Race Report - Ironman Vineman, Jul 2016

I went into this season pondering whether I could pull off a top 10 AG finish at IMVM.  On the one hand, I think that’s where I landed for Quassy Olympic.  On the other, Ironman sure does draw some real talent. 

Motivational card from Ashley.

Going into this race, I hadn't felt as terribly bogged down by training this year as I had the last couple.  Maybe it’s b/c I did less swimming for a few months which opened up some free time?  I also stopped traveling as much, eg for yoga, because I was attending PT in that time slot for scapular stabilization.  But I think I actually had fewer hours of training scheduled this year too.  Anyway, despite my take going in being, I’m not sure I’ve worked hard enough to have a legit shot at top 10, I felt really relaxed.  For one thing, almost half my training swims had been in a river and knew I’d feel comfortable there.  Plus I had done well enough at B2B that I didn't feel like I had anything to prove.  After scouting the bike course, I was literally giddy with excitement over Chalk Hill, like “I can’t wait to climb this, it’s going to be fun”.

Anyway, what follows is more about how my race went, versus how the event was run.

 

-- Race morning  Up at 3:30 a.m., out door at 4:15.  Kristy’s sister drove while I kept my eyes closed.  As usual, everything seemed like sensory overload at this time of day.  We reached the venue at 5:30, as traffic flow was not in our favor.  We hopped out of the car and Kristy and I parted ways, with me stopping to put my headphones on.  Yeah, that’s what I needed, a good grove and to tune out all the chatter. 

My run special needs bag had only a shammy butter in it.  And I had nothing for a bike special needs.  I was racing light, so to speak.  

It was dark in transition and I had lots to do.  I was trying a nutritional and sunscreen experiment today, which required a good deal of prep.  I brought an empty water bottle so I could make my powder up into a slurry to charge into my Speedfil bottle.  I dispensed the balloon of powders in, followed by water from the gallon I brought, shook it up, then transferred it.  Rinsed the bike bottle with more water, transferred that, then topped off the Speedfil.  I taped the 3 centrifuge tubes of additional powder to my aero extensions and stem, my sunscreen pouches to the underside of my top tube, and my salt tabs to my seatpost.  Then I rolled my bike over to bike support to fill my tires.  I’ve learned to hold the crack pipe down on my disk stem with my big toe so I can use both hands to push the desired pressure (95 psi), else the pipe pops off.  (The alternate approach, ie make a friend, is something of which I am not capable at this time of day).  I rolled my bike back to my spot and placed the sticker over the hole in the disk through which the tire’s valve is accessible.  I left transition after stowing the crack pipe in my flat kit, at perhaps 6:10.  Transition closed at 6:15. 

SILCA Disk wheel adapter,
known colloquially as a crack pipe.

I gave the rest of my gallon water jug to a lady with a baby, and took up a spot away from the masses to don my wetsuit.  I turned in my morning clothes bag (hoodie, warm ups, sandals, empty water bottle, headphones, as well as phone, undies, bra, shorts, and a t-shirt for post race; this turned out to be a fantastic idea, given how far we were from the house) and then headed to the swim warm up area as the pro men’s race started (6:30).  I got out of swim warm up damn near as the age group started, forgetting we went off at 6:45 rather than 7 am.  There was a longish walk over the rocks to the open end of the swim corral, and though I tried to move up to the 1:10-1:20 group, I’m unsure I made it since AG’ers were entering the water all this time.  They did pause the time trial start periodically though, which gave me enough time to get in a good pre-race dance.  I didn’t know it at the time, but I got into the fog-layered water at 6:56 am. 

-- Swim  The time trial start was really calm and civilized, but awhile in things got rather congested and reminded me of IMWI.  Swimmers were squeezing me out while others were sporadically standing and walking.  This is the first 1.2 mi out then back swim I’ve done, and the time it seemed to take to reach the turn around, plus my terrible navigation of the buoy line, made this feel pretty slow.  The crowds thinned going down river and the swim ultimately ended before I was "over it", which provided a mental boost.  Focused on the tasks at hand, it didn’t occur to me until I was on my bike that I had no idea what time I swam: T = 1:20:22.

