Ironman 70.3 Florida

Background

This race was the last big event of my 30s! I will be hitting the big 4-0 next month. What better way to wrap up my third decade than with my fifth Ironman 70.3 of the year?

This race ended up on my calendar after I failed to qualify for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in New Zealand. Tiffany and Caitlin were off to Worlds, and I had a decision to make.

A year ago, it was Tiffany and I who grabbed Worlds slots first. With Caitlin facing the possibility of being the odd one out, she told us that she would keep doing the same training plan as us. Ultimately, everything worked out because she snagged her slot a month later, and we all got to race in Lahti together. But a year later, her mindset stuck with me, and it’s what I wanted to emulate.

I’d be a lousy teammate if I bailed on training with them for the rest of the season just because I didn’t have a Worlds slot. When I started looking at late-season race options, this was the obvious choice. It was the same weekend at Worlds, so we could keep the same training plan throughout the rest of the year.

Race Week

I was a bit curious about how this week would feel mentally.

This was my first time going through a season where I had failed at a big goal. Was I going to be bummed out or sad? The metaphor that rattled around in my head was that Tif and Cait had qualified for the prestigious College Football Playoff while I awaited the Pop-Tarts Bowl.

But you know what? The Pop-Tarts Bowl (also based here in Central Florida!) can be pretty fun too. 😆

There were some moments over the summer where I was pretty bitterly disappointed in myself for not qualifying, but those days were long past. I was legitimately excited to get to do this race. This is one of the final Ironman-branded events in the southeast that I haven’t gotten to race yet.

When we got to town, everything felt like an old habit at this point. I cruised through my usual routine. There were no mechanical issues with the bike, nothing was forgotten by mistake at home, and things couldn’t have gone more smoothly. This is my 15th Ironman-branded race and it’s probably the calmest I’ve ever felt.

At packet pickup, it was kind of funny to be in shorts and a t-shirt the week before Christmas. In terms of logistics, this is one of the easy races where the athlete village, both transitions, and the swim all take place within walking distance of each other. Two days before the race, they had already set up all the buoys for the swim course, so it was nice to be able to get an early preview of the swim.

My shirt was fake news.

Of all the races I’ve participated in, this was the first one that featured a Christmas tree and a giant inflatable Santa.

I swam a couple laps during the practice swim in the lake. The water was 61ºF today, which felt very cold and unpleasant! But it was worth going through the experience of jumping in a cold lake ahead of race day. I needed the reminder that while that first minute sucks, it doesn’t take long to acclimate to the temperature.

The practice swim was a short loop where we swam to the first buoy, then to the final buoy, and back to the swim exit. I did two laps, each taking around five minutes. During my second lap, it both started and stopped raining within those five minutes. Classic Florida weather.

Then we drove the bike course. I liked that they had permanent signs showing each turn across all 56 miles! Usually when we do this, we’re looking at the course PDF or for the taped arrows that are on the roads. Never missed a turn today!

After that, I went and got an early dinner with Katy. When we got back to the hotel, Tiffany and Caitlin had sent me a video message to watch. That was really sweet of them to take time away from their trip to send me that.

I started getting ready for bed around 8 or so. Surprisingly, I fell asleep quite quickly! Oftentimes the night before a race, I find myself tossing and turning, worrying about various nonsense. However, tonight, I felt a sense of peace. While this wasn’t necessarily where I had envisioned myself, I felt relaxed and excited for the day ahead!

Race Morning

If there was one thing I was concerned about with this race, it was where Katy and I would park. The official recommendation in the athlete guide was simply to find parking on a nearby neighborhood street near the lake. These races attract thousands. How does this work?

We arrived a bit before 5 a.m. We managed to park just a couple of blocks away from transition. I can’t speak for later arriving athletes, but worrying about parking was much ado about nothing. It left me with extra time to take in all the Christmas lights in the park!

I prepared my bike, laid out my running gear, and headed to the port-a-potties. The stinky deed was done quickly, which isn’t always the case! Ultimately, I had about an hour to spare before the race began. Race mornings can be filled with drama and stress, but this morning was as calm as it gets!

I always enjoy talking to fellow athletes before the race starts. I had no idea how many people ended up here after Ironman 70.3 Augusta had been canceled because of Hurricane Helene. Something kind of cool: the Augusta folks all had a dot on their bibs. When they crossed the finish line, that was a sign for the volunteers to hand them both a medal for today’s race and also another from the canceled Augusta race.

I had a brief misty eyed moment in the final few minutes after everyone lined up and we began inching towards the water. This was going to be the final big moment of my 30s!

When I was 30, it was exciting just to run a 10k. When I was 35, I did my first 70.3. Now as I close in on 40, I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished in the past few years. I may be graying and balding, but I like to think the best is yet to come!

Swim

Like most swims of mine, this one was perfectly mediocre. 😆

As usual, my age group rankings for the swim were brutal compared to the other two disciplines.

I know I say this every race report, but the swim is such a paradox! I am a meh swimmer at best. But it’s also such a fun part of the race. I legit enjoy open water swimming, far more than any lap swims in a pool.

The word that comes to mind about the water today was that it felt refreshingly cold! After that initial shock, the temperature never entered my mind again. It actually felt quite comfortable.

