70.3 California - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I was prepared to freeze, but thankfully the water temp was great. This was my first time doing a start where you had to tread water for a few min. and then go. I cruised the swim. I just didn't know what to expect for the rest of the race, so I didn't want to blow it in the first leg of the race. I swam a steady training pace. It was a bit choppy when we got out to the break water. I could have kept swimming for another mile. I loved the swim. The bummer was that as soon as I stepped on the boat ramp my right calf cramped into a tight ball. The kind that completely takes you down. The volunteers picked me up, but I wouldn't let them carry me up the ramp because I was so afraid I would get DQ'd. I hobbled up the ramp and got to my bike.

I will go all out next time on the swim. I know that I could have probably shaved a LOT off my swim time. Don't think it would have hurt me on the bike or run. Don't think I could have done anything about the cramp.

I knew I took my time in T1 but 8 minutes?! Yikes.

Uh...treat it like part of the race. haha

The first 15 miles was great. Nice and flat with the wind behind us. Once we got onto the Marine base...oh my gosh. The rollers were fine, but then we hit the mammoth of a hill. It seemed like it was a sufferfest for all. So many people were off their bikes and walking up the hill. A few people were falling over because you were going that slow and couldn't clip out when you went over. It took every ounce of mental toughness for me to stay up and keep pushing on. Getting to the top of that hill was my most proud moment in the whole race. Wow! What an achievement. When we came upon another one I thought I would cry but I kept on. The bad thing was for the last 20 mile or so we were going uphill into the wind. It sucked to look down and see that I was going 11mph. The final 5 miles all I wanted to do was get to the run so I could get off my bike seat. haha.

Nothing. I was proud of my effort. I hoped to get between 3 1/2 hours and 4 hours and I got 3 1/2.

I had to pee sooooo bad. There was no way I was leaving the transition area until I hit a porta potty.

Guess I could have peed on the bike (like a lot of people did) to save time? haha...nah :)

They said it was a flat course. They lied. It had short hills but they were hills nonetheless. My legs didn't feel the normal jelly leg that you feel off the bike. In fact I looked down and noticed I was running a 9:30 pace so I slowed way down. The first 4 miles were the hardest for me. I walked through the aid stations taking my time to eat/drink. I think this is the first time I have run this distance where nothing hurt. I was just tired. I started crying at mile 11 when I saw my son and husband. I was so excited because I realized I was going to finish.

I didn't put as much time training on the bike as I needed. That is the longest portion of the race and I can make a lot of gains here.


This race was super organized!!! There were TONS of volunteers who were extremely helpful.