Ford Ironman 70.3 California - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The swim was fine. Nothing spectacular. Swam what I usually swim, so that is a good thing. There is a period of time after you round the buoy that the glare interferes with sighting. I had been warned about this and had tinted goggles, but maybe mirrored ones would have been better.

I tend to get some pretty fierce legs cramps when swimming in cold water. My massage guy told me a trick of putting Ben Gay on your legs to help keep them warm. I did this. I still cramped, but I don't think as much and the cramps didn't last as long. Whether this can be attributed to the Ben Gay or not, I don't know, but I do know that I will continue to use it until I determine that it doesn't matter.

There were people to unzip your wetsuit as you are exiting the water. I knew that they did this at IMs, but I wasn't expecting it here so it was a little surprising. I think it is really a form over substance thing because I would have myself unzipped anyway by the time I got to my bike.

My goal was 45 minutes, so I came pretty close.

Get to be a faster swimmer.

Even though I always give myself "permission" to catch my breath and all in transitions, when looking at results I am amazed at how long I take. Maybe I ought to save catching my breath for the first couple miles on the bike and start moving faster in transitions.



Move faster.

The first half of the bike course was glorious. It was a beautiful day, I was pedaling along all happy to be alive and out there riding. And then the second half came along. That's where they keep the hills, that's when it got windy and that's where it all fell to pieces. Well, that's an exaggeration, but I am embarrassed to admit that I walked up the steepest hills.

For some reason they don't have my overall rank in biking. It wouldn't be pretty.

My cycling computer didn't feel like working so I never really knew how fast I was going, unless I looked at my Garmin, which isn't really convenient. The cadence sensor worked intermittently, when it felt like it, I guess. I was surprised by how much I missed not knowing my cadence. I don't know if I like the distraction or whether that is actually useful, meaningful information.

My goal was 4 hours, and I am really surprised at how close I came, considering that I walked up the hills.

Work harder at overall biking endurance and work a whole heck of a lot more on steady hill climbing. Illegal performance enhancing drugs might come in handy too. JK.

Move faster.

Supposedly my overall rank and my run rank are the same - 2121 out of 2152. Seems like a funny coincidence.

I was pretty beat by this time. For the first loop I did a pretty pitiful run/walk and just walked the second loop. I would have been even slower except that I walked with this 61 year old man from Van Nuys who maintained a pretty fast walking pace. I kept up with him until about the last half mile when he jogged it in. I tried, but no go.

My goal was 3 hours and while I was only about 11 minutes over, I really had expected to be under 3 hours and so this was a bigger disappointment than not making the times for the swim and bike.

It all comes down to the base you have for endurance. My endurance base was depleted after the bike. This is primarily what I am going to be working on - finishing the bike with something left for the run.

I think the second loop of the run was my cool-down.


Inherent (in)ability and not enough training. Don't get me wrong, I have been training steadily so it isn't for lack of effort. I think I just underestimated how long of steady training this stuff takes.


I think this is a very well-run race. I didn't go to any of the post-race activities so can't comment on that. I thought there were plenty of aid stations and the volunteers were terrific.