Vineman Ironman 70.3 - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I set myself up front and on the left, prime spot. I had met a guy at the expo in my age group and we met up again at the swim start and chatted for a minute. The horn sounded and away we go. He stuck by my side for about 500 yds. then he dropped back. I found a pair of feet to draft off from for the next 1000 yds. I'm still not able to keep up with the lead pack which was about 5-7 guys. My swim coach asked for a split time at the turn around 17:38. I stayed on this guys heels till he started to fade. When he fell back I think he took his turn in the draft. The last 500 I was all alone till about 100yds from shore I caught one guy and we exited together then I raced him to the timing mat.

My best swim EVER. I was so relaxed, and confident. I had put in some solid time in the pool the last few months and been working with a swim coach the last 3 weeks. My motor is strong but I needed and still need better technique. Thank you for all your help Greg.

Real quick strip of the wetsuit, pop on the brain bucket and I'm gone. Left three guys from my age group there. Big transition area the run to the bike mount takes forever. They put down some nasty old strips of carpet to run on but they could have removed the large rocks first. EPIC fail on your part Ironman. The bike mount area is very narrow but not a problem today, I was the only one there.

Nothing. 2nd fastest in my age group

So I'm just getting out of Guereville, the roads are packed with cars coming in and parked cars. This guy decides to turn in front of me. There was just enough room for me and my bike and a sheet of paper. It all happened so fast, scary. The rest of the ride was uneventful. I got passed at mile 7. I passed one guy at mile 8 and passed one more at mile 12. My stomach didn't settle till about mile 40 so I spent the next 30 min taking in what I could calorie wise. I caught two pro female's at Chalk hill. All things considered a pretty solid ride

I need to figure out how to settle my stomach. Maybe just water, maybe wait 20-30 minutes before I start hydrating. Real solid ride for me

So this guy catches me before the entrance of T2, the path is very narrow to the bike racks. He then proceeds to stop in front of me to talk to people not once but twice. Frustrating. Then I see the most beautiful thing, rows and rows of empty bike racks. There were two bikes from my age group there. Very promising I thought.

I don't think Mr. chatty Cathy cost me a lot of time but I like things to stay fluid.

My pace was real good, just what I planned for and I was feeling real good. I stuck to my pace plan for the first six miles, drinking at every aid station. I started fading a little at mile seven. This was a little earlier than expected. By mile 8 I started to feel bad and it was at that time a young guy passed me like it was nothing. Fortunately he was in a younger age group but it took some wind from my sails. I continued on and noticed my average pace had slowed. By mile ten I was in a pretty bad place, the pain was getting worse. by mile eleven I started playing the math game where you figure how many more minutes till your done. Fourteen minutes, I can do this it's all over in fourteen short minutes. Mile twelve, no more aid stations, I have never felt this bad before I could hear people cheering me on but could not look at them just focus on forward motion, then there it was the finish line.

After taking some time and thinking it through perhaps better nutrition on the bike would have helped but I think the reality is I gave my all and left nothing out there. I did manage to post the sixth fastest run in my age group

leaned against a fence for five minutes and dumped water on my head.


Two years ago I did this race in 5 hours 4 min. 23 minutes faster this year. I know there is more than 3 minutes I can improve on the swim. I will continue to work on my weakness. I missed the podium by 3 minutes and 10 seconds


Gina, Thank you so much for being my sherpa, my support, my cheering section. How did I get so lucky?? I love you