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Ironman 70.3 Vineman - Triathlon


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Windsor, California
United States
Vineman, Inc.
80F / 27C
Overcast
Total Time = 6h 29m 33s
Overall Rank = 1290/2300
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 178/269
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 4:40am. Made peanut butter and honey toasties and made Gatorade Endurance drink for breakfast and the race. Left bike in car last night and prepacked everything else in T1 bag. (T2 bag was left there on Saturday). Left at 5:20am after double checking everything was packed in car. Arrived at T1 entrance around 6:15am and walked carefully to transition area which was almost full already and located in the far side of the transition area (yuck). Unloaded everything minus my bike nutrition Clif Bars in my tri top pockets, doh! However, I didn't need to take a dump this time which is good because it was a long walk to where the portapotties were. I forgot to eat my banana again, hehehe.
Event warmup:

Lubed up and put on wetsuit, cap, and goggles. Started getting arms and shoulders loose and noticed some triathletes having trouble with their wetsuits. With no nearby volunteers in sight I decided to help them out and in doing so, I missed my wave start by 5 minutes.
Swim
  • 40m 23s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 55s / 100 yards
Comments:

I waded in with the next wave and they told me to get going because the race timer goes by the wave start. So I yelled out in a bit of a panic, "SHIT! Thanks guys, here I go!" I think I left about a minute before they started because the fast swimmers in that group started to swim close to me, bumping me and causing me to lose my focus for a bit that I had to pause for a few seconds to gather myself. After that I kept restarted my long smooth strokes. The turnaround wasn't as shallow as last year and I kept swimming following the swimmers who did not get up and stand. There may have been at least 10-15 triathletes walking at that point. I enjoyed the short bumps from fast swimmers after that by drafting off of them as long as I could.

There were parts of the swim where I felt comfortable enough to increase my effort and pace but there must be something about my wetsuit in the chest area that makes it feel like I'm hyperventilating along with increased pressure making it hard for me to keep the harder pace. This forced me to swim aerobically more times than I'd like. My race day plan was to match last year's swim or do slightly better and I met that goal. =)
What would you do differently?:

Use a better fitting wetsuit?
Transition 1
  • 08m 14s
Comments:

Long way back to my transition area and the ground was wet so I decided to jog and walk cautiously. There were alot of triathletes around waiting for their wave as well. In fact, there was one triathlete sitting on the walk mats with a volunteer helping him get out of his wetsuit. It looked really stuck on him. Maybe his timing chip was strapped ontop of the ankle part of his wetsuit instead of underneath it.

Put some Belgium Budder where needed and some sunscreen on my face. Packed my stuff into the transition bag to be taken to T2 by the race. After putting my shoes on, I trotted as quickly as possible to the exit.
What would you do differently?:

Spray some Trislide on toes (to be explained later) before putting socks on.
Bike
  • 3h 06m 13s
  • 56 miles
  • 18.04 mile/hr
Comments:

I walked up the small hill out of T1 and noticed a few bikers trying to bike up that hill and heard lots of really loud and scary sounding gear changes. I remember thinking, "Gosh, I hope their chains don't break." Once I reached the apex where it was flat, I mounted safely and I was on my way. I kept my pace and effort in Z2 to upper Z2 and low Z3 on some of the long ascents including Chaulk Hill. The rollers is where I crept up to upper Z3 but told myself, "I'll use the descents to compensate and recover wisely." My overall average power was about 15 watts higher than my planned upper end average power output range per Z2ish RPE.

I'm a super lucky guy seeing that Ironman Vineman 70.3 decided to go with Clif Bar minis this year because I was thinking, "Shit, my Clif Bars swam with me and most likely got all gross from the water. Should I risk it and eat one and see what happens??? NO!!!" I decided to wait until I reached the aid station at mile 18 where I needed to take a piss. After that, I asked the volunteers there what they had and they had what I needed! Whew!!! I only brought one pack of Clif Shot Bloks.

