Orangeman Half-Distance Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Sitting in the 5th heat, there was probably 800 people in the water in front of me. I caught the bulk of the wave in front of me right after I rounded the 1st buoy. From then on, it was swimming through a crowd. Fortunately, I found an orange cap to draft most of the race (thank you Scott Callender), who lead the way through the masses. I didn't push it all that hard- just took it at a comfortably hard pace, and it was over before I knew it. With the wetsuit, drafting and relatively smooth water- I did a great pace on this one.

claim to be a chick or a clydesdale so I could have started in an earlier heat. Other than that- 14th overall is killer for me.

run across the beach, then onto the trail that climbs steeeeply up to transition, which sat 100ft vert above the beach. So- a long hard transition run. I was a tad leisurely getting my socks and cycling shoes on, wiping my feet off, helmet, glasses, gloves. Hardly a fast transition, but all went smoothly.

Most of the time was in the run to the transition area, which I did as prudently fast as was reasonable up that hill. Other than that, I probably could have taken 30 seconds out of my changeover time. I had the attitude that this wasn't a sprint and that transition time isn't as important. Perhaps the wrong attitude. Never saw where the wetsuit strippers were?

went out a little harder than I thought I should, with HR in the 140's a lot. Some of that due to the early steep hills, but then the course mellowed for a while. Went moderate on the beginning of the climb, but then inched it up to90% LT or higher as planned. Felt great. Sucked down a lot of water, drink and about 500 calories. Stopped twice to pee (4min) which hurt my time a bit.

maybe drink a bit less? :)

guess my one complaint is that the run in/out was on the same side of the transition area as the cycle in/out, and the designated area for the 45+ men was at the far end. So, we old guys had a 30 second disadvantage here. I didn't attempt any flying dismount. Just got off my bike and jogged it in.

Felt pretty good on the first lap- pushing it at a bit more than a 'comfortably hard' level, let my HR rise into the 150's for much of it. The second lap, it started to get painful. a small family of blisters grew on my right foot, and they only got worse through the race. Lots of folks walking those steep hills on the second loop... so I made sure to keep running up them, but the most painful parts were the steep downhills. Finished the 2nd lap about a minute faster than the 1st.

eh- nothing. drank water. ate a banana and pasta. Put a band-aide on my blister.


my bladder. 3 pee stops, each took 2 min. Other than that- I think my pacing was right on. I went out a little harder on the bike than I had planned, but still felt pretty good on the run. Sure- the last few miles were painful, but I managed to finish my 2nd loop a minute faster than my 1st.


The RD did a terrific job. No race is perfect, but this one was certainly well organized, clearly marked, lots of well-trained volunteers, nice tech shirt, enough porta' potties, Pizza and Lasagna at the end, etc. The weather cooperated too, and everything went off beautifully. He even sprung for a live band at the small pre-race festival in a great park. How he managed to close off Ortega Hwy- I don't know, but it was truly a great ride. The extra 1.1mi on the run- WTF?