Ironman 70.3 California Oceanside - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

This was my first ever self-seeded rolling start, and didn't like it as well as wave starts. I usually have the luxury of swimming away from most of the AG, but with the rolling start, was in a crowd the whole swim, and the first 20 miles of the bike. Other guys in the AG have less contact with this, but not me - last year, I had zero contact from the gun. This time, I was slowly passing people the whole time. People seed themselves over-optimistically; I finished exactly when I'd predicted, never got passed, but continually slid past slower swimmers.

- two caps were just right

No cramp in the harbor this year, for the first time ever! The course was too crowed to do the fly at the end ;(

As usual, I was fast up and running out of the water, and let the vols know I'd do the upside down zipper on the DeSoto. The old trick to grab/hold the cap and goggles when I stripped the top worked, and I didn't drop anything like in La Quinta.

It was an easy swim, and I swam downhill from the hips the whole way.

This was my best split in the AG, so I don't have any complaints.

Speedy as usual. I was 11th in the AG, 5s back from 8th. The heels stuck and the body glide wasn't enough. Maybe I should shorten the legs on the T1 bibs.

This was surprisingly solid since I've only been on the bike about 60mpw.

Unlike last year, I didn't feel like I was constantly being passed by kids with discs. This time, with the rolling swim start, I passed about as many people as passed me, until we got past the hills, and my old self kicked in, and I had a solid ride into the breeze, passing people the whole way.

I was slow on the hills, and didn't push it. I hit the guard station at about mile 26 with a 19mph average and the bottom of the mile 28 hill at 18.4.

My fueling strategy worked again, with 8 fig bars, and two bottles of Gatorade. I had some of each left over.

I can make 10-20 minutes on the bike if I train for it.

Speedy as normal despite losing about 30s hunting for my hat that was still in my bag.

Next time, clip the hat to the shoes.

Socks on in T2. Great decision.

It was an odd run. I effortlessly held my target marathon pace of about 8:15 for 5 or 6 miles, then the run got hard. It wasn't a slow run for me, but I walked most of the hills on the second half, and it may be in my head, but it seems like the whole field did a lot of walking on the second loop.

The best trick of the day was the sunscreen wipes. Since my hat was missing, the wipe was magic on the top of my head, and everywhere I used it. Despite sweating as much as ever, I wiped down a few times, and the sunscreen worked.

I was a little thirstier than normal, and with the second half being harder than normal, I stopped at the last few drink stations. I got a cup of ice about three miles out and put it down my tri top.

I'm not quite in the run shape I'd like to be in, and I need to lose about 10 lbs to be fast.

At the finish, Andy Potts was there again this year semi-anonymously passing out medals, and as I slapped his shoulder, he said, "oh, you recognized me!" Great guy. I went back a few minutes later to shake his hand and tell him that people loved him being there - since I've vol'd at the finish, I know most people are too dazed say anything meaningful.

I stood in line for the finisher photo, chatting, and was too dizzy for comfort so knelt down in line. Got to chat with some great, friendly people.

I snagged enough to drink, skipped the food, and walked to transition.




It was a solid, balanced race, but if I had the training volume from my better years, I'd gain at least 10 minutes each on the bike and run.


Here are the results.

The vols were especially great this year, and there were a lot of them. There were a ton of young Marines in vol shirts on the run, at sign-in and elsewhere, and it was flattering to keep getting called, Sir, by so many young superstars.