Ironman 70.3 California Oceanside - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

11,000ypw the past year paid off!

It was a great swim. There was a lot of contact off the boat ramp and to the start. I expected to line up left, but it was crowded, so I floated over a few yards just in time for the gun. I was about three back, and fully expected the washing machine, but surprisingly it was easy to stay close to the front, zero contact for about 100y. The course got pretty crowded with more contact that a usual Oceanside swim, but I drafted a couple of fast orange caps most of the way. Like every year, I got a cramp at the turn buoy, but it went away this time with a few kicks.

Did I do the fly for a few strokes just to say I did? Yes I did ;) Near the end, I checked behind me to make sure no one was there, and did a half dozen strokes.

It was a great swim, by best 1.2 by far. I can't think of anything I could have done better. I sighted well, I stayed out of trouble, I turned well at buoys, and had a quick easy pace.

Yay masters!

Like lightening! My run explains a lot of it, but I'm fast doing this at Oceanside.

I was fast out of the water, and made a point of blowing by as many winded swimmers as possible.

I didn't use the rubber band trick, so ran in my bike shoes. Getting out of the wetsuit, into the number belt, shoes and helmet went fast enough.

Edit: I remember that I pulled my back changing a tire a few days out.

The good: short neoprene shoe covers worked great. I never felt cold, on the bike or once in the running shoes.

The bad: I was slow. Really slow. 22 minutes slower than last year, and in the bottom 1/4 of the ag!

Why? I'm a cyclist, right? My goofy theory that I could ignore bike training and be okay with solid run miles, um, failed miserably. I rode about 45 mpw since January, and it wasn't close to enough. 85 mpw last year gave me 2:59. 65 mpw the previous year gave me 3:02. Those numbers aren't on a straight line, and this year, I found the cliff on that graph.

Being out of the water earlier than ever, and being way slow on the bike was a new experience. I had a big pack of guys in the AG blow by at about mile 15, and it seemed like I got passed by a fast cyclist with a disk every 5 seconds.

Misc problems: I was out of aero with the sore back half the time. I stupidly forgot to check my wheels - the rear brake rubbed for 25 miles until I fixed it, and stupidly, I lost a few minutes instead of stopping for 20s to tweak it. Better still, why not just check the wheels in transition? ;)

An upside is that friends I usually match on the bike crushed me, just because I dismissed the importance of time in the saddle.

Time in the saddle. (!)

Again, like lightening. I was out of the shoes near the bridge by the harbor, and things worked about perfectly.

I lost a couple of seconds fumbling with my running belt and hat, but not bad.

Grab the gear, and arrange it on the run!

The training was in the bank, and it worked! I've run 45mpw since August, and even with a hard slow bike, the legs worked from T2 on.

My plan to have a belt worked. I had a Gatorade and a Gu flask in the belt. My plan was to be able to ignore the aid stations, and keep the fuel up, just like a marathon. It worked, and I only wanted a little water the last few miles.

The 8:35 pace was a little slower than 2014, but solid. I'm sure I'll have a faster run after I have a faster, easier bike.

Since I'm a newish runner, I'm finally learning how to pace myself and how the legs should feel. Out of T2, I ran mostly based on feel, and saw that I was close to my (good) pace from two years ago. I tried for even splits and came close. I was a little slow at close to 9:00/mi, miles 9-12, but the effort felt right. I spent a lot of time telling myself to run the treadmill, since I've dialed in tempo runs at the gym.

Like always, I had fuel in the tank at the end, and had fun catching and chatting with a riding buddy.

Note to self: wear socks on the run!!!

I felt way more beat up than anything the last year. I felt ready to go again after the 2014 HIM, and the marathon this year was easy, but it's obvious my legs paid for my low bike miles.

I got the bike from the harbor then got together with my friends from AZ.

It was a fun race, and I feel content simply knowing what my splits are with enough training. It's nice that I can swim!


Time in the saddle!


Here are the results.

WTC always does a good job. The course is well managed. The vols are excellent and well directed. The expo is fun.

"Mandatory" bike check in sort of made sense because a ton of athletes will ride in the dark without lights race morning. Since I have light brackets on the TT bike, I grated my teeth at having to take an extra, unnecessary trip to transition.

The downsides are that Oceanside is feeling more crowded on all three legs. The swim felt more crowded than ever, probably because faster waves have been moved back. Also, yet again, they had rubber tacos. If the college tris can get pizza, so can WTC.