Florida Ironman 70.3 - May 8th

Since St Croix 70.3 I had put in 2 weeks of altitude training at my base in Boulder, Colorado I was running without any calf problems so went into Florida 70.3 with a good feeling that I would be competitive.

The day started out very early with a 4am wake up and then race start at 6.20am I was still not fully awake when the cannon went off!

My swim was very comfortable I lead for most of it and had a group for company so really pushed the pace in the last 400mts to try and gap the others. I came out of the water 1st with an 8 second lead so set about the work ahead of me on the bike.

I felt really relaxed and the new HED Jet disc was humming along so kept the leg turnover up and focused on get the nutrition in my body as it was very humid and I was sweating more. At 45 miles there was a break away with 2 athletes and I was unsure what to do as I wanted to save as much energy for the run because of my limited training I have been able to do with my injury so just decided to sit back and save my energy.

Then at the last aid station I when to crab a bottle and my left hand slipped off the bars and I went down hard, skidding along the smooth road.

I quickly got myself up and back on the bike there was no damage to it only some skin off my left knee and elbow losing 30 seconds to the group I had to put the hammer down and catch up which took me a few miles to do.

When I got back to Transition 2 in 3rd place and heard we were 2.30 back from the lead I wish I had gone with the break. The two guys that had got away were good runners and I just had to concentrate on my own running form and hope my leg would hang in there to be able to run fast.

The first 2 laps of the 3lap run course when really well and I felt good but the last lap I was struggling as there wasn’t enough training in the legs and I got passed by 1 guy and knew I could have been fighting for a top 2 place if I could have been injury free in the last 2 months.

I crossed the finish line in 4hr 2mins and was very happy to have placed 6th as my calf was fine and know there are bigger races to come!

Now I head back to Boulder for 3 more weeks of altitude training before my next 70.3 Half Ironman.

Thanks for all your support!
Cheers Rhodsey

TOP 10 PRO MALE RESULTS:
1.     Paul Amey, GBR               3:52:51
2.     Santiago Ascenco, BRA          3:56:33
3.     Spencer Smith, Palm Harbor, FL     3:59:04
4.     Courtney Ogden, AUS          3:59:42
5.     Kevin Lisska, Fletcher, NC     3:59:56
6.     Bryan Rhodes, NZL          4:03:10
7.     Brent Poulsen, CAN          4:05:18
8.     Andrew Hodges, CAN          4:11:56
9.     Brad Seng, Boulder, CO          4:17:30
10.    Marcus Ornellas, BRA          4:18.45