Ironman 70.3 California

The goal was under 5h. The result 4h55'21". Job done! But by no means this has been an easy race, as I can call this one my toughest race yet!

The lead up to the race wasn’t ideal for a race that early in the year. Coming off the cold months, I had ridden the TT only a few hundred Kms before heading to California. But what work I didn’t do on the bike, I did on the run and swim, having PB’d at Wokingham last month, and feeling great in the pool, I knew I could swim and run a little bit faster than last year.

The unknown really was the course: as most of the bike happens within a military base (Camp Pendelton), it’s impossible to have photos videos or even recce it. I heard some people managed to get in, but it’s overall difficult. The only thing to do would be to hammer it down on the flats and take it easy on the climbs!

Add to this an arrival after a 10h flight only 2 evenings before the race, and you get a nice tiredness cocktail!

Swim

I had decided to start near the front this time, and I believe it paid off. I had to fence a few guys going all over the place crossing in front of me and stopping dead in the water to sight, but after a few 100 meters, the water cleared out. Well, that was also aided by the fact that I again didn’t swim close enough to the buoys and I was a bit too far out of the course, albeit swimming in a straight line. Nevertheless, I felt really good after my arms had warmed up and that was a nice change from last year’s Swashbuckler where I never managed to get out of the midfield whirlpool.

For some bizarre reason however, I started in wave 21, one of the very last ones, 1h after the official race start, and I had to pass a truckload of slower people from the previous waves. I know some of these waves have some strong contestants, but I still don’t understand why a generally strong fast wave like 30-34 should go almost last, and not close to the other fast 35-39 or 40-44 guys. Funny enough the garmin data (see link at bottom) shows the extra I had to swim at some point to get around a large pack of slow swimmers.

I managed a respectable (for me), 37'08", but getting closer to the buoys and going straight will probably help me more in the future. I’m now “just ok” on the swim, but I want to swim 32' for that distance!!! Loads to improve still!!

T1 went quite well, managing 4'41" for a 500m run with the wetsuit at waist, removing it at the bike and tidying it all away in the transition bag (it was a split transition), then putting a long sleeve top sticking on my wet arms, helmet and glasses. I can’t believe the pros managed around 1'30 for that, given that there was 500m to run around the transition area :-/ But hey, it’s their job!!

Bike

It was absolutely freezing on race day. No sun, low clouds hanging on the hills, overcast later on but windy and blustery all round, and probably around 14C maximum. Definitely the toughest bike course I’ve done so far in a race, harder than one last tri in 2010 with rain and wind, and harder than the swashbuckler and its narrow roads last year.

The bike course, in parts, was seriously not worth of what you’d expect from a 70.3 race. Some places where no more than walkways 2m wide where you couldn’t pass other cyclists. A bit ridiculous when some where doing 20kph where 35 was possible… Ok it’s “the same for everyone” but having started in that a late wave, it meant there was loads of passing to do, and one could easily get caught up in a traffic jam at one of these narrow passages.

I managed to make my way through the field though, as I caught around 55 people of my AG on the bike. (I was out of the water 78th and off the bike in 21st). But that was a tough day in the saddle. The roads in here are covered in salt and sand from the nearby ocean, and there were quite of guys on the roadside with punctures. The bike (and me), quickly got covered in grit, and to top it all, my legs weren’t working. Ok, I still managed a 2h33' on that course, but the legs started to scream after only 5K, so it wasn’t a good feeling overall.

Check out the bike and that monster hill at km45… around 9-10% average for just under 1K! The 39/23 was at the limit of what my legs could take, but I managed non-the-less. I did slow right down to 10.5kph at some point though and some people were walking it while some woman was trying to be encouraging people from the top of the hill, but was mostly annoying everyone.

The following descent was a 67Kph joy to recover and catch up that 31 YO that just passed me at the bottom of the climb. We’d battle it almost until the end of the bike section, but he then pulled away while looking still fresh for a good run.

For once, I was happy to be back in town and looking forward to the run. That’s a rare thing for me and should give an indication of my state of mind after that hard ride… Legs definitely unhappy, mind a bit out and wondering what would happen next.

T2 was ok, not dead slow, not overly fast either. But legs responded quite well off my now filthy bike while running alongside it.

Run

Legs seemed kind of ok, although tired and still screaming, I could manage them. I’ve learned quite a bit from the Wokingham half marathon earlier in the year, so I knew I could keep going. But it wasn’t a completely flat course either. There were ramps and sharp uphills here and there. Just enough to absolutely kill hamstrings and suck whatever energy was left in my quads. For the first time I had this mental ups and downs during the run. Not the same than during the IM marathon last year where I settled on a slow pace. Here I was on 4'45" and wanted to stick to it as much as possible. And boy that was tough! I think I’ve seen a few guys passing from my age group, but overall I lost only 1 place in the run, and that was in the last 3Kms. The guy was flying, and I didn’t manage to stay long with him unfortunately.

The last straight line was a welcome sight, and I whizzed past the aid stations and down the finish chute, happy not to have to go over the ramps anymore!!

Under 5h, job done.

I absolutely LOVED the pizza and other delicious fatty foods and sodas after the line! That was very much welcome after 5h on gels and liquids only!

Results

With 4h55'21", 208th overall including pros, and 22nd in my age group, I can’t be dissatisfied, especially with the relatively low amount of training done and the 10h flight 2 days before…

That’s where I stand against the competition in my AG (25 min to chop somewhere to be competitive on that course):

Overall I’m 208 out of 2903 (top 7.5%), and 22nd in my age group out of 249 starters (in 9%). But the relevant thing now is that I know how far I am from being competitive, and that was always the goal with this race.

I did go to the awards ceremony and for the rolldown, “just in case”, but the 2 slots in 30-34 went down only as far as 5th place =) Gotta do better next time! I’m within 15% of the winners time, but not in 10% yet. I have to find some legs to run 1h30' off the bike, and be able to sort my pre-race arrangements properly so I am not as tired as I was during this one!

All results are on the ironman 70.3 california website results page, and I was number #2677 if you want to find me.

Garmin data

The 910XT that @Leigh_pilates lent me (after I broke my 310XT’s screen 3 days before leaving to California) worked wonders! It seems much quicker than my own 310XT to locate satellites and is pretty accurate in the water! Looking at the swim map, I can say it’s a pretty accurate representation of my swim! I indeed was again too far off the buoys at the north east, and had to alter my course on the way back to go around a massive bunch of slower swimmers from previous waves.

Also, check out the bike and that monster hill around 45Km… around 9-10% average for just under 1K!

Swim / T1 / Bike / T2 / Run (I again didn’t press the stop button properly…)

All photos

Including all official photos, good or not…