My first 1/2 Ironman! Got to Guerneville Friday afternoon, and hung out with the River Ranch crew at the house. 4 of us were participating. Friday night we had some pasta and chicken, and the night before the race we settled for pizza and veggies. I took some Enduralytes and Vitamin B pills. Drank 1/2 gallon of Gatorade.
The night before did not sleep much, as one of the folks had an early start and they woke me up at 5am. I put my stuff in the bag, and ran 1/2 mile, varying speeds. Then Brad and I rode down to the beach, since we were in one of the last waves.
We were in the last wave and it was already getting a little warm. The wave was big, lotsa folks chomping at the bit. I stuck out in the middle for the first 300 meters or so, and then the wave broke up into what seemed like 3 groups. I was in the middle until the end of the first wave and then I kind of started cruising. The water was very shallow around the middle of the swim and everyone was running around the marker. I swam around it. The rest was easy and I started bumping into the slower swimmers from the wave before. I was hoping for a sub-40 swim time, but I was not navigating well, and easily lost a minute or so adjusting my course. At the end, I felt like I could have swam a little harder, but still this was a decent showing for me.
In T1, the wet suit got stuck on the chip, and it took me 30 seconds to pull it off. I kind of spent a little extra time on putting on extra sunscreen and putting on my bike jersey.
The bike leg started out good, averaging 21 mile/hr. Saw someone get really hurt near the turn off by the Sunset beach, with the ambulance picking them up. The surface around the Westside Road was quite bad, and every half a mile I saw someone changing a tire. So I slowed down, and did not start hammering until I got to Geyserville. By then, I was passing by people from the previous waves. Some dude kept trying to overtake me, and we ended up chasing each other pretty much til Windsor where I decided to shift into an easier gear to get me going for the run. Chalk Hill was not bad at all, especially if you climb regularly. Oh yeah, the road quality is crap there too. The volunteers were doing a GREAT job handing out waters and nutrition. These guys rock! Lotsa local public support with people cheering and just generally being nice to you. After having ridden on a road bike with no aerobars, I decided to invest in a time trial bike now.
In T2 was not feeling great... I think I overdid it with Endurolytes during the last 10 miles of the bike portion of the race, and I felt like I was going to hurl soon. So I spent a minute at a porta potty and took care of the nausea issue preemptively. Came out and saw Brad finishing up. Stopped and chatted with him - at a cost of an extra 45 seconds :) - but who cares since he essentially coached for me the race.
Decided to run with 1 bottle on my fuel belt, which worked out very well. Started too strong (7 min/mile). Settled into my normal 8:15 min/mile pace for the next 6 miles. It was already hot, and the La Crema portion was not particularly smooth surface wise. I probably landed my left foot awkwardly somewhere, and the left side started to ache. I came out of La Crema, saw Brad entering. Ran out of the winery and decided to drop the hammer. Ran the next 3 miles close to 8 min/mile. People were moving VERY slow, and I was passing someone every 5-6 seconds. By the end of the 9th mile the heat started getting to me. I slowed down quite a bit and caught up with Josh, and was relieved to see him in good spirits, albeit not moving very fast. The last drink station I walked through, as I was getting a little nauseous again. Then I really hammered it again after I got back to Windsor Blvd, and ran all the way through. What would I do differently - pace myself from the get go. No need to run 5k pace. Mix Gatorade with water, or just skip a station or two.
After the race - walked around like a zombie for a minute, had some water, and then saw Brad's wife. It took me a few minutes to regain the ability to talk. Josh finished up soon, and we sat down for some food. The events folks served chicken, pasta, burgers, fruit, etc. I could barely taste anything after 6 hours of drinking Gatorade, taking Endurolytes and eating GU :)
Mainly, I was gauging myself, this being my first 1/2 IM. A 5:30 is very doable, and even a sub 5:15 is probably achievable with the right combination of nutrition and people and perhaps a better performance on the bike. Overall, a very cool race. Sonoma county could re-pave some roads, but nonetheless this is like a Woodstock of triathlons.
The night before did not sleep much, as one of the folks had an early start and they woke me up at 5am. I put my stuff in the bag, and ran 1/2 mile, varying speeds. Then Brad and I rode down to the beach, since we were in one of the last waves.
We were in the last wave and it was already getting a little warm. The wave was big, lotsa folks chomping at the bit. I stuck out in the middle for the first 300 meters or so, and then the wave broke up into what seemed like 3 groups. I was in the middle until the end of the first wave and then I kind of started cruising. The water was very shallow around the middle of the swim and everyone was running around the marker. I swam around it. The rest was easy and I started bumping into the slower swimmers from the wave before. I was hoping for a sub-40 swim time, but I was not navigating well, and easily lost a minute or so adjusting my course. At the end, I felt like I could have swam a little harder, but still this was a decent showing for me.
In T1, the wet suit got stuck on the chip, and it took me 30 seconds to pull it off. I kind of spent a little extra time on putting on extra sunscreen and putting on my bike jersey.
The bike leg started out good, averaging 21 mile/hr. Saw someone get really hurt near the turn off by the Sunset beach, with the ambulance picking them up. The surface around the Westside Road was quite bad, and every half a mile I saw someone changing a tire. So I slowed down, and did not start hammering until I got to Geyserville. By then, I was passing by people from the previous waves. Some dude kept trying to overtake me, and we ended up chasing each other pretty much til Windsor where I decided to shift into an easier gear to get me going for the run. Chalk Hill was not bad at all, especially if you climb regularly. Oh yeah, the road quality is crap there too. The volunteers were doing a GREAT job handing out waters and nutrition. These guys rock! Lotsa local public support with people cheering and just generally being nice to you. After having ridden on a road bike with no aerobars, I decided to invest in a time trial bike now.
In T2 was not feeling great... I think I overdid it with Endurolytes during the last 10 miles of the bike portion of the race, and I felt like I was going to hurl soon. So I spent a minute at a porta potty and took care of the nausea issue preemptively. Came out and saw Brad finishing up. Stopped and chatted with him - at a cost of an extra 45 seconds :) - but who cares since he essentially coached for me the race.
Decided to run with 1 bottle on my fuel belt, which worked out very well. Started too strong (7 min/mile). Settled into my normal 8:15 min/mile pace for the next 6 miles. It was already hot, and the La Crema portion was not particularly smooth surface wise. I probably landed my left foot awkwardly somewhere, and the left side started to ache. I came out of La Crema, saw Brad entering. Ran out of the winery and decided to drop the hammer. Ran the next 3 miles close to 8 min/mile. People were moving VERY slow, and I was passing someone every 5-6 seconds. By the end of the 9th mile the heat started getting to me. I slowed down quite a bit and caught up with Josh, and was relieved to see him in good spirits, albeit not moving very fast. The last drink station I walked through, as I was getting a little nauseous again. Then I really hammered it again after I got back to Windsor Blvd, and ran all the way through. What would I do differently - pace myself from the get go. No need to run 5k pace. Mix Gatorade with water, or just skip a station or two.
After the race - walked around like a zombie for a minute, had some water, and then saw Brad's wife. It took me a few minutes to regain the ability to talk. Josh finished up soon, and we sat down for some food. The events folks served chicken, pasta, burgers, fruit, etc. I could barely taste anything after 6 hours of drinking Gatorade, taking Endurolytes and eating GU :)
Mainly, I was gauging myself, this being my first 1/2 IM. A 5:30 is very doable, and even a sub 5:15 is probably achievable with the right combination of nutrition and people and perhaps a better performance on the bike. Overall, a very cool race. Sonoma county could re-pave some roads, but nonetheless this is like a Woodstock of triathlons.