The official triathlon thread

[Joe Public]

Thanks for the thoughts, BigPiney and P.

Yesterday was 54.5 miles on the bike in 3h30m and 11.6 miles on the run in 2h00m. I raised the seat on my bike a couple of inches, and it made a big difference. Let's just say I was going past 90 degrees on the up-stroke before.

I crashed a bit on the run for the last four miles. My heart rate was high, I had to walk a couple of times, etc. If nothing else, I'll have a mental reference point if things go south during the race. Next week will be lower mileage - maybe 35/7 or so - and then it's off to Oceanside.

[Joe Public]

The best-laid plans of mice and men . . .

Twenty-five miles into my ride this morning, I heard a pop and then the whooshing of air. That was my first real blow-out; the others have been slower leaks. I removed the rear wheel, put in another tube, inflated, put the wheel back on, and - pop! The second one blew before I even turned my bike over. I pulled out the patch kit, patched the tire, inflated it, got another 1/2 mile, and - pop! It seems there was a gash in the side wall of my rear tire that I didn't see. It allowed the rim to slice each tube.

I wasn't thrilled, but this was ideal timing for having something like this happen. It's my taper week, I was almost done with my ride, and my friend (who rode ahead and brought a rescue vehicle) was with me. I didn't run afterwards. Instead, I hit the bike shop to get some new tires, tubes, etc. for my race on Saturday.

I'm looking forward to race week. I rented a wet suit, and it arrived earlier this week (blueseventy Helix). The expo/check-in is on Friday. I'll be interested to see if there are any other Clydesdale types there.

[Pheidippides]

The best-laid plans of mice and men . . .

Twenty-five miles into my ride this morning, I heard a pop and then the whooshing of air. That was my first real blow-out; the others have been slower leaks. I removed the rear wheel, put in another tube, inflated, put the wheel back on, and - pop! The second one blew before I even turned my bike over. I pulled out the patch kit, patched the tire, inflated it, got another 1/2 mile, and - pop! It seems there was a gash in the side wall of my rear tire that I didn't see. It allowed the rim to slice each tube.

I wasn't thrilled, but this was ideal timing for having something like this happen. It's my taper week, I was almost done with my ride, and my friend (who rode ahead and brought a rescue vehicle) was with me. I didn't run afterwards. Instead, I hit the bike shop to get some new tires, tubes, etc. for my race on Saturday.

I'm looking forward to race week. I rented a wet suit, and it arrived earlier this week (blueseventy Helix). The expo/check-in is on Friday. I'll be interested to see if there are any other Clydesdale types there.

Good luck this next weekend! I'd be interested in a post-race report.

[Joe Public]

Here we go!!!

[bluegoose]

Here we go!!!

How'd it go joe?

[Joe Public]

My goals for the race are now as follows:

• Easy goal - show up to the race. If I can get some training in between now and then, it should be fine. Easy goals should be, well, easy.
• Realistic goal - finish the triathlon. I still feel that this is a realistic goal. If I can stop missing lots of training days, I should be able to do this. If not, I stand a significant risk of bonking hard after four or five hours. It's not that I'll stop moving, but the race has a time limit for finishing.
• Stretch goal - finishing in less than seven hours. If I can swim and be on the bike in an hour or less, be off the bike in four hours or less, and run the half marathon (after the swim and bike) in two hours or less, I can hit this. That is an unlikely, best-case result based on my training so far.

Bam!

Good luck this next weekend! I'd be interested in a post-race report.

How'd it go joe?

I was actually still on the course when bluegoose posted. I had the best race I could have based on my experience and conditioning. I'll post a full report once I'm a little more coherent.

[ERCougar]

Bam!





I was actually still on the course when bluegoose posted. I had the best race I could have based on my experience and conditioning. I'll post a full report once I'm a little more coherent.

Wow...awesome job! And time!

[FN Phat]

Way to go, Joe!

[Joe Public]

Wow...awesome job! And time!

Way to go, Joe!

Thanks, fellas.

[Joe Public]

Here is more detail on my experience at the 2013 Ironman 70.3 California Oceanside last Saturday. I'll break this into sections.

Pre-Race Events

I went to Oceanside on Friday and checked in for the race. I got my race day packet, my gear bags, and a nice "sling bag" that has the Ironman 70.3 logo on it. The packet had my swim cap, bike number stickers, and running bib number. I checked out the expo for a bit, but I decided to get out of there once I realized I didn't see anyone within thirty pounds of me.

Race check-in was right by the pier:


I went back to where I was staying and prepared my gear bags. The race supplied a green morning gear bag, a blue bike gear bag, and a red run gear bag. I placed my swim gear (wet suit, cap, goggles) in the green bag to carry it to the start line on race day. My bike helmet, bike shoes, bike clothes, CLIF bars, sunscreen, etc. went in the blue bag. My running shoes and running clothes, etc. went in the red bag.

