Ford Ironman 70.3 California - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

This was my first swim in a full body wetsuit. The combination of that and the water temperature being 59 had me a bit worried pre-race.

This race was a wave start event with groups spread every 3 minutes. From the boat ramp you swap ~100 yards to the starting buoy. Each wave was allowed in the water after the previous group started. This gave you a bit of a warmup swim and then a short wait for the wave start. I was towards the middle to back of my wave and still had no problems with rushing to get to the start buoy. Had plenty of time to get out there, warm up the suit, and then just sit and float.
Starting gun went off and the wave headed out. Took a few seconds to find some clear space, get sighted and going. Picked my line and started the journey. My plan for the swim was just to cruise and enjoy it so I just found a nice rhythm and wasn't worried about staying on a draft. I was amazed how much floatation the full suit provided. Went passed at least a few people in my wave, and got passed by many faster swimmers from wave starts after mine.
Next worry was the sighting issues I'd read about after making the turn and heading back east into the sunlight. Didn't experience this and had no problems heading back for hte second half. Once you get part way back in you parallel the harbor rocks and docks. Got to the finish line and headed to T1.
Comments for those racing next year:
- The water temperature wasn't as bad as I expected. I hate cold water swimming, but didn't have any problems of feel cold at any point during the swim.
- At the morning of the race the event organizers said they would allow swim booties. I guess if you're worried about the cold you might include some in your race bag if they allow it again.
- Bring along a pair of old shoes or socks for the morning walk to the swim. Depending on your race wave there is a lot of waiting around and standing on the asphalt can get cold. From others comments you can leave these by the swim start and they'll get donated. I didn't know this tip until already arriving so just wore a pair of socks until the water edge.

Nothing. Could have pushed the pace better and swam a faster section, but my goal was just to finish this race.

It's a long jog out of the ramp, along the entire transition area, then into the transition to your rack. I don't remember if I did anything with the wetsuit until I got into transition. I did drop one of my earplugs and stopped to pick it up. Kinda funny that I was worried about that. Took my time in trans, just making sure I wasn't forgetting anything and was ready for the bike. Put on socks and bike gloves during transition and that took extra time. With the cool air temperature I ended up also putting on a long sleeve Zoot multisport top over the tri jersey. This took a while to get on also.

Got to see the women finishers heading down the chute just as I was heading out on the bike. I guess there was a lead change right at the end that was pretty exciting.

Nothing different as planned. One or two minutes could have easly been saved with the clothing and causual time I took to complete.

My goal was to cruise the bike and ride all the hills without walking. Had lots of people zooming past but kept on my pace. Reading through the previous reports I knew that the first 30 miles was easy and then the 3 climbs started. The first was at around 31 miles and was the steepest. You can see it coming from several miles away. Shifted to a low gear at the bottom and started the climb. Saw a few people walking up and I was passing others. Checked the speed and it was around 6mph. Made the entire climb no problem! Short downhill section and then some rolling hills. I think the 25mph downhill limit was after the second hill climb. Completed that and the third climb and knew it was then some downhill sections until mile 45. At that point it was like everyone said, the last 10 miles was a headwind, although not as strong as others had in previous years. Completed the ride and into T2.

Comments for people next year:
- I didnt' think the hills were as bad a indicated by others. I'm not a strong cyclist but didn't have to walk up anything. First gear and sitting the whole way.
- Pace the first half of the ride knowing it easy compared to the second. We had a nice tailwind for the majority of the first half. Very few hills through the first half. Miles 31-45 are the hills and slow steady uphill sections that seem flat.
- I stopped at the first aid station bathroom for a break. This worked out good for me. Saw plenty of other stops through the campground area and then the other two aid stations, but didn't need them.
- There was lots of discussion in the transition area of what to wear during the bike as it was cool in the morning. I ended up with a long sleeve top on over the jersey as I didnt' want to be cold and wasn't going to be pushing hard enough to get hot with an expected high temp of 65 for the day. It worked out perfectly for me, but almost everyone else I saw just had on a regular tri top. I think either would have been fine. Definately didn't need anything for the run.

During the bike I dropped my garmin 305. This was my run timing device but I had it strapped to the aero bars to put it on during the ride. Hit a pothole and it came unclipped from the band. It skipped along the asphalt for at least 100 feet. Had to stop, turn around on bike course, ride a bit in traffic and get it. Spent at least 2 minutes getting this done, so that could have been saved time.

Nothing much to comment on for this. Bike back in rack, shoe change, extra jersey off, hat on, grabbed a few gels and then off for the run.

Nothing. While the run course had gels and food, I tried on of the Powermax (or whatever they were) and they were awful and honey/sweet tasting. Was glad I had my own along. Gu Roctane rocks!

My plan was to go easy through the swim and bike and then have a good pace run. However, during the second half of the bike I noticed my left knee was really starting to hurt. I've experienced this on training rides and still trying to figure out what's going on, but it never affected my runs. This was different. I was planning on running a comfortable pace for 6 miles and then step up the last half. Was unable to do this based on the knee pain. The first two miles of the run were good, then I started feeling it. I couldn't run uphill at all and walked those. Starting around mile 4 I decided I'd try to strategy of walking the water stops and running the remainder. Knee just kept getting worse rapidly. This was something new for me. I'm using to being tired on runs and biking and having to stop/rest, but this was pain! Miles 10-12 were probably the worst and I alternated walking and jogging on these. Very frustrating as I had endurance to go but knee wouldn't do it. Got through the last sand section and then ran through to the finish line. Completed!
Comments for next year:
- Plenty of nutrition available every mile of the run. Gatorade, water, orange, bananas, gels, etc.
- Port-a-poties every mile on the run I think also (or close). No issues with them being busy that I saw.

Tried the best I could on this. Going to the doctor to get the knee looked at. Can always say that I could have pushed through the pain more and ran faster, but my goal for the race was to get across the finish line. I've got future half's to shoot for good times.

Quick walk through the food tent, but I was really looking for the family so just grabbed my stuff and went through the maze of people heading out.


Left knee problems on run segment.


First, course organization and volunteers were great! Definately a race worth doing again and no complaints of the course or facilities.

Having now completed a HIM I have a much better idea of what to expect for both distance, endurance, and nutrition. Other than my knee issue everything worked out as planned. Will know how to pace next race faster and start working on improved times. Overall I can't complain about a MOP finish at a big event for my first HIM.