Officially 70.3 Finisher

Even with threats from Tropical Storm Rina, I am now an official Ironman 70.3 finisher! The race was like the rest of the races this year, expo in the rain the day before and we were worried about the weather up through the start of the race.
Saturday had patches of sun and then patches of rain and it was really hot and humid - I was worried about it being that hot on race day because I was sweating just standing around.

Check In on Saturday - It's sunny now

Getting my packet: number, chip, etc

The best part about Saturday was the food truck that was at the expo, I was bummed they weren't there on race day too because that would definately have been my preferred post race fuel to the food that the race offered.  They did have real food here though,  better than the subway sandwhich at the Pocono race.  They offered arroz con pollo (which was mostly rice), pork, cooked plaintains, fresh fruit, bagels with cream cheese, and water, soda, and ironman perform drink.  I had some pork and fruit, and tried the plaintains but they were coated in sugar and were way too sweet for me.

Food Truck (it was raining)



Menu - Lots of great choices

Race Commentary via my watch splits:

Swim: 41:11 - Felt great in the water, it wasn't too choppy in Biscayne Bay and the water was warmer than the air, esp with the rain and wind!  The water felt crowded and I need to work in my sighthing, I definitely swam an ext a 100 meters, I was zig-zagging all over the place!

T1: 4:39 - This was a disaster, the transition was in a courtyard with granite tile, which when wet and with bike shoes on was super slippery.  I ran carrying my shoes and put them on before I went out at the exit.  I forgot that I had to wear my number on the bike, so ran 2/3rd of the way out, then put my bike on the side and ran back for my number, then ran past my bike...basically everything not to do in transition I did in this one!

Food: 1 squeeze pouch of sweet potato baby food (swimming makes me starving!)

Bike: 3:24:25 - I felt good for the first 10 miles, cruising around 18-19mph througout the city.  At mile 15 my right knee started hurting, and out on highway 27 the wind starting picking up.  This bike was harder on my body than the Poconos bike for me, it was long and flat and borning with cars in the lane next to you the whole way.  It was about 28 miles out then cross over and come back the other side, somehow there was only a stretch of about 3 miles with a tail wind, that was glorious while it lasted!  If I keep doing long races I need a different bike with a better fit - I was able to get a water bottle at each aid station and a half banana at one, and got no flats or crashes!

Food: 3 water bottles and 1 coconut water filled water bottle, 4 power gels, 1/2 banana

T2: 3:14 - I felt terrible off the bike, and finished almost in tears, I stretched and took a little extra time to get myself together before I went out on the run.

Food: 1 squeeze pouch of mango, orange, banana baby food

 

On the Run Cource, it was really windy



Run: 1:52:44 - Running felt good!  My garmin took about .5m to re-find the satellite so I had no idea how fast I was going in the beginning and then realized it was a 2 loop course.  That turned out to be ok and kept me from getting overwhelemed at the end like I did in the Poconos.  I got water and drank at every aid station or at least poured it over me to make sure I stayed cool.  The loop included running over a bridge, where the wind was KILLER - the second time over it (or rather the 3rd and 4th times over it) really slowed me down but I managed to finish with an 8:36mile pace which I'm pretty happy with - espeically with the wind, soggy shoes, and blisters I have today!

Food: water at the aid stations, 2 power gels, 1/2 banana

Overall: 6:06:13 - I would have loved to finish under 6 hours, but this is pretty much where I thoght I'd be.  My second endurance race in October and last offical race of 2011 is complete!



Finisher Medal



 Finished!  Whew, I was glad to be done, at the end I saw my Aunt (who we have been staying with in Florida) about 1/2m from the finish, rining the ironman cowbell and cheering for me!  It was awesome to see a familiar face and helped me keep pushing through to the finish :) 

Official Race Stats:

Number of Finishers: 1,858

Number of Females: 369

Number of Males: 1,486

Average Time: 5:51:19

 #1 Woman -Pro: Leanda Cave - 4:13:35

#1 Man - Pro: Sebastian Kienle

- 3:47:01

 To read a recap of the Pros, check out the write up on ironmanlive here.

 

 

We Did It - Watching Awards



2887 Laura Pappas

Age Group: F30-34

Age Rank: 35/75 -- 47%

Gener Rank: 165/367 -- 45%

Swim Time: 41:13, swim rate 2:09, swim rank 957

T1 4:45

Bike Time: 3:24:22, bike pace 16.4mph, bike rank 1874

T2: 3:12

Run: First 3.5m - 26:59  Up to 6.8m - 27:59 Up to 10m - 29:24, Total Run 1:52:43

Overall Time: 6:06:15

 Recovery:

• Delicous home-made goulash (thanks Elsi!) - a german beef stew like dish modified to be Paleo with sweet potatoes, and extra glycogen restoring mashed sweet potatoes on the side -- seemed even more appropriate since the Germans took 1st and 2nd on the podium-- plus a huge spinach salad with walnuts and apples
• Good real food and lots of it!  Ate some of the post race pork although it was dry and tough, and some fruit and plaintains.  Then back to my aunt's house for a big dinner.
• Lots of water and coconut water, dried cherries and fish oil for inflammation.
• Massage on Monday - I did this on Oct 3rd and it helped me feel awesome, my calves and legs are hurting still but the massage was key in my recovery.
• Rested Tuesday with a lot of sitting (e.g., driving 10 hours in the car for the first leg of our drive home from Florida back to PA)
• Rested most of Wednesday with a lot more sitting (e.g., driving the remaining 6.5 hours home) and then did a the WOD at KoP - The Widowmaker: 15 minute AMRAP of 5 burpees, 10 box jumps, and 15 double unders -- the sweat felt great!

This race had a lot of pros racing, and we got to meet a few of them.  Tim got pictures with 2 of the top 3 Pro male finishers - Matty Reed (American) finished 3rd 3:49:37, and Michael Raelert (German) finished 2nd 3:48:01.  Both of these athletes were really cool and down to earth, Michael wanted to know how Tim was doing - he took a fall on the bike - and was really interested to make sure he was ok!

Matty Reed & Tim - Sat Day Before Race

Michael Raelert & Tim - Sun Post Race