IRONMAN
CALIFORNIA: RACE REPORT
Camp
Pendleton, CA
Well
it seems like I have been training for this race for an awfully long time. I
cannot remember the last weekend I was completely flexible and not facing a
rather substantial bike and run. Having trained for IM Florida it has now been
nearly 18 months of fairly intense training without more than a couple of days
off here and there. I really want to compete- I miss the fun of the Olympic and
even ½ Ironman races- the training is really not the same at all.
Leading
up to the race I am comfortable with the volume and intensity of my training. I
definitely feel like my running has improved and my bike is fairly close to
where it was for Florida. The swim training is the biggest pain, even though it
is by far the easiest. Based on what I have experienced I would say people
probably devote too much time to the pool. My maximum week in the pool was just
over 7000 meters and most were in the 6000 range- about 2 ½ hours. I had plenty
of base training leading up to and through IM Florida so it was much easier to
tolerate the 6 hour rides and 3 hour runs for California. My build weeks
averaged 18-20 hours for about 6 weeks and I had a nice 3 week taper leading
into the race. I find the taper to be difficult- it really shows you how much
the mental role plays i.e. 3 hour bike rides seem just as challenging as 6 hour
rides.
In
order to be ready with as little stress as possible, I shipped my bike to
California 2 weeks prior to the race. For only about $10.00 more than taking it
on the plane I was able to ship it to the bike shop sponsor (B&L Sports),
have it assembled, and ready for me when I arrived. No lugging it around and no
worries about my ineptitude in servicing or assembling my bike. After the race they
will take it down and ship it home- I highly recommend this route- well worth
it and more as far as I am concerned.
I arrive in California in San Diego about 35 miles south of the race site, rent a car and drive to Carlsbad where I have a hotel for the next 4 days. My wife is coming on Thursday so this gives me a good opportunity to get settled, organized and do the majority of my pre-race preparation.
Get up early (not a problem with the time change). Drive to the race site about 15 minutes away and do a practice swim- 1 loop of the 2 loop course. Water is about 62 degrees but it feels great especially with my long sleeve wetsuit. The swim is in a little cove/boat basin and the water is fairly calm- I predict it to be a nice swim with the main challenge being to navigate (lots of turns and angles- not just rectangular) and deal with 1700 people in a relatively tight area. My practice lap takes 36 minutes despite stopping to get my bearings and study the flow of the course.
· Woke up and began to get everything ready for the race. This means filling my transition and special needs bags, attaching race numbers, checking bike supplies, etc. Quite a process- really- trying to figure out exactly what and how much I will need for a full day of racing. Essentially take care of this and I am feeling comfortable about not having to stress over this at the last minute.
· Got up today, ate a few pancakes, and went for an easy 20 min run- just so I am not flat tomorrow. Spent the rest of the morning making sure I had everything set. Everything must be checked into the transition area by 3:30pm this includes: bike and transition bags. The pre-race meeting lasted about 45 minutes and was very informative despite not going overboard with the rules from the official. I was very happy with this because the guy in Florida went on and on for almost 30 minutes. This guy said you need to know the rules before you play the game!
Saturday
May 19th- Race Day
Got
a pretty nice sleep last night- slept soundly from about 11:00pm until 4:00am.
Wake up and got my stuff together. Ate a Clif bar and slammed a couple of
bottles of diluted Gatorade. Out the door at 4:45am. Arrive at about 5:15-
pretty much traffic on the military base but very well organized…they have
busing from the parking lot to the transition area but the walk is much
quicker. Enter the transition area to check on my bike, fill my drink system
and water bottles, and make one last check that everything is ok. On to body
marking, heavy application of body glide, and several trips to the porta johns.
The
swim is an in-water start and they expect everyone to be in the water 15-20
minutes prior to the start. Pretty long time to tread cold water but if you
don’t get in rather early there is no way to get towards the front. I get in
about 20 minutes prior to the start but the time seemed to go by rather
quickly. The sky is overcast and the temperature was in the mid to high 60’s-
perfect.
