Vineman Full Ironman - TriathlonFull Ironman

It was about where I estimated I would be at as far as the swim. I've been making great strides in my open water swimming, but I still get this nagging feeling that I should be faster.

One thing I didn't do was stand the entire time, even when the river got really shallow. I wanted to swim this since on most open water swims I'm not going to have the opportunity to stand. I'm sure if I stood up and walked I'd be a little faster, especially since I had to swim AROUND all the guys walking, which must have slowed me down a little.

There's not much else I could do. I've swum in this river countless times with training weekend and the days prior to the race. I guess I could have drafted more. I really need to work on technique with a wetsuit. I feel that I could be faster in it since there's teammates that are slower swimmers in the pool that trump me on open water.

Took advantage of the wetsuit strippers they had available. It's sooo worth it. I organized my stuff and put it in the T1 bag, then walked my bike up the hill before mounting.

Nothing really. This was a reasonably fast transition despite walking the bike up the hill and making sure my stuff was packed in the T1 bag.

I was worried about the weather coming into the race, but it remained overcast and cool through more than the first half of the bike.

The bike is the longest part of the race, so I tried to take it a little easy on the first half and then try and pick it up a little in the second. Around mile 95-100 I started getting sore and REALLY couldn't wait to get off the bike.

Sorry to everyone that had to deal with bottles on the road. I lost about 3-4 bottles due to bumps. This is the first time I've ever lost bottles in a race. I rode this course in training and only encountered one time where I hit a bump hard enough to lose a bottle. This was because all the bottles I kept launching where ones from the bottle exchanges, which are skinnier than standard bottles. I have plastic cages where you can adjust how wide you can make them with a little dial. I had them closed pretty tight, but I guess the tension wasn't good enough to hold the replacement bottles.

This proved detrimental for me as around mile 95 I was seriously lacking in hydration due to lost bottles. I was actually getting thirsty around mile 100 and hoping for another aid station.

Chalk Hill was nothing. The climb was fun, actually. It was great seeing a TNT compatriot with her cowbell cheering people on, especially hearing her story about her fight with cancer the day before. I would pass quite a few people, a lot of them on fancy bikes and gear. Maybe it's because we did a lot of hills while riding in TNT. Of course a lot of those same people would zoom by me down the hill due to their aerodom (aeroness?), but it's all good.

One of the most fun parts of the bike was seeing my TNT teammates go wild cheering at one of the aid station areas on the second loop. They were a lot calmer in the first loop. I found out later they were all pretty drunk by the second loop, so it actually made a lot more sense now.

Another thing that was great were the embarrassing posters of Coach Brad in a speedo. Due to the way they printed the poster it looked like he made one too many trips to the tanning salon.

I just couldn't get myself to pee on the bike. I made one pit stop by a tree the entire ride, so you could say this lead up to my long T2...

I really need to get more stable cages for my Turbo Wing to prevent all the bottle popping. I plan on getting either metal cages or Specialized rib cages.

I think I paced myself ok, but I could have done more 100 mile rides for training, mainly get used to that point where you just feel sore and really want to get off the bike.

For a goal I'd like to eventually get under a 6 hour split, but it might be awhile before my next full iron distance race.

This was a very long transition. I really wanted to make sure I had everything I needed, that I had proper sunscreen coverage, and that my... bowels... were clear. Hence why my T2 was long. I didn't have to absolutely go to the bathroom, but I thought to myself better now than when a bathroom wasn't available.

I think now that I've done this type of race my transition will be a lot shorter.

I was hoping to get around 4:30 for the run but that didn't happen, mainly due to being overly cautious.

In my last big brick a couple weeks before the race I overheated and couldn't take in fluids. I really didn't want this to happen again, so I made sure to have the volunteers put ice in my hat at almost every rest stop. It was unnecessary, but a good "just in case" measure.

I also went to the bathroom whenever one was available every time I felt just the tiniest bit of wanting to go. This included a...er...bowel movement. This probably cut into my time a lot.

My legs felt really stiff after the first mile in the run, like "I wish I had salt tablets" stiff. I wish I didn't run out of fluid in the last 12 miles of the bike. I'm sure a Gatorade would have helped. I found out that pretzels are pretty darn good when running long distances. Otherwise I was doing OK until the last half of the third loop, where my 9 minute run to 1 minute walk intervals started to waver and I took longer breaks. I remember passing by a teammate that looked incredibly happy on the run and I said to her, "How can your legs be moving so easy?" with a tired expression. Little did I know she had serious dehydration issues on the bike and was really happy to be over them.

I got emotional as I was getting to the finish. I wore a Team in Training Iron Team tech shirt on the run over my tri top. It has the names, written in marker, of people I know or that friends and family know that have either passed away from cancer or have been fighting it. As I got to the finish I took it off and held it high above my head as I crossed, my eyes full of tears. This race was for them and not me. The race announcers usually make a joke when a person crosses the line to keep things lighthearted but they were as a loss as to what to say when I crossed.

I guess the marker wasn't waterproof since the purple ink ran all over the shirt due to my sweat. The green didn't run as much. There's big purple stains all over the back. The shirt doesn't look as pretty as it did a couple nights before when I wrote all the names, but I'll be keeping and using it for a long time since it's a good reminder to myself to stay humble, work hard, and do your best to help people.

I'm sure I could have cut my time significantly if I didn't take as many precautions, but I'm glad I did for my first iron distance triathlon. I'm still trying to figure out what works best for me in regards to nutrition. I'm going to experiment with various food, drinks, salt tablets, etc.

I relaxed, dried up and got warm while waiting for the rest of the team members to cross the line. All of them did and that makes me very proud and happy.

After leaving the race I got a deep tissue massage from my friend's cousin. That sucker HURT. I'm sure it helped recovery though. We were supposed to stay up a little longer and have a beer, but I was so tired I collapsed into bed.

The next morning I went for a swim in the Russian River where the race was held. It was cool and refreshing.


Probably nutrition and more training. Taking lots of breaks. The run is my weakest discipline so I've been working on it during the off season. I've already been making lots of progress, but as of 9/15 when I'm writing this, I haven't touched my bike since Vineman! I really need to go for a ride.


My coach (the guy in the Speedo in those posters on the bike course) said that I should be able to do the race in under 13 1/2 hours, so I made that my "best" goal, with finishing before sunset my "good" goal, and just finishing my "at the very least" goal. Glad to have met the best goal. I'm sure if I did the race next year I could do it in under 13 hours, but I'm just gonna focus on half iron races next season. It's too much of a time commitment to train for full.

I was walking like a cowboy for a couple days after the race. A 7 hour drive back down to Los Angeles the day after the race isn't the best way to get the blood flowing. I was really sore despite (or because of?) the massage.

So the first "iron man" is in the books. I'm taking a break from that distance for a year and only doing half iron races. Then I'm going to come back for another one, probably an M-dot "official" Iron Man.