Scanned article from the Florida's "The Ledger" newspaper

Scanned article from Florida's Polk County newspaper

The full article about Sunday's race can be viewed at the following link:

Cycling prowess helps propel Lance Armstrong to victory in Ironman 70.3 Florida

Ironman 70.3 The race against Lance - [ The run leg]

The run section of my race report

The run course consisted of 3 laps of 7km

Comparison of Lance Armstrong's run split to my run split for the 13.1mile/21.1km run course

Lance's run split = 1:15:56 (Average pace 5:47min per mile)

My run split = 1:48:35 (Average speed 8:17min per mile)

Well, what can I say about the run leg. Of the 3 sports running is my weakest discipline. I have been focusing more on my running over the last 1.5 -2  years. I aimed to run a 1:43 run split on Sunday but realised during the first 3km of the run course that this was just not going to happen. I ran a 1:30 half marathon in Miami during January and really felt that I could nail the run but I have found that I really struggle when it gets exceptionally hot and humid.

By the time I exited transition it was 10:40am it was already feeling like a baking oven outside. It was definitely in the low 90's with humidity at about 80%. It is interesting to note that Lance finished the course approx 30min before I headed out of T2. He started an hour earlier than my age group and also completed the course 1h11min faster than I did.

Lance Armstrong out on the run course (Photo taken by Jana Heath)

That is me out on the run course

I should have done a better job of familiarizing myself with the run course before the race. As we exited transition the run course was flat for about 1-2km then we approached two steep hills which made it tough transitioning from the bike. I had to walk the hills on all 3 laps as I could feel my calves cramping up if I tried running for too long while ascending the hill. I also had a stitch during the first 3km of the run course and a slight stomach cramp. Luckily the cramping and the stitch eventually disappeared but I had to be careful at the aid stations not to drink too much in one go as this would have just resulted in feeling bloated which could have resulted in GI distress/shutdown issues which is never fun.

That's me no. 1857 out on the run course

My plan was to run from aid station to aid station which is what I did. I lost time though as I walked from the beginning to end of each aid station. I drank gatorade and water at each station and threw ice water down my tri-suit to keep cool. I also held ice in my hand and stuck the ice cold sponges between my chest and tri-suit.

My plan was to conserve energy and hold something back for the last lap but I just felt so fatigued and I was struggling to cope with the heat. One often forgets how tough the last couple of kilometers can get in the Ironman or Half Ironman events as it is difficult to push that hard in workouts. It is something that I have seen in my last couple of races. I should definitely push harder during the last 6km of the run. This is where a significant amount of time can be gained or lost.

My final time for the half marathon was 1:48:35 which was not a PB run split for me but interestingly enough it was the highest I have ever placed in my age group in the run discipline. The fact that I placed 21st/175 in my age group and 158/1900 overall in the run tells me that all the other triathletes out on the course must have suffered on the run as well (except for the pro's).

My overall race results were as follows:

Total time 4:56:23 (My 2nd best half ironman time of the four official half ironman events I have done)

Overall M30-34 age group placement: 21st / 175 (My best age group placement for an Mdot race)

Overall finisher placement 158th / 1900 approx (Top 8%) (My best overall placement for an Mdot race)

    My friend Marius and I after finishing the race.

All and all I can definitely recommend Ironman Florida 70.3 as a race to do on the calendar especially if one has children as Disney World is only 40min away from the race venue. The only drawback for me is the M30-34 age group starting so late. I thought about a scenario where the Ironman brand can maybe introduce a seeding system whereby one starts in a wave not based on your age but based on your qualifying time. I guess the drawback to this is that there will be more athletes drafting each other on the bike leg due to athletes of similar ability starting off together.

I will be taking it easier training wise for the next couple of weeks while I ponder about which races to possibly do for the rest of the year. I am looking forward to this Sunday's Cayman Islands cycling 60mile road race.

Next weekend is the Cayman Islands 1 mile Flowers Sea Swim which has been rated as one of the 10 best open water sea swims to do in the world. I will be blogging about this event in a separate report in two weeks time. 

Over and out till later.

