Ironman Florida 2019

I wanted to write this up while the pain is still fresh in my legs.

I have to sneak this important thing in first: Parking near the main venue is very scarce. I highly recommend finding accommodations within a mile or so from there. Think about getting your bike and all your stuff back after the race! Just a thought.

Okay, I got here on Monday and the weather was perfect. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday showed us all different kinds of weather: Temps from the 40’s to the 80’s, humidity from dry to 100%, rain, wind, and sun (just in this week!). Although Saturday was predicted to be quite good racing weather, clearly the weather here can and does change rapidly. This was my second full Ironman here. The first one had a cancelled swim due to offshore storm and unsafe conditions, the bike was started in 30’s temperatures and gusty winds. So if you have any preconceived notions that because this is Florida the weather will be perfect, you better think again. That’s all I’m gonna say about weather except we really did have nearly ideal conditions this year. Just that wind, it seemed like we had 80 miles of headwind, I don’t know why.

Okay, the swim course:
The water temperature at the beginning of the week was 76° and it was shaping up to be a non-wetsuit legal swim. By the end of the week the water temperature dropped 6°! If I do this race again, I’ll probably bring a sleeveless wetsuit. The water is clear and clean. The course is two loops with a short sandy run between each loop. It’s a wave start of course. The only creatures I saw out there were swimmers and jellyfish. I only saw about five or ten jellyfish. They seemed to be about 5 feet below the surface, I even touched one with my hand during the pull stroke. But they are either of the non-stinging variety or I got lucky because I felt nothing.

Transition is only a couple hundred yards from the beach, chaotic but organized, if that makes sense.

The bike course:
The swim was really quite nice, but the bike course shines. It starts out in the city and take you along the coast then it turns inland and meanders through the countryside. Mostly flat, there are some rolling hills. But it is only something like 1900 feet of climbing on the bike. Anyhow, the road surface is in pretty good condition over a vast majority of the ride. Once you leave the protection of the countryside, around mile 40 or so, you get exposed to the wind. It gradually builds to a nuisance, if you’re lucky. If you’re not lucky it might suck the life out of you. Around mile 68 you finally turn around and head back to town with a lovely tailwind. But don’t get too excited because that tailwind soon turns into a sidewind. Strange as this sounds, I honestly think there was about 70% headwind and sidewind, 15% downwind, and 15% no wind. Transition was more controlled chaos.

The run course:
The run course is two out-and-backs. You start out along the coast and then meander through the neighborhood, and head toward a park at the end. You only spend about a mile on the park trail before you turn around and head the same way back. I would say the surface conditions of the run course are average: there are some curbs, ruts, and potholes. But let us not forget that they are still recovering from a recent major hurricane. Did I mention the weather here?

The Finish:
Well, the finish is every bit as spectacular as an Ironman should be, it never disappoints!

Would I do this race again? It is one of maybe two (out of the ten) I’ve done that I absolutely would do again: I love ocean swimming, I love the bike course, wind and all. And the run course is also “fun” (><)
It’s a fantastic location for couples or families (or solo, like me!), with plenty of food options, grocery, and a gazillion miles of the cleanest, softest, white sand beaches you could ever imagine.

Aloha y’all.

Ironman Ireland 2019 Race Report

Ironman Ireland 2019 race report

Any race report regarding this inaugural event would not be complete without talking about the weather. And not really race related, but I think it’s important to mention the community of east Cork as well. Finally, I will talk about the specifics of the race itself. If that is really what you’re here for, skip down to about the half way point. This report is an easy five minute read.

My wife and I arrived in Cork a week before the race. We wanted to visit Ireland and be tourists, as well as recon the race course. I had previously arranged to rent a bike as my bike was being shipped by TriBike Transport and would not be available until the race. Although the weather was nearly perfect all week, every local we spoke with mentioned that weather is a constant variable in Ireland. And race day bore that out! I’ll get to that later.
While driving around, I reconned the bike course and decided not to dare riding on Irish roads. I was already fit. The roads are crazy narrow, fast drivers, and nonexistent bike lanes made my decision easy.

