Ironman 70.3 Oceanside - Triathlon


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Oceanside, California
United States
Ironman
62F / 17C
Sunny
Total Time = 6h 33m 25s
Overall Rank = 1572/2425
Age Group = F60-64
Age Group Rank = 5/21
Pre-race routine:

I stayed with Frank and Stacey at the Spring Hill Suites. Great location! We got up at 3:20 and were out the door at 4:25 to meet Steph. We walked over to the shuttle, which took us the mile and a half to transition.

I had my usual breakfast of oatmeal and then had a half of a power bar in transition.

The transition area was so huge. I think this might have been my biggest ironman event to date. I was never able to find Stacey, Stephanie nor Andy once I arrived.

I chatter with various people...Left my favorite EM water bottle in the porta pottie...said hello to Paula Newbie Fraser while looking for the swim entrance...took a morning clothes bag to the truck since the finish was not near transition and I knew I'd be chilly later on.

Event warmup:

None. The swim line was very long. I stood in the 35-40 minute line. As it turned out, there were two 35-40 minute lines which merged. Frank said it took me about 40 minutes to get into the water. The age groupers went off at 6:50. They let 5 people at a time go in, maybe every 3 seconds or so. It made for an easy start. I chatted with nice people in line.

The air temp was about 59 degrees. It wasn't bad. Some guy said it was 39 degrees last year at the start.

Swim
  • 39m 21s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 52s / 100 yards
Comments:

The water felt very cold upon entering. It was choppy; I was anxious and nervous. I felt very sluggish and I attribute that to the temp and no warm up. We headed out of the harbor into the ocean. All buoys were on the left. I just followed people. I could feel the current. Actually, every time I looked up and was off course, I knew there was a current!

I am so thankful that someone told me to look for the building after the final turn. There was sun glare and really all I could see was chop and people's heads. The buoys were hard to see. I headed for the building and it was perfect. As I was breathing coming in, I could see I was passing people. I could see their heads popping up looking for where to go.

What would you do differently?:

My swim time was not fast but i was happy to survive.

I wore a sports bra, tri shorts, neoprene cap borrowed from Christine Mackrides and neoprene booties along with the wetsuit.
Transition 1
  • 07m 30s
Comments:

We had a super long run into transition. Then we came to the wetsuit strippers. I decided that I was going to remain standing as someone helped me. (Lesson learned from when a helper couldn't get my wetsuit over my hips.) I made eye contact and headed toward a young woman. The volunteer next to her told her guy to lay down and me plopped right in front of me and I fell over him. Yeah, that saved a lot of time!

After that, I had another long run to my bike. I put on my pink tri shirt, arm warmers (needlessly), socks, sunglasses, helmet, sweatband.

What would you do differently?:

I don't have very much luck with wetsuit strippers.

Bike
  • 3h 25m 36s
  • 56 miles
  • 16.34 mile/hr
Comments:

I tried to be careful on this course. I overheard quite a few people saying they hadn't trained because of the winter. I was more concerned with a safe and clean ride than a fast one. This was only my third ride of the season on my tri bike.

The course contained a lot of rolling hills but I knew the real ones were between miles 27 and 45. When I saw the first one, I wasn't anxious to get there. There was actually at least 5 or more people walked up it. I couldn't believe it! That hill had a sign at the bottom saying it was "Hell Hill." After that one was "Hell Junior" and that was followed by "Mini Hell” or something like that.

I felt fine climbing and was happy I was able to get the hill training in that I did.

On one decent, we had to maintain 25 mph or less. They had a mat at the top and bottom and if you exceeded the speed limit, you were DQ'd. They also had a few no passing zones. It wasn't fun to be behind people going too slowly in the no passing zone.

I also must mention all of the military guys in Camp Pendleton with rifles. There were at least two at every intersection.

Saw one crash that had just happened. I also saw a lot of flat tires, and tons of expensive water systems, etc. on the road that fell off bikes.

Consumed on the bike: One pack Clif Bloks, chocolate Power Bar, 1 chocolate GU. Drinks: One watered down Gatorade in a throwaway bottle, one full blue Gatorade and one bottle of water picked up on the course. I started a second water. I never touched my other Gatorade on my bike. The powdered Gatorade wasn't as good as the bottled stuff.
Transition 2
  • 07m 15s
Comments:

I took my time. I had to pee really bad after the ride.

I super Vaselined my toes and changed socks; changed my sunglasses. Grabbed mustard packets and two Gus for my pockets.

What would you do differently?:

Put on more sunscreen. I forgot to do the part in my hair, my hands and my lower back. I paid the price with sunburn. Luckily, I did a good job with my face, front of my neck and my arms.

Oh, and bring lip balm with sunscreen. My lip is still sore 3 days later.
Run
  • 2h 13m 35s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 10m 12s  min/mile
Comments:

I started out feeling amazingly good. The run course was along the road next to the ocean. It was very pretty with lots of spectators.

Before mile 4, I felt a cramp coming on. I took two mustard packs and believe it or not, the cramp went right away, Unfortunately, shortly after that I was overcome with extreme nausea. It had to be from the mustard. Granted, I never took two packs at once. So I took my time at the next aid station eating lots of pretzels. That really helped.

Every aid station after that, I had Gatorade, water and pretzels. The yellow Gatorade was nasty! But it did the trick.

The course was two loops out and back. We had a lot of chances to see our competition and friends. I didn't actually see Stacey until the last stretch. I calculated she was about 15-20 minutes behind but I didn't know where she started for the swim.

I passed a woman in my age group about 2 miles into the run and and at every turnaround, she was right there. She was actually the one that kept me moving. I was surprised to see her a place ahead of me on the podium. She started her swim after me.

A young guy ran passed me at one point in the beginning and commented on my age. He said something nice but I forget what it was. That always makes me feel good.

I almost forgot to mention that I had a headache (for the first time ever) during the last maybe five miles of the run. Upon finishing, I kept yawning and the headache eventually went away. I wonder if this has something to do with lack of oxygen to the brain or my heart. Years ago, I used to get a post race headache. I don't get those anymore.

What would you do differently?:

Nothing. I feel like I had an okay run. I'd like to run faster but who wouldn't?
Post race
Warm down:

Ran into Susan at the finish. We waited for Stacey, who didn't want to talk or wait for me afterwards. I ended up going to the Morning Clothes pickup by myself, then taking the shuttle to transition, returning my bike to TriBike, and getting back to the shuttle. I just made it back in time for the awards. Mike Reilly was the announcer, which was nice. I was going to tell him that I was the one that passed out at the IMLP 2016 ceremony but didn't want to stall the awards.


Event comments:

Great race venue (aside from the cold water).




Last updated: 2018-03-27 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:39:21 | 2112 yards | 01m 52s / 100yards
Age Group: 3/21
Overall: 1210/2425
Performance: Average
Suit: Long-sleeved wetsuit
Course:
Start type: Wade Plus: Time Trial
Water temp: 62F / 17C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 07:30
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
03:25:36 | 56 miles | 16.34 mile/hr
Age Group: 8/21
Overall: 1765/2425
Performance: Good
Wind:
Course:
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 07:15
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
02:13:35 | 13.1 miles | 10m 12s  min/mile
Age Group: 3/21
Overall: 1408/2425
Performance:
Course:
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5