Fog, because the water was
warmer than the air.

-- Swim exit/T1  I had scouted the transition layout ahead of time but still came out of the water scanning for where could I stand to strip my own wetsuit and not be in the way.  (Being out of the way is a force of habit drilled into me as a child.)  Accomplished that, grabbed my bag, ran to the tent, found it VERY crowded so ran through to the exit shoot and did my thing there while standing on dirt.  Dumped my bag, shoved in wetsuit/cap/goggles, and handed bag to volunteer right across from me.  Shoes on, shoe covers pulled up over my heels and top velcro straps, helmet and sunglasses in hand I ran out.  While bobbing and weaving around people, I put my helmet on, pushed down on the front to be sure it was all the way on my head and was confused - why does the front feel pointy? (Doh!) - fixed that, sunglasses on, now using full strides to reach my bike, which rolled initially but then seemed stuck.  What the...?  Front wheel wouldn't budge.  Checked the brakes and saw "an acorn" stuck between the brake and the rim, worked to remove that and realized - oh crap, it's the mouth piece to my hydration.  I yanked it, tucked it into my bento, and started off realizing I had thrown away my momentum and would not be able to negotiate a flying mount given how close I was to the incline.  I think I could have pulled it off if I hadn't stopped.  T = 4:15.

Carrying a little too much speed, I sat up for this
90 deg bend and am riding with terrible position!

-- Bike course  Most people walked the hill from transition (totally unnecessary) which meant calling out "biking through" to get a clear path.  I started out passing lots of people - men - which led me to continually check my power; I seemed to be slightly under target so I guess my lesson is to trust my game plan and not worry that I'm doing something wrong based on what others are doing.

I did try a few new things in this race that, even though I had put a lot of thought into them, I still should have tried beforehand.

1. Sunscreen.  I had the bright idea to tape a pre-ripped sunscreen packet to the underside of my top tube, so that I could squeeze the packet with one hand and apply while biking.  Outcome: most of the alcohol-based product dripped out of the packet while I swam, leaving a waxy goo trailing down my seat post and pooling around the bottom bracket.  Oops.
2. Shammy cream application.  I've been able to do this while biking in a few races now, but this was my first time trying it with the one piece kit I was wearing and possibly also with the product I was using.  Single use Chamois Butt'r packets are really easy to open with my teeth; there is a nice tab that leaves a small opening, and the rigid cardboard-like packaging is easy to hold with my teeth while I squeeze with my fingers to dispense product into my hand. 
   
   
   But I've moved to DZNuts Bliss which is in a foil pack; it's more floppy and the product squished all over once opened.  I got some in my mouth and FYI - the stuff tastes gross.  Product now in hand, zipper opened, awkward reach given zipper doesn't open quite enough - mission accomplished.  Grabbed zipper pull only to discover it was impossible to pull up with one hand.  I tried again and again, including bracing the bottom with my middle finger while attempting to inch the zipper up with my index finger and thumb - no dice.  Minutes went by as I had to return my focus and both hands to safely steering the bike.  Finally I went hands free (first time on this bike) and got it closed, just before initiating the descent to Geyserville.  38 mph might have been a bit more fun if my right hand wasn't still slimy with residue, and my helmet wasn't pulled off my head - I'd have lost it if not for the chinstrap.     
3. Nutrition tubes.  In prior iron races I used 2 water bottles (~22 oz ea), each pre-loaded with nutrition that started grossly concentrated and partly caked at the bottom, but got diluted along the way.  This strategy required removing bottle tops to add water, and though I can do that without stopping it is a bit cumbersome.  Enter the Speedfil (44 oz), which is fantastically simple to replenish on the fly.  I did a long training ride with all my nutrition pre-loaded into it and thereby identified a couple of problems.  For one, there was not enough agitation while biking to suspend the nutrition, which pretty much just sat caked and useless in the bottom of the triangular bottle.  #2, I had to pull the drinking tube up to mid depth, else the caked product made the straw unusable.  Therefore, I was going to have to add powder during the race instead of starting out with it all pre-charged.  The question was, how to carry and add it without having to stop. 
   
