Ironman Oceanside 70.3

Vengeance is mine!!

Pre-race- Friday

Got packed up and left my house in Anaheim at about 1:15 pm. Arrived in Oceanside around 2:30 and headed down to packet pickup. Was the usual routine similar set up to last year, except that you didn't have to walk over to the opposite end of the village to pick up your bags, as they distributed them from the Ironman store. Walked around and checked out some of the booths. Stopped by the Lifeproof booth, my mom, sister and I all have the cases. My sister tends to lose the little screw topper, so the gal at the booth gave me a small baggie of replacement screw toppers.

Pro Panel

I stopped to watch the pro panel for a bit. Some of my favorite answers were to the question "Who do you look up to?" I was just waiting for someone to say that Mirinda Carfrae looked up to everyone because she is so short, but she said she looked up to Michael Jordan. Matty Reed- At 6'4" he said everyone on this panel looks up to him. Andy Potts- went for a woman,  swimmer, OC local, and one of my swimming heros, Janet Evans.
After the pro panel concluded, I headed back to the car to get my load up my run gear bag for drop off at T2.

T2 Run Bag

View to the left (entry) T2

Somebody was kind enough to mark my row.

After setting up T2 and making another trip around the expo, it was time to head to San Marcos to check in to my hotel, get some dinner, and do some grocery shopping.

Obligatory Beach/Pier Shot

Another Beach pic, wished I had brought my DSLR.

Race morning-

I parked over by T2 and decided not to risk a repeat of last year and walked my bike and bags over to T1 and the race start. Got to my rack, it was empty, so I got my prime end spot. I walked back and forth a few times to get my bearings, got body marked. My body marker remembered me from last year when I mentioned I had the messed up bag. Went to visit the little girls room a few times, and finally there were some other athletes along my rack, one of whom remembered my from last year, as we were on the same rack last year. Rack location was easy to remember, right across from the tech support booth. Luckily I did not need to visit tech support this year!! Ate a banana and got ready to hit the water. This time I brought a cheap pair of flip flops to spare my feet from the cold painful pavement.

The Swim-

Am I thinking this is going
 to be a long day

This is an in water start with only 3 minutes between waves. This year I was in wave 16 of about 22, so a little bit earlier than last year. My focus was to try to keep a straight line, and to not run in to any lifeguards. I tried to stay as far from lifeguards as possible. Felt good once I got warmed up. Just kept swimming trying to avoid too many collisions, but those are sometimes impossible to avoid. When I got out to the turnaround, it was completely flat, very different from last year's 2-3 foot chop. Got out up the ramp, being careful avoid over anxious volunteers. Swim time 37:27, about 10 minutes faster than last year.

Or is this the start of a great
adventure

T1-

Came into T1, got my wetsuit, cap and goggles off. Then had to thing for a minute or two, what to wear. It was still a bit chilly, so was debating between arm warmers, jacket, or jersey. Made the decision to go with the jersey, as I thought it might stay cool enough and I would be comfortable if I needed to wear it on the run as well. Ate another banana before heading out on the bike. T1 time- 9:22, about 2 minutes faster than last year.

The Bike-

Riding along with a smile on my face.

This is the long and boring part of the race. There are not a lot of spectators on the course, as it is mostly on the Camp Pendleton Marine Base. This went much better than last year, I made it a bit further up the hills before having to walk. I was also pleased that I didn't have to use the bathroom at every single aid station. It felt good to have a bike that I was not scared of, after racing last year with a wheel out of true. I had been fit after the race last year and feel a lot better after making changes such as shorter cranks and better gearing. Approaching the last aid station, I overheard one of the race spotters saying that there were 50 athletes still to come by the aid station. I just rode my own back to the harbor, hit the strand. This is very narrow and split between runners, cyclists and the general public, at least they got rid of one of the barriers, giving everyone a tiny bit more room. Made it to T2 in plenty of time. Bike time- 4:26:15, about 10 minutes faster than last year.

T2-

Here is where I started doing the math. 13.1 miles left and I had about 3 hours and 15 minutes to complete. This would have put my finish at about 4:00pm and the cut off was at 4:18pm. All I had to do was average 15 minutes per mile, and I would achieve my goal. Took my time in transition, gal next to me tore her bib number, asked me if I had a safety pin. Guess what?? I did, as I had put one on my timing chip strap so it wouldn't fall off during the swim. I took it off and gave it to her, hoping this would be a bit of good karma for the triathlon gods. Got shoes on and grabbed water bottle and headed out. T2 time- 7:19, about the same as last year.

The Run-

Okay, so it was more like a fast walk, but whatever. I knew what I needed to do, and stuck to that plan. Walked out the first mile or so, just to get my legs back, kept track on my Garmin trying to maintain my 15 min/mile pace. Made sure to run all downhills (down ramps), except the steeper part of the pier ramp. I also ran whenever I felt like I was slowing down too much. On lap 1 I caught up to Rudy Garcia Tolson (double amputee triathlete), chatted with him for a bit, went back and forth, ahead of and behind him (he was on lap 2) great motivation for that first lap. I hit the split and heard Rudy's name and cheered as he crossed the line. Heading up to start my second lap, I hit the dreaded spot where I was pulled off the course last year. I told the guy standing there "Tell her I'm not getting a hug this year!" Headed out and back down the pier and back up, saw the "hugger" and shouted "No hugs for me!" To which she replied, "You won't see me until the finish line." The course, even toward the end still had people yelling, cheering, and otherwise motivating me and the others still on the course. As I approached the last aid station, the volunteers formed a tunnel, high fives and motivation the whole way. As I approached the barriers I felt the need to run just far enough make it to the finish line.

The finish line, actual time was 8:41:38

I finished!!! Run Split- 3:21:15, my first half marathon. Total race time: 8:41:38.

Post Race-

Got my medal and hat!! Grabbed some pizza and soda (ick) Pizza was cold. Sat and attempted to eat. Chatted with a guy I met on the run for a bit, then headed to pick up my bike and other gear bags. Then to my car to make the drive home, but not without a stop at In-n-Out first. Man did that burger taste good!

Aah the "ice bath"

Woke up Sunday morning and could barely move, so decided to sit in the pool as an ice bath. It's unheated and at this time of year the temperature was perfect, it felt so good to just sit there.

Then thought to myself, "Suzanne, you just finished a Half-Ironman triathlon, what are you going to do next? ....I'm going to Disneyland!!!" I actually went to Disney's California Adventure on Monday with my sister. Moving/walking helps to get rid of the soreness.