[Joe Public]

Race Day

I was up a little after 3:00am Saturday morning to eat, load my gear, and drive to the race site. I got to the race location around 4:30am, which is right around when the transition areas opened. I hear most races have one transition area, but this one has separate areas for T1 and T2. I hit T2 first, dropped off my red bag, checked the air pressure in my bike tires, and rode with the rest of my stuff to T1.

T2:


T1:


It was beneficial to get to the transition areas early. This being my first triathlon, I didn't know much about what to do or expect. I took a lot of time to walk around the areas, see what other people were doing, and decide what to do for myself (e.g., how to rack a bike on the transition racks). This was when I started to notice that everyone else there was really geared up; nobody was on a stock, entry-level road bike like me or wearing jammers instead of a tri suit under a wetsuit. Maybe it's different at the local sprint tri, but these folks were serious.

I basically had my pick of spots on the T1 bike rack. I took the far end (away from the exit aisle) to leave myself plenty of space. I set out my bike gear and waited until 6:15am or so to start changing into my wetsuit. We all had to be out of the transition area by 6:30am, so the pros could start their swim at 6:40am.

I took my wetsuit, cap, etc. out of my green bag and started to change. However . . . where was my timing chip? I emptied the bag. Nothing. I checked my bike gear just in case. Nothing. Gulp.

Luckily, the race had a timing table by the swim exit with spare chips in case one fell off in the water. I hurried to the table, got a spare chip from one of the volunteers, and rushed back to finish changing before I had to leave T1. That was my mistake for the day, and it worked out fine in the end.

After dropping our green bags in a drop zone for transportation to the check-out area, everyone walked to the starting corral. This race had wave starts with the pros going first, followed by the different age groups. The expected water temperature was 56 degrees. Anthem, gun, and the pros were off.

One of the highlights of the day occurred before I even started the race. My swim wave was close to the front of the corral when the first pros exited the water. Here came Andy Potts (!) out of the water with five or six other guys just a few seconds behind him. I was in perfect position to watch his whole T1, which took him less than 90 seconds. Those guys are incredible.

[Joe Public]

Swim

(Click HERE for a map of the swim course.)

My wave got into the water and swam to the start area. The harbor water was cold and salty, and who knows what those boat engines were dripping. Still, the adrenaline was pumping by then. They gave us the signal, and away we went.

I stayed toward the back because I knew I would be one of the slowest - and probably the most competitively inexperienced - swimmer there. The water felt a lot warmer than 56 degrees, so I think we caught a break there. There were small waves in the water but no real current; it didn't really impact my swimming at all. The visibility did, though. I zig-zagged like you wouldn't believe. A couple of times, I was so far off-course that the spotters on the kayaks/boards had to tell me to swim back toward the bouys. I bet I was closer to 1.4 miles for the swim.

At the turn, I caught a hard elbow to the back of the head. It was hard enough that the guy actually stopped swimming for a second and said "Oh, I'm sorry!" Other than that, there were just the occasional hands and feet. I tried to stay toward the side of the course to let faster swimmers through. At one point, as I was getting passed by streams of swimmers and trying to stay on course, I thought, "This isn't much fun; why am I doing this?" I reminded myself that I knew the swim would be the worst of it for me and that I just had to get back to the ramp and get on the bike.

After what felt like forever, I got to the ramp. Several volunteers helped people out of the water and unzipped their suits. I tried to kick a little bit harder toward the end, but I still didn't have much blood in my legs when I got out. I was a little wobbly, but I started to jog because everyone else was. It was about here that I really caught the first rush of trying to zip through a triathlon transition. Enough people were hurrying that it was contagious. The race was on.

Even though I was hurrying, I still took a really long time to get out of T1. Everyone else I saw wore a tri suit under their wetsuits. I, however, brought my cycling clothes for the bike portion of the race. Not wanting a citation for public nudity (they specifically warned us about that in the pre-race), I ran out of T1 and over to one of the community restrooms on the beach. I quickly pulled off my jammers and got into my cycling bibs. Back to the bike I went, where I finished dressing for the bike and jogged to the mounting line.

[Joe Public]

Bike

(Click HERE for the bike course map and HERE for the bike elevation map.)

The bike portion of the race was one of the most exhilarating things I've done in a while. Darting through Camp Pendleton with thousands of fellow racers at bike speed was a thrill. Due to the wave starts for the swim, there was a constant flow of bikes out of T1 and onto the bike course. These tri bikes were nice. I saw Cervelo and Felt the most, then Trek and Cannondale, a handful of QR and Kestrel, and then a sprinkling of several other brands.