   My first experiment here was to carry the powder in a balloon; I thought the stretched latex might add the pressure necessary to squeeze the powder out quickly, but this was not the case at all.  My 2nd experiment was to use screw-cap centrifuge tubes, from which my Accelerade powder would flow quite nicely.  Great.  I needed three of them and taped these to my stem and extensions.  Unfortunately I failed to foresee the following issues: I had a devil of a time pulling the tube free of the electrical tape, which I couldn't unwind effectively while biking; and once free, I could not unscrew the cap with my teeth.  After all that fussing with my zipper, and then wrestling the tube free of the tape, I had to stop to open the blasted thing.  Aaaaargh!  Later, tube 2 opened easily and by the time problematic tube 3 was needed I'd already gained more experience riding hands free (following shammy cream reapplication), so used both hands to get the cap loose enough to finish with my teeth. 

Unlike any of my iron races in 2015, I was among others through the majority of this ride and so was constantly evaluating my position with regard to drafting rules.  I saw several motorcycles with apparent refs on board and some blatant drafting as well, but saw no penalties given.  

Chalk Hill was as much fun as I'd hoped it'd be (unfortunately no pictures taken there), and I marveled over the number of riders who blew my doors off climbing it.  Strava Flyby's are neat and clearly show me losing position here - on lap 1.  I got to the high school (mi 56) feeling great and reflected on how the pro's hadn't passed me as happened at my prior 2 loop races (Lake Placid, Wisconsin, Mont Tremblant).  Everything was going just to plan. 

Mile 63 and feeling strong.

After 63 miles we were re-riding earlier roads and suddenly it seemed I was part of a Grand Fondo - among a cluster of cyclists.  Were they racing?  Where had they come from?  I can't think I suddenly caught such a large pack of faster swimmers, nor could this have been the back end of the racers.  While passing them one guy said I looked fast.  (Yeah baby!)  It was around here I noted the sun reflecting off this one guy's cassette and I couldn't help but say, "I don't know if you've heard this before, but your drive train is so clean it's actually glistening," which earned a chuckle and a reply that he'd cleaned it just before the race.  Yeah, me too but yours looks amazing.  Later on when I had trouble freeing my salt tabs from more electrical tape, he rolled up and offered me some of his saying, "here, here, I've got ya - you complimented my drive train."  I was glad I could finally be remembered for saying something nice.  

Mileage, splits, and split times as reported by IM.

Strava suggests I'd not only regained but slightly improved my relative position by take 2 of Chalk Hill, and I'm pleased to see I even split this climb.  Some other bike split data is tabulated because I like to analyze how I did versus what I was supposed to do and how it felt.  I'm definitely not aiming for anyone else to care about that stuff.  Anyway, all was well til mile 109, where I hit the "I'm-so-over-this" part of the ride and my ribs started to feel really crampy.  The last of my great Race Day Game Plan was to rip open my 2nd sunscreen packet and reapply as I rolled toward transition.  This was also a mess, with the bag ripping in half because the electrical tape held so well, and me slapping the whole glob of it on my right leg as I approached dismount.  Bike T = 5:54:06.

This probably just outs me as not riding evenly normalized power, but it made me
happy to see close splits between 1st and 2nd time through.