Ironman 70.3 Florida: The race against Lance - [The bike leg]

The bike leg:

The Florida 70.3 bike course

As promised yesterday I would continue with my race report regarding Sunday's Florida 70.3 triathlon. I wanted to write this blog entry this morning but just did not get around to it. I have split my race report per discipline. In case you missed the swim portion of my race report then please see my previous blog entry.

Setting my bike up the afternoon before the race

After exiting the swim in 29min I headed uphill into the transition zone. It was totally exhausting exiting the swim red-lining and then having to head uphill into transition. I remember getting to my bike and just standing still for 30 seconds trying to control my breathing while putting my cycling gloves on. Luckily I clipped in and fastened my cycling shoes with elastic bands as the transition zone was a long one as nearly 2000 competitors took part.

The bike course started with a couple hills which made it tricky to get my feet into my cycling shoes. I found the transition from the swim to bike fairly challenging and felt out of breath during the first 6min or so of the bike leg. After about 10min I realised that I left my nutrition behind in the transition zone which consisted of two bananas and two gu gels.

Luckily one of my bottles was filled with diluted Ensure which amounts to 350 calories of liquid food. This bottle kept me going for the first hour of the bike. For those of you not familiar with Ensure this is what the bottle looks like (See picture on the left).

I thus had to stop at mile 30 on the bike course to pick up a banana as well as a bottle of lemon gatorade. I also grabbed a gu roctane gel. I felt stronger again after refuelling and could clearly feel the difference after taking the gu gel.

Reviewing my race results and splits on Ironman live I averaged 22.94mph (36.7kph) up to the 38.5 mile mark. It was somewhere at about mile 40 when I heard a loud "clang" sound in my rear wheel. I have heard this noise before but usually it is a softer noise which is the result of a slight space between my cassette and hub of my SRAM S80 rear wheel. I thought that the sound I heard might be problematic but did not realise it at the time. The "clang" sound was the result of a spoke snapping on the drive side of my rear wheel. It is difficult for me to quantify how much time I lost due to the spoke snapping but all that I can say is that when I picked up my bike from transition after the race my rear wheel was so out of alignment that it would stop when I tried to spin it as it rubbed the rear brake pretty hard. All my bike training leading up to Florida 70.3 during the weeks before the race gave me a good indication that I should have been able to nail a 2:25 bike split. I end up biking 2:32 for the 56mile bike course. I really had my sights set on breaking the 2:30 mark so was slightly disappointed. I honestly think that I lost approx 5min due to the rear brake rubbing but could have also lost this time due to taking in my nutrition later and the bike course being slightly tougher than I thought.

Running into transition after the bike leg

Now to compare my bike split to Lance Armstrong's bike split. I always knew Lance is an amazing athlete but only realised how talented he is when I heard that his bike split for the 56mile bike course was 2:01. It really puts things in perspective when one gets the opportunity to race the same course as these professionals within 1-2 hours of them completing the course.

Comparison of Lance Armstrong's bike split to my bike split for the 56 mile/90km bike course

Lance's bike split = 2:01:13 (Average speed 27.72mph)

My bike split = 2:32:25 (Average speed 22.04mph)

It is totally beyond me as to how an athlete can average 27.72mph for 56miles after swimming 1.2 miles. Lance is clearly one of the best cyclists planet earth has ever seen.

I had the 18th fastest bike split out of 175 triathletes in my M30-34 age group which is my best bike split placing to date of the all the M.dot races I have done. In order for me to move closer to my dream of qualifying for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships I will have to bike at least 8-10min faster which is achievable over the next couple of years if not sooner.

Lance Armstrong heading into T2 (Photo copyright: Jana Heath)

Lance Armstrong in T2 getting ready for the run leg. (Photo copyright: Jana Heath)

I would like to say a special thank you to my wife Jana for supporting me throughout Sunday's triathlon as well as the days and weeks leading up to the race. As can be seen from above Jana managed to get a couple of pics of Lance. More pics of Lance out on the run course to be posted tomorrow together with race report of the run course.

Ironman 70.3 Florida - The race against Lance [ The swim leg ]

Poster of Lance Armstrong taken the day before the race.

The wave start at Lake Eva in Haines City, Florida

It is now Tuesday morning 1:22am as I am starting to write my race report. Trying to go to bed at 10:30pm did not prove too successful as my mind is still racing with all the images and events from yesterday's race.


