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Cary Gentry
The Great Floridian Ironman Distance Race - October 21st, 2006

Training:

I followed a 20wk program, basically from beginnertriathlon.com, starting in early June through mid October.  I tweaked the program some, but followed the schedule pretty religiously; probably only missing a few workouts. The keys to the training weeks were a build up of long swims, bikes, and runs each week with smaller workouts in between. This program had a long bike over the weekend, a long run mid week, and a long swim late in the week. I interrupted training when I went on a hunting trip to Colorado at the end of August.  The break was timely since I got some good high altitude hikes in along with some much needed rest.  Overall, the training wasn’t too bad early on, but by the end of July and most of August, the combination of the heat, humidity, and longer workouts were really tough and something I don’t look forward to doing anytime soon. I pushed through the tough months, though, and ended up very comfortable doing long swims, training rides, and runs.  As it turns out, the “heat” training helped for the Great Floridian. My longest ride was ~110mi, with my longest run being 20mi and my longest swim greater than 4000m.  

Race Week:

My family and I made the trip to Florida on the Sunday before the race. We stayed in a timeshare next to Walt Disney World, donated to us for the week by some close friends’ family.  These friends were originally planning to join us in Florida while 2 of us did the race, but unfortunately, David, the other triathlete “blew out” his knee over the summer and had to drop out of training and the race.  So, our family had a huge condo for a week, which was nice. The week leading up to the race started warm and humid and ended hot and humid. We did one day at Sea World, Disney, and various other attractions. I wanted to get out and about to re-acclimate to the heat, etc. It really felt like the peak of summer! I did a couple of light training runs and one short bike ride, just to make sure everything still worked. Starting Thursday until Saturday morning, I began to concentrate on hydration and food intake. We also didn’t do too much other than hit the pools and a few other minor activities. I went to the race site Thursday morning to partake in a pre-swim in lake Minneola along with a slow bike of the run course, a light jog for 10 minutes or so, and to pick up my race packet. I was surprised the water was as cool as it was and it put hope in me that the race would be wetsuit legal. Now, the short jog scared me since it was very hot and humid and I knew it wasn’t going to get any cooler. Friday, I dropped my bike off at the venue along with a couple transition bags, listened to a pre race meeting, then got out of there. I didn’t want to hang around since I thought it might make me nervous. As it turns out, during the pre race meeting they informed us the water temperature was 77 deg and more than likely, the race would be wet suit legal. Relief wouldn’t describe the feeling I felt.

Race:

I went to bed fairly early Friday night and actually slept pretty good considering the circumstances. I got up at 4:30am to eat a bagel, banana, and drink some coffee and Gatorade. This is standard fare for me before any race since it gets everything going, if you know what I mean. I stretched, got the rest of gear, and I took off to Clermont with the rest of the family at 5:30. It’s about a 30min drive and we actually got a pretty good parking spot. After the short walk to the transition area to get body marked and to drop off my special needs bags, etc, I was sweating pretty good.  Not good!!  Then, we were told the water temperature was 78 deg. GREAT!  At least I didn’t have to worry about this. I got everything ready to go by 6:45am and then spent the remainder of time (until 7:30) hanging out with my family and friends. Surprisingly, I wasn’t very nervous. I just wanted to get going since it was going to be a long day. I donned my wetsuit and before I knew it the race started.

I walked out into the lake and started slowly. I’ve had trouble in the past starting too fast nearly hyperventilating. Of course, it was crowded at first. I got slapped, kicked, and even had my goggles dislodged, but really nothing I wasn’t used to. Now, I know I swim crooked at times, but some people are terrible and take 45deg angles while running you over. Anyway, I get to a comfortable pace and try to find some drafting partners but the water is dark and it was difficult to draft. The first lap was uneventful and I ended up going faster than I thought I would go (36min). Starting the second lap, I took my time, saw my cheering squad, and got back at it again. The second lap felt just as good as the first and I ended up going just a touch slower (~38min).  I was very happy with the time. On the way to transition, they strip your wetsuit off, give you your bike bag and then you get ready to bike.

