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 Swim
Comments: Swimming is definitely not my strongest event, and I knew that I would be spotting a few minutes to my roomate and likely many of the other swimmers. I felt pretty good though at the start, although it did take me a few 100 yds to get my breathing into a good calm place. I made an early decision to get out of the "pack" and move to the inside, towards the pier. I though this would be good for two reasons, first it would get me some clear water, and second I thought that we were rounding the pier so I figured being closer to it would be the fastest line. Unfortunately I later realized that I had to angle back out to get around a buoy that I couldn't see, and lost some time there. All in all though I was happy with my swim and came in right about where I expected to. What would you do differently?: The only thing I might have done different would have been to stay in the pack and try to use the draft and keep a better line towards the buoys.  Transition 1
Comments: 6 minutes is SLOW! But in my defense you have to run 1/3 of a mile up sand and cold hard concrete as part of the transition, that being said though I could have been a bit more organized and fast once I got to my bike. What would you do differently?: Organize my Transition area a little better, and wait till I was on the bike to put on my arm warmers (it was cold!)  Bike
Comments: I love this part of the race! However, it didn't start quite the way I had envisioned. Ran my bike to the mount line, clipped in, started to crank up the hill, and BOOM...my rear wheel completely locks up. Pretty Smooth! I unclip, look back and my rear wheel is actually loose and got pulled up into the chain stay. Freakin Rookie!!! I quickly unclip slip the wheel back and crank down the skewer, but this was both frustrating and more importantly embarrasing (happened right where everyone is watching). Although I did get complemented on a "nice save". Once I got going and got my HR under control the bike ride went really well. I probably could have pushed a little more, but being my first race I wasn't completely sure what I was capable of. I caught my roommate around mile 36 and we rode the last 20 together (draft legal of course). What would you do differently?: Slow down on the train tracks on the way out....They told us to walk our bikes over the tracks and I thought "no way I'm walking my bike, I know how to ride over train tracks". I almost ate it on them though, and know that a lot of people in front of me did. Maybe could have pushed a little harder, but being my first race I'm real happy with my results. Not stop to pee (this cost me about a minute) Not have a mechanical (this cost me about a minute) Transition 2
Comments: Happy with this transition...maybe could shave a few seconds with experience, but pleased with this time. What would you do differently?: Not much.  Run
Comments: This was the big "wild card" of the race for me. I knew about what my swim would be, and I knew what I was capable of doing on the bike, but I had no idea how my legs would feel for the run. I got the legs moving though and everything felt pretty good. A couple minutes into the run a kid from the UCLA tri group caught up to me and we chatted for a minute, he said he wanted to run 7:30's so I decided to run them with him for as long as I could as I wasn't sure I could hold that for 13.1. We ended up running that pace together for the first 6 miles and talking most of the time, which was nice and definitely made the miles go by faster. Somewhere around mile 6 though, he dropped off the pace and I continued on. When I hit the turn I still felt great and started looking at my watch to figure out if I could go sub 5. Based on my math I thought I could do it as long as I kept my pace where it was. I felt great until around mile 8, where it definitely started to get uncomfortable. I knew at this point though it was a mental game and pushed through it. Hitting the sand for the last 1/3 - 1/2 mile was just cruel! I passed someone in my age group right as we hit the sand, I tried to make a joke about the sand, but he didn't respond (I'm sure he was hurting too). Then right when I got in front of him he must have seen that we were in the same AG and he accelerated hard to pass me back up. My first thought was "damn, I don't really want to try to outkick this guy". I upped my pace a bit, passed him back, then looked back a minute or so later and he had faded pretty bad. I kept my pace up, crossed the finish line, stopped my watch and saw 4:59:30! I did it! Then I started thinking about it and looked at the official time and realized that I forgot to turn off my auto pause on my garmin, so my timer stopped while I was fixing my mechanical and stopped to pee. I missed sub 5 by just under 2 minutes. :( What would you do differently?: Absolutely Nothing! This was a great run for me. Post race
Warm down: Wait for my roomate, who came in about 3-4 minutes behind me, then walk over and get some fruit. Wanted to take an "ice bath" in the ocean, but I was already starting to get really cold and decided against it. What limited your ability to perform faster: Nothing, I was really pleased with my performance. Event comments: Great race, and I really feel like this was a perfect fitness check going into IM Cozumel. Now I'm excited for a few more solid months of training and my big race. Last updated: 2010-09-14 12:00 AM
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United States
Firstwave Events
65F / 18C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 69/650
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 12/81
Every good race report has to start with a little bit of background, so here goes. About a year and a half ago I was just going through a divorce and had kinda found myself in a bit of a funk. I'd always been a pretty fit and athletic guy and I had been putting a few extra pounds on, and really just decided I'd had enough and I was going to make a change. A couple of my good friends had been cycling for years, I had always mountain biked with them, but I always resisted their efforts to get me on a road bike. So I finally gave in and picked up a used Cannondale. To keep it short, one thing led to another and before I knew it I was riding a nice full DA road bike 3-4 times a week and really enjoying it. Towards the end of last year some friends wanted to do the Surf City Half Mary, so I signed up for that and began running. At this point I decided I wanted to challange myself and convinced by best friend/roommate to sign up for an Ironman with me. So we signed up for IM Cozumel, and began throwing in some swim training. Fast forward to today and The Big Kahuna was my first actual race. While I would have loved to compete in a few smaller events first to "get my feet wet", I work weekends and just couldn't make it happen. So while it may not be ideal, I started my triathlon life with a Half IM.
As far as the Pre Race routine, we drove up to Santa Cruz from Huntington Beach Saturday morning, checked into our hotel which was conveniently right across from Transition, checked into the race then hopped on our bikes for a little preview of the course. Managed to fall asleep that night around 7:30 after a nice big meal, and got a really good night sleep.
I really didn't do too much for a warmup. I thought about going for a quick swim, but since it was cold and they were running late on the start I decided against it. Plus the water temp was pretty consistant with what I'm used to swimming in. I had a Hammer gel about 15 minutes before the start and was ready to go.