I wasn't sure what to expect on the bike. I'd averaged around 15mph during training, but several variables were in play now - taper, race day adrenaline, better tires, lighter tubes, higher seat position, etc. I'm not sure which of those factors impacted my performance, but I went much faster than usual on race day. Still, I could see the difference the equipment makes. The people with the aero helmets, Zipp wheels, speedfil water systems, etc., were really cutting through the air and flying through aid stations. I may have been the only person in the race without aero bars on my bike. Ignorance is bliss; it worked out fine.

I was actually very glad to have my bike on the climbs. The tri bikes I saw all had two gears on their crank. My bike has a third, smaller gear for climbing. I think that’s pretty common on stock, lower-end road bikes. My third gear came in handy on the hills. The course had three pretty steep climbs. The first, while not the longest, was the steepest of the three. Many people – trained triathletes, mind you – got off their bikes and walked it. I might have done the same if it weren't for that climbing gear.

I saw one bad wreck and a handful of flats. Otherwise, it seemed to be smooth sailing for most people. I stopped at transitions to refill my water bottles, but otherwise I was pedaling for the whole 56 miles. There was a bit of a headwind for the last eight miles or so, but not too bad. I was uncomfortable in my seat by then, and I was looking forward to the run. I wondered how the faster-than-practiced pace on the bike would impact me on the run. In I went to the T2 dismount.

I racked my bike in T2 and opened my red bag. I worked some magic to switch into my running shorts without going to a bathroom or breaking the law, then I finished changing and made my way to the T2 exit and onto the run course.

[Joe Public]

Run

(Click HERE for the run course map and HERE for the run elevation map.)

The run was right along the Strand – the paved walk/bike/skate path along the beach in Oceanside – for much of the course. The course was very narrow there, barely two people wide. I thought it was strange at first, but people were so evenly spread at that point in the race that it didn’t cause any trouble. The majority of the run did have much wider lanes.

It felt great to be off of the bike. I watched my pace carefully to hold myself back over the first several miles. I learned over the last few months of brick training that my pace is too fast at the start of the run unless I really hold it back. I picked a guy who was running at the pace I wanted to maintain, tucked behind him, and told myself I couldn’t pass him until at least three miles in. The run had aid stations every mile, which was helpful after hours of racing.

I think one benefit of coming from a running background is having a familiarity with the mental/emotional aspects of dealing with the pain of running while achy and tired. Around mile four, I hit my first wall. It wasn’t too bad, but I did feel it. Having the experience of dealing with that situation before helped a lot. I kept plugging and trying to maintain a comfortable pace. I wasn’t trying to PR in the half or anything; I was trying to minimize any walking time on the back end of the run.

I hit another wall around mile ten. This one was pretty bad – stomach, dizziness, achiness, etc. – so I walked for a few minutes after the aid station and nursed the cup of water I had in my hand. After I finished my water, I calculated my remaining distance. It was only 2.5 miles or so. That gave me enough of a mental boost to start running again. I felt OK for the rest of the run.

As I neared the end of the run, I could see the big, blue “IRONMAN 70.3” finish line gate. I picked up the pace for the last 100 meters or so and finished strong. Crossing the finish line of my first triathlon felt incredible. The volunteers took my timing chip, placed a finisher’s medal around my neck, and gave me a finisher’s cap. I did it! My run leg was slower than I’d expected, but I wasn’t too far off. I had no idea what my overall time was, but I’d met my goal by finishing the race. The whole day had been filled with new, exciting experiences.

I retrieved my gear after some post-race food and drink, and we got out of there. It wasn’t until later that I found out I’d broken the seven-hour mark. I couldn’t believe it. I had my Garmin splits for the bike and run, but I had no idea what my swim and transition times had been. Both my swim and bike legs were significantly faster than expected (as in over 10 minutes faster than expected on the swim and over 20 minutes faster than expected for the bike). I left a lot – a LOT – of time in the transitions, but that doesn’t bother me considering my plan and goals for the race.

I remember talking to an old guy at the check-in for the Ogden marathon several years ago. It was my first marathon. He said, “You won’t run a second one until you forget your first.” He was right. That first one was miserable, and it took me years to have the desire to run another one. With the triathlon, I am finding the opposite to be true for me. I’m already trying to find another race (maybe Olympic distance and in warmer water) to get on the calendar in the fall, and I hope I can enter this event again next year. Sub-6:00, I’m looking for you!

[Pheidippides]

Awesome job, Joe! You'll smoke an olympic distance (I think that's a really fun distance, sort of like I think half marathons are fun races that don't beat you up). You'll also find that olympic distance triathletes don't have the same level of gear - you'll see great tri bikes, true, but you'll also see road bikes and I saw a mountain bike or two (!!) on my last one.

You put in some awesome prep for this race and you totally deserve the time. For the record, another friend of mine did it as well. He's an experienced endurance athlete, and you finished in just about the exact same time he did, plus or minus a couple of seconds.