-- T2  I quickly devolved into a hot mess once I got off the bike.  The stitches in my ribs made breathing painful.  One volunteer congratulated me on a great split as I lumbered by.  In contrast to T1, T2 was totally empty and I think I was alone in the large tent.  I headed toward the exit accompanied by two volunteers who seemed almost desperate to be helpful, offering to open my bag, take my helmet off of me, fill my bag, but I was too uncomfortable to muster verbal communication.  I dumped my bag and somehow looking at the contents - specifically the socks - made me feel overwhelmed and like I needed to sit down.  Shoe covers off (over my heels and the top velcro straps), bike shoes off, put into bag; garmin 520 and helmet off, both into bag.  Started to hand to volunteer but then remembered the HRM strap, took that off, shoved into bag and handed bag off.  On with socks and shoes, picked up my visor and 5-pack of taped together gels, and headed out of the tent grunting while pulling them apart and shoving them into my kit pockets.  My hand was still covered in barely applied sunscreen, which I got all over my glasses while pulling on the visor.  T = 3:07.

Sunscreen smeared down my leg.

-- I head out on the run course feeling shell shocked and was moving on some kind of painful autopilot, and wow it felt so hot.  Another athlete (Gleaming Drivetrain?) tried to help out, telling me to relax and drop my shoulders.  I managed to get out, "Unfortunately my shoulders always look like that..., but thank you, I'll try."  In my head I was saying "Settle down, Breathe," but outwardly I was still grunting and man, so uncomfortable.  Too uncomfortable; too soon - I had to walk.  I was having trouble identifying what was wrong other than being much too hot.  My ribs were hurting, my middle felt full; not sloshy, not gassy, but full.   What did I do wrong?  I ate all the bike nutrition well so should have been spot on for calories.  I biked to the power I was supposed to (perhaps a touch low).  Too much water?

I started running and tried to convince myself I was probably doing better than I thought, til my watch buzzed again and I dared to look at it.  I knew I needed to push harder but at only 1-2 miles in I did not have the will to dig so deep.  And I was sad knowing that once I hit the turn around, the timing mat would broadcast I wasn't running anything near as hoped.

At the aid stations I grabbed: a cup of water to invert on my head, holding it down to better saturate my hair; and a cup of ice to put in my sports bra, eating the ice chips for hydration and also holding some in my hands with hope it would help me cool down.  I kept looking for shade and found almost none on the course, and fantasized about lying down in the river where this race had started.  So goddamn hot.  Is this really fun?  Is that what I'm having - fun?  

Heading back toward transition and up The Hill the first time, my shin started to cramp.  Oy, that's a new one.  Lap 1 done I still thought the intended pace - "laps 1 and 2 really comfortable at 10-10:15" - seemed way out of reach.  I was committed to trying to negative split and held belief I would feel better once the temp came down, but this "really comfortable" commentary just left me confused.  

Still crampy, I added 1 sip of gatoraide and a fist full of orange slices to my aid station grabs, as well as a 2nd cup of water to splash on my torso since I still felt too freaking hot.  Back at the turn around and now ~half way through, I feared I was looking at a 5 h run split.  I was disappointed but also realized others were probably struggling too.  Of course I could see people struggling - and puking - but I couldn't see those in my age group struggling. 

From my watch, I covered the final 0.35 mi at an avg pace of 7:30.

Closing out lap 2 I decided I had to put an end to walking through the aid stations, and would only grab ice.  I ran up The Hill in its entirety this time and picked up the pace at the turn off for the finish.  Eager for this to end and now running a pace I didn't think I could maintain, after each turn I wondered, where on earth is the finish line?!?  I came upon a girl (not in my AG) and was conflicted about encroaching on her finish experience.  She slowed down so I drove by, crossing to a clock time of 12:45 and feelings of: meh, at least it's <13; and damn, did I under run this??  Run T = 4:51:44.

I hit stop and save on my watch without looking at it and started wondering right away, how could I redeem myself.  Do I not run well off hilly bikes?  Do I not run well in heat?  If B2B weren't sold out...

I got cold really quickly and made my way to my morning clothes bag so I could get changed and back to see Kristy come in.  My positive for the day was that I really enjoyed the bike and thought I did well there.  I felt better once I got my phone and saw my actual splits.  But I still flubbed the run.  I was circling the well as I started out and I scampered away from it just as fast as I could.    

