Ironman 70.3
 

I'm doing it. Signed up for a 70.3 in Indian Wells, CA last night. It's just over two weeks away. I've been training continuously for the last two years, but I've never put together all of these elements at these distances before.

I don't think the swim will be any problem. I regularly swim a mile plus and expect to knock that out in well under an hour. The bike leg will be challenging just in maintaining a comfortable position for 56 miles. I'm going to set a target pace of 16 to 17mph. If the course is flat as they're describing, I could maintain a higher pace, but I want to leave something left in my legs. The run is going to be the part that gets me.

My strategy is to knock out the swim and the bike elements in <4.5 hours. That will give me a full four hours to walk the run course, if need be. I've done the Santa Barbara triathlon the last two years and that's a 10 mile run. The first time was pretty bad because I was seriously dehydrated before I even started (long story I'm not going to repost here). This last time, in August, was better, but only marginally. I'm just not a strong runner anymore. I can generally run about a 9 min/mile in a 5k, but that time goes up to 10-11 min/mile for 10k or greater. But those times are only for stand alone running events. Tack a run on the end of a triathlon and I'm really lucky to be below a 15 min/mile.

I will keep this thread posted as the event comes on. Wish me luck!

Is that in the pool, or open water? Fresh or salt water? If you’re not experienced swimming in open water it can be more challenging than you think.

Dan

It's open water. I routinely swim a mile or better in Lake Mead. My swimming is pretty solid.

Well, the time is finally upon me. Heading off to bed tonight. I get up around 6am and plan to hit the road no later than 8. That should put me in Indian Wells sometime around 1pm. Then it's just a matter of scouting out the route and spending the rest of the day/night preparing mentally for the event.

I will report results when I get back home. Wish me luck!

Quick report:
1) I finished
2) I didn't die

Really those were my two main concerns. Happy to say I achieved them both. I did at least as well as I expected, but not as well as I hoped. I was really hoping to finish with a better than 7.5 hour total time but came up short at just over 7 hours, 43 minutes.

It was kind of a rough course. The water was pretty cold. Not bad, but certainly a few degrees colder than what I consider to be my lower limit for a shorty suit. I chose that over my full length suit because the full length just doesn't allow as much free movement.

The bike course was largely flat but the surface pretty much sucked for most of it. Close to 40 miles that felt like a washboard. I finished the bike ride and made it through T2 pretty much exactly where I expected.

The run is my worst event, especially in the hills. This course was described as hilly as it was configured through a golf course path. Turned out to be more hilly than I was counting on. Finished the run in just over three hours. All things considered, that's a pretty good time for me on that course. But I believe if it had been flatter I might have been able to break the three hour mark.

I was in a lot of pain yesterday. That has mostly subsided now and I'm dealing more with soreness/stiffness. But I do still have some pain in the calves and hamstrings.

Overall, not sure I would do this one again mainly because of the road surfaces and the hilly run. But I'm considering other 70.3 courses that might be better suited to my abilities.

VJ,
Good job on the finish.

Dan

r.e. first bold -- :thumb::thumb:

r.e.second bold -- skip another 70.3 and go for the 140.6

I'm now strongly considering a full IM in Sacramento next October.

@VegasJen Congratulations on finishing and meeting your expectations!

Thanks. It actually wasn't as bad as I expected. The run was, but I know that's my worst event. I swim a mile+ on a regular basis, so besides the water temperature, that went pretty much like I expected. The bike ride was actually better. I've done a couple 50+ mile rides, but 56 was actually my longest to date. The road surface was kind of terrible for a lot of the ride, but beyond that, the ride went very smoothly and I was able to keep a faster pace than I planned, and without killing my legs for the run. I know I'm bad in the run, especially when it's the last element of a tri. This course had a lot of small inclines and declines that kind of sapped the energy out of me. I was very happy to finish with almost an hour to spare. Now all I need to do is work on my conditioning before I do a full IM next year. :thumb: