the great floridian – 140.6 race report

first things first, i want to sent a big happy birthday shout out to my j-man and an even bigger shout out of thanks for all of his help this year with my training and especially this weekend...i couldn't have done this without you!

before i give my perspective on the race and the course, i want to share something that Bill Floyd (http://www.trifloyd.com/), a Level 2 USAT Tri coach in the Tampa Bay area had to say about it in his weekly email:

Few people worldwide have ever trained and completed an Ironman distance race.  After all, here are the distances, and they are not easy, even by themselves: 2.4m Swim-112m Bike-26.2m Run.

When a person decides to do one of these distances, it places them into a category of people on earth who have shown to be unbelievably strong, courageous, capable of withstanding pain, resolve beyond reproach, mental strength, emotional strength, spiritual strength, tenacity, and and "never give up" attitude that only one can see when they are placed into a testing situation that is tough, and sometimes perceived as possible death around the corner.  A person's body temperature goes up to over 104 - 105 degrees, sometimes you throw up on the course, sometimes you urinate blood, and sometimes you are really cranky, and other times, really, really relaxed and enjoying each moment.

The Great Floridian Triathlon, located in Clermont, Florida, and where the city is known as the World's Triathlon Destination, is held by Fred Sommer, one of the premier Race Director's in the World.  This particular Ironman distance triathlon is known throughout the triathlon community, worldwide, as one of the top two to three toughest triathlons in the entire world.  Even most of, and some of the best conditioned triathletes, shy away from coming to it. The best can not stay away from it.

Well, Tampa, Florida, has a new triathlete to add to this distance -  in the Top 5 Overall Ladies at the Great Floridian Triathlon, Kristine Mondello-Concepcion!  And, she did it in a really fast time on a course that has big hills (including the famous "Sugarloaf") and hills on the run, with a blistering time of 12:31:42, burning it in the marathon with a 4:08 time! Congratulations is always in order when one reaches into their heart and soul and pulls out a completion of a distance this large, and still manages a smile after the race!  Great race, Kristine!
i said before, that i never chose this course because it was one of the hardest, i chose it because it was close to home and didn’t cost an arm and a leg. although i knew i had trained really hard almost the entire year for this race, i didn’t expect to do as well as i did or feel as strong as i did the entire time. honestly, i didn’t know what to expect since i’ve never done anything like this before. i can predict my marathon time within about a 5 minute window but not with something this long. many things can go wrong so it is hard to predict a time, but thankfully, everything went according to plan. i couldn’t have scripted the outcome of the day any better.  

so here are the numbers and my thoughts in red about each part:
Swim: 1:30:34 – the swim was wetsuit legal so i was able to finally test out the full Xterra Vortex i bought in May and had yet to use. it was wonderful and worked like a charm.  i predicted this swim time to the exact minute. i swam very relaxed, never freaked out or felt anxious. i just got into a good groove and pretended that i was in the pool doing a long morning workout before work. funny how the mind works like that. this swim was 1.2 miles so we had to exit the water, cross the timing mats and head out for the second half to complete the entire distance. i had to assert my kick a few times when i felt someone grabbing me or about to come over me and it worked every time. i claimed my space out there.

T1: 8:39 – uneventful transition. had to get wetsuit off but wetsuit strippers wanted me to sit in the dirt and i wasn’t about to get my butt dirty…not with as much white as i had going on with my tri shorts so i had them help me take it off while i was standing up. once at the changing tent, i took the time to rinse my feet that were covered in dirt and grass and apply sunscreen. also, i felt a little drunk coming out of the swim which always happens to me, so i sat for a minute to put my shoes on and then i was ready to go.

Bike: 6:38:33 (avg speed 16.9) – lots of wind and hills (3600+ ft of climbing). having done the exact course a month ago, i felt very confident out there. it was a 3 loop course so i came back to the park where the race started 2 more times to refuel. too many people assume that Florida is flat but i will tell you that this course is an ass kicker of gargantuan proportions. i think knowing the course was a huge advantage and my goal was to not kill it so that i would be able to run most of the marathon. mission accomplished! yes, i could have gone faster on the bike but at what cost? in other words, let’s say i had done a 6:15 on the bike (approximately a 20 minutes faster), trashed my legs, then completed the run in 5 hours, where is the logic in that? so anyway, very happy with the bike.

T2: 5:46 – had the changing tent all to myself. by the way, i wore my IM K-Swiss kit the entire time, so i never had to “change” out of anything. had some defizzed coke and some water, threw on my running shoes, poured cold water on my head, grabbed 4 hammer gels and off i went.
Run: 4:08:13 (avg 9:29/mi.) – i just held a steady pace the entire time. this was an out and back course x 3. the way it was set up, we passed thru the main park where everything was centered around, 6 times. so i was able to see some of my friends that were there, which was really cool.  it was somewhat hilly, not very shady but i just continued to pace myself and ran steady. i drank some water and g-ade at almost all of the aid stations and maybe had 3 hammer gels. i just couldn’t take anymore of them after i had the orange flavored one. i thought i was going to puke…the taste was just awful. never buy orange flavored hammer gel, you’ll be sorry.  i also had 2 defizzed cups of coke within the last 8 miles which really seemed to help me keep pushing along. the tour de france riders swear by defizzed coke!


Final time: 12:31:42 – very pleased with this time. i was done by 8pm, at the hotel, showered, and home in my own bed by 10pm.

31 OA

5th OA female

2nd AG (they didn’t do age group if you placed overall but had they, i would have been 2nd)

my personal team of cheerleaders…they rocked!

the next post will focus on the nutrition and hydration i incorporated before and during the race. until then, much love and peace out!

P.S. it is almost 3am. this race totally messed up my sleep and i’ve been getting up the last few days at about 1am and feel like i’m starving! how crazy is that? thank goodness i’m still on vacay.