After the Fact  So it turns out the high temp for the day was 80 °F. Eighty Fahrenheit.  Holy cow, am I a weenie.  If you told me it was 80 deg out I'd be genuinely excited to go sport in that.  I have no idea why I felt like I was dying.  I can't even blame thin atmosphere increasing the suns radiation effects like I could for Boulder.  It was 50 deg at swim start and ~65 deg when I finished running.  Looks like winds were 12-15 mph, S?

A couple of days later, after studying the results  I was age group finisher #11 and I feel really good about it.  There have been some races where one or maybe two slower swimmers have ultimately beaten me b/c they ran better.  But I knew the top of the IM crowd was likely to consist of strong swimmers (all faster than me), and strong runners (only one was slower than me).  I’m really please with my bike split (7^th fastest in my AG) and my transitions were pretty solid: only 2 of the top 10 posted faster T1’s, 3 posted faster T2’s.  Yeah, I didn't run like I wanted to, but I did just fine.

The Bike, Run, and Transition rankings above only include the top 11 people.  ie, How I fared against the top 10.

Ranking for each split.

After "after the fact"  Yes, of course I realize over-biking could explain how I felt coming off the bike.  However I have to struggle with that as an explanation because I did not invent my own biking strategy.  Power ranges were provided to me by my coach, and if I can’t trust what he gives me, then where does that leave me?

Event / Venue Report - Ironman Vineman, Jul 2016

Newly coined "Ironman" Vineman takes place in Northern California, as it has since it's inception >20 years ago.  It's the longest running iron distance race in the continental United States, and was another in the line of events with dwindling participation numbers that Ironman has purchased in recent time.  (See also Cheasapeake Man, aka Ironman Maryland and Beach to Battleship, aka Ironman North Carolina.)  It is a point-to-point race beginning in Guerneville and ending in Windsor, two towns that outside of this race most folks would have no reason to have heard of.  That's not a dig, it's just a comment that the location doesn't have the same wide spread name recognition that Lake Placid or Lake Tahoe do.  However, through my athlete guide I have come to learn that, "Guerneville is the West Coast's "favorite gay and lesbian playground", which brings to my mind images of Province Town, Massachusettes (at the eastern tip of Cape Cod and very out).  However, the vibe was nothing like that.  Just looked like a nice ol hippy-granola type place though I can also imagine the thought of spandex clad A-types possibly driving away the usual vacationers.  Sonoma County, however - in which these communities are situated - is of course known for its wineries, which tie in nicely with the name of the event.

What follows are some notes on the venue and my experience of racing here, without any specifics of how my race went; that'll be a separate post.

Jones Beach is set up for the race, with swim exit at the far end of this shoot.

View toward swim start, from swim exit.  That nice white beach is comprised of river rocks.

Venue and Course Details:

Weather:  Held at the end of July, I've seen two weather patterns described as normal for this race:

• No Marine Layer:  60-70 deg morning, rising quickly by mid morning, topping out at 85-105 by mid afternoon.  Generally less wind, from the east (if my notes are correct).

• Marine Layer: 50's at start of swim and bike, warming to 70-85 mid-afternoon.  More wind late in the day, perhaps 20 mph and affecting the 2nd loop of the bike, on CA-128.  Temp dropping into the evening.

Published course map looks straight forward to follow.

Google Maps track from Strava shows a notable
bend in the course.

