As most of my friends know, I had a big goal this year to complete a Half-Ironman triathlon. This distance event consists of a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile ride and a 13.1 mile run. Originally, I was going to run the Vineman Half in beautifully flat Healdsburg, CA in mid July. Unfortunately, I procrastinated signing up until the event was sold out. I ended up signing up for the Worlds Toughest Half in beautifully hilly Auburn, CA and running it last Sunday. This switch was a poor trade, giving up two months of training for 8719 ft of cumulative climbing instead of 5289 ft.
All in all, it was utterly miserable. Swim felt fine but racers thought the course was marked long and I was in the water 5 minutes more than I expected. But whatever. The swim is just a warm up anyway, less than a sixth of the duration of the event. The bike is what kills you in this race. It is so long and hilly and on net, it actually gains 880 ft. I climbed even more than this because I missed a turn and ended up climbing a hill for a mile before realizing I had to turn around. All the climbing in the race (plus my little detour) adds about an extra hour on the bike vs other 70.3 events. This ended up being an extra hour of dehydration for me because I wasn't drinking enough and I probably should been drinking Cytomax or HEED instead of Gatorade.
Why didn't I drink more? Simple answer. I had to pee and I thought this meant I was hydrated. So so wrong. I was told by another racer who is coach that all the top racers are pissing their shorts throughout the ride so they can continuously take in fresh fluids. Going while you are cycling is actually very hard to do and you can't just learn this during the race. You have to practice it by setting out for a ride after drinking 3 bottle of water. I never did this in my training so even though I wanted to, I physically couldn't make myself do it and stopping to go feels like giving up or not trying your hardest. In hindsight, I wish I had just stopped. Not peeing blocks your kidneys, and since they are your body's filtration system, you basically start getting poisoned.
By the time I started the half marathon, I felt awful from holding it the whole race. This was a shame since my legs felt good and I think I could have really picked up the pace (though remarkably, I still beat my SF Half Marathon time from last year). Another complaint I have about this race (and I have many) is that the run is a 3 loop course so you can't tell where your competitors are in their races unless you were near them off the bike. I didn't have any gas left in the tank for trying to pass people during the run, but even if I did, I wouldn't have known what loop the other guys were on.
After crossing the finish line, I am ashamed to say that I basically collapsed out of the finishers area and was "very cranky" until I had drank about 3 bottles of Cytomax. Jessica was so helpful and nice about everything though. I really enjoyed my weekend out in rural CA with her. We got In N' Out and a pie from Ikedas on the way home. After showering, I realized that forgetting sunscreen was actually a really big deal since my tri-suit exposed parts of my back and shoulders that never got sun during training. The sunburn was pretty bad but feels fine now. Just can't forget if I ever do another one. A race in Hawaii or in SoCal in July would have just completely fried me.
Will I do another one? I swore to never do it again right after I finished but after thinking about all the things that went wrong for me, I think I could have a much faster, more enjoyable race next year, especially if the ride is flatter and more suited to tall guys like me who can't climb. I placed 51 / 122 men, 55th overall and last in my age division. In my opinion, this is pretty poor but I know that for my first long course race, I should just be happy to finish. I picked possibly the hardest 70.3 in the country, made it harder by riding off course and ran the run slowly because I didn't know the pee-in-your-pants trick yet. I can definitely do better but I haven't decided to try this again next year. I might try doing a century ride and maybe a marathon first. Escape from Alcatraz is a shorter, modified Olympic distance triathlon, that runs right outside my apartment. Could be cool to do that too.
If you are bored, check out the results. It is really interesting how much disparity there is between everyone's races. One guy who beat me spent nearly 7 minutes in swim-to-bike transition! I got from the water to the road in a relatively quick 2:43 and the winner did it in just 1:27. I was fasted at the run, placing 37th overall but the guy who won the run did it in a blistering 6:20 pace! He beat the overall winner on the run by over six minutes but only placed 50th out of the men, one place in front of me.
Finally, I'd like to just say GOOD LUCK to my friend Jesse York who will be coming out here for his first Iron Man, the Full Vineman on July 30th. He is a collegiate swimmer and finisher of many marathons so I am sure he will do great.
