Ironman Florida, U.S.A. - November 3rd, 2007

Ironman Florida 2007

Hello Friends and Sponsors

This past Saturday I completed in Ironman Florida. It was a race I had always wanted to do, but it is late in the season and clashes with World Championships. As many of you know I suffered an injury while leading Ironman UK. Since then it has been a tough road back to peak fitness, along with building my confidence to become a major contender with a chance of taking the title. In the final weeks of training, I felt that my running had picked up, and gained the confidence that I would make the marathon with out re-injury!

Race day dawned with still air, clear skies and the water calm, appearing like glass. We were off ten minutes ahead of the age-groupers. I was up to push the pace in the swim, with my main goal to string it out. The 1st lap was very comfortable as Chris Hauth and I set the pace. Upon going into the second lap, I broke away from the group. However, I didn't open up a huge gap, as it was hard passing all the age-group swimmers!

Once I hit the bike, I decided to see how my legs felt. I pushed it hard for twenty miles and had a gap of about one minute. As I eased off, Markus Fachbach came flying past me going over 45kph. I knew that was too fast for me so I just stayed relaxed. At about mile 30, I was stung on the left thigh by a bee. With its venom pumping into my leg, my left thigh started to swell and felt constricted with my race suit! I felt fine, but my legs felt as if they had turned to concrete!

With that, I fell back and was struggling with my leg. By the turnaround, I was five minutes off the lead and two minutes behind a group of four. I knew then that I needed to get back into the race. I hit the gas and rode up to the group of four and regained my strength.

I came into transition 2 in second place, unfortunately, I had to serve a trash penalty, as my bottle dropped out of its cage. With consequence, I headed out on the run in 7th, as the group had grown to five. I believe this might have helped, so I concentrated and went at my own pace.

The first lap was a mental challenge, as I was unfamiliar with the run course. With the other guys working in close range, I fell back to 9th place. On the second lap, it clicked. I pushed as hard as I could, and knew if my leg could make it 13 more miles, I had a chance at making the Podium. At the last turn around, I could see that the others weren't that far ahead, and I ran as hard as I could. With a little over two miles left, I moved into 3rd place. My leg felt fine and I knew I could hold my position!

I was super happy to finish in 3rd. The two men I was worried about for this competition had beaten me. I believe that if a few things had gone a little better, I could have been a top of the podium. However, despite the outcome, I am super happy to have finished the 2007 season off on a high note.

Thanks for all your support over the year and I look forward to bigger things in 2008! I have now qualified for 2008 Ironman World Champs, which will be my major focus! My next Ironman will be in my home town of Taupo at Ironman NZ 2008. Happy Holidays and look forward to hearing from you all soon.

Kind Regards - Bryan Rhodes