Ford Ironman 70.3 California - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

What can I say? I missed my wave start, though not by much. I was about half way between the water entry point and the group already staged for the deep water start when the horn sounded. As noted before, I got caught in a long bathroom line (like 30 minutes long) but I had to take care of business.

Making matters a little tougher, I had surgery on my back a bit over three weeks before the race. I honestly wasn't supposed to be out there. But I had my wife tape up the incision and decided to do an easy paced swim with both arms to just get through to the bike. I'm glad I chose not to do a one-armed swim, because that would have been very tough out there in the harbor.

I wasn't counting on being late for the start, so it was a mad rush through throngs of later waves just to get to the entry point. My goggles never ended up sealing properly, and my right eye leaked the entire swim. I also swallowed half of the harbor shortly after entering the water. Oops.

Now I know the layout and would just use the toilets available in the chute to the swim entry. I got to the transition plenty early, just the way things go. This was only my second race, so transition setup will probably improve by the next race.

Wow, since I hadn't fully completed my transition setup, transitions ended up being a disaster for me. I was one of the first people back to the rack from the swim. I watched several come and go while I tried to get it together and head out. Finally I just went. Here came my next blunder -- I headed out on the bike without food.

I need to buy a bento box and get that stocked and on the bike the night before.

Going out without food was a big woops. But I figured that I'd hang in there until the first aid station and get a couple gels. Then I discovered that my bike computer wasn't working, so I didn't know my speed nor distance. They did have signs every five miles, but this was the first time I'd been on a big-race course, so when I made a turn and encountered an aid station I didn't realize that it was an aid station. Soooo, I didn't toss my bottle before the station, and I grabbed a water with nowhere to put it. Then I rode past the guy handing out gels and didn't have a free hand to take one. Smart. I guess I could have just stopped, but I rode on to the next station at just before 30 miles. I was a little smarter the next time, ditched my empty bottle before, got a new one, and grabbed a couple gels.

The ride went fine through the flat portion, and I was strong on the hills. I was mostly holding my own except against the mongo fast riders that would blow by occasionally. Then at about 45 miles, my knee that I had injured back two months earlier began to hurt. I instinctively backed off the pace, and from the point on the riders just streamed by me. Nothing I could do, every time I picked it up my knee started hurting. I probably could have finished ten minutes faster had I not slowed over the last 10-12 miles. Overall I was pleased with the ride given the circumstances.

I will never take cycling gloves to a race again. I need to get a bento box. I should have done more training rides that were the full distance of the race.

My second transition was also slow, but I did make a bathroom stop in there.

I need to practice transitions. I just didn't practice them, because I was pretty uncertain that I would even do this race.

Boy, where do I start. Running is my weakest event. Making it much worse was the fact that I'd injured my knee a little over two months out from the race, and that ended my running training at that point. So with my knee starting to hurt late on the bike, I knew this was going to be a real trial to get through.

That said, I just set a slow and steady pace, and I decided early to walk the aid stations. After about three or four aid stations, I began doing a one-minute walk between them, too.

It helped that my wife was there to cheer me on along the course. She was a big boost, and the people along the course were absolutely beautiful. The only time I even entertained the thought of throwing in the towel, I looked down and saw that someone had scrawled "HTFU" on the pavement. That just made me laugh, and I doubled my resolve to push to the end.

I couldn't do anything any better given my injury and training issues. I was thrilled to get through the run at any pace and finish the race. I score the run as good, because this took way more mental fortitude than any run I have ever done when healthy. It was also five miles longer than my longest training run ever.

For a warm down, I walked around while eating slice after slice of pizza. :)


Injury, surgery.


This was my first HIM, and I will always remember this race favorably. I hope to do more HIMs and improve my performance, but I will always think back to how I overcame the training setbacks, injury and health issues just to get the starting line. Finishing was the gravy.

I can't begin to express my thanks and gratitude to all the BTers who provided advice and support in the many months leading up to this event.