Ironman Florida 2023 Race Report

It would be wrong to take my bike to the end of the pier and throw it off, right?

I’m disappointed with my overall performance, mostly my run.

This year’s excuse is that something went wrong with my electronic shifting. Yes, my battery is getting old on my Shimano Di2 system, but there’s no good reason for it to go from fully charged to totally dead sitting overnight in transition.

But that’s exactly what happened. I got out on the bike and tried to shift into a higher gear. That’s when I realized I had no gears.

I was spinning at 120 RPM, going 13 miles per hour.

I pulled over to see if I could find a better gear. No love.

I pulled over again and after more pushing and pulling found my way into the highest gear.

For context, my average cadence was 53 RPM and should have been in the mid-eighties.

In essence, I was using brute force instead of finesse to make it over the hills and into the wind. Some of the hills, and bridges, I had to literally stand on my pedals and push at about 10 RPM just to get over.

In Triathlon, we talk about not “burning too many matches.” I burned the whole f’ing book.

So the *run* was non-existent. It was my worst yet by more than 30 minutes, and I’ve had some pretty crappy runs.

When I get home to NOLA, the bike is going to see Darrel at Bicycle World for diagnosis and fixing. And 2024 is a “new bike year,” so any work is really for its next owner.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Ironman Florida 2023 – Swim

This year’s #IMFL (Ironman FL) was set up to be just about perfect. The weather in the morning was chilly, and the water warm – just below the wetsuit threshold. Great for the first half hour, but a little warm after that.

The water for the days prior was glassy and clear. Panama City Beach is far enough from the Mississippi River, and doesn’t have close barrier islands, so it has crystal clear water.

Clear enough to get a great view of the jellyfish. There were a LOT of jellyfish. Most were harmless little blobs that you could swim through pretty easily – and with a full-sleeve wetsuit were more freaky than harmful.

In fact, on the backside of the second loop, I was, and many others in the IMFL Facebook group, talked about, swimming through swarms of them.

But some of them were monsters with ugly, stinging tentacles. Thankfully, you could see those a ways away.

Just kidding. That’s what I sent to my friend Janelle after she talked about how the big ones looked like they would smother you.

This was in the thread where Janelle sent these.

And, from Aima Whitbeck on the Ironman Florida Facebook page.

Beautiful, right? Now go swim with them 😂

All that notwithstanding, reports of stings were few, and there were many more of the annoying little ones than the big, scary ones.

Less scary but more annoying: Ironman athletes are not swimmers. Without fail in the Ironman swim, someone will cross my path or my legs going completely the wrong way.

This was one of the more high-contact swims I’ve had. A couple times, I got boxed in between lesser swimmers, got clocked in the head, and even had my goggles knocked loose one time. I had to stop and adjust them.

Also, the swim in Florida is two loops with what they call an Aussie exit. You get out of the swim, run (or stroll) across the beach, and head back in. If you were to look at my heart rate, I bet that portion – on the sand – is the highest of the whole swim.

In all, it was a good swim. Conditions were fast, and I came out a little ahead of my planned time. My swim still has plenty of room for improvement.

Mine was 1:26:32, the top in my age group was 54:28, and the average in the top 5 was around 1:08.

My goal for the swim was 1:30:00 or better, so I’m taking that as a win.

Transition One (T1)

I had set my bike up in the morning, including clipping my shoes into my pedals, so I was good to go from the start. All I had to grab in transition was my helmet.

Before IMFL last year I bought a Rudy Project Wing with a discount code from Team Infinit, which was pretty cool. The Wing is super-aero and works great if you don’t have to keep looking up to check the road.

Goal: 10:00 minutes

Race: 8:30

Ironman Florida – Bike

I already went through the big challenges, but other than having to grind, the bike was pretty uneventful

It shocks me how many first-time Ironman athletes appear to have no exposure to triathlon rules. There are specific rules for how you must pass and what to do once you’ve entered the next rider’s “draft zone.” There were a number of instances where, either by accident or whatever, riders were 3 up or well within the draft zone.

I’m not the rule cop, but it’s dangerous on open roads to have to practically enter the oncoming lane to pass.

On the good news side, it was less windy than projected, and I was able to work the legal draft to good effect. Plus, with a little surplus body mass and a very aero bike, I descend better than most. So, I was really close to my goal for the bike.

Working the legal draft includes waiting until the last opportunity to pull out when you’re passing and to lean into the passing rider’s draft zone as they go by. You’re still in and out in the prescribed limit, but you do get a little spare power in the process.

Also, I was able to do a really good job for me of keeping aero.

Listening to professional triathlete, Paula Findlay got me in touch with how to think about staying aero. Basically, once you’ve assured there are no hazards or competitors for a while, study the white line at about a 30-45-degree angle in front of you. That way, you know you’re not going to run off the road or into traffic, and you don’t have to be craning your neck constantly.

Goal: 6:13:20 at an average of 18 MPH

Race: 6:20:22 at 17.67 MPH

Ironman Florida 2023 – Transition Two (T2)

Until I’m in contention for a top 5, from now on, I’m changing into run clothes. The people who did looked so much more comfortable. I bet they didn’t chafe as badly as I did, either.

About half a mile from transition I got out of my shoes, and was able to do a decent dismount prior to handing my bike off. I LOVE races where there are bike catchers. Not needing to find your spot and rack your bike is the best.

The only downside of leaving your shoes on your bike is running on asphalt, or gravelly concrete to transition 😠

Regardless of the surface, I was smoked from pushing those pedals. So my transition was a little longer than planned.

Goal: 10:00 minutes

Race: 11:36

The Ironman Florida “Run”

What can I say? It totally sucked.

From my first few attempts at a run off the bike, it was clear I was screwed. It felt like someone was hammering my quads with every step.

My best split on the Ironman tracker is 15:35 / mile, and my worst is 19:01. On a good day, I could powerwalk a marathon faster.

The good news is that at no time was I defeated.

Janelle, Brian, Jonathan, and Aimée – Lawrence Dodd’s wife were on the course at about the halfway point, and as you can see, I was in good spirits despite how my legs felt.

Not gonna lie – it was a different story at mile 23, but then I got into a conversation with a retired school teacher from Maryland, Hugh, and we passed the time to the finish line.

Here’s the thing. Last year, I had gut issues because I was a little dehydrated, and I had to spend extra time in the port-a-potties along the course. They started on the bike but got much worse on the run. So when I got to the halfway point, I said “screw it.”

I had already done an Ironman – Tulsa – so I wasn’t at risk of missing my “one a year until I can’t” goal.

I can honestly say, with that experience, “it hurts more to quit.”

I was coming up on the halfway point, quads killing me, and thinking all the bad thoughts, and then I thought about Angie and the boys. How would I feel going home and saying, “I quit again.”

It’s not a lesson I wanted to teach. Quit one time when you’re not grievously injured or ready for an IV, and it’s an anomaly. Quit two years in a row, and it may be a habit.

The pain in my legs and feet will subside, but the satisfaction of finishing when circumstances made it hard will last forever.

So, I had my finish line well within the time limit.

I then partially dressed and got two beers from a Pier Park bar called Tootsies. I drank one there and snuck the other out – this ain’t New Orleans, y’all.

With a little extra finish-line pizza and my remaining beer, I cheered until past the 17-hour mark.