2014 time: 3:13:58
2015 time: 3:06:13

Plan was to bike at least 17.5mph and beat that nicely. =)
What would you do differently?:

Try peeing while biking? Maybe I added 3-4 minutes to my bike split. Also felt some chafing above right hip a bit which worsened during the run. Should lube there next time.
Transition 2
  • 08m 45s
Comments:

They moved T2 to a different location this year due to construction. T2 was about 200-250 yards farther from dismount compared to last years.

Once I got to my area, changing was smooth but I had to pee. Once in the portapotty, I couldn't get my pee flowing right away, argh!
What would you do differently?:

Remove shoes and run?
Run
  • 2h 25m 28s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 11m 06s  min/mile
Comments:

Set watch to alert me every 5 minutes (timer vs run/walk alerts) to hydrate and minimize walking. Had cola every 2 miles and had no GI problems. I started feeling some odd rubbing on my left big toe and toe to the left around the 3.5 to 4 mile mark and I tried wiggling my toes to make that go away but that didn't work. After 6 miles, it started feeling worse. I aimed to negative split so I amped up the pace a bit after reaching the vineyard but then the blisters became so painful I had to stop and check at about mile 7 and noticed some blood there. Decided to embrace the suck and keep going. Ran at least half a mile before having to walk to compensate for the pain a bit.

My training this year was much better than last year and it showed. No cramps, no heat distress, no griping about hills.

2014 time: 2:39:58
2015 time: 2:25:28
What would you do differently?:

Spray Trislide on toes before heading out.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around, lifted legs, and stretched a bit. Ate a chicken burger, recovery drink, water, fruit.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Blisters and peeing.

Event comments:

I feel interested in racing again next year, hehe!




Last updated: 2015-01-27 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:40:23 | 2112 yards | 01m 55s / 100yards
Age Group: 176/269
Overall: 1882/2300
Performance: Average
Suit: Xterra Vortex 4 Fullsuit
Course: Out and back with buoys on left shoulder.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 68F / 20C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Good
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 08:14
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
03:06:13 | 56 miles | 18.04 mile/hr
Age Group: 167/269
Overall: 1163/2300
Performance: Good
• Geyserville 28.8mi -- 1:35:32 @ 18.1mph • Bike2 27.2mi -- 1:30:41 @18.0mph • 151avg watts / 164np • Moving time: 3:04:20
Wind: Little
Course: Through vineyard backroads, to Geyserville, Chalk Hill and downhill to Windsor High School.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 86
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 08:45
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
02:25:28 | 13.1 miles | 11m 06s  min/mile
Age Group: 163/269
Overall: 1271/2300
Performance: Good
• 6.5mi (1:30:20) (11:17mm) • 8.2mi 1.7mi (17:11) (10:07mm) • 13.1mi 4.9mi (54:57) (11:13mm) • Moving time: 2:23:51
Course: Out and back rolling hills type course on some rural streets and dirt loop around La Crema vineyard.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2015-07-15 9:29 PM

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Master
2759
20005001001002525
Los Angeles, CA
Subject: Ironman 70.3 Vineman


2015-07-16 4:58 AM
in reply to: #5128991

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Pro
6520
50001000500
Bellingham, WA
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Vineman

Great job Roland.  You really had a solid race and did well throughout.  Add back some time for the late swim start, peeing, longer T2 run in and you'd have been darn close to breaking six hours.  You would have it in the bag next year.

2015-07-17 12:49 AM
in reply to: popsracer

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Master
2759
20005001001002525
Los Angeles, CA
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Vineman
Thanks Steve! I'm definitely planning on signing up again next year and aiming to break 6 hours. Are you considering signing up as well?
2015-07-17 8:41 AM
in reply to: kloofyroland

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Pro
6520
50001000500
Bellingham, WA
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Vineman

Probably not.  I've done the full distance there twice so I've had my fill of pain and suffering there.

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