Swim: Jones Beach (in Guerneville) is rocky, not sandy; either toughen up your feet or wear disposable shoes on race day.  The Russian River is narrow, shallow, and without an appreciable current.  The swim is a single loop, out and back, starting near the damn, so the 1^st ½ of the swim is against the very low current.  It is possible to swim the entire thing by occasionally altering your stroke to be up close to your body.  Many people walk and with the # of participants of an Ironman event, these people were annoying as they were difficult to avoid.  (It’s a SWIM, Fools!)  Combo of narrow, shallow, and # participants meant swim was very choppy.  Crowding made it difficult to accomplish full momentum recovery strokes w/o whacking people.  Water was clean and nice, though shallow + # racers made for some opacity.  The river has some sharp bends, making for a very non-linear course that combined with the chop, seemed quite confusing to navigate.  The published swim course map is quite misleading in this respect.

T1: Is a dirt field at Jones Beach; carpets were put down along the running paths from the water's edge to the change tents, and between the tents and the bike racks to bike out, but unfortunately not inside the tents themselves.  Either lose lots of time cleaning your feet, or man up – it’s only dirt, not cow shit.  These were the smallest change tents I’ve ever seen at an IM event (CAC year 2 may have had smaller) and the women’s was very crowded on race day.

First climb, discounting the one leaving T1.

Not actually on the bike course, but a
similar view could be found for much of the ~17
between Windsor and Guerneville.

There’s a somewhat narrow space for the bikes to be lined up, which made the full length of racks seem really long.  The mount line was at the bottom of the hill at Jones Beach and in my opinion, suitably placed for a flying mount assuming you know what you’re doing.  Note this race does not allow your shoes to be clipped to your pedals in transition; only pro’s get to do this.  Maybe it’s for the best that most people walk this small hill, but this means you need to call out for a clear lane to bike it.

Bike course with markings for: T = timing mat, W = aid station, SN = Special Needs.

Bike elevation profile, amounting to 4200 ft gain.

More bike course.

Bike: Very fun, very pretty bike course nestled around several vineyards.  Route is something like a popsicle, with ~8 mi between T1 and the start of the loop.  The 55 mi loop is completed once (clockwise), then 89% of it is repeated (49 mi) to close out 111 miles.  It’s mostly rolling hills with a couple of notable climbs, amounting to ~4200 ft elevation gain.  Pavement quality was overall pretty good due to some recent repaving, except for a short segment on Fought Rd.  The southwest portion of the course is shaded but much of the rest is unshaded and I hear afternoon winds are common (mainly affecting the 2^nd lap).  The course is generally open to traffic in both directions, but my experience involved few cars; left turns and busy intersections were manned by police.  I think there were 5 different aid stations, for a possibility of 9 aid opportunities.  The approach to bike in was through a neighborhood, and was well set up for flying dismounts; all participants were allowed to leave shoes on the bike, if desired.  Distance between dismount line and where bikes were handed off was very short.

These are the Strava segments I found fun:

           Westside DH Bomber, 0.3 mi and -5% descent, at miles 8.3 and 63.9.

           Canyon Rd, 1.7 mi and 2% climb, at miles 25.9 and 81.0.

           Canyon Rd Descent, 0.5 mi and -5%, at miles 27.5 and 82.6.

           Chalk Hill Climb, 0.5 mi and 7%, at miles 43.9 and 99.0.

           Chalk Hill the Inbound Rush, 2.5 mi and -2% descent, at miles 44.5 and 99.7.

That white fencing was the back drop for one of the bike course photographers.

T2: Is 14 miles from T1, on a grass field at Windsor High School.  The women’s tent seemed larger than at T1.  Overall transition set-up wasn’t terribly long (contrast, Ironman Boulder which has a hugely long T2).  Note, bike in and T2 are probably not interesting places for spectators, as there's not much to see, nowhere to sit, and no entertainment.  Spectators want to be in the park, just beyond run out.

Run: The course led out to and through Keiser Community Park and was then 3 loops of largely unshaded out-and-back.  Combined with the ~0.4 long hill on Windsor River Road with an uncomfortably pronounced camber, this made for a really tough course with ~850 ft elevation gain.  The run course is still pretty, passing along a couple of viney farms (believe I saw a sign for black berries).  The park is a great place for family to hang out, given the music, bathrooms, and playground area for the kiddos, though I did not notice whether there was vending in the area for spectators.  There was an energy station sponsored by Base Salt positioned roughly ½ way along Eastside Road, which combined with the 3 loop nature made for a really un-lonely run.  After 3 loops the course turns off for ~0.3 mi to the finish line, which is inside Windsor High School.

