Ironman 70.3 Vineman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Ok swim for me. 32 min was my goal and came in at 36 with a bit of walking through the shallows.

Swim the shallow portions the day prior to the race in order to find the best routes through the shallows.

My transition was a bit slow. The transition area is dirt so I did my best to get my feet clean and dry. It's not conducive to leaving shoes in the pedals and really requires shoes to be put on prior to running to the bike start. The start is on a very steep incline. I followed most others and ran my bike to the top which was much faster than trying to clip in and ride up.

Taken suit off in the pro transition area as it's covered and not in the dirt.

Ok bike for me. This was my first Vineman and now knowing where to conserve and where to push will definitely make for a better ride next year.

Save some gas for the second half as this can be very fast until Chalk Hill.

I had a good dismount but the transition area is in the center quad of Windsor HS. This has a long run taking a couple of minutes. It was even slower as a woman decided to stop and talk to her family clogging up the very narrow lane. I made the decision to take an extra minute to apply sunscreen after getting fried in Hawaii. I was feeling good enough to leave behind my water bottle with GU Roctane mix and just survive off the course.

Nothing

I ran the majority of the course and only walked the aid stations and very steep hills. I had to use the porta-hopper at mi 1 and dropped a couple of Gu packets twice that I had to stop and pick up. Otherwise my run was good and my history of quad cramps didn't repeat thankfully. At about mi 12 I ran up on an older guy who decided to hurl right as I passed. He was trying to run with me but kept getting dry heaves which made me stop and let him run on or I would have lost my cookies.

Need to find better drained shoes for this distance. After all the water, spray, and ice my shoes get very squishy by about mi 8.

My stomach was really bothering me and I thought I was going to have the runs. Fortunately the HS has very nice restrooms and I was able to resolve this prior to the drive back to the beach house. I ate some watermelon and drank enough to feel better.


Lack of course knowledge and swim route to avoid the shallows.


Good race with great volunteers. It lacks some of the vibe of the other larger races mostly likely due to the transitions being 17 mi apart.