Hmmm, the obligatory race report. I’ve written them before (remember ½ Ironman 2002) and have read plenty, but I’m finding this one a bit difficult to get started. I decided to peruse the internet to get some inspiration. Wow, look at that, someone has already written their 2003 Florida Ironman Report. It starts something like this:

Ironman Florida Race Recap - Saturday 11/8/03 (Race Day)
Race Totals:
9:31:23
Ironman PR by 16+ minutes
58th place overall out of 1,912 finishers
18th overall American
7th out of 151 finishers in 25-29 age group - qualified for Ironman Hawaii '04

Wow, pretty impressive, compared to my 12:37:35 total time, but he is several years younger than I. Also pretty interesting was that 40 of the top 58 finishers were not American. I thought about figuring out my "American" finish, but the daunting task of counting through 1121 names just didn’t appeal to me (I finished 1121st overall out of 1912 finishers and 209th out of 319 finishers in the 30-34 age group). Plus I didn’t feel it was appropriate for the global community we live in today. I read on…

4:30AM
7.5hrs sleep
Breakfast: (1) Vanilla Ultramet blended w/ 16oz Pineapple Juice, (1) frozen banana & 16oz water + (1) defizzed can of Red Bull
Supplements: PBN Multivitamin, Antioxidant, Ultimate Performance Accelerator (2), Optygen (4)

Whoa there! Defizzed Red Bull? Optygen? Ultimate Performance Accelerator? All I ate was two bowls of Cracklin’ Oat Bran (I felt the fiber would help to keep me regular) and a bottle of Gatorade (since I was swimming in a body of salt water, I figured I’d swallow enough of it whilst swimming that I wouldn’t need much salt prior to the swim). I continue to read:

5:30-7AM (Arrive at Race Site Up to Start)
Sipped Cytomax upon leaving hotel right up to the start. Solution was mixed at (1.5) scoops per 28oz of water. Endurox Capsules (2), (6) Muscle Nitro and (2) Advil taken approx. 60mins before 7AM start

More food! My stomach was in too many knots to even consider putting anything more in it. He continued…

Spent 10-15 minutes mentally preparing for gun time at swim start, visualizing the race and how I hoped the day would go. I also took note of athletes doing warm-up and whether or not there was any noticeable current that I will need to deal with.

Finally something I can relate to - mental preparation. During this time I thought about all the "well wishes" people had sent me. I hate to sound so "new-agey", but knowing that there was a network of people behind me 100% was so important in helping maintain my mental state. What a great support network! I thought about all the great advice people had shared. "Have fun", "stick to your plan", "stay in the sport you’re currently in - don’t worry about what is coming next", "plan ahead for anything that my happen", "continually assess your body and environment and make adjustments accordingly". All this helped to play an important part in my day ahead. He goes on…

Swim (2.4 Miles):

Professionals started approx 50-75 meters off the beach and I noticed they were being pulled East, therefore I lined up slightly West of the center of the pack with the goal of hitting the buoys dead-on. Overall the swim went as planned. I went fairly hard from the start to try and get relatively close to the top 3-4% of the swimmers … blah, blah, blah … Total swim time was 56:55 which was slightly slower than I had hoped (only by 60 seconds which is nothing to sweat), but I felt absolutely fresh coming into T1.
Swim Totals (Time/Place) = 56:55 (67th place)

Well, I thought nothing of assessing the currents - all I know is that when the gun went off I ran into the water and started swimming along with 2,000 other people. I tried to keep in mind all that my most excellent swim coach, Emily Peters, had taught me. Swimming with all those people is quite daunting, something Diane’s friend Paul (who finished the race as well) described as the "rinse cycle". The swim was two loops, swimming away from the shore, making a left around the first buoy, swimming parallel to the shore, making another left at the second buoy, then swimming straight toward the shore. I felt the swim to the first buoy was quite quick and realized, as I turned around it, that there was an east to west current. The swim back to the shore was harder because of the current, but I was please to see my first loop was completed in 37 mins. The second loop did feel harder. The water was noticeably choppier with 2,000 people swimming about. I finished my second loop in 42 mins for a total swim time of 1:19:26, a 2:06 min per 100 meters pace, a few minutes off my target. But, I didn’t care because it was finished, I felt good and I was having fun (as you can see from the ear-to-ear smile in the picture).

Now, I was off to the swim-to-bike transition. Let see how my co-athlete did…

Transition Swim to Bike:
Fluid transition w/ no issues. Consumed (1) gel packet before mounting the bike
Totals (Time) = 3:07

Well there was nothing quick about my transitions. It was 14 mins! It wasn’t like I was sitting around painting my nails - I was doing something the whole time, whether it was drying off, putting on my bike clothes, slapping on suntan lotion, eating some food, putting on my bike shoes - and it seemed to go by pretty quick. Well I have to admit this was one thing I didn’t train for and it showed. Now off to the bike … here are some highlights from my co-athlete’s report:

Bike (112 Miles):

Once on the bike, the goal was to try and get my HR down as quickly as possible to my target of 145. It was above 160 after the hustle of T1 which I expected. As I didn’t want to go too slow, I anticipated this would take approximately 15-20 mins to steadily drop, which was accurate. After about 20 mins, my HR settled down just as we turned into a 15mph headwind that would last for the next hour. My HRM was set at an upper limit of 147 and a lower limit of 140, so regardless of wind, hills, etc" my goal was to stay within that (7) beat zone.

