California Half Ironman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Did not want to push it in the swim. I know from my shorter races that if I do, I'll start getting cramps and have them all day. So I went out easy, and never used my legs. I thought of it as a nice warm up for the more difficult swim and run.

I bought a neoprene cap the day before at a surf shop, and that made the swim much more enjoyable. I do open water swims in the ocean around here with similiar temps and feel cold and disoriented getting out. The cap really made a difference, and I got out feeling great.

I put on arm warmers, leg warmers, wool socks and a headband for the weather. Being damp made it a little challenging, but it was worth it.

Didn't expect a great transition time, but shivering wouldn't do my muscles much good.

I put a little spray bottle of sunblock in both of me plastic transition bags. I overlooked both of them during the actual transistions.

The bike was my best part of the race. It's also what I conncentrated on in training. I can never quite tell from the elevation map what it's going to be like, and I trained on lots and lots of hills.

It was hard to hold myself back for the first 25 miles. It was hard, as people were passing me and I really wanted to go faster, but the thought onf the hills later in the course helped. The first of three big hills was the toughest for me. I probably attacked it a little too hard, and it was tough. At the top, I pushed my arm warmers down around my wrists. The others weren't as difficult and I was conscience of pacing myself a little better.

I had a great time on the last 15miles. They were rolling hills that didn't take a lot of effort to get up, and were fast going down while pedaling and tucking. I finally felt as if I could push it a little and I still felt pretty fresh.

I felt good, and thought I was ready the the run.

Yet again forgot the sunscreen, and I'm in pain now from the sunburn.

Felt pretty bad the first loop, did a lot of walking, I had a lot of trouble catching my breath. I would run for a little and then walk for a little. I would walk up any of the little hills and run down them. By the second loop, I was feeling much better breathing-wise, but my muscles started feeling fatigued, so I would start to run, pick a point off in the distance and make myself run to that point, then walk until I felt okay to run again.

More running training, more bricks. Losing weight would probably help, too.

Lack of a structured training plan. I was really haphazard about it, but I freelance and January/Febuary is a really busy time for me. Training a lot when I had the time (70 mile bike one day followed by a 15 mile run the next) and then very little the following week when I didn't heave time.


This was my first 1/2, and my goal was to finish the race. I did, and I did faster than I thought I would, so it was a success.

I know there was a lot of talk about the weather being horrible. But, as far as I could tell, it rained during some of the waves swim, and then maybe sprinkled early on in the bike. The temp was mid 50's, which is my most favorite temp to run in. Overall, I enjoyed the weather though it took a couple extra pieces of gear (neoprene cap and arm warmers). I'm panning on doing Vineman, and the weather for the run there (in the 80's & 90's) scares me more than this.