One of the main reason's I signed up for Florida 70.3 this year was because Lance Armstrong was going to compete. I don't usually like doing races more than once as there is always the associated opportunity cost of missing out on another great race being held somewhere on Planet Earth. The event also always falls on a long weekend in the Cayman Islands which helps with getting the time for the journey back from Florida to Cayman the day after the event. It was also a great opportunity to share my good friend Marius Deysel's first Ironman 70.3 experience with him.

My friend Marius Deysel and I in transition just before 6am. Note the convenient transition bags for our equipment.

As some may know the Florida 70.3 course was changed this year from the usual venue at Fort Wilderness just outside Disney World's Magic Kingdom to Haines City. Haines City is basically a random city approx halfway between Tampa and Orlando in Florida. It is a fairly scenic area and really liked the fact that it was more rural and that the bike course took us out on the Polk County roads. We did have difficulty finding a good steakhouse in Haines City last night. Not many good restaurants in Haines City unless we did not really where to look for the good restaurants.

The Florida 70.3 half ironman was my first triathlon event at this distance exactly four years ago. Yesterday's race was thus a good benchmark for me to see how I have improved in the last four years and to see how the average triathlete measures up to Lance Armstrong.

In my analysis of yesterday's race I have drawn a comparison between my results against Lance's results as well as my M30-34 competitors.

The 1.2 mile/1.9km swim course

Lance Armstrong's swim split = 24:52

My swim split = 29:43

That's me exiting the water with the yellow swim cap.

I must honestly say that organizers did a great job of organizing the race. One matter I do find frustrating though is that they tend to place the younger men's age groups at the back of the age group wave start. The M30-34 age group I was in was the 16th wave of the morning to start. The pro men being the first wave. This meant that  Lance Armstrong's wave started at 6:30am while my wave started at approx 7:35am. This hour and five minutes proved to make a big difference at the end of the day as it meant that I was running the last hour of my half marathon from 11:30am -12:30am where I could have been running from 10:30am - 11:30am. For those of you familiar with the Florida heat and humidity knows how hot and uncomfortable it can get around lunchtime. At 180 pounds I struggle to cool down while running in hot and humid conditions.

There were only two waves that started behind my age group, those waves being the other half of the M30-34 and the relay swimmers. Starting it 7:35am meant 15 waves of swimmers started ahead of my wave at approx 4min intervals. This meant that approx 1600 swimmers were already out on the swim course effectively jamming up the swim course. With open water swimming being my strength I found myself passing hundreds of swimmers out on the swim course and had to swim over and across many swimmers which resulted in excess energy being spent versus the pro field starting with no swimmers ahead of them.

Anyway, enough moaning or stating the facts but found the above rather frustrating as I prefer the full Ironman mass wave starts. I believe that the swim course is actually wide enough in Lake Eva to accomodated a mass wave start.

As my good friend Marius Deysel and I had time before our wave start we could watch the pro field swim which meant that we could watch Lance exit the swim in 5th place. The transition from the swim to the bike course involved an uphill run. It was interesting to see that Lance actually did look like he was working hard when he came out of the swim as his breathing was fairly laboured which is expected after such a hard swim and running uphill into the transition zone.

At 7:35am my age group was eventually off. The course layout was pretty cool as it we swam in the format of the Ironman logo "M". As mentioned above I do not have too much to report on the swim except for the fact that it was really congested and had to maneuver  my way through countless swimmers. My main goal for the swim was to break 30min as I swam 30min for the Ironman 70.3 Florida swim course back in 2008

I finished the swim in 29:43sec which was 4min and 49sec slower than Lance. I placed 5th overall out 178 triathletes in my age group which is a result I was really happy with.

I will be posting the race report section of the bike course tomorrow.

The Competitor's Creed

 Just a quick blog update. I am tapered and ready to go for the Florida 70.3 half ironman in 3 days time. Lance Armstrong will be racing in the same event so really looking forward to seeing him out on the course.

As my  inspiration and motivation to achieve greater heights in Sunday's race I will reviewing the Competitor's Creed a couple of times before the race