Ironman 70.3 California - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Well, the race started out poorly. My 2 day old watch - purchased at the expo - did not start when I hit the button. I tried to put a positive spin on it by telling myself that I now won't have any idea of my swim time and this will allow me to just relax and stay within myself. Swam very relaxed and tried to draft when possible. With the overhead swell going on outside of the harbor, the mouth to the harbor at the turnaround was pretty bumpy. About a minute slower than last year ... but I got out of the water feeling very fresh. My wife and daughters were there to cheer me on as I got out of the water. Stoked as I thought I wouldn't see them until the run.

Maybe push it a little bit more

Long run from swim exit to bike. With the cool weather, I used my arm warmers for the first time. I'm not qualifying for anything, so in transition I try to (as Coach Wooden would say) "be quick but don't hurry"

in my first HIM 2 years ago (also O-side) I averaged over 20mph, finished in 2:45 and had a bad run. Last year, I tried to copy the previous years ride and paid a HUGE price by having the worst run of my life. So this year, I wanted to just mellow the bike and see if I could have a good 13.1 run. That plus the wet roads made for sub 18mph ride. I really took it easy on the 3 big hills on the back. Thankfully the headwinds that are normal for the final 11 miles did not show up. The six scoop bottle of Perpetuem and 1 cliff bar seemed perfect - about 300 calories per hour. I HATE wet roads - doesn't matter car or bike. I was praying the whole time for a safe ride.

Probably push it a little bit more on the first 25 miles and keep the heart rate at 135 as much as possible

The marines that were helping were great

Well, it was a good 10k and a pretty good 10 miles. I felt strong and fairly fresh as I passed my family for the first time. But as has been the case for every HIM except Vineman, the stomach issues crept up for the last half of the race. Overall happy with a sub 2 hour run though. The mileage marking was WAY off. I think it might have been mile 2 to 3 where they shorted it. I passed marker 12 and my Garmin was at 11.85 ... but at the end it showed 13.1. ... so the last 1.1 was actually 1.25 and I had to really kick to finsh below 2.

Perhaps a bit slower at the beginning

Nothing. Found Ria and the girls and thanked them for coming. I felt like I was about to puke. Didn't hang around at all. I was ready to get home, shower, drink beer and watch the "final four"


The "putting it all together" i.e pacing and nutrition .... especially the last half of the run