slightly faster than my run plan. I wanted to go easy for the first three miles then pick it up depending on how I felt. Well, with temperatures being so chilly, my planned pace felt as if I was walking. After Mile 3, I got into a groove and I ignored my watch. I ran the 4^th mile by feel to see what pace felt comfy. It was still slightly faster than my planned pace so I knew I would be OK. During the run, I focused hard on being as consistent as possible by trying to maintain the same “feel” I had during the 4^th mile.

The run course is two out-and-back loops of 13.1 miles. The first loop went by so quickly! I was expecting the second loop to be a lot tougher; but it was not. I also expected I would have to go into survival mode with nutrition since on long days, your body sometimes gets fed up of taking in the same thing over and over. Well, I was happily surprised that I did not have to use anything available along the run course except for water. I only used the nutrition I carried. Unlike last year, my nutrition and hydration plan for the entire day worked out flawlessly!

I had planned on only walking for 10 seconds at each water station during the 2^nd loop. However, I felt so strong that I did not have to walk through any station! I only stopped for a few seconds at the Run Special Needs Area to get the additional nutrition bottles and my running gloves out of my bag for the 2^nd loop. With about 8 miles to go, my feet were hurting and legs were starting to fatigue. My pace started to slow; but not very much. When I started to pick up the pace for the last 5K, I had to start digging deeper. I could not see my run pace on my watch since it was dark. Being that I'm starting to age, I need bifocals to see the data on my watch. I had bifocals on my sunglasses but it was too dark to have them on. According to my race plan, I was to finish the race with some daylight available. But, due to the delayed start, I finished in the dark again this year. In the last 3 or so miles of the race, I truly thought I was running at a 1-minute pace faster than my planned pace based on my effort. Yet, looking at my race data, I was still only running my planned pace! Running down the finishing chute was more amazing this year. I was more relaxed and running with my arms out to both sides high-fiving the cheering crowd! It was amazing!

As I was crossing the finish line, they called out my name and my hometown. They did not say “You. Are. An Ironman”. I heard those magical words last year! On this day, just hearing my name after racing in such tough conditions was enough to make me happy! There were probably more people that did not finish this race than ever before. Out of 3,198 people that registered for the race, only 2,800 or so actually checked in and picked up their race packet. However, only 2,200+ athletes finished the race! It was a tough day out there! But, it was an amazing experience!

Soaking it all in!

Being the geek I am, I provided some of my race data below where I compared my results to last year's results and my projected times if conditions were "normal" for a race day.