Rohto Ironman 70.3 Florida Race – Run

Rohto Ironman 70.3 Florida Race – Run

Noodle Legs!

 So out of T2 I go.  My legs feel like wet noodles but are not in pain.  The sun is blaring and it is about 85F degrees and I am sweating like a pig.   At least now I have sunscreen on.

It’s funny about how your mind forgets the tiniest of things when you are preoccupied.  About 100 ft out of T2 and already into my run I noticed I forgot to do something, I forgot to take off my cycling gloves.  DOH!! Here I am running a 70.3 looking like the idiot with his gloves on.  I really considered tossing them but I decided to carry them inside my empty running pouch.  It was tricky but I got them into that small pouch.  I looked like a kangaroo carrying a small roo.



Don't foget to take off your glove idiot!



So at this point my body was going into sugar refusal mode.  I had 1 GU before the swim, 1 in T1, and 4 on the bike and 1 in T2.  My body was refusing many more GUs.  Not a good sign but the stomach was not upset just demanding no more sugar!  I think I only had 1 GU for the entire run. 

One of those bad boys is mine.  Save me one!

The running course consists of 3 loops.  There were loopbacks even within the loops.  Boy was I looking forward to seeing the same scenery so many times (sarcasm).    



They place your name on my bib just in case you forget it.

Much of the run (maybe 35%) is a “trail run.”  By trail run it means just a dirt road.  Nothing like a normal trail run but boy did people like to complain about not running on the road.  I would hate to see them on a real trail run.  They would just implode.  I did not find the dirt road portions of the run all that bad.  They were boring because there were no spectators but it was not a bad surface to run on.

The worse part of the run was the lack of spectators.  They really only existed at the race end.  This means that for 95% of the race there was no one cheering you on but other runners (if they were cool) and the aid stations.

So close yet so far!

The aid stations were placed about every 1.25 miles.  I did not care if they were supplied great as long as they had water and ice.  Whatever you do make sure you stay cool or you will overheat.  Water and ice are your saviors when running in the heat.  Every stop I put ice in the front and back of my shirt.  That was nice because my race belt would hold the ice in place.  Ice also went into my hat on every stop.  To top that off one or two glasses of water were duped on my head.  One awesome volunteer was taking one gallon jugs of ice water and dumping it on people’s heads if they wanted.  That was awesome.  Luckily I only saw one person who had to be treated for heat exhaustion.  I did see one or two people throw-up probably due to overheating. (The aid stations were frequent and well stocked with water, ice, sports drink, pretzels and cookies).

About midway through the race I got a huge cramp in my side.  Luckily I learned on the Crooms Fools Train Run that many people take potassium pills for this.  I kept two in my running pouch just in case.  I popped one potassium pill and two Advil and in about 15 minutes life was good again.

Triston begging for money as I run past

I am not a great running.  My PR is around 1:56.  My normal 13.1 is about 2:10.  I assumed with this heat and being a long triathlon I would get around 2:30.  I hit that almost on the money.  I was off by only a few seconds.  I would have like to go faster but my body was just tired and really hot.  I figured if I pushed the run harder I could over heat.  I really need to work on some speed training.

Me and my hippie step-son. 
We run to many races to afford him a haircut!

When I finished the race I felt great.  I was not hurting or sore.  I was not even exhausted.  I felt great.  I did feel very hot and needed about 15 minutes just to cool down.  I was surprised at how well I felt.  I figured I would be sore a day or two after the race but I was not.  Strange, the hardest race of my life and I felt great.  Maybe I should have pushed myself harder.  I will keep that in mind for my next 70.3.

Lots of GUs left on my belt!

One medal for the wall