Greg Charbeneau at IMFL 2009
Ironman Florida is in the books. Even though times were fast, the 2009 edition proved the maxim that there is no such thing as an ‘easy’ Ironman. After a calm race week, race morning dawned with a decent wind and promises of some good temperatures. Anyone paying attention that morning knew going fast as hoped would be a challenge!
What was the difference this year? A steady easterly wind made for nice chop on the swim, particularly on the cross-section from the out to the back. Add to the wind the fact a total of 2400 folks toed the surf at 7:00am made this swim, according to many, one of the most brutal IM swims in recent memory.
After making it through the two loop swim, athletes were treated to a new and unimproved transition area. Due to construction, the layout had changed such that athletes had to get their bags, run all the way down into the back of the hotel (women had to run further), then athletes ran all the way back to where they picked up their bags…and only then could they enter the bike area. Think the “shuttle run” test from your Presidential Fitness days in elementary school. Or just think “nightmare,” as one competitor put it. This made for some of the slowest T1 times in recent memory.
Out on the bike, the athletes had a nice tailwind to start the day, but this quickly turned into a solid 30-mile headwind (miles 20-50), made the out and back portion of the bike almost unbearable and rendered the last 6 miles on Front Beach Road practically uphill. Side note, the out portion of the out and back (around mile 70) were described by many as practically unrideable. The drafting, as you have probably seen via YouTube, was in full effect. This somewhat offset the wind on the day, keeping times relatively fast. Par for the course, the longer you were on the bike the windier it got and the more you suffered.
To be honest the wind had little effect on the run, but the damage from the swim and the bike had already been done: salt water swallowed early on led to stomach issues later in the day. The decision to push the bike early despite the wind turned into running out of gas way too early. As a result, the serpentine run course was littered with broken race dreams. It certainly didn’t help that the sun was entirely gone by 5:20pm, making a not-so-long day for some seem quite long indeed.
Going back to recount the day, there were still plenty of fast people and many fast times…but know that those folks earned every single second!
Time to pack the bags for Tempe and Ironman AZ…see you soon!
RnP
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