Run elevation profile.  Amounts to ~850 ft gain.

Finish Area: Matches many other IM’s, with grandstands and upbeat music.  But unfortunately, under the Ironman brand, there is no massage at this event which has historically offered it.  I was told Ironman does not pay masseurs, therefore requiring they be volunteers.  With this knowledge I think it’s miraculous any IM has them (who wants to massage a bunch of gross athletes for free?).

Morning clothes bags were transported from T1 and stored with T2 bags near our bikes, which made pick up really easy – presuming you have some kind of family/friend serving as chauffeur for the day.  Otherwise, athletes needed to take a shuttle back to Jones Beach to get their cars, then drive back to Windsor HS to collect their things (since bikes were not allowed on the bus).  What a pain in the ass and combined with the cluster of morning traffic near T1, this setup should be changed for future years.

Overall Logistics: This leads to my only overall dig for this event, and my coach said it was true also for another California race he did.  This race is impossible to do without having a car.  The site is >60 mi from the area’s major airports (Sacramento, San Fransisco, San Jose), though the Sonoma County airport is quite close to Windsor HS.  Where there was a highway there was lots of traffic; where there wasn’t, the country roads were slow going, very bumpy, and required many turns.  Usually I get a pretty good lay of the land when I travel for events, but here the GPS took us a different path every time.  Sure there are complexities with any split transition race, but this one had seemingly very little housing options near either T1 or T2, or even anywhere nearby.  We stayed 30 miles away, in Sebastopal, which made all tasks arduous – driving to the expo (check in was required Wed or Thur), dropping gear off at multiple locations (required on Friday), athlete dinner at still another location (Thursday in Santa Rosa).  I personally like to have more down time in the days leading up to a race and if you include scouting the bike course, this venue just didn’t allow for it.  I probably would have something different to say had we secured housing near either T1 or T2 (or maybe if I didn't spend time unpacking and building my bike).

Jaded Toad BBQ and Grill in Windsor.  Didn't get to go, but it looks intriguing.

Additional Race Day and Experience Notes:

• Morning venue approach – leave much earlier than you think you need to.  Traffic to Jones Beach is terrible - we aimed for 5 am arrival (when transition opened) but got 5:30.  Participants either need to park or get dropped off here, as there is no morning shuttle service.  This is a real shame given it’s a point-to-point course, meaning cars are all parked 14 mi from the finish line.
• Special Needs was easy to pass by from all directions of approach.  Drop that off then walk down hill to Transition.
• Transition was quite dark – suggest a headlamp.
• Morning clothes drop was conveniently located just out of transition, near the beach, and also near the porta potties, the line-up for which created some congestion.
• Swim corral set up (fencing) meant walking a good distance on rocks (beach) to get into the cue - I suggest disposable shoes.

• Time trial swim start was very civilized.  No contact w/ other swimmers.
• Swim exit lined w/ carpet (too bad they didn’t do this for swim start!)
• They had wetsuit strippers.  I didn’t notice anyone picking T1 bags up for us but was too driven to wait on help anyway.

• T1 tent was very crowded.  I ran through it so can’t comment on the helpfulness of the volunteers, other than to say hand off of my bag was easy.   Sunscreen volunteers were positioned between tent exit and the bike corral; I passed through w/o grabbing any.

At the bike aid station on 128, looking east.

• I used the same 3 bike aid stations on both laps.  Two of them were great about taking the caps off the water so I could quickly fill my bottle; one aid station just didn’t get it and this resulted in my needing to stop to get the hand-off.  There was quite a bit of crowding as I hit the 2^nd lap, making this seem briefly like a gran fondo rather than a no-draