Ironman 70.3 California - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Potty line was longer than I expected and I was rushed to get my wetsuit and get through the shoot. I was still donning my cap and goggles when my wave went into the water so I wasn't even at the start yet when the gun went off. The rushed start and lack of open water (read cold water) swims left me with an overwhelming desire to not swim. Only made it about 100 yards at a time before stopping. Very disappointing since last year's swim was my best open water swim ever. This was atrocious and there was no reason for it. The conditions were the same as last year, and my pools swims had been going well.

More cold water swims. I hate them so much I avoid them like the plague.

Transition went well. Wore booties for the swim and this time had my chip on under them rather than on top. Yay! Gear laid out well. Took my time making sure everything was in order.

Don't forget sunscreen on neck.

Bike went fairly well. I was terribly undertrained for this event having dealt with back issues since the fall. I was just happy that my back made it, but I would have liked to come in under four hours. First 28 miles flew by at a great pace. Just as I was starting to feel the fatigue I reminded myself the hill was coming soon. Just then I looked up, and there it was. Last year I was concerned about the hills, trained for them, and found they weren't as bad as I anticipated. This year I went into it thinking the hills wouldn't be too bad, but with my lack of training that first one killed me. I considered walking but made it up against the wind at 3mph. The next few miles I started thinking maybe the walkers had the right idea, saving their legs. Between the fatigue and the wind my pace dropped in half. The next fifteen miles seemed to last forever. I picked up a bit of momentum the last ten and was happy to have shaved a few minutes off last year's time, and make it through with my back still functioning.

Train more than two months for a HIM.
The Infinit Ironman formula is continuing to work well for me with a serving for each hour in 15 minute increments.
Took water at every aid station, had plenty.

Transition went smoothly. More sunscreen, potty stop.

Don't forget sunscreen on neck - again.

I couldn't catch my breath on the run. I've never had this happen before. My back issues limit my running speed so cardio isn't usually a problem. I can only assume this was due to the lack of training. (The closest I came to a brick workout since June was a 55 mile bike followed by a half mile run two weeks before the event. My chest was still burning when I went to bed Saturday.) This caused me to walk a lot which I haven't had to do before. On the one hand I was happy not to have the crazy hip pain that I ran through last year, but this was almost more frustrating because I couldn't run through it. I was happy my back and hips held up, but disappointed in going over three hours. Was nice on mile 10 to see my cousin with her three year old daughter and the sign they had made for me. So cute.

Train more than two months and do more brick workouts.

I was in a hurry to get to another engagement and running forty five minutes behind due to that awful swim and slow run, so after receiving my medal and hat and handing in my chip I grabbed a piece of pizza as I zipped through the food tent, chatted with my mom a couple minutes, grabbed my gear and hit the road.


Back issues that limited training. Weather conditions were great except maybe the wind on the bike, which thankfully wasn't as bad as last year.


I love that this race is so close to home. I hope to be healthier going into next year so I can train properly. Volunteers are great, race is well organized. Course is challenging, but not crazy.