Ironman 70.3 California - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

With the race adrenaline going, the water didn't feel as cold as during my weekly OWS's in Mission Bay. The booties and neoprene cap help of course. With the high surf outside the harbor, the swells started sooner and were stronger than in the other two races I've done here. The frequent open water swims I made in the last year helped a lot with the chop. I didn't become frustrated and stop like I would have in the past. One poor girl swimming next to me was vomiting from sea sickness. I felt bad for her, but judging by the position of the kayaker that was sticking with her I'm pretty sure she finished ahead of me anyway. I've become a much stronger swimmer over the past year, but I haven't been able to increase my speed at all. In fact this swim was two minutes slower than the same course two years ago. I was hoping for 50 minutes, but with the chop I'm happy with the 55.

I'm always slow in transition, but it was worse this year putting on all the cold weather gear - arm warmers, leg warmers, windbreaker, etc. Not having a towel made getting this gear on even more difficult.

Make sure I have towel and suncreen in T1.

I was glad I took the time to put on the extra clothes in T1. I was comfortable and never warmed to the point that I wanted to remove any of it. Despite the constant drizzle the ride was uneventful. As I approached the second aid station I realized that I hadn't drank or eaten anything since the previous aid station. With the lack of sun and heat it just hadn't occurred to me. Oops. I grabbed a piece of banana from a volunteer, drank some water, and made a note to start drinking my Infinit at regular intervals. Luckily, this lapse didn't seem to impact the rest of my race.

There were quite a few people walking up the first hill, but as usual, I was able to get up it with a bit of effort. This year I didn't get out of the saddle as much as I may have in the past. At the next significant hill there were a few walkers but not as many this time. Then winds on the back side weren't anywhere near where they were the last two years. This along with my consistently increasing comfort on the bike made this part of the ride much more enjoyable this year. The last mile to the new T2 wasn't optimal as it was tight and the guy in front of me was swerving as he was fighting to get out of his shoes. As we approached this stretch it dawned on me that we would have one final short STEEP climb just as we hit T2. Curious how that must feel when you're out of your shoes. Made it up and into T2 without issue. Hit my goal time right on the nose.


Focus more to keep an even pace early and eat and drink consistently.

Another slow transition getting all that cold weather gear off, putting on suncreen, and a potty stop.

I don't know, still can't figure out why I'm so slow at this (even compared to others using arm/leg warmers).

The weather was perfect and the overcast kept a lot of beach goers away so the boardwalk wasn't as crowded as the last couple years, which was nice because the run path is pretty tight through here. I felt good coming off the bike and kept a pretty steady pace through the run. The weather made it easy to stay hydrated without taxing the system. Only walked one climb up to the street and another back down to the boardwalk, actually ended up doing some freaky crab hop here as something in my leg just wasn't happy. Once I hit flat ground I was off and running again with less than a mile to the finish. I came in five minutes under my goal time.

Received my medal and hat, gave the volunteers my chip, and grabbed some pizza. Headed back to the finish to meet up with my mom and see a few athletes come in. Headed up to transition to grab my gear and then drove down to Fidel's in Solana Beach for an early dinner. Yum!


This race went well. I came in three minutes under my goal time. I'd like to cut off another fifteen minutes. I'm hoping I can shave at least five, if not ten off my swim with better conditions and continuing open water practice, and I need to work on those transitions.


I really like this race(which is great since it's close to home). The swim is mostly protected, but gets a few (or in this case more than a few) swells to keep it interesting. The bike course is scenic and challenging, and the beach atmosphere of the run course is fun. The volunteers including many Marines are great and the race is well organized. I felt the change to a two transition system was well communicated and went pretty well (alhtough it made the course less than optimal). I definitely plan to be back for a fourth time next year.