Ironman 70,3 Santa Cruz

So this is my 10^th 70.3 Ironman.  I should know what I'm doing by now right?

Once again, my ultimate goal was to break 6:30.  All the training points to yes, then shit happens… I’m a self-sabotager.  What more can I say? I had worked myself into a tizzy over Ironman Santa Cruz elevation maps and weather.  We stayed at the Carousel Beach Inn just across from the Boardwalk and near the swim start which was awesome but the transition is about 10 minute walk away and then you walk back to the pier for the swim start.  It was great to have our parking free and two Italian restaurants were within walking distance. 




I ate almost an entire box of triscuits fretting over the race conditions that night.  That’s about 20 grams of fiber in my stomach before I realized it.  Wow that was stupid and mindless. I then set the alarm for 4:30 TOMORROW!  Marcus woke up at 4:29! We ate our PR pudding on the walk to transition. I froze it the night before, wrapped it in foil and it went through security just fine. It's loaded with raw, nutrient dense energy boosting ingredients and digests easily and tastes pretty good.  the consistency is more like bread pudding than mousse.

Here's the recipe:
in your blender, 2 bananas, 1/2 cup dates, 1/4 cup ground flaxseed, 1/4 cup raw cacao nibs found at Whole Foods Market, 1 T coconut oil, 1 t lemon juice, 1/4 t sea salt, dash of cinnamon.  While it's churning, I add a splash of almond milk.  Tastes best made the night before and placed in the refrigerator overnight.  Serves 2.  Fitness Pall recipe builder says its 396 cals per serving.  We also eat a banana if we have room or time.
 

SWIM Course:

look at that huge wave on the left!

The swim is a beach start ocean entry rectangular swim around the pier.  Compared to Oceanside’s banana shaped swim course, this was a piece of cake.  I CAN swim in a rectangle fairly straight and it would not be into the sun at SC.  The SC water temp was just a slight concern.  SD has been so warm.  Between the pool at 84 and the ocean low 70s, I prepared for the standard low 60’s at SC with adding my neoprene cap and booties to the check list.  A bottle of room temperature water down the suit before swim start, arm coolers and calf compressions under the wetsuit for an extra layer, and I would be fine.  What about the surf entry?  Well Coach says train harder than race conditions and race day will be a celebration.  Ok, so I swam Oceanside’s Labor Day swim around the pier with 10 foot waves, thought I would die, but I didn’t, although I drank plenty of saltwater.  So Wahlaaa… I’m ready for SC surf entry which is basically 2 inches high on race day! 

I was in wave 14 with the 50-54 men behind me in 4 minutes and then the relay swimmers 4 minutes after them.  So the horn went off and I skipped into the ocean and felt complete warmth.  I did notice a little chop but the current seemed to help the pace.  The Pier is a 45 degree angle to the beach so the current was pushing towards the left side of the body and I had to keep checking I was on the correct path but my lines were pretty good.  There were 2 yellow buoys, then 2 red for turns, then 2 orange buoys on the other side of the pier.  I think they should have added a 3^rd buoy on each side for us old blind people.  I had to rely on other swimmers for the 2^nd buoy to come into focus!  The 50 y/o men didn’t reach me until I was on the other side.  Damn they will swim over anything in their path and waterboard you as they use you as their ladder.  As soon as I felt the grabs I started kicking like a crazy person and he would finally move over.  Women just adjust.  Men just climb over you.  I passed many women in the waves in front of me as I tried to focus on finishing my long stroke from the pull to the push to my thigh. I focused on high elbow and pressure on each armpit to ensure rotation on both sides.  It made breathing easier too over the choppy water.  I was a little disappointed in my 43 min finish and 200 yards overage but that’s Ironman measuring for you because my graph looks pretty good for sighting.  The timing mat is after you run through the sand to the sidewalk so Ironman added 2 more minutes to my swim time. I hate that.  (24 hours later, Ironman adjusted swim times down 2 minutes and added it to T1 times) But I use my Garmin swim time to compare my pace time which was 1:54/100y so I was really happy I was under a 2 minute pace.  The water was recorded at 63.1 degrees and the saltiness was so light it was barely noticeable, unlike in Oceanside where it seems like more salt than water.  I wore bronze goggles but clear might have been better as it was very gray and cloudy with just a peak of sunlight on my left side.  The air temp was 65 degrees and just a little wind.

