I just returned from So. Cal where I was able to complete the Ironman 70.3 California in Oceanside. It was another well-run event put on by the WTC and a good "opener" for this year's triathlon season. I was fortunate to achieve my best half-ironman distance time (PR) by nearly 30 minutes. Despite this accomplishment, I would say the overall headline is "overweight and underprepared."
Similar to past events, we built a fun boys' weekend trip around this event. My longtime friends, Matt Perkins, Stan Hansen, Rich Goode, Rich Cornia and Greg Hoole flew or drove into San Diego where we hooked up with Chris Rich and stayed at his house. Greg Hoole joined me in participating in the Half Ironman.
Preparation:
I didn't do as much preparation for this event as I would have liked given my new job, move to Columbus, winter weather, trip to Europe, and a host of other lame excuses. In the last 13 weeks (starting Jan 1st), I was able to complete only 40 workouts (avg 3.3/week) equating to 38 hours of total workout time (3.5/week). This breaks down to 11.5 total swim miles (avg 1.0/week), 330 total bike miles (avg 27.5/week), and 90 total run miles (7.5/week). Pretty pathetic! Needless to say, I was downright nervous heading into this event.
Swim (1.2 miles):
The water temperature was a frigid 57 degrees (not quite as cold as the 53 degree swim at IMSG two years ago, but still very cold). My swim was an extremely slow 47:53. I didn't realize I was swimming so slow until I saw my time. I was trying to save plenty of energy for the coming bike/run. Overall, the swim was enjoyable. It was a wave start with minimal chaos/bumping and I didn't have any anxiety/hyperventilation issues at the start. The swim was mostly smooth except for a few major swells at the turn when you were out from the harbor protection. Again, slow and steady was story.
Bike (56 miles):
After exiting the ocean and transition (10:57 T1), I headed out on the bike course which took us through Camp Pendleton. The bike course was deceptively challenging with three monster hills. I ended up using my friend, Stan Hansen's bike for this event so that I didn't have to fly my bike out to CA. Fortunately, I didn't encountered in mechanical issues. There was a slight drizzle of rain for most of the bike section causing messy and slick conditions. I ended up with a time of 3:21:18 (16.69 mph average).
Run (13.1 miles):
I felt good about my run. My two prior events (IM Texas and Vegas Showdown) were dreadful due to GI and dehydration issues. Given the cool weather, slow and steady swim/run approach, and plenty of water, I felt strong on the run. My knee started aching on mile 8, and I wish I had some ibuprofen, but I was able to finish with minimal damage. I ended up with a run time of 2:02:29 (9:20 min/mile average). I was hoping for a sub-2 hour run, but couldn't quite make it.
Summary:
