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RACE REPORT: Great Floridian Triathlon.

By Marty McCrory on October 24, 2010

SWIM: 1:19:42 (Rank: 107/216)
T1: 5:44
BIKE: 7:01:32 (Rank: 89/204)
T2: 6:34
RUN: 5:29:44 (Rank: 100/178)

For my second Ironman race, I chose the Great Floridian Triathlon, primarily because of it’s close location to Gainesville and secondarily because of the challenge it offered.  Though the GFT’s course changes every year, it always offers lots of hills on the bike and run, warm temperatures and overall challenging race conditions.

The two lap swim was in Lake Minneola.  The water temperature was 73, so wetsuits were legal.  The swim went well for me; I actually went through the first lap a bit ahead of schedule and settled back into an easy rhythm for the second lap.  With less than 300 racers, there was almost no contact on the swim.

Considering I swam the same time as I did last year at Ironman Wisconsin on almost no swim training, I am satisfied with how the swim went.  T1 was a bit slow, but uneventful.

My plan on the three loop hilly bike course was to be super ultra conservative.  I knew the heat and hills would be problematic if I was at all aggressive, so my plan was to be a slave to my power meter the whole way.

First, here are the numbers:
Distance: 114.8 miles (more on this oopsie in a bit)
Pedaling time: 6:50:40
Actual time: 7:01:32
Pedaling speed: 16.8mph
Actual speed: 15.9mph
Average power: 131 watts
Normalized power: 147 watts
VI: 1.13
Decoupling: 3.15%
Cadence: 87rpm
HR: 147bpm
Work: 3197kJ
TSS: 314.6
IF: 0.686

To summarize, I rode easy the whole way.  My average power for each of the three loops was 130-131 watts.  I kept my power low on the hills and pushed down the hills (my max speed was almost 50mph).  I stayed aero on the flats and downhills and used the uphills as an opportunity to change positions, eat/drink and stretch my legs.  I used very low gearing (50/34 chainrings, 11-28 cassette) to allow for easy ascent of the rollers and fast speeds on the downhills.

On the first loop, I was getting passed left and right by testosterone filled guys pushing 500 watts up the rollers.  I was not too concerned.  I had a feeling I’d catch them at mile 100.  Sure enough, I was the one doing the passing on loop 3!

I made several short stops at aid stations to collect my nutrition, pour water on myself (the air temperature on the bike reached 85 degrees) and keep my HR under control.  I’m glad I did this, as it gave me a chance to catch my breath and stretch my neck out a bit.

MAJOR EXECUTION ERROR: on the first loop, I made a wrong turn that cost me almost 3 miles and 15 minutes of clock time.  It was 100% my fault!  The turn was clearly marked and there was a cop pointing the way.  I simply went right when I should have gone left.  I finally realized my error when I came to a T junction without any marked turn arrows or police cars!  I fortunately made the correct decision to turn around and go back the way I came.  Damnit!

Aside from the wrong turn, I’m happy with my bike execution.  My TSS numbers were right where I wanted them to be.  I got off the bike still mentally alert, confident and as ready to run as one can be after 8.5 hours of racing.

The three lap run course was a 4.4ish mile out and back on a paved trail.  About half the trail was covered in tree canopy, and half was exposed to the sun.  My plan was to execute a run/walk strategy the entire way, to prevent a major meltdown.  I knew I wouldn’t have the run chops to go the whole distance without a walk break.  I would also keep my cadence very high, and run on grass and dirt when possible.

I knew after the first few miles that I wasn’t going to be setting any speed records, and that even my reasonable run/walk strategy was in jeopardy.  I was jogging at 10-11′ mile pace and my walk recoveries were nice, but I wasn’t getting any faster and my legs were already starting to burn.  The heat was a major slowing factor early in the run, and I was also having GI issues that were slowing me down considerably.

The mile leading up to the turnaround was quite hilly (both up and down), so I quickly modified my strategy to lengthen my walk breaks from 1′ to 2′, and then to 3′, and then finally to 3′ + uphills + aid stations (lol).

However, I was still able to run consistently and steadily during the run intervals, and easily resume running when I chose to begin again.  So I was still in control.

At mile 11, I took a Mucinex-D tablet, which contains pseudoephedrine.  I’ve found I respond very well to Mucinex-D, and this was to be my “secret weapon.”  Sure enough, I found my rhythm and maintained my speed as I ran the second lap.  Aside: pseudoephedrine is a legal performance-enhancing supplement, much like caffeine, in reasonably limited quantities.

When I hit the last loop, I actually began to feel a bit better.  Maybe it was because I knew the end was in sight, or maybe it was the Mucinex-D kicking in, but I didn’t slow down (and I didn’t have to take any more bathroom breaks).

Finally, I arrived at the last mile.  It felt so great to finally be done that I actually kicked it up like six gears and cruised at 8:30 mile pace to the finish!  Maybe I was a bit *too* conservative on the run?

Anyway, though I walked a sizable portion of the marathon (probably about 1 hour in total of walking), I feel like I executed the marathon well, because (a) I was in control of my body the whole time, (b) when I did choose to run, it was at a relatively constant pace the whole time, and (c) my third loop was approximately the same pace as my second loop, which is a sign of good pacing during an Ironman.  Of course, I wasn’t fast at all, but given the fitness I brought to the race course, I went as fast as I could.

I have a lot of work to do before I can compete (rather than just participate) at Ironman.  I know too many people that I can compete with at short course, but school me at the 140.6 distance.  I need to significantly improve my ability to run long after accumulating 300+ bike TSS and I need to improve my nutritional strategy.

I am going to take this coming year off from Ironman, work on my run, and we’ll see where things go from there.  I know I said the exact same thing after my Ironman last year, but I really mean it this time!

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October 24th, 2010 | 570 comments

Categories: general, ironman, triathlon

570 comments to RACE REPORT: Great Floridian Triathlon.

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