The
race begins with the sound of a military cannon and roughly 1700 people are
off. Having an open water start makes the swim start even more challenging. The
first 10-15 minutes of the swim were definitely combat. I took and dished out
my fair share of blows- more so than in any other race I can remember. I felt
very relaxed and made it out for the first loop swimming very comfortably. I
expected my swim to be much slower than it wound up being because I was really
trying to be comfortable with long, slow smooth strokes. Came out of the water
in 1:02 – very pleased with this. Out of the water have my wetsuit stripped off
by the volunteers and enter the transition area where a volunteer hands me my
swim to bike transition bag. Into the change tent, changing into my clothes for
112 miles on the bike. I take 6 minutes in transition and I am off on my bike!
BIKE
At
the start of the bike my shoulders, arms, and hands seemed really tight and
uncomfortable, especially when I got into my aerobars. I was told and it
appeared the first 20-25 miles of the bike was going to be fairly flat or
rolling hills with the backside (inland part of the course) being hilly! After
about 10 miles I finally got comfortable on the bike. The first 10 miles
contained only 1 hill of any note but it did require a decent effort since I
was still getting the circulation into my legs. From the beginning I am
constantly reminding myself to take it easy on the bike- don’t chase people-
race my own race…it is going to be a long day and going to hard especially this
early will cost you. The first 25 miles of the course was fairly fast. It
mainly traveled along the coastline with favorable winds. The course was
interesting in that we traveled roads, running paths, parking lots, and even a
runway (quite interesting) through the first 25 miles or so…some of it was very
scenic and some seemed very isolated. Fortunately I was feeling good and
everything seemed to be going well. At about mile 25 the course turns inland
through the massive (200,000 acre) military base where the terrain is fairly
pristine California real estate- pretty hilly (they described this as what
California looked like 100 + years ago). At mile 30 you come to a rather
intimidating hill- you can see this hill coming about 3 miles in advance and it
looks long and very steep. This hill is indeed steep but only about ¼ of a
mile. After averaging about 22 mph the hill slows me down (and everyone else it
seemed) to 8-10mph max. This climb seems to last a while and is somewhat grueling although something about it was very
relaxing- I guess it felt more like training than racing even if just for a few
minutes- no one really seemed to be superior when it came to this hill. Miles
30-45 are a continuation of rolling hills with 6-8 significant climbs. Since
this was a two loop course you definitely knew these hills would be a more
significant challenge at miles 86- 101. Finally after pulling the major hills
someone had erected a sign that said “only 6 more hills.” This did not do much for
the mental well-being but at least for the 1st loop the wind was
cooperative and these remaining hills were not that big a deal…or perhaps it
was just they were small in comparison to the ones already tackled. The last 10
miles are small roller to flat but generally against a strong headwind- I was
told. For the 1st lap the headwind was not there and it made the 1st
lap much more bearable after the bigger climbs. The first lap finishes right
through the transition area that is lined with tanks the marines have put in
place- pretty cool. I finish the first lap in 2:48 minutes (about 12 minutes
faster than goal/expectation). In fact I would have been pleased with anything
between 3:00-3:15. The winds on the 2nd lap were not nearly as
cooperative and the 2nd lap definitely required more energy than the
1st one. Despite that, the temperature was still rather favorable
and I felt fairly strong and confident my nutritional plan was working- a big
relief after Florida!! The 2nd lap had its highs and lows in terms
of how I felt but it just seemed to come in 5-10 minute spells. The hills on
the 2nd lap were definitely a bigger challenge and from time to time
my legs would noodle a little with a few muscle spasms. On the 3rd
big hill of the 2nd lap there is a big descent that is very fast and
curvy- I remember using my brakes pretty strongly on the first lap- I don’t
doubt you could go 40-50mph down this hill if you pushed it. As I began my