OK, I can relate to this. Prior to leaving, my bike coach extraordinaire, Craig Upton and I discuss my targets as well. My target was 140 b.p.m. It did take some time to get my heart rate down, although mine wasn’t accelerated due to the hustle of my transition, but most likely because I was fighting a headwind and I had just finished a 2.4 mi swim. About 45 mins into the ride I was in my zone. He continues…

On the bike my primary calorie intake was from my (4) 600+ calorie bottles of 'Ironman-Cocktail' (IMC), each containing (2) scoops Cytomax (Tangy Orange flavor), (2) scoops Champion Nutrition Metabolol Endurance (Orange Smoothie flavor) and (2) scoops CarboPro. For the 1st 2+ hours I took a 'hit' of the IMC every 20 mins and chased this each time w/ 4-6oz of water from my JetStream.

Ironman Cocktail! Cytomax Tangy Orange flavor, YUCK! Give me a martini anytime over that stuff. My "Ironman Snack Bags" were as follows - six zip-lock bags containing, in each, two chopped up Oddwalla Bars (Chocolate and Chocolate Peanut Crunch - Yummy) and ½ bagel. The Oddwalla Bars would help to keep me regular and the bagel was a nice soft chewy treat. Eating the contents of one zip-lock bag and two water bottles full of SUCCEED sports drink (for sodium/potassium) an hour provided me with about 700+ calories of fuel. Water was provided every 10 miles, which I would drink while riding through the pit stops. Taped to my stem were sodium/potassium supplements that I popped in my mouth every ½ hr. All natural! No need for any of that fancy, expensive, processed stuff. I read on…

After getting (2) new IMC bottles at the special needs station at mile 50+, I began shortening the interval to a 'hit' every 15 mins. I did this because I found myself having difficulty consuming the target of (1) bottle every 75 mins. By going to the 15 min intervals, I decreased the intake per 'hit', but was able to consume more per hour. Also of note, the last bottle contained (2) scoops Cytomax, (2) CarboPro, only (1) scoop Metabolol Endurance, but included a can of defizzed Red Bull. My theory was that this bottle would give me a boost at the 4 hour mark when my energy/focus begin to wane.

For those of you that are unaware, each athlete has the opportunity to put together two "special needs" bags that were available to the athlete half-way through the bike and the run. Frank commented that I must have had many "special needs" since my two bags were the heaviest of all at the Ironman. Frank should know as he carried them to the necessary locations prior to the race. My bike "special needs" bag contained three "Ironman Snack Bags", 5 frozen water bottles wrapped in insulated paper bags, a snack bag of Nutter Butter cookies, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a snack bag of Chex Mix, a bagel, wet wipes (just in case I needed to clean up) and extra sodium/potassium supplements. I replaced my 5 water bottles and took my 3 "Ironman Snack Bags". Oh well, better to prepare for the unexpected "special needs" then none at all! My co-athlete continues…

Urinated at mile 90+/-

Well I didn’t think I needed to get into that level of detail. I did pee five times during the bike ride, although I can’t recall at which miles. But each one was clear and quite powerful, so I knew my kidneys were functioning well. Let’s see how my co-athlete ended up…

Coming back to Panama City Beach, we picked up a tailwind for the final 30+/- minutes. I consumed probably a little too much of the IMC so late in the bike as I threw-up about 8oz (2) miles before T2. I hit T2 at 6:10 into the race, exactly at my original target time. I kept my HR pinned fairly close to 145 for the duration of the bike and felt very good throughout. My bike split was only the 255th fastest on the day, but I expected to lose time on the bike and had confidence that many of the sub-5hr cyclists would falter especially on the 2nd half of the run. I will need to do the math, but estimate I came off the bike somewhere between 150-175th place overall.
Bike Totals (Time/Pace/HR) = 5:10:16/21.7mph avg/145avg HR

Yes it was nice to feel that tailwind, but I noticed it much earlier than 30 mins from the finish. It was great to get closer into town to have all the people around to cheer you on. The bike route was pretty sparse with fans, so the enthusiasm of the crowd coming into the finish made it all the more special - it was great to see Frank and Diane screaming and cheering me in (see the big ear-to-ear smile in the included picture). I was happy to see that my nutrition strategy worked as I did not vomit at all and my stomach and legs felt great. I ended up the 913th fastest rider of the day, 175th out of 319 in my age group. No need to be all "type-A" and try to figure out what my place was including the sub-5hr cyclists that faltered. My total time on the bike was 5:47:21 with an avg speed of 19.3 mph. My actual ride time (excluding pee and "special need" stops) was 5:37:18 with an avg. speed of 19.8 mph and an avg heart rate of 141 bpm - exactly my target! When I got off the bike, it was 2:37PM and I had 9 ½ hours to finish the entire event. I felt confident at this point that that would not be a problem.

