Ironman World Championships 70.3 - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

After waiting for 45 min watching the pros, and wave after wave go ahead finally it was our turn and you could tell this was just not another race. There were helicopters flying around, cameras, athletes speaking different languages, lots of spectators cheering very loud, music and big screens showing video of the actual race, and now it was my turn to run and dive into the ocean to begin the whole championship racing experience. I seeded myself at the front right of the pack and as soon as the gun went off I sprinted into the water and started swimming hard to stay with the pack of fast swimmers. The first few hundred meters it was very crowded, something I never experienced before, and I was swimming with guys on my sides, front and back, there was some much contact (kicks, elbows, etc) that I got a smack in the head which made me laugh. I did a good job staying with them during the out part but when we got to the turn around I got stuck with some swimmers doing breast stroke and I lost the pack. Here is where I lost focus a bit and began swimming in cruise mode which is the thing I need to work the most for next season. I get into this easy pace and just cruise along instead of keep on pushing the pace. Plus I had trouble sighting due to the sun coming back and I didn’t swim straight. I lost time on the back and felt short from my 28 min goal by almost two min.

learn how to stay focus and swim at the same intese pace for the entire course!

it was a different experience with the transition bags and hene I had a slow transition but it was fun.

nothing much

Right of the bat we were like 10-15 riding close together just getting out of the race site, over the bridge and away from the city. It was a weird experience at first because if felt like no matter which way I turn I had a tailwind on my back but the wind was helping me to go fast. My silent watts goal for the race was to avg between 80-85% of my power threshold or 210-220 watts which was a major risk cuz 1) I never ridden that hard and 2) my cycling prep for the race wasn’t ideal cuz I just didn’t feel like riding my bike much after Cancun. (I only rode close to 60 miles once!) Anyway, I stuck to 215-220 watts and I was flying avg 24-25mph. The group that form of 10-15 guys we were pushing hard and what I liked about it was that people were riding to the front passing and the people behind were falling back ‘trying’ as much as possible to stay draft legal. Dan caught up with the group (the dude can ride fast!) and we rode on the same group all the way to the U turn. There was some drafting just due to the nature of the race: fast people, portions with one lane and the 30-34AG starting in the 2nd to last wave passing people all day, which due to the narrow lane in some portions it was just hard to avoid. That been said it was YOUR choice whether you wanted to blatantly cheat and suck a wheel all day or make an honest effort to stay 7 mts draft legal. (Which isn’t much and you still get drafting benefits but those are the rules) in the group I rode with Dan there were like 5 -6 of us which were stronger for sure and we kept passing going to the front pushing the pace and the rest were just sitting there enjoying our work but whatever, I was not there to stress about cheaters. I was there to test my limits and attempt finishing the season in the best possible way. Good thing marshals were very eager to break the packs and they handed several penalties to those who just refuse to stay draft legal.The penalty tent I saw was packed with riders and that made me happy. Anyway after the u turn I couldn’t keep up with Dan and the other few riders and I had to drop back. Still these 20 miles we had the best tailwind ever and pushing at my 215-220 watts I was flying at 29 mph and hardly see anyone during this portion beside the people I was passing. Once we began riding back into the city it got a bit dangerous cuz we rode in a one lane closed with cones to the right but still there were cars trying to get into streets on the right or into stores, etc. I rode slower in this portion while passing packs and keeping cautious with drivers. Still I was avg 23-24 mph although by now my power felt to 210 watts cuz I began feeling the legs tired from the early efforts. Once we turn into the long back to the race site we now got the nasty tailwind and I was running out of energy and I barely avg 200 watts for this portion but I was pedaling as hard as I could still my speed drop to like 20 mph. Once we got to the bridge I was very happy to see the crowds (my parents) and to get of that damn bike.

ummm just ride my bike more! I did lots of power threshold training which helped me to cycle strong, I just didn't have the endurance to back up that effort (IOW I didn't do enough long rides)

nothing much. just get used to the transition bags I guess. I love that volunteers rack your bike :)

The crowds were amazing and I felt awesome running in the 1st 3 miles. I avg 5:30 for the 1st mile which scared me cuz I was going way too fast but it felt easy. I slowed down to 6:10s (my goal) and ate/drank at every station. Then around mile 3 it happened: cramping on both quads which somehow I managed to shake it off really fast and kept on moving but it was obvious I cooked my legs riding hard. I knew that holding 6:10s was probably out of reach hence I slowed down to like 6:30s cuz that kept the cramping in check, still I felt my legs like rocks, something I have never felt before. (I battled cramping sensations for the remainder of the run which was tough!) Anyway I focus on getting to the next aid station, which became my only goal; just to make it to the next one. Only two guys passed me from the AG plus a few pros but I just didn’t have anything in my legs to fight back. I was drained, in pain and ready to get done with it. After the 1st loop I saw my family and that gave me new energy… for like ½ a mile :) after that it was a struggle for the next 6 miles and again just focusing on one mile at a time. I looked at my watch and figured if I could sustain 7s min/mile for the last 6 miles I would reach my 4:15 hrs goal so I felt a bit confident I could do that. I kept drinking Gatorade, coke, water and eating a gel per aid station just to keep moving. At mile 9 I looked at my watch again and made some math in my head and realized I was going to be over my goal by like 2 min, f*ck! What the hell happened, I was running 6:30-6:45s, which was better than the 7s I calculated earlier. OMG, I counted 5 miles instead of 6 remaining, I am such and idiot! After cursing at myself for a mile I began laughing and just enjoying the experience once again. I began joking with volunteer and thanking them for the awesome work. (That helped me deal with the pain of my legs) I finally made it over the bridge and with 1 mile to go I began running as fast as I could which in my mind was like 5s min/mile when in reality it was close to 7s lol! I reach the final turn into the finish line and I just smiled, enjoy the moment for a second and sprinted to the finish.

not much. I raced as hard as I could on that day with my given fitness

lots of hugs with my familiy :) they are the best!


This was by far my hardest tri-season since I began 2 years ago. Last year I was positive this year will be my breakthrough year and I was going to be VERY competitive and most races I would enter. Well, that didn’t happen at all; last year I lost 3 ½ months of training due to health issue which made me skip Clearwater 06. After I finally was able to train again back in Jan 07 I had to begin from scratch cuz my fitness was gone. By May I was back in shape and feeling motivated again, but at FL 70.3 starting the swim I fractured my tibia and I wasn’t able to run for the next 6 weeks forcing my fitness progress to stop. After recovering from that I was able to do some training but again and I was just able to get some of my running speed back for Timberman 70.3 but in hopes to be competitive I did a bit too much a bit too fast and that resulted on plantar tendonitis. That limited my running/biking for the next 4 weeks which made me compete at Cancun 70.3 with just good enough fitness but not enough to be competitive. After that I finally was able to stay healthy and accomplished 5 weeks of solid training just to get me in decent shape for this race. But I achieved my main goal: to be able race hard without been affraid of blowing up! The good result was just the icing on the cake! I know that with training I will be posting sub 1:20 hrs run and I will be in the competitive mix at this distance but it is time to just SHUT UP and prove it. Hence after a few weeks of rest I will train to run a marathon in Feb/March and after that I will ride my bike until mass azz is permanently sore :)


WTC knows how to deliver world class events for sure. They still have some race bugs to work on but I will be back next year for sure because the race is awesome!