 T1 course:

Depot Park soccer field and Ironman Transition

Once you have survived the 2 minute run up the deep soft sandy beach onto the sidewalk, there are piles of strategically placed athletic shoes that swimmers will jump into so they can run the ½ mile of concrete to the Transition location across the street and down the train track sidewalk to the soccer field in Depot Park.  I had booties on so the 2mm socks worked well for me so I didn’t need shoes for the  jog.  Just know if you plan to PR, you need to account for double the T1 time vs T2 time due to this run from the ocean to the soccer field, and then from the bike rack to the other side of the field for the bike mount line.  This took me a total of 8 minutes after running up the beach! (24 hours later Ironman adjusted my T1 to 9:30) BTW, due to the artificial turf of the pristine soccer field, no eating is allowed inside transition so plan accordingly or you could get a penalty. I was so comfortable getting ready for the bike that I never even thought to add a layer due to chill or wind.  the weather was just perfect.

BIKE course:

The mount line is not at the arch exit but a few more hundred yards around the side of the field. I have no idea why this is necessary since the exit is on the street corner.  When we drove the course, we were concerned about weather in Davenport where the meat of the course is ridden and the main hill on Swanton Rd. it was 60 degrees and very windy so we stopped at Target for a pullover just in case it was like this on race day but I was so comfortable after my 8 min transition that my arm coolers were enough.  I settled in quickly taking in all the beautiful trees and farms along the way.  I laid in aero almost the entire ride.  The smell of fresh strawberries, ocean air, and trees were soothing.  The wind was light.  When it was time to turn onto Swanton Rd at mi 17, for the 5 mile loop/25 minutes, I gave myself a pep talk and concentrated on a higher cadence than normal.  This road had the worst road conditions of the course (worse than Vineman before new pavement) and needs repaving but Ironman laid orange tape around the worst spots. My map shows the 1.2 mile hill was about 6% avg grade and took me 10 minutes at an avg 7mph of climbing uphill amongst shaded trees.  It never felt overwhelming in difficulty or temperature and was similar to our local Torrey Pines hill but so much prettier with lots of turns.  We were warned about the downside however.  No one was allowed to be in aero going downhill because the switchbacks are short sharp hairpin blind turns.  This started right at the crest of the hill. I thought this section was so much fun! Even though the road is not closed, I never saw one car.

My map showed a 3.5% avg grade downhill but with feather braking, I was averaging about 22mph downhill and it took 5 minutes for 2 miles.  Once the hill is finished, you continue up Hwy 1 coast into a headwind to the brewery for 7 miles.  I just lay in aero and watched my power and cadence in comfort while passing a pie farm, jam tasting farm, and loads of organic vegetables and fruits growing everywhere.  After the uturn, you have the wind at your back and the ocean in front with gorgeous scenery for about 27 miles which was zen-like to me. My favorite kudos is when I pass the fast swimmers in my age group while I’m on the bike course.  Sometimes passing was quite a challenge as the shoulder was barely wide enough for one bike at times and there were bumper digs in the concrete like at IMAZ and Palomar Mtn  so you couldn’t cross over safely. Cycling is my strength although not near the top athletes but I focused on higher cadence and pulling around a full circle in my pedal stroke.  I used 40 oz of plain water in my speedfil and 28 oz of IM Perform and Carbo Pro for 610 calories.  I never needed anything at two aid stations.  I grabbed a GU and piece of balance at the 3^rd station around mi 45 to start off my run.  This course was just so beautiful compared to Oceanside’s marine base and concrete paths of brown brush. My garmin showed 2582 ft gain in elevation and Ironman said it would be 3000.  I rolled into T2 at my fastest race pace ever finishing at 3:11 and 17.6 mph with tears in my eyes as I felt great and it was my fastest pace in a race.  The route was a little long at 56.35 miles. I would normally take in salt every 5 miles but didn’t take in any at all due to perfect weather.  (this was dumb and I won't let that happen again!)

Swanton Rd Loop

T2 transition:

This wasn’t as bad as T1 distance.  We ran .15 mi to start the run down the train track sidewalk to the street corner . It took me 4 minutes. I tried to slow myself on this path but I knew a hill was coming quick so I knew I would slow down soon.

Run course:

At .3 mile, there is a short sharp hill.  I felt great.  I was happy there was a hill because I knew it would keep me slow at the start but I was already running 9:30 avg to the hill which is too fast for me to start.  As I climbed the hill within 2 minutes, the quads started to ripple and shake.  I talked to them.  I said HANG ON! We are almost at the top.  I knew it would pass but it got worse and I had to pause.  I couldn’t pick up my legs so I waddled to the white fence barrier and flipped my left foot back behind me to stretch my quad and my hamstrings locked up.  I roared like a purple minion!  It was like labor pains at 10cm dilated! I let go of my leg and I couldn’t put it on the ground!  I just kept screaming in pain and all the spectators were staring at me!  A guy came up and asked if I had cramps?? I could only nod my head. He gave me 2 salt pills.  I swallowed them dry!  I had salt but I couldn’t think or move.  A volunteer rushed to me and asked if I needed medical attention.  I said HELL NO BACK OFF!!! I’m just in labor pain.  It will pass!  I will be fine.  It lasted about 4 mins until I finally picked up my feet and started to jog back up to my 10 min pace again and the crowd started applauding!