descent the marine volunteers at the top of the hill were screaming loudly and
very demonstratively to slow down (which I did on the first lap and was
planning on this lap because I am a chicken on the down hills). As I approached
the bottom I saw another competitor on the ground, not moving with a few
marines around looking shocked yet panicked. As I came close, I noticed a huge
puddle of liquid that I soon found out was blood (looked like an entire water
cooler had been spilled onto the road) as another rider ran through it
accidentally and shot it into the air. I did not think there was any way he had
survived this crash. I immediately felt empty and nauseated. Four or five other
riders in close proximity all slowed down and we exchanged a few words- a very
somber atmosphere. Continuing on seemed almost eerie and it was very hard to
really concentrate for a period of time- I felt nothing. It was tough to let go
of this especially as rescue vehicles raced passed in the other direction with
their sirens blasting. With about 10-12 miles to go I finally began to feel
somewhat normal again but the wind had shifted and it was getting much more
difficult to maintain a good pace with the wind blowing rather briskly in our
face. The 2nd lap definitely offered a few more challenges than the
first if only from a mental perspective but a combination of factors left my 2nd
lap time at 3:03. On a side note, I thought the race officials did the best job
of enforcing drafting I have ever experienced in a race. This is a real pet
peeve of mine and I mention it now because there were 3-4 people who I saw
working this head wind as a team. I was close to them most of the 2nd
lap but they really started to pull away in the last 10 miles until the
Marshall got them all with 6 miles to go! By this time I was really, really
ready to get off the bike. For the last 15 miles or so I was constantly
adjusting my position to stay comfortable- I had run out of positions. I also
had to pee from about mile 57 on but I was not about to stop and could never
relax enough to go off the bike. I guess I kind of forgot about it for a while
when I witnessed the accident. Finally I reached the transition area now
approximately 7 hours into the race. Off the bike and I immediately head for
the porta john. At this point not peeing seemed like a great decision because
it gave me some positive relief going into the run- sounds crazy but you need
to grasp anything you can get a hold of in terms of preparing to run a marathon
after 2.4 miles of swimming and 112 miles of biking. About 6 minutes in the
transition and I am off on the marathon course.
RUN
This
was a monument for me because I knew I would finish even if I had to slow walk
the marathon. The run was completely along the ocean out of the Military base
and along the boardwalk in the city of Oceanside. The sun was now out and
shinning but there was a nice breeze and it was never too hot. It took about 3
miles to get where I really felt normal (or as normal as you are going to feel
at this point in the race) and had my legs but at this point I felt
surprisingly good. Mile 1.5 to about 2.5 goes through the soft sand as you
travel from the base into the city of Oceanside- this required an additional
effort that was especially miserable. Not looking forward to tracking across
this plot 3 more time (two loop, out and back course)! Despite this I was
trying to make sure to control my pace and as Coach Troy says “keep moving
forward” don’t stop running no matter how slowly- walking is contagious. My
goal after 3 miles was to run all the way through the first lap and then walk
as necessary. Based on how I felt I thought that was reasonable but I was only
24 minutes or so into the run so I would have to see. I took ½ water ½ Gatorade
at almost every aid station and filled my hat with ice- boy that feels good! By
mile 5 I really felt pretty good and felt like I had a decent stride. I made
the 6.55 mile turnaround in 52 minutes- just about 8 minutes/mile- I am very
happy with this. I continued to run strong on the way back until I reached that
damn soft sand about 2-3 miles from the completion of lap 1. I hit the
turnaround at 1:55- getting tired but still feeling pretty decent all things
considered. Completing the first lap is a humbling experience as you run down
the home stretch, you can see people crossing the finish line directly in front
of you but you must make a hard right and head back out for another 13.1 miles.