The sun wasn’t quite up over the lake when I started swimming. On race days, I use Roka’s tinted goggles. Those first few buoys were actually a little hard to sight because the light was still dim. However, as the swim wore on, it wasn’t a problem anymore and I’m glad I had the tinted goggles. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the sun got bright in a hurry.

Apart from that, it was a pretty uneventful swim. There were the usual athletes who struggled with sighting and would swim erratically, but I never felt like the lake became overly crowded.

Transition 1

Coming out of the water was the biggest disappointment of the day — there were no wetsuit strippers! Look at the disgust on my face.

Nothing describes the silliness of triathlon better than running up to somebody, lying on your back like a beached whale, and them ripping off your wetsuit. It’s just fun! But not today.

On the bright side, they did have a bunch of kiddie pools in the parking lot! As we exited the lake, we first ran along a sandy beach. It seemed like only about a third of the athletes were using them, but I jumped right in to wash all the sand off my feet. No way I want sand in my bike shoes for 56 miles.

This transition is a bit peculiar because we’re divided between two parking lots separated by a hill. My AWA status gets me a spot right by the bike exit, but to get there, I have to run alllllll the way through both parking lots.

Bike

Coming into the bike, I knew it was going to be a windy day. Central Florida had just had a front move through. The skies were clear, but we had sustained winds of 15-20 mph, along with the occasional gust higher than that.

The course is basically a big circle, so at some point we had to have a tailwind. However, after each turn, it felt like the headwind would turn with us!

People often assume that a race in Florida will have a pancake-flat course, but there are actually plenty of rolling hills! I only remember one hill that was a bit of a grind, but I still spent the entire race in my big ring.

The ride was generally uneventful, which is always a good thing! The only complaint I had was that a significant portion of the course was open to vehicular traffic. I got caught behind a car going slower than the speed I was biking five different times. On these rural two-lane roads, there weren’t many options for passing.

On a positive note, I matched my all-time best 60 and 90-minute power outputs from July at Ironman 70.3 Ohio. I like to think during the 2025 season I’ll set new records, but for today, I am more than happy to be tying my best outputs!

Transition 2

I know I say this about every T2, but I’m always so excited when I roll in with my bike. It’s time for my best and favorite discipline!

Run

Ironman describes this course as having rolling hills. While technically accurate, there are only two hills that require some effort. The rest of the course isn’t entirely flat, but Ironman Chattanooga is also described as rolling hills in spite of having two trips up Barton.

The course is somewhat monotonous. It consists of two laps that take you through various neighborhoods. We loop around Lake Eva, but you only get a few glimpses of it along the way. On the positive side, there were many enthusiastic volunteers who I always appreciate!

As I began my second lap, I went back to the thoughts I had at the start of the day. I’m now in the closing miles of the final notable event of my 30s. This is obviously well beyond the scope of this race report, but my 30s have been my favorite decade of my life. And here I am in its swan song moments.

I admit I gave slightly less than 100% on this run. I was hardly half assing it, but I wasn’t running with that sense of desperation like I had in Iowa. Or like in Ohio, where I was chasing down my third straight PR of the season with every last bit of energy I had in me.

Today, I genuinely enjoyed every mile. The best words to describe today were nostalgia and celebration. Closing out the decade with one more 70.3 was perfect. I’m grateful to have found this sport. Without it, my 30s would have been so different, and not in a good way. Instead, I’m about to smash into my 40s on a high note.

Post-Race

I am nothing but predictable at the finish line. When I hit that red carpet, all I want to do is let out a long scream.

I’ll grab my medal, get a bottle of water, and then find Katy. When I see her, my emotions will turn on a dime, and I’ll start crying when I hug her.

I used to be pretty self-conscious about being a weepy mess after finishing, especially after a year ago at Worlds, where it was like legit 5 minutes of ugly crying.

But I’ve come to terms with this reaction as I cross each finish line. I don’t try to fight it anymore; I just let the tears flow. There are worse things than crying when you get to hug your wife after a long day.

Final Thoughts

The glass half empty take is that I failed at both of my A goals this season. I wanted to qualify for Worlds and I wanted to finish a 70.3-distance race in under five hours for the first time. Neither happened. That doesn’t feel great. But getting upset at myself is short-sighted.

The year truly started with such a thud. On January 1st, I found myself unemployed and quarantining with Covid. I had no idea what the upcoming year held for me.

Turns out it was five of these suckers…including three in the span of five weeks. (Never again. 🤣)

Perhaps the achievement I should be more focused on is that there’s no anxiety whatsoever about turning 40. Triathlon is probably the biggest reason behind this. It is, unequivocally, the single most positive thing to happen to me during my 30s. It has introduced me to such wonderful people and taken me to surreal destinations.

And on that note, I want to close by acknowledging some of those wonderful people. My first triathlons I did alone. When I stepped up to Ironman branded events five years ago, Katy started coming along. And since Augusta in 2023, I’ve trained and raced Tiffany and Caitlin.

It was for the best of reasons, but it was very different to go back to doing a 70.3 without them. Upside: it meant Katy only had to deal with one smelly triathlete instead of three? 😆

But seriously, without the three of them, I doubt this photo of me holding five medals exists. Each of them makes these race weekends so much more fun. As much as I love the races themselves, when I think back over the past five years, my favorite memories are the ones when we’re not swimming, biking, or running.

Onward to 2025!