I had never really planned on racing Ironman Florida, many people from the area have, but for some reason the flat course and the time of year didn’t so much appeal to me. Also, as an amateur athlete, my sights were set on another little race, about a month earlier in Kona, HI. But with the pro athlete ranking system, I knew that Kona was not going to be an option, so I wanted to do another late season race. I contemplated IM Arizona, but elected on Florida for a few reasons, ease and cost of travel, plus I have some newly acquired wonderful family down near there, so Lauren and I could tack on a little vacay and some much needed down time after a really successful, but long year, as I started racing back in March.
Fast forward to November and we have arrived at the perfect time. I had made a little mistake and planned travel based on a Sunday race, but Florida has always been contested on the Saturday, somehow an oversight on my part. But perhaps I am a little clairvoyant, as we were able to travel down un-interrupted and avoided the entire post hurricane Sandy drama that plagued many a traveller that week. We got in and went straight to registration and got everything sorted out in record time. Everything went really well and I was feeling terrific leading up to this race. Add in some late unexpected family support in my brother and his wife who drove practically through the night and made it just in time. I was so excited and touched that they made the 10 hour drive to support me, how could I disappoint with support like that plus the added support of my wife, her mother and her aunt who all made the trek to support me. Everything was lining up for a special day!
Next up, race morning and things went as planned. I got in my customary 750-1000 calorie breakfast, final touches on the bags and we headed down to transition. Then next thing I knew I was sort of running around like chicken with my head cut off. I could not find special needs drop off, so I got a little flustered, but all the little running around kept me warm and my mind clear. I got everything set and I was heading down to the swim start. It was quite dark and I thought for sure they were going to push the start back as the Gulf seemed angry and you couldn’t see the buoys. The surf was the roughest it had been in weeks according to the locals and it was dark. But I went in and had a quick warm up and attempted a few dolphin dives under the surf. Got settled and again it was nearly go time! I didn’t get a chance to get nervous or anxious, it was all business.
The swim went surprisingly well for me…I started out hard and lead a group all the way until the first turn, then I made the turn and realised there was about 20 or so guys with me, so I faded, got some rest and pulled back in roughly in the middle of the group. With such a big pro mens field with roughly 45 athletes, it felt effortless. I was just cruising and it felt easy, but the only problem was that we weren’t swimming all that fast due to the waves and chop. The first loop was 27:30 or so. The key for me was that I was right with everyone I wanted to be with and should’ve been with. We come around to start the second loop and it was much of the same, big swells, surf and lots of chop. Roughest open water swim I can ever remember doing. But I’m right with the group, sitting in, however the group was starting to get whittled down and once we hit the last corner to head for home we have caught a considerable amount of amateurs and the group just sort of disintegrated. I couldn’t see anyone anymore and was forced to swim in by myself. I just tried to take as much advantage of the surf as I could and get to the beach as quickly as I could. Once I finally hit the beach in 57 minutes, I was happy that it was done, more so than normal, now onto that little 112 mile bike ride.
I think this went really well in terms of execution and staying solid across the board. At Ironman Tremblant, I feared that I rode too hard for the first 2/3s of the ride and really backed off the throttle coming home out of fear of the run. The focus this year was really to get my marathon time down to where it should be, under 3 hours! But that system didn’t exactly work as planned at IMMTB. I learned those valuable lessons and was convinced that I was going to nail the ride and the run down in Florida. I got off to a sluggish start, and my legs felt a little heavy or flat. I think the swim took a fair bit out of me, or it could be I was just a little flat, but it felt hard to push my prescribed wattage of 230-240. I felt more comfortable and my RPE felt better at around 225, so I went with that. Thanks to Nigel and all those simulation rides, I knew to stick to the plan, keep my calories going in and ride out the storm. Sure enough, my legs eventually came around. I felt really quite hungry in that initial 60km or so and I felt like I could always take in more calories, so I did. In total, I ultimately took in the 15 PowerBar gels that I had planned, plus 3 on course gels, 2 bottles of Perform, plus countless bottles of water and 12 Salt Stick pills. Normally I stick to a gel every 20 minutes, but I felt like I needed one every 16 or so minutes during this ride…so I went with that. And as I said, my legs came around and I felt pretty solid throughout the duration of the ride. I never had any really low points on the bike and in that last 60km some of the boys started to come back to me. I never got passed and moved up a few spots to come off the bike in 25th spot. Total ride time was 4:41.
After a quick transition, I was excited to settle in and get to work. The run is what it all comes down to and I had some great long runs in training and was excited to get out on the pavement. I started out and the legs felt terrific! I started ticking off kms and the legs felt awesome, just like they had in training. Everything was smooth, HR was in check, and energy was good. My opening km was 3:55, a touch too fast but before I knew it, I was right in my rhythm and 4-4:05s were dialled in. I again was moving up and starting to catch some guys. I know that the race doesn’t start until the second half and I got there in record time for me; 1:25. All was well until about 25km in the merrython, and then I started to cramp. I ran out of salt as it seemed to be a lot hotter than expected or that I had trained in. I had an extra couple of salt pills that I took at special needs, but it wasn’t enough. It was frustrating, normally at this stage of the race, I try to convince myself that I have the energy and to keep turning the legs over. But this time around the legs still felt good, but I just couldn’t lengthen my stride without my right hamstring grabbing and cramping up. It quickly became a struggle coming in and I think I easily left 5 minutes out there in the second half as I had to occasionally stop and stretch. I started to walk through some aid stations to ensure that I could get in as many electrolytes and salt as I could. But like many of you I started to do the treaded math. I needed to maintain an average of 7 minute miles coming home in order to break 3 hours on the marathon. Thankfully my math was bang on and I crossed the line with a 2:59 run split; my fastest to date! I even passed a few more people coming in and finished up in 15th overall with the 6th fastest run split!
Overall I could not be more pleased with how my entire day unfolded. The swim was not perfect…the bike was not perfect…the run was not perfect, but thankfully this is triathlon and it’s the culmination of all three sports that matter. And this time I’m fortunate enough to have it culminate in 8 hours and 45 minutes! Finally, my first ever sub 9 hour Ironman, with PBs on both the bike and run, so this was pretty close to perfect!
This could not have happened without the assistance of so many people. My amazing wife, my family, my training partners, my coach and sponsors; NRG Performance Training, Bushtukah, TYR, Trek, Rudy Project, Compressport, ISM Saddles, Mizuno, Solefit Orthotics & Doyle Homes.
Thanks for reading and again if anyone has any particular questions, do not hesitate to contact me via email, my website (www.ryancain.ca) and Twitter: @ryancaintri