The transition area and finish line are packed with people so this gives you an
adrenaline rush and a little extra energy. I also had some solace in seeing
people still coming in on their bikes- boy I am glad I am not them! The crowd
energy pushed me back to my foe the sand at which point I am really starting to
feel the effects of a day of exercise. Despite the pain of trekking across the
sand my next goal was to run to the turnaround which would mean I had run about
20 miles…at that point I would walk if needed. My pace was definitely slowing
especially once I hit that damn sand but I was pretty determined and all in all
I still felt pretty decent. Just as with the 2nd lap of the bike the
2nd lap of the run was a period of good and bad spells in terms of
how I felt. I just kept saying to myself “keep moving forward” and when I
started to feel poor “it will get better”- somehow it always did. I was
constantly trying to figure out who was on their first lap and who was on their
2nd lap- I don’t know why but I guess anything to keep the mind on
something other than how your body feels. Much of the run goes along the
boardwalk in Oceanside and another interesting phenomenon was the beach-goers
who seemed to be almost oblivious to this race that was happening in their
presence. Anyway, I continued on and now feeling a little drained I began to
grab pretzels at the aid station. I did not feel like eating them but I would
kind of suck the salt off and then spit them out. This seemed to work pretty
well but I wish the bag of salt I had, had not torn open because it is amazing
how good pure salt tastes. The second lap seemed to be longer than the first
and the mile markers seemed longer and longer with each mile- seemed more like
3. I hit the turnaround and I was trying to estimate a finishing time
contemplating various times for the final leg. No matter how hard I
concentrated or thought about it I could never really figure this out- very
strange feeling. At the turn I decided I had come to far to walk now and I was
going to run, no matter how slowly, the rest of the way in to the finish. The
body aches and pains were more significant with each pounding of the pavement
but I knew walking would not make me feel much better so I just kept moving
forward. Some first lappers were getting around pretty good but for the most
part those on their second lap were in shuffle/jog routine. Considering that
everyone else is in the same game makes it a lot easier to bear- I also want to
think I am tougher than them and this made continuing to run a much easier
proposition. By mile 20, I was sick and tired on sports drink, gels, etc- they
all begin to taste like crap rather than as a treat or pill. You need it so you
take it but by the end you don’t want to see this stuff again for a while. With
the finish line in sight about 1.5 miles away I was able to pick up the pace
slightly. In hindsight, I probably could have picked it up more than I did but
at the time I really could think of no reason to do so…running the whole
marathon would make me extremely happy. Finally at about 6:16pm PST I crossed
the finish line for an elapsed time of 11:16:03 (1:02 swim;5:52 bike; 4:08 run-
12 minutes for transition)! At the finish line I stopped and felt amazingly
good but I also had a hollow feeling that it was over…I could not wait for that
finish line but once I reached it I had this feeling of wanting to keep going.
POST
RACE
I met my wife and walked around with a space
blanket for a few minutes than over to the food tent for some pizza and coke.
Eating seemed difficult…almost like trying to eat a handful of peanut butter
with no liquid. I started to get very cold and felt like I wanted to sit down.
Only one problem, I did not feel like I could sit down because my legs began to
twitch- pretty odd feeling like I could not bend my legs. I went to the medical
tent just in case I began to cramp up but fortunately I did not. I laid down
with my legs elevated and despite freezing (body temperature 93 degrees) I
generally felt pretty good. They covered me with blankets and I finally changed
into some dry clothing. 30 minutes later I was fine (as fine as one can be at
this point) and went and had my massage- boy did that feel awesome…I could have
stayed all night. Following my massage I went back to the food tent ate some
more pizza and then collected all my stuff and went back to the hotel to
shower. I must have stayed in the shower for 45 minutes but it felt awesome. We
were going to go back to the race site and see the late night finishers
10:00pm-12:00pm but I decided I just wanted to lie in bed, eat, drink and watch
TV. I tried on 2 occasions to drink a beer but never really got past the first
sip. Did not sleep that well Saturday night but I felt amazingly good through
the night and into the day on Sunday. I was certainly prepared to feel a lot
worse for the next couple of days than I did so it was kind of nice to be able
to function while we traveled around California after the race. By Tuesday of
the following week I was pleasantly surprised to find out I had placed 3rd
in the Clydesdale division! This was just icing on the cake of the entire
experience. My objective was simply to finish but in the end my time was in
between the times I listed as “pipe dream” (10:57)and “great” (11:33).
Everything about this race was first class in my opinion: organization, course,
logistics, location, amenities, etc with the exception of the awards banquet
which they charged non-competitors (i.e. my wife) $30.00 for a rather meager
plate of food…beer was extra. It was also a little frustrating to find out they
had given out awards for Clydesdale but had not notified any of them or posted
the results…I would have liked to been up on stage getting my plaque/trophy but
instead I was waiting in line to get my pictures.
Overall, Ironman California was an amazing experience for me, one that is not
easy to describe but one that I will always cherish and remember. I hope to be
fortunate enough to take another crack at being an Ironman but for right now I
am looking forward to getting some rest and perhaps competing in some short
course races. Thanks to all of those who have helped, motivated, tolerated and
inspired me, most notably: my wife Chantal, my family, Troy Jacobson, Chris
Bright, Steve & Debbie Bozeman, the crew at Bikes Unlimited, my coworkers
at Scott Insurance, and other members of LATC.