Ironman 70.3 California - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Plan 33 - 35 min.
- line up front 2-3 rows
- faster than race pace first 100-200 m.
- find feet
- focus, steady, build

Actual 36:49

- line up at very front, slightly left of center
- very little contact, good initial start, didn't overexert
- never found good feet to draft
- 21st out of 23 waves to start, so had to navigate around many swimmers on course
- felt navigation was good
- some bunching up around turn bouys
- starting backing off a little the last quarter of course to hold off calf cramping. Some twinges, but concentrated on relaxing and taking it easy. Fortunately, held off full cramping this time.

Overall, it was a very comfortable swim.

Not sure. Part of me feels I should have pushed harder, however, that may have triggered full on calf cramps.

Plan 4 min
- goggles/cap off during run
- wetsuit off
- HR strap on
- race belt on
- helmet on
- shoes on
- go, mount, start gps

Actual 3:45
- took it really easy on the run to T1
- more focused than last year, probably not as tired from swim
- Abs suddenly cramped when leaning over to put on bike shoes
- everything else went according to plan

Besides having my abs cramp which forced me to take a few moments to stop and try to relax, it was a great T1. Given I ran slower than last year and also took time to put on my HR monitor strap, was able to take 5 seconds off last year.

Can't think of anything I would do differently.

plan (2:40)

- start to Christianitos - 145 HR. set lap for 28 miles. hold back.
- hills steady
- 3rd quarter (after rollers) push
- Vandergrift, ease off, get ready to run

Actual 2:41

- abs cramped again when mounting bike. took it real easy in the beginning until they went away.
- avg. 150 HR to Christianos. 22.8 mph avg. felt easy / moderate from prior training efforts.
- hills were very comfortable this time. Just spun up in my lowest gear trying to keep HR down. Managed to stay in mid 155's for most of the hill efforts.
- looks like I didn't back off enough on Vandergrift. Became fixated on making it back in around 2:40 and ended up maintaing 150 HR, when should have allowed it to settle back down to 145 or even less.
- averaged 19.4 mph on back half of course. Headwinds were a bit of a factor for much of Basilone road.



Race execution - drank 1 bottle of cytomax and 1 gatorade. Maybe not enough? Output seemed to decline relative to effort during the last 10 miles of the ride. Had to go to the bathroom, so didn't want to drink more to make it worse.

Kept telling my self to save my energy for the run. Got off the bike feeling very good. Quite normal compared to my training bricks.

Bottom line, raced 5 bpm over plan. Probably would have done a 2:45 if stuck to 145 bpm.

Training - Need to think about things a bit more to determine how/ if I would modify my training. The front half was faster than last year with less perceived effort. The back half was significantly slower, but I was deliberately trying to hold off.

If I'm able to do this race again next year, will want to go in with more bike fitness, perhaps making my long training rides a little longer. Started a little latter this year on the bike with all the running done over the winter.

plan (2:00)
- gels in jersey
- sock on
- shoes on
- run out with salt and hat

Actual
- all as planned
- took my time with socks and shoes

nothing.

Plan (1:40 - 1:35)

Start at 7:00 miles, fade to 7:30.
- focus, endure, finish strong

Actual 1:48
- very beginning of run felt great. Just like training bricks
- made it past 1st aid station without problems, then first bout of cramping began
- held off a little to allow run groove to settle in
- next 4 miles went well at planned pace
- had to stop and massage my legs at mile 5
- struggled through miles 6-9 okay
- wheels came off after mile 9, dropping to about a 9 mile pace, HR decoupling


Start even slower the first mile? Dunno.. the run really humbled me.

Just wasn't happening today.

Didn't realize that I had soaked my shoes as much as I did. Picked up a few blisters and went to med tent to have them take a look. As I sat and they wrapped my feet, I began to get a little light headed, so I laid down.

After a few minutes, got the chills and started shivering, so they wrapped me up and put a heater on me.

Spent the next 30 mins warming back up.





This race really kicked my butt again. I was pretty wiped out afterwards.

I allowed myself to get too fixed on time goals vs. perfect execution on the bike, although not to an extreme degree.

Perhaps need to race a few B priority races at this distance or modify my training plan to include even longer brick runs.

Also, I think I may have cut back on stregth training too early in my training as well.




All in all, I really love this race. The friends, volunteers, competitive field, and beautiful but challenging course really make this a top tier event.

So fortunate to have this race so close to home.