Ford Ironman 70.3 California - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Once the swim started I just tried to stay calm and go smooth for the first 200m or so. I was expecting to get thrashed but that was fairly mild. I swam great but after about 400m I was having issues with my wetsuit again (I believe it is just a bit too short in the crotch. TO do any sort of kicking was causing pain as my "stuff" was being compresed so I went with light kicking the rest of way. I noticed my speed dropped off but it was not much so I just went with it. At the turn around I was hit with a wall of sunshine making it hard to see the bouys. There were swimmers around me that were treading and looking and then swimming again...forget that, I saw jetty to the right of me and guess what....the landing is at the end of the jetty so why not just follow that. I did and it worked well. I still tried to sight some just to make sure I didn't go too far right and smack a pier but I was feeling great. Coming out of the water I looked back and saw lots of people still in the water and felt much better ( I was nervous about being one of the last racers on the course). Saw my support crew (Frank and Milagros) at transition.

Thinking about selling the wetsuit and going with a different fit. Just too uncomfortable.

I went smooth here. Probably could have saved 60sec but why? I wanted to make sure I was good to go for the next 3+ hrs. This also included a nice little run 2000 deep into transition. Decided the sun was out nicely and I didn't go with the arm warmers I had purchased the day before.

not much, I was happy here.

I was surprised at the 17mph avg, I felt like I was doing greater than that throughout but I guess the hills dropped it some. Seems like the rest of the time I was above 20 unless we were on a false flat. The weather was fantastic, I didn't need the arm warmers and was glad I didn't bring them. Some people had on jackets and a few even in tights which I am sure they soon regretted. For nutrition I had a pre mixed bottle of HEED and 1 bottle with no liquid but 2 scoops of Sustained Energy mix. This was just the right mix I think. The first aid station was at mile 15, I finished the HEED and grabbed water. Between 15 and 30 I drank the water and took down a gel. At mile 30 I discarded the water bottle and picked up 1 bottle of Gatorade. At mile 45 I discarded the Gatorade and grabbed a water. As soon as I saw aid station at 45 I prepared my Sustained Energy by placing the bottle in the down tube holder with cap off and in my mouth. I took a water and immediately shot it in the open container and discarded the bottle. At no time did I have more than 1 bottle of liquid. It seemed to work out well. I was never thirsty and I managed HEED, Water, Gatorade, Sus Energy, and 2 gels total. I am thinking that is about 500-600 calories.

Go faster, which entails greater bike fitness. I will say the long weekend rides were perfect. I had been doing 40-50 rides for the last 4 weeks or so and it felt like training.

Transition was smooth I felt. I have very little stuff at transition so it makes it easier. Saw my support crew again coming off the bike which was nice.

Stay an extra 30 seconds and really rub down right foot cramp. Turns out my bike shoes are too narrow, I am still feeling the foot pain 2 days later as I write this.

For the first lap I was feeling good. Then after around mile 7 I started to do a run/walk mix but it wasn't happening. It was very hard to start up again. At mile8 or so I was not able to take full breaths. The legs felt OK, no soreness really...I just couldn't seem to catch a full breath. It was as if my lungs were fatigued. My HR got pretty low, it was just my lungs that kept me going strong.

I suppose just work on run fitness but more than that it is just the long workout. I need to do some 5 + hour training sessions.

Post race I was still not able to get full breathes so I did a few minutes in the med tent. I figured it would be good to have them "make sure" I was feeling ok. After about 5-10 I popped out of there and ate about 3 pieces of pizza.


Run fitness and no workouts with 5+ hr duration.




Best race I have done so far. I tried not to get too down on myself and just enjoy it. So what I had to walk a bit...I will be in this sport for awhile. Might as well enjoy it.

Overall this was a fantastic race. It was a sufferfest on the run but I thoroughly enjoyed it, I knew I would finish and I was already calculating how to get better before next time. Figuring out in my head what I need to do to get ready for IM in November. It will be a long road ahead, I just hope I can stay healthy and become an IRONMAN! This is a fantastic sport and I am glad I started doing it...