First Ironman logo event for me. I did 5430 in Boulder last year - and still think Barry and crew have the best race in the world going there. Used Tribiketransport to get my bike To/From Salt Lake City - bike was in perfect condition when I picked it up…hope it gets back in the same condition. Calif 70.3 was a checkpoint for me to gauge fitness and mark a milestone along the Ironman CDA timeline. Lots and lots of Computrainer miles in the basement, a few (like 3-4) long outside rides, consistent swimming and quite a bit of running in the bank during the winter.
Swim: Double-capped it and didn’t really notice that the water was that cold. Felt pretty good once I got going. I liked the uncongested start. Easy to find a lane and get moving. Felt good until towards the turn around when the swells started to get bigger. Drank some sea water. Heading back I got into the groove and hammered back towards the high rise and then while making the turn toward the ramp with about 300m to go found another gear and really got after it. My Timex said 30:00 flat when I hit the ramp - official shows 31:00 flat. Either way, I was happy.
T1: Pretty slow transition…like almost 5 mins. I wanted to put on my HRM so I could pace myself and gather some data. Hard time getting socks on - next time, no socks for me on the bike.
Bike: Glad I had the HRM because I started what felt like a medium pace but my HR was sky high. Got into a good pace and then around 10 miles got a red card for drafting. I know everyone denies it and says this but…I wasn’t drafting. Going up a small hill/rise and some dude in front was going VERY slow. I wanted and tried to pass but too many riders on the left of me going around me and the slow guy. I waited a bit too long and got nailed. 4 mins in the Penalty Tent. That was hard to accept. Got going again, felt good, those hills were no problem - those aren’t hills if you’ve been training in Utah! Wind, not that bad. At 45 I had to pee - yep I need to learn to pee on the bike. I stopped at the last butt hut and took a piss. With 4 min penalty and 2 min piss I had a bike split of 2:52 - I’m fine with that for now.
T2: Got in and out in an okay time. Nothing interesting happened here.
Run: Told myself I was not going to be denied sub-8 min miles. About 300-400 meters out on the run course saw Crowie and Potts side by side coming down the little dirt hill. That was a good shot of adrenaline for me right there. Got into a good rythm. Nutrition was going well. Ran a bit too fast on the first 2-3 miles, reeled it in to 8 min flat. First loop was pretty straightforward. Goal of second loop was to hold 8 min flat on the out and then descend the pace by 5-10 seconds on the last leg. Saw some dude with “HTFU” on a visor on the run. Around mile 8-9 pace started to fade - so I picked up the cadence, kept consuming the coke and hammered on. Mission accomplished…1:43 run split.
5:14 finish time. Learned some things that I will fix and work on for Ironman. Peeing on the bike would be a good skill. Pay more attention to my passing strategy. Bike fit is DIALED IN and solid so keep that where it is and don’t fuss with it anymore. Cut the damn fork so it looks like a real bike. Keep the same nutrition plan - it is working so just enhance it for Ironman as needed during training. Buy more Infinit because that stuff rocks!
Overall, enjoyed Oceanside, the weather was great, loved not having tights, hat, gloves, warmers, etc. on during a ride, good race for me and now ready to HTFU and get back to training for Ironman.
Thanks for reading.
good luck with the CDA training and staying healthy!