Now I was onto the second transition. My co-athlete reported:

Transition Bike to Run:
No issues, smooth transition
Totals (Time) = 3:06

Once again my unpracticed transition proved to be a problem. Although I kept moving, this transition took me 15 mins. If I had transitions like my co-athlete I would have been finished 20 mins earlier! Now I was off to the marathon. My co-athlete reports…

Run (26.2 Miles):
1st 6.5 Miles: Left T2 feeling solid (not 110% fantastic), but good and was able to average just over 6:50 per mile pace through the 1st 6.5 miles to the turnaround on lap (1). I felt comfortable, but not perfect. I had initially hoped to consume a gel every other mile, but felt my stomach could not tolerate this so I just kept w/ Gatorade and water at every mile or every other mile.

Wow! He had a pretty fast pace for an Ironman marathon. My strategy for the marathon was to start off slow, run between aid stations and walk for 1-2 mins while fueling up at the aid stations. For the first 3 miles it was difficult to shake my legs into running mode. Plus toward the end of mile three, I began to feel nausea - uh oh, remember ½ Ironman 2002! So I pretty much drank water, Gatorade and Chicken broth at each aid station, with hopes that my stomach would settle. I also focused on my breathing - one deep breath in, two breaths out - kind of like Lamaze. It helped to focus my mind off my stomach. I wonder if my co-athlete’s stomach is fairing better.

2nd 6.5 Miles: I knew my pace would fall off as the run progressed which is why I do not wear a watch or HRM on the marathon as this feedback could foster negative thoughts. At this point, the sun was in full blast, but my stomach began to feel better so I was able to begin taking in gel at about mile 9 and felt much better. My pace had slipped to 7:30's, but I felt very good going through the 1/2 marathon turn in 1:34 (7:10 pace) and knew I could continue maintain a similar pace without too much fall-off for at least the next 10K.

I continued on with my strategy for the second ½ of the first ½ of the marathon. Still feeling nausea, I decide to walk from mile 10 to mile 11, hoping my stomach would settle. I also was finding my fuel belt uncomfortable and decided that I would leave it in my "special needs" bag at the half-way point. I ran to mile thirteen, opened up my "special needs" bag (full of similar stuff as my bike special needs bag), put in the fuel belt and pulled out a long sleeve jersey that I tied around my waist just in case I got chilly. Little did I know that the ½ marathon took me 2:30:51 at a pace of 11:30 min/mi pretty much 15 mins faster than I thought I would do it in. It’s amazing how fast the miles went by. I decided to strike up conversations during my second loop, with the intention it would help to keep my mind off my stomach. The first person I spoke to immediately recommended drinking some defizzed Coca-Cola. Well, from her lips to God’s ears, by mile 17, after several hearty belches, my stomach was nausea free. Hurray! I decided to run to mile 18, then walk from mile 18 to mile 19 preparing myself for the last stretch. Let see how my co-athlete ended his race…

4th 6.5 Miles: On the final leg back to the finish I simply kept up the exact same cycle of Coke/water at each aid station for the final 6.5 miles. This was the best I have ever felt so late in the race and knew I would be very close to my 'perfect race day' goal of 9:30. The final 13.1 miles took 1:44 (7:56 pace) and I estimate through the course of the marathon I passed somewhere in the vicinity of 100+ athletes.
Run Totals (Time/Pace) = 3:18:01 (7:34 per mile pace)

I certainly do not know what got into me at the end of the marathon, but I became inspired. At the "mile 19" aid station, I checked my watch and noticed that the time was 6:30PM. I did a quick calculation in my head and figured out I had 1 ½ hrs to finish under 13 hrs. With my stomach feeling so much better, the realization that the end was near and the knowledge that I could easily obtain my goal I decided to pick up the pace. At each mile marker, I would lift my fist in the air and let out a loud "yesss!". As the end came closer and closer the crowds grew larger. I came upon the "One Mile To Go" sign. I couldn’t believe how fast it came upon me. Actually I couldn’t believe how fast the entire day went. As weird as this may sound, I was looking forward for it to be all over, but yet I didn’t want it to end. It was probably the adrenalin talking. Next thing I saw Frank cheering me in, the finish line being placed in front of me and the announcer saying "Paul Frio, from New York City, you are Ironman". Then a flash of a light (see picture) and it was all over.

That’s it - hours and hours, weeks and weeks, months and months - all that preparation and it’s over in the flash of a light.

The second ½ marathon ended up taking 2:30:26 almost exactly the same time as my first ½ marathon time. A model of consistency, I guess - even though it wasn’t planned. The total marathon time was 5:01:17 at a pace of 11:30 min/mi and total race time ended up being 12:37:35.