Rocketman Florida Triathlon 70.3 Review

Rocketman Florida Triathlon 70.3 Review

IMAGE SOURCE

Rocketman 70.3 is over and done.  This marks the tenth 70.3 completed in the since 2011.  This was the first time this race was ever held and let me tell you this was a great and fun race!!

Triston did the Classic Distance and Bonnie
and I did the Half Iron distance.
(BTW In the background is the NASA Vehicle Assembly Building.
You race your bike to it.) 

Prerace
We met Bonnie's teammates at Cracker Barrel.  Yuck!  Not my favor place to eat especially for a pre-race meal.  I had about a pound of pancakes, eggs and sausage for dinner.  :-)  After the meal we went back to the hotel and I had my pre-race nutrition. 

My pre-race nutrition.
I thought "Positive Contact" was fitting
for NASA race.
I slept awesome!! :-)

The Swim

The swim was held in the Indian River (salt water). The water was clean and a little chopping. 

This was my first salt water swim and I think I drank several gallons of the Indian River (mental note to self to keep my mouth shut).  Swallowing salt water SUCKS!!  It makes you sick really quick.

I also could not stay on course and preformed a MUCH longer swim then necessary.  I could not seem to sight the buoys very well on the day.  This was not my best swim time at 47:52.  But then again I probably swam 2 miles. LOL.



I got attacked by an alligator!

The Bike
The bike course was beautiful!  The course ran through the Canaveral National Seashore, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and on the Kennedy Space Center.  The wild life and the refuge were very pretty. 

Riding the KSC was REALLY cool.  On the ride you got to see up close and personal the Vehicle Assembly Build, the three launch pads and many other NASA buildings.  It was like your own personal bicycle tour of NASA. 

It was a very memorable ride.  It was also a VERY windy ride.  I was blown all over the place.  It was a tough and gruelling ride.  I was on my new TT bike that I only rode 3 times before the race.  Coming from a road bike onto a TT bike is very different and I was slower because I am not use to the new bike yet. 

My only complains are no waters stops or volunteers were allowed on the KSC so the water stops had to be at something like mile 7 (to early) and mile 50 (to late).  But the race directors had no control over this.  Also NASA roads are not the best but not that bad to ride on.  Again, the race directors had no control over this.

My bike time was 03:10:09

The NASA Vehicle Assembly Building and the Launch Pad (in the distance) that
you rode next to on the course.
Image Source

The Run
The run was a two loop course that ran on US1.  One lane of the highway was shut down for the runners.  It was very hot and not a very pretty or scenic  run.  Support was average.  Ice, water, bad/over powered gatoraid,  gels of some type.  I really wish they had sponges. 

I felt great on the run.  I ran 02:05:36.  This is pretty good for me (especially for a 70.3).

My Transitions
My transition times sucked.  I am very slow in transition.  I had to used the bathroom and put on sunscreen.  To me transitions times don't count (expecially when you can't win).  They are time to recover to do the real sports. 

Final Results
Overall: 06:08:28
Swim: 47:52
Bike: 3:10:09
Run: 2:05:36 

Not great for me but also not that bad. I just completed another 70.3 about a month ago and probably have not recovered yet.  I am also getting use to a new bike.

Overall
This is a GREAT race and I highly recommend it to others.  Riding on the KSC makes this a very memorable race.

The Race Bling


Average, sad race bag. Water bottle, fan, numbers.




The Bling

The Abduction

I love this shirt.
"I was adducted by aliens
probed was physically and mentally,
left scarred for life
and all I got to show for it
was this Lousy T-shirt."

It looks like a big Pillsbury Dough Astronaut.

 

Me, Bonnie and Triston after the race.
Look at the dried salt on my pants. 

After race nutrition.  I'm the sixth people back on the left (in the green shirt)