Vineman Ironman 70.3 - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

This was a great swim for me. I was expecting to be done somewhere around 40 or 42 minutes so coming in at 38 was a huge surprise. I was able to get into a rhythm quickly. I begain breathing every other stroke from the start rather than trying to go every third as in past races. I was also able to get some space and only took one minor kick to the face. I grabbed feet where I could and was able to avoid getting into too much traffic.

The center of the course was super shallow and people were actually getting up and walking right down the bouy line. Pretty annoying as I was swimming right on line. I had to dodge some of these walkers and was cut off at least once by one of them. Somehow that just doesn't seem fair. It's a swim, not a wade. If you need to stand for rest or safety, fine, stand in the neutral area between the out and back bouys. But people should not be allowed to advance down the course if they're not swimming.

nothing.

This was a slow transition because we had to bag up our stuff so it could be transported to Windsor where T2 and the finish were located.

I was so excited about my swim time, I was talking to Robin the entire way up to my bike rack and forgot to start stripping the wetsuit. Then, the transition area was so rocky, I actually sat down to brush off my feet and put on my socks. I was sitting there saying to myself "Your one of those people who sits in transition...it's a race. Get up and hurry." But I figured having rockless shoes was better than the alternative.

not sit. get the wetsuit off quicker.

The bike was pretty good. Almost as soon as I got onto the bike in the race, i noticed that I had reattached the stem off center. This had the effect of making me twist slightly to me left the entire ride. Not ideal, but not a gmae-breaker as I was relatively comfortable during the ride.

The distance seemed slightly longer than the Longhorn last year even though the longhorn ride was actually 57 miles rather than 56. I think this was because of the early hills and the slower pace to start. The first half of the Longhorn is fairly flat and fast.

I paced myself well on the bike. The temperature was so cool that my toes and ankles were cold in the wind. I did stop once to use the port-can because the race rules said we'd be DQ'ed if we peed on the side of the road and I wasn't about to pee on myself. I'm racing, but I'm not going to medal so I'll just stop for a minute.

By the time I got off the bike, I was ready to run, so I take that to mean my effort was on pace for what I wanted. I would have liked to go a bit faster on average, but I have only been riding once a week so I think the lack of training hurt me.

Train more for the bike and check the equipment better before the race.

Another long transition chute so the time was poor. I also chose to put on fresh socks here which I think was a good move considering the cold toes and the rocky T1. I didn't want to get blisters or rocks in my shoes that I would tolerate on shorter runs.

Fairly quick in the transition area. I did lose my film case full of salt tabs somewhere near the end of the ride or the run into T2. With the split transition areas, I didn't have my normal salt tab waiting for me on my towel. Luckily, it wasn't hot so cramping wasn't as significant an issue.

Note to self - change socks at T2 for longer runs.

Find a better way to hold onto salt tabs. 2 70.3 races...2 lost stores of tablets.

So the run leg is begging to be my best on a consistent basis. My time here was great. I started to cramp around mile 4 and slowed my pace from 8 per to about 8.5 per mile. I had no salt tabs to I thought I would try coke since they were passing it out and I had heard it works. Well, sure enough, it got me through. I grabbed Gatorade and Coke at the middle aid stations for electrolytes and carbs. I got past the cramping and started to feel great around Mile 6 as we ran through the La Crema Winery. The way back I kept drinking at every other station to make sure I kept the cramping at bay. I didn't feel it again until I turned up the pace at mile 12.

I did stop for a second bathroom break around mile 5. This let me pee and gave my legs one minute to fight off the fatigue.

I passed a lot of folks on the run and kept a close watch on my splits. I was slower by a few seconds a mile between 8 and 12, but I finished strong. I knew with about 3 to go that I'd finish inside of 5'30". I knew then, based on how I felt, it was going to be a great race.

Nothing except try to hold onto my salt tabs.

None. I saw Robin in the finishing chute and looked for her as soon as I got my chip off. Walked through the photo for hire booth, grabbed my medal and water and that was it. A couple Veggie burgers later and a really bad tasting bottle of Function Water Drink and I was ready for some Coffee!!!


Maybe a lack of training on the bike, but other than that, I beat my goals and really felt good. The weather was probably a really big factor in keeping me fast.


Great race. Would definitely do it again.