Once again, I took my time to make sure all was in order, got my bike and started off. I noticed my heart rate monitor stopped working when I mounted my bike. I was flying blind. It might have been a good thing, since it was something else I didn’t have to worry about. I just went by perceived effort. It was starting to warm up by this time. Other than a couple of short, steep climbs, the first 35mi of the bike isn’t too hard. Some of the roads were busy and I got buzzed by a few trucks, which I didn’t like.  Then you hit Buckhill Trail, a series of 3 rather large, steep “rollers,” and Sugarloaf. This stretch was hard but nothing I hadn’t done before, just not during a race and heat!  I was following my nutrition and hydration as planned. My stomach didn’t feel too good at first, but later got better. Due to the heat and humidity I took Endurolytes every hour.  With all of this, I still started to get a headache. I figured it was due to my sunglasses, so I took them off, but this didn’t work. I think it was the heat. I knew I was hydrated because I had to pee badly and ended up going on my bike. Gross I know, but I was proud of this and washed it off with water at the next aid station.  After the first lap I still felt good, except for the headache. I saw my family, stopped for my bike special needs bag, reloaded, and took off. The first lap I averaged 18.4 (57mi), which is a touch faster than planned. This is where to heat started to take it’s toll. By mile 70 I wanted to get off of the bike badly. My gel, bagel, Gatorade, etc weren’t appealing and I started getting twinges in my legs. Oh no!  I was also running out of Endurolytes. I still had the tough hilly section of the bike to go. I ended up forcing down my nutrition because I knew I needed it. At every aid station I poured water all over my head and body to cool down, and this helped. By the time I hit Buckhill Trail and Sugarloaf my quads were cramping pretty badly. I didn’t know if I was going to make the hills or not. I slowed way down and took it easy over the 3 rollers.  Next was Sugarloaf. At the beginning, I saw a guy simply drop to the side of the road with cramps and exhaustion. I was hoping I wouldn’t be next. I crept up the hill in my lowest gear (~4mph). I made it to the top with a smile on my face and actually felt refreshed. I really didn’t have issues with cramps for the remainder of the ride (~20mi).  Not sure why, but I was pleasantly surprised. I finished the bike (6:42) with 116mi on my computer. I know my computer may be a little off, but not by 4mi. I averaged 17.4 overall, so 16.4 on the second half. I felt as expected, hot, sweaty, tired and wondering how I was going to run 26.2mi. I was handed my run bag, walked to the changing tent, changed, and was ready to go for a run.

Normally, the run is my strongest suit and I was looking forward to starting this portion of the race. Much of the run course is non-shaded and this played a major role early on. I began the first couple of miles feeling pretty good but then the heat and humidity started to hit me hard. I noticed a couple of runners ahead of me walking through the aid stations and as I approached them, I decided this might be a good idea, so I tagged along. These two guys, Jason and Shawn were running about the pace I desired, plus the company was nice after over 6 hrs on the bike. About ½ way through the 1^st loop of the run, Shawn had to drop off of the pace, so it was down to two. We trudged along, stopping at each aid station to refuel. Did I mention it was hot?? My stomach went back and forth between upset and ok, so I was reduced to mainly liquid intake with a banana, gel, pretzels and cookies taken when my stomach was up to it. The aid stations were very well stocked! I took Endurolytes roughly every 30mins. There was plenty of ice on the course to aid in cooling and I put ice in my hat and shirt, which helped. My headache which persisted for the first few miles finally waned. The out and back and first loop seemed to last forever. I saw my kids and wife after the first loop and their cheering spurred me on. Jason and I pushed through the second lap and hooked up with Todd. It was nice having another person to share our pains with. Todd eventually moved on midway through the 2^nd lap. Finally, the sun went down along with the temps. By this point, my legs ached and occasionally my calves seemed to be on the verge of cramping, and this was something I dealt with until the end. Jason was having issues with his hamstring, as well. Another lap down, one to go!  The last lap was nice realizing only 7 miles to go. We weren’t going very fast, but we were going! It went by pretty quickly. Due to the spotlights, you could see the finish from across the lake and I knew it was within reach. Adreniline pushed me the last few miles, then down the chute to the finish. My marathon time was just over 5hrs, which was much slower than I planned but considering the conditions, I wasn’t disappointed.

My wife and kids greeted me at the end with hugs and kisses!  I was happy, tired, and hungry. I spoke to friends and relatives via the cell phone as I sat down and cooled down for 15mins or so. I wanted to eat, but also wanted a massage. The massage tent was closer, so I got a nice rub down. After, I went in search for food, but it was gone!  What!  I was in the top 3^rd and the food is gone. All of the sprint and Olympic races I do have so much food, it’s insane. Needless to say, I was very disappointed in this, but what could I do. I gathered up my belonging and headed to McDonalds!  Somehow, the grease hit the spot!

Overall, my time was 13:18:53 and I came in 73 out of 266 men. I was shooting for 12:30 but this was thrown out the window with the heat and humidity. It basically came down to just finishing. 73^rd the previous years was roughly 12:30 – 12:40.  I understand nearly 27% of the entrants dropped out. The experience was great!  I liked the race and the challenging course, but the traffic on the bike and run was worrisome. Also, it was so dark on parts of the run, I was afraid I was going to trip or hit a pothole. I hope no one got hurt!  I also didn’t like the lack of food at the end. I’m not sure I’ll do this race again. If, and it’s a big IF, I do another iron distance race, I’d like to do an official “Ironman.”

Thanks to my wife Jackie, my kids Emily and Bradley for putting up with me during my training and long race day.  Thanks to David for listening to me through training and encouraging me despite the fact injury prevented him from joining me. Also thanks for the condo! Thanks to all of my cheering squad local (Ron and Jenny) and long distance (too many relatives and friends to list) who think I’m crazy but pull for me anyway! Thanks to my running partners Jason, Todd for making the run seem much shorter.  Last but not least, thanks to all of the volunteers for pulling off such a huge event.

#137 Cary Gentry

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