Ironman 70.3 Miami Race Report – Part 4 - Run

Getting off the bike I was feeling pretty good.  I had expected the bike to take more out of me than it did given the windy conditions.  Right out of transition we took a right and wound our way behind the Intercontinental before doing a 180 back to transition.  The first water station was out of water.  Bad sign.  Temps were already well into the 80s and without water I would be in serious trouble.  I was mentally prepared for this possibility though and soldiered on.  Almost immediately I saw Ronel, which meant he was only about a half mile ahead of me.  This was a huge mental boost as we had estimated him to be the fastest finisher in our group.  After winding through the Bayfront shopping area it was time for the first trip over the bridge.  This was completely exposed, on concrete and into the wind as we headed toward the ocean.  However, I was running and the vast majority were walking up the hill.  I knew I was making time on all these people.  The next aid station before turning back over the bridge had water.  I took as much water as I could carry. 

Once I got behind the American Airlines Arena I saw Rico coming the other way.  I felt good about this as he was about 10 minutes ahead on the road, so I knew I had made some time on him since his wave started more than 10 minutes before mine.  I then saw Ronel again and I had made up all but 2 minutes on him.  It was back up the bridge for third time and I was still feeling pretty good.  My run training had been lacking in the weeks prior to the race due to some knee issues, but I knew I could run at least half the race and was determined not to walk during the first lap (6 miles).

 

I passed Ronel on the 4th trip up the bridge, while I was running and he was walking.  Here are some shots just after coming off the bridge and heading toward the start/finish line to end lap 1.   

 

Ronel caught up to me again shortly after the above pictures and as we ran together we decided to work together.  We shortly saw Rico again and the gap was holding roughly the same, so we knew we were all running at similar speeds.

 

Here are some shots as we head back out on lap 2.

 

My mom cheering Ronel and I on:

Thumbs up for the photographer:

Ronel and I were working well together.  It was mentally easy to keep pushing when you have someone right on your shoulder; the temptation to walk is completely negated.  We did agree to walk the uphills and keep our pacing on the flats and downhills.  As we hit the final turnaround our gap to Rico was still the same.

We started calculating our finish time.  We knew we had under 6 hrs in the bag, but 5:50 would be close.  Neither one of use could go much faster, so we just kept moving.  We also just kept drinking as much water as we could find on the course.  Any aid station that was open was a free-for-all with people pushing and shoving for water. 

 

Here you can see the pace impact of walking on the uphills (as well as slowing at water stops).

As we got onto the final downhill I started to hit the wall a bit.  My legs were really taking a pounding and this was by far my longest run.  In training I never got in my long runs and the longest run I did manage was 9 miles back in July.  Once we got on the flats we were less than a mile from the finish.  We decided to just cross the line together and let it be a photo finish.

 

Here is the run, mile by mile.

 

Nutrition during run:

6 oz gel flask – 3 Gus diluted with water – 300 calories, 75g carbs – probably only used about half

Tons of on course water and ice

 

Time/Placing:

Run – 2:14:13, 10:15 min/mile, 83/187 AG, 603/1899 OA

 

I was in 632 out of T2 and finished in 562 at the finish, so I passed net 70 people on the run.

 

Clearly the run was a death march for a lot of people.  My run is my weakest leg and I was under-trained but I still made up time.  I felt pretty good after the race – top half of a competitive age group and top third overall felt great for a first race at this distance.  I’m looking forward to trying again in 2011.

 

Thanks to my whole family for coming down to Florida and being a part of a day that was important to me and marked the culmination of a year of dedicated training.

 

	Time	Distance	Pace	AG Place	%	Overall Place	%
# Entries				187		1930
Swim	45:38	1.2 miles	2:10/100 yd	108	58%	680	35%
T1	4:37
Bike	2:44:15	56 miles	20.46 mph	94	50%	707	37%
T2	1:58
Run	2:14:13	13.1 miles	10:15/mile	83	44%	603	31%
Total	5:50:41			84	45%	562	29%