A few quick words about rental cars and driving in Ireland:
1. Insurance is provided by many credit card companies, including mine, if you use their card to pay for the rental. Note that Ireland was specifically excluded with my card. No doubt because driving on the left is hard AF if you’re not used to it. I highly recommend buying the insurance offerred at the rental desk. It was about €250 for a week (1 Euro is currently about $1). The rental car itself was only $70 for the week! The insurance supposedly covered anything that could happen to the car, with a €300 deductable.
2. I cannot overstate how hard driving on the left is if you’re not used to it.
3. They can park on both sides of the road, facing either direction.
4. Two-way roads in Ireland often barely fit one small car.

This was my 10th Ironman, we have been all over the world for this crazy endeavor, this labor of love. And I can emphatically say the Irish are among the most friendly we’ve ever encountered. Whether it was giving directions, food recommendations, or simply chatting in line somewhere, the Irish we met were fun-loving, caring, and not rushed when offering guidance.
The surrounding communities embraced us athletes who “invaded” their quiet little towns and villages by the thousands. The level of support I don’t think I’ve seen anywhere, although Mont Tremblant in Canada comes to mind. East Cork is wonderfully rural. The race venue is in Youghal (pronounced Yoll or y’all as in the southern US) is considered a “city” by the locals but would be a small town in the country by many standards. Again, wonderfully rural. Some coastal towns that stood out in our visit: Kinsale, Ardmore, and Ballycotton. But honestly, everywhere we went was amazing. Walking through Rostellan Forest was off the beaten path and so fun. We also went to Blarney Castle and Gardens and the gardens were so fantastic that we never made it to the castle! Trust me, I’m not really a “garden guy” but this place was breathtaking.

Okay, the Race:
As instructed, I arrived at the designated athlete parking area between 4 and 5 AM. It was already quite cold, in stark contrast to the previous week. At roughly 10-12C (49-52F), we athletes were blowing steam from our breath. Logistics required us to walk about a kilometer to the transition/swim start. It started to rain. Now cold and wet, the wind kicked up. Still dark and staring at the ocean, there was no swim course set up. It became apparent that the swim was in jeopardy: The ocean was violent and clearly unsafe. Now 5:45AM, I had been shivering in the rain with my fellow athletes for over an hour when the announcement came that a decision regarding the swim would come “soon.” At around 6AM, it was announced the swim was in doubt, they would continue to monitor the situation and make an announcement in 10-15 minutes, all the while we were exposed to the elements. Was I alone in my thinking ‘How would the weather change in 15 minutes?!’
At about 6:10AM they officially cancelled the swim and announced a Time Trial bike start beginning with the pro field at 7:20AM, and then the Age Groupers would begin, by number...only two at a time! There were ~2000 starters and I was bib 2025. I ended up leaving transition at 9:08AM, FIVE HOURS after arriving ready to race, but no raincoat and no tent.

On the bike it only got more and more cold, but at least I was moving. The rain was relentless. I train every day in the hills so the elevation changes didn’t bother me. But if you don’t have hills, try to be prepared: there are very, very few flat parts on this course. Having said that, my race ended after a racer came onto the course from a side street after presumably fixing a flat. He didn’t look and he entered the course on a descent where I just happened to be.
We crashed pretty hard. I got up and took inventory of my physical self: I was bleeding on both hands, both knees, right hip, and right shoulder. But no broken bones. He apologized several times but I yelled at him repeatedly. I regret my childish behavior now. There is no excuse for that and if you are the one whom I crashed with, I apologize to you. Even though you rode off, I hope you were okay and finished the race.
My front wheel was damaged and I was in no physical condition for the marathon. My day ended.
I should note that the bike is two 90km (56 mile) loops. The roads in Ireland are marginally maintained. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being Swiss roads and 10 being...dirt, this course was maybe 6-7. If I dared get into my aero bars, my head shook to the point of blurry vision. There was maybe 10-20% of very nice road surface.
Finally, on a bike course where rain is a distinct possiblity, I cannot say enough that disc brakes are the way to go. Period.

Obviously, I didn’t do the marathon but I reconned the course: It is not flat either, despite descriptions to the contrary. Four loops is pretty manageable though and I can imagine that on a nice day it would be pretty amazing.

In conclusion, I regret my crash and DNF. I wish the roads were in better condition. But Youghal, the entire region, and her people left us with such wonderful memories that I will look back with much happiness!
I may or may not have an ax to grind here but I’m 55 and my days of traveling 15,000 miles to do an Ironman might be numbered.

Have a fit day, y’all,

-Dave