IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside

Oceanside, California

Oceanside! I look forward to this trip. Our suite at the Marina is like a little home with our beautiful view of the marina and the crashing waves. We get to watch flocks of diving pelicans fishing the harbor just outside open back door while sea lions bark and play in the distance. It is a great place. It was a lot cooler this year than last year.

I wasn’t as nervous this year, which helped. I did make some mistakes to learn from however. My first mistake was made the day before the race when I spent too much time out in the sun at the pool with the kids. I did not think I was out there that long but I got sun burned. This would play a factor I my race.

Swim:
The water temperature was 55 degrees. That is as cold as San Francisco Bay. I was glad I had brought my “Just in Case Bag” which had a cold water cap to wear otherwise I would have had brain freeze. The cold water was made worse by my sunburn. My hand s went numb and my chest tightened from the cold. I didn’t line up in the front and when the horn went off I struggled for some water to swim in for a good minute or two. The cold shortened my normal breathing. After awhile I warmed up and things felt pretty normal. But I lost some time getting there. About the time things started going well the swell picked up. It wasn’t horrible, but enough to possibly cut into my time. My swim was almost two minutes slower than last year. I was having trouble getting my wetsuit off. I think it was the cold hands. So I started the bike a good 2 and a half minutes behind last year.

Bike:
My goal on the bike was to be conservative enough so as to not destroy my legs for run. That gets a little difficult for me with the Oceanside course given the hills. This year was a very wet ride. It drizzled and lightly rained the entire ride. This made vision a bit difficult at times. I couldn’t shed the glasses because when you were passed by other riders it kicked up water and mud in your face and you needed the glasses to protect your eyes. I had to brake cautiously also. I noticed on my first steep decline when I jumped on the brakes at the end for an upcoming turn that I had lost some of my breaking power. I guess those cork pads on carbon wheels just don’t work as well in the rain. Although I would have preferred a dry day, it could have been a lot worse. I did ride a bit cautious at times. That one hill is every bit the monster I remember it. I was able to take it in the small ring this year which saved my legs a bit. That being said, there is just no way for me to get up that hill without going anaerobic and taxing the major muscles in my legs. That hill costs me. I feel it later in the in the run. Other than the hills, especially the first one, I enjoy the course. It is diverse, interesting and goes by fast. My body temperature seemed to hold up given the level of work I was putting out. I felt a bit cold and uncomfortable at times mostly because of the sun burn I think. There was some head wind and I heard people complaining about it, but I did not think it was that bad. In the end I improved on last year by exactly 10 minutes.

Run:
My T2 transition was almost a minute faster this year and I was happy to get off the bike and start my run. The rain stopped for the run, but there was no sun to be found. That is not a bad thing though. I struggled a bit in the first couple of miles. The doubt always creeps into my confidence in those first miles, but eventually I found my running legs. The course was different this year. I think it was an improvement. The cool weather probably helped me. I was still dousing myself with cups of water and using sponges. I would like to have run faster, but I managed to run a full 9 minutes faster than last year and pull off my fastest 70.3 run to date. Ultimately I ended up with a 16 minute improvement on last year.

Ironkids

Oceanside, California

They had an Ironkids run on Friday night before the race. Christian did it while Vayden cheered him on. She was really cute. They have done away with both Ironkids San Diego and Tucson triathlons this year? Good thing Christian has moved basically moved on.

L.A. Big 5K

Los Angeles, California

This race is part of the LA Marathon, and I wanted to do this race, in part to check out the Expo. As it turned out, pouring rain and fear of getting stuck in a traffic nightmare prevented us from even seeing the expo. As I began this run, I came to the conclusion that my legs are sufficiently trashed from the mileage building up for Oceanside. This 5k had some significant uphill which actually felt better than downhill given the state of my legs. It rained and it was cold and windy to boot. I even wore a jacket. No post race food or even water, but they did give out a finisher medal which is rare for a 5k. Given the rain, the cold, the wind, the hills, and the state of my legs, I actually felt I deserved a finisher medal for this 5k. The race took place at Dodger Stadium. I have not been there since my childhood. It was an interesting course. I ran the whole thing talking to Christian. He sprinted ahead of me in the final 300 yards. The final stretch was down hill and I knew better than to give chase.

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Southwest Valley Regional YMCA Olympic Triathlon

Goodyear, Arizona
This was the first triathlon of 2012. I needed to dust of the winter cobwebs before I hit the harbor in Oceanside. The swim was the most brutal pool swim I have ever encountered. It was fairly normal until my third trip through the pool. A bunch of us with equal swimming ability just bunched up and it was kill or be killed for the entire 3rd trip through the pool. I did well on the bike and struggled for the first 4 miles to find my running legs on the run, but in the end, today was my fastest Olympic distance race to date. I finished in 2:30:48 which is about 8 minutes faster than I have ever done before. I did this race last year and I was faster in all three disciplines. I did not feel very fast on the run however. I ended up in 4th place in my age group.

The Phoenix Half Marathon

Mesa, Arizona

I couldn’t resist this race. It is a half marathon that goes slightly downhill the entire race. Too bad I am currently too fat, too out of shape and still recovering from being sick to take advantage of the opportunity to set a new personal record.
This was a well run race. We bused up to the start and they had about ten bon fires going to keep the athletes warm. The wind was the real source of the cold and since had brought my parka, I opted to be anti-social and found a spot out of the wind to stay warm. I didn’t want to breathe smoke from the fires prior to the race. The first 5 miles of this race are beautifully fast. I was running under 8 minute miles. It is down hill, but no so steep as to cause any problem for me in running. Even at 245 lbs I was running under 8:00 minute miles. The first three miles are straight down Ellsworth road. You couldn’t find a better road to run from an elevation and road surface perspective. In fact those first 5 miles are so wonderful that when you finally flatten out it seems like a hill. At about mile seven we hit power road, and although it doesn’t look like much of an uphill on the elevation chart it certainly felt like running uphill. Maybe I had just gotten spoiled earlier on in the race. Now when I say hill I just mean a slight elevation gain which went on for about three miles. I finished in 01:54:53, which is a little better than my average half marathon. I attribute this to the accommodating course. I was running this race at 245 lbs which had to cost me. I was getting a little dehydrated. The only criticism I have of this race was that it had too few aid stations. I needed water as I did not carry any.
This race had more post race food options than any race I have seen. They even gave you a bag to collect it. This is definitely my favorite Arizona half marathon. I signed Christian and I up for it next year.

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