Oceanside, California United States Ironman North America

Total Time = 5h 24m 16s Overall Rank = 620/1911 Age Group = 40-44 Age Group Rank = 77/260

My race report:

Okay, it's 9pm, and I'm beginning to get tired here, but wanted to post this before I fell asleep. Didn't get home from the awards/rolldown until 6:45pm!
In short, for me, the day was awesome! Weather, as others have mentioned, was ideal for racing today. Sunny from the get-go and cool temps, with very little wind all day. So, here's my day:
3:57am- Woke up 3 minutes before the alarm, after tossing and turning all night from adrenaline.
4:05am- Ate cereal, went to the bathroom 3 times, got my drinks out of the freezer and in the car. Ate peanut butter/banana bagel and G'ade in the car on the way.
5:10am- Arrived in the lot by the harbor and pumped the tires, and rode to transition.
5:30am- Got my transition together and chatted with my rackmates. I was surprised to see no assigned racks this year, but fortunately, I had one of those little racks that was somewhat closer to the bike exit and I was on the end (which I like), so I had tons of room to spread out my junk.
5:50am- Got in the portapotty line and waited forever (as always!).
6:35am- Wetsuit on, neoprene cap on. I was in the first wave of AG'ers after the women pros, so I was certain to get mowed down by faster swimmers behind me!
6:50am- Water's up to 60 and feels reasonable! I took an outside position as always and had clean water for much of the swim. Bumped a few folks here and there, but nothing bad. My left goggle socket filled with water halfway through the swim, so I stopped to clear it, but it filled up again quickly, so I just swam with that eye closed, sighting with one eye. I sorta felt fat in the water. Maybe it's the wetsuit with my shirts and shorts underneath. I managed to pee while swimming toward the end so I wouldn't have to stop to pee in T1! That took some major concentration!
SWIM TIME: 34:54
7:24am- Exit the water and run the 500 yards up and back to my bike! What is this, a duathlon with a swim at the beginning? That was one long T1 run! Plus, it counts as part of your T1 time, so a good 2 or more minutes was spent running from the boat ramp to my bike! I had a long sleeve DeSoto polypro jersey with a sleeveless tri top under it. I rolled arm warmers on top of that, and pulled on some gloves. Pretty quick T1, especially compared to last year's nearly 10-minute fiasco!
7:29am- Off on the bike. The air is cool, but the adrenaline keeps me warm and I'm in familiar territory with the frontside of the bike course as I ride it 1-2 times/week.
My pace is faster than my training rides and I'm concerned that I'm going a bit too hard, but I don't feel depleted, so I continue my ride, sipping G'ade and water. At mile 22, I eat a gel and then start in on the Fig Newtons in my Bento Box. Ended up eating about 8 of them on the bike, and 2 gels.
The hills on the backside of the course were fun for me (though painful) because I spent the trip up them singing "Hurts So Good" while others around me looked on in bewilderment. I was having a good ride and since the winds were minimal, the last 10-mile stretch that's normally a wind tunnel was quite tolerable this time around. Plus, my Forte saddle was providing a taint-friendly ride, unlike last year's tortured bike leg!
I have to say, I must have been passed by 200 freaking people on the bike, and probably only passed less than 6 or 7. I am not fast and today was a big reminder of that. Sometimes, I'd be going 20-22mph and guys would blow by me like I was standing still. I really don't spend enough time bike training properly.
BIKE TIME: 2:55:07
10:20am- Came off the bike feeling good, albeit a bit "full" like I'd overhydrated a bit.
10:23am- Quick T2...basically pulled off the long sleeve shirt and ran in the tri top and stuffed some Gu's in the pockets and my sunscreen.
For the first 5 miles or so, my stomach was feeling a bit knotted. I didn't want to eat any Gu or drink G'ade, so I sipped water at the aid stations and sponged my head. I had a guy named Elvis running behind me with a cowboy hat on, so everyone was cheering when he went by.
I was plugging away at a good clip, for me at least, and estimated I was doing sub-9 minute miles. Last year, I was coming off an injury and my run was pretty weak, but this year, with a pretty good run focus, I was feeling good. My aerobic system was getting a good working over and I was just on the edge of being anaerobic at times. I kept running through all the aid stations, and just grabbed what I needed as I ran by. Volunteers were INCREDIBLE, and I loved the TCSD aid station. They were AMPED and had some good tunes rolling.
My goal time, after a 6:05 last year, was 5:45. A far cry from my 5:18 PR at Clearwater last year, but a tougher course on the bike, so I would have been pleased with 5:45. After the turnaround, I realized, I had a shot to break 5:30. I like to set little goals for myself to motivate myself through the dark periods on the run. And yes, there were dark times where you think you just can't hold a pace, but something inside drives you to push and push, no matter how much it hurts. I think I passed quite a few folks on the run and in particular in the second lap in my all-out quest to make 5:30 a reality. With 3 miles to go, I had a good 30 minutes to reach my goal, so unless something horrible happened, I was there, but even so, then I wanted to see how far I could break 5:30 by!
12:11am- I unloaded everything in the last 2 miles and willed myself to run beyond what I thought I could do at that point, and finished the race in 5:24. I have never run a stand-alone running race, but for me, the half marathon in this race was my PR by over 5 minutes. Lots of running this winter obviously helped!
RUN TIME: 1:47:08

TOTAL: 5:24:16

After the race, I signed up for the massage (over an hour wait!) and then got some pizza, soda, sat and chatted with some others and packed up my gear. Saw my friend James (jdubcx) and he had a rough day dropping his G'ade and water and basically coming into T2 with a caloric deficit that caught up with him. He's a skinny SOB. Saw one guy on the run that was freakishly skinny. Must have had a 24" waist! Wanted to stuff a burger down his throat!

Anyway, the massage, which I only enjoy at Ironman races, was a slice of heaven. Another minute there and I would have fallen asleep. Went back to the car and put my stuff away, changed, and went back to wait for the awards/rolldown.
That took FOREVER!!!!!! There were a couple hundred folks in that tent and going through the AG's is great, but man it takes long. The Kona slots were given, including one dude that had been trying for 20 years to get one and finally did it today! Then, the Clearwater rolldown happened. Everyone laughed when I took one of the slots that no one wanted last year, but this year, as anticipated, it was a different story. The slots were a bit more coveted, and they all went. My AG got a slot rolled back after everyone had left and me and one other guy ran up to get it, but that bastard finished faster than me today, so it was his. One person away from another trip to Clearwater....arrrgg! Maybe at Eagleman...we'll see.
The real reason I hung out, other than seeing the awards, etc. was to nab one of the 50 IM Canada slots they were giving out. Heather Fuhr mentioned it would be hard since it's the 25th anniversary year, etc., so I had my backup of IMWI ready. They called up for IM Canada and alot of people raised their hands. They had us all come up for a count. Wouldn't you know it, they counted EXACTLY 50 people that wanted to go, so we ALL got slots! Woo hoo! So, my second IM will be in less than 5 months. I'll start going hard early in the summer for that one. Can't wait...heard so many cool things about IM Canada.
Anyway, great to meet a few more ST'ers this morning, and thanks to Bob (Longboarder) and Stacey for the support multiple times on the course today! Awesome job Roch and Paul and NAS, and last but not least, the USMC and other volunteers...FANTASTIC effort all day at every point in the race, all the way down to the poor girl organizing the massages and dealing with all the athletes that had to wait 2 hours to get a 10-minute massage. I have to say, as I've said before, you do get what you pay for with NAS events. A first-class operation.
Congrats to all the ST'ers that started today!