Wow that was sheer pain and then it just let go but I had burned a lot of my matches surviving those cramps.  I was suddenly tired and my legs were fatigued as if I had just finished the ½ marathon but had 12 miles to go!  I tried to focus on the beauty of the run course and dig deeper not darker since my goal pace could not be reached.  I had seen Marcus on the bike course on the other side but he didn’t catch me so I knew I would have to see him on the run eventually. I worried about him for 6.4 miles stressing over wondering if he was in the ambulance that was on the other side during the bike ride.  It completely engulfed my mind.   I was so relieved to see him after the turn around! 



Mi 12, taking a salt break and enjoying the view!

This route is 6.2 miles out and back.  Total elevation gain is 394 feet for the entire course. The first 3 miles is along the coast.  Then about 1.6 miles of pavement to the dirt trail where you are back running along the ocean.  The dirt is rough and uneven with lots of crevices to roll your ankle so you have to be careful.  Eventually you end at the big tiki statue and aid station where you turn around and go back to see the views that were at your back on the way there.  I never broke a sweat probably because I could not run at race pace and wonderful ocean breeze. The 20g of fiber bloated me into a 3 month pregnancy state to make me feel even worse.  After mi 8.5 it is mostly downhill following the ocean until mi 12 , the last hill, which I was caught walking up for the ½ mile!  As you run down to the beach finish you take a sharp right down to the sand which is deep and soft and mushy and not your quads’ best friend. 

 You run along the soft beach sand and under the pier following orange cones and never seeing the finish line for .42 mi until finally someone says TURN HERE!! And there is the finish line on the left where you are tripping over yourself trying to dig deep through the soft sand ending at 12.7 miles.  WOW this part just sucked!  But it was a unique finish and the pain was a lot less than the cramps at the start, except the spike in heart rate and breathing sent me into a quick asthma attack where I fell into Marcus’s arms as he got my inhaler out and a volunteer held me upright until I was stable. 

I sadly missed my goal by 10 minutes for the tenth time finishing at 6:40.  I learned from my nutrition course this month that I should add another 190mg salt per hour to my bike course even if I’m not sweating.  It was a huge mistake to not take in any extra salt during the bike course. I won’t let that happen again.  
 

Summary:

After I reviewed my data, I felt sad and proud at the same time.  My Swim, Bike and run avg paces were better than all other races and yet I still didn’t finish sub 6:30.  the 13:30 in transition times was too hard to overcome with my cramps so early. I thought about Meredith Atwood’s (SBM) full ironman where she had blisters on the marathon so badly that she had to walk all of it.  She signed up again immediately because she knew she had so much more to prove on that course.  I decided to change my race plan for next year and not race Augusta 70.3 at the end of September because I am returning to Santa Cruz mid September to give that course all that I know I can give (without a box of Triscuits and with extra salt on the bike course). I can't say enough about these scenic routes.  I know the weather can be finicky and we were probably lucky but wow I really loved this race.  There were also only 1500 racers so it seemed like there was always space to breathe!

Swim 29^th/43. Bike 19^th/43. Run 31st/43

Finish time 6:40 in 24^th place in my age group

What's up next? 

This is my 10th 70.3 and my 40th half marathon since starting this journey and I love this hobby still so much!! However, I've decided to take a break from tri's for about 8 months.  I'm going to run and swim focus heavily and only cycle once a week.  I want a stronger base so I need more time on my swim and run with dedicated coaches in their specialty.  I'm selling my tribike and upgrading to Di2 shifters and 11 speed as well.  My plan is to come back from my marathon in May stronger than ever,  start my season in June with maybe Escape from Alcatraz Olympic tri in June if I can get in the lottery, maybe Santa Barbara Olympic tri which is run focused, maybe CV challenge Olympic if the timing fits, return to Santa Cruz 70.3 for unfinished business in September and fingers crossed, achieve my 2nd full ironman at Beach to Battleship, NC in October hand in hand with my husband Marcus.  I'm so excited for next year, but first, I need to hear Mike Reilly say MARCUS SERRANO - YOU ARE AN IRONMAN at IMAZ Nov 15!  Hope to see you all there cheering and racing and supporting this amazing sport !