Ironman 70.3 Vineman - Triathlon

Since we were the last wave, there was fun energy within our group since we were the "last ones" to start. One guy in particular was getting the wave motivated and saying some pretty funny stuff. My wife told me that this guy could be heard from the beach and the spectators got a good laugh out of it.

I started at the back of the wave. The first 200-300 meters were a bit crowded but it thinned out nicely. I didn't have much contact beyond this point. Only contact was when I passed a few folks.

The course is absolutely beautiful. I found myself admiring the redwoods and scenery and had to remind myself I was in a race. It was a really awesome course.

At the turnaround, this is when the water was extremely shallow. I didn't think it would be as shallow as it was so I had to stand up a few times which I am sure slowed me down.

The final stretch of the course was easy to navigate as I used the bridges as markers to let me know I was close to finish.

I would push myself harder during the swim. I wanted to make sure I had good energy for the start of the bike and that wasn't an issue.

I would also start closer to the front of the pack. I passed a good amount of people since I started in the back.

Overall it was a good swim. I felt strong, wetsuit fit nicely, and the course was stunning.

I jogged out of the water, popped up my goggles, and immediately started working my wetsuit down. I felt good once I got to my bike. Wetsuit came right off.

At check in, all athletes were given a bag for T1. We were supposed to put all of our gear in it after the swim so they could transport it to the school for retrieval after the race.

I couldn't find the bag! As I was putting my helmet, gloves, etc, I kept looking for the bag. I had to come to the conclusion that someone else used my bag in error. I flagged down a volunteer to let them know - of course 30 seconds later I found the bad which I kept under my ground towel. I apologized to the volunteer as I saw her running towards me with a garbage bag.

I unracked my bike and was on my way to the mount line. There is a healthy little hill at the mount line so I walked/ran my bike to the top and mounted there. I didn't see any other athletes mount at the mount line.

I always ignore T1 and T2 articles that breakdown how to set them up, etc. Lesson learned. I know realize how important it is to run through your transition set ups before the race so my mistake won't happen again. Unfortunately I made another dumb mistake at T2.

I am still relatively new to the triathlon and cycling scene. I wanted to make sure I didn't expend all my energy on the bike and leave nothing for the run.

At the start of the bike, the sun came out and the clouds cleared. The vast majority of the course is beautiful. The course takes you through endless wine vineyards. The course was either flat or rolling hills. Not many longer climbs other than chalk hill.

I didn't pass many people on the bike, but some passed me. They were basically the athletes in my swim wave that I beat out of the water and T1.

The first 18 miles went well. Unfortunately I left my bottle of gatorade at my condo so I only had a 1/2 bottle of water until the first aid station at mile 18. I picked up a bottle of powerbar perform. I drank that and took one GU gel until the next aid station at mile 29 or so. Although I wasn't biking extremely fast, I felt strong and fresh so I was happy.

At the mile 29 aid station, I picked up another powerbar perform. I drank about half of it and took another GU before the next aid station at the mile 40 aid station. At this aid station, I ditched the 1/2 bottle and picked up a new one.

Chalk hill was fun. I thought a lot about it in the days leading up to the race. I passed a few racers and then was met by a few people who were cheering us on. There were dressed up in costumes - pretty cool stuff.

I drank about 1/2 of the last bottle of perform. After chalk hill, I know I was getting close to town and T2. It took longer than expected - one of the benefits of having a bike computer or GPS to track my distance.

Once I got to the bike dismount, I felt strong and my legs felt great. I was ready for the run.

This is where I think I lost the rest of my race. I took in a total of two bottles of perform and two GU gels. I completely bonked on the run and experienced the worst cramps and nausea in my life.

When I race again, I am going to make sure my race day nutrition is in check. I need to make my bike nutrition a priority. I underestimated the importance of this aspect. Lesson learned.

When I set up T2 the day before, I didn't pay attention to the "bike in" and dismount area to know where I would run to my transition area. I got lost and couldn't find my age group rack. A volunteer helped me located it. I looped the entire bike rack section trying to find my area...annoying.

One I found my T2 station, I noticed that people were pretty sloppy in racking their bike. I really had no place to rack my bike so I had to move some bikes to get mine on there.

Once I racked my bike, I moved pretty quickly. I put on my sneakers and applied some sun screen. I stopped to use the restroom and was on my way.

I need to improve my transition plan. I could have saved 5 minutes had I prepared better. Again, lesson learned.

About a quarter mile out of T2 I started to cramp under my right rib cage. I tried to run it off, walk, rest, anything, but nothing worked. The heat started to intensify and the cramps started to occur when I was walking.

From miles 0-7 I tried so many times to get going but I just couldn't. I had never felt the cramps I was feeling. Nausea started to kick in as well. At each aid station I took in water - I couldn't even look at any of the GU, fruits, etc, they had available. All I wanted was water.

At mile 8 I knew I was toast. I felt so defeated as I didn't see this coming at all. I kept moving though as I wasn't going to let this get in the way of finishing.

I finally reached the finishers shoot and jogged it out to the finish line. I saw my wife waiting for me and cheering me on just before the finish line. I told her I was sorry for letting her down - that's how defeated I felt.

I felt excitement that I just finished my first 1/2 Ironman but I was so disappointed with myself that I couldn't run any of the run leg.

I would improve and increase my nutrition intake during the bike. I think this really screwed up my run. I felt nausea throughout the run and into the evening. Not until I ate dinner did that go away. I had cramps in the same spot in my stomach/rib cage area for the next two days.

It was just a miserable "run" - I was expecting to finish the run in 2:10 to 2:20.

I laid down in the shade and took in water.


Nutrition, nutrition, and nutrition.


I've calculated that I took in about 550 calories on the bike when I think I should have been north of 1000. Nutrition was my demise during this race.

Although I failed big time on my run, I'm happy with my performance on the swim and bike. I'm hoping I've identified the areas where I need improvement to have a stronger run.

I learned a lot during this race. I'm more motivated than ever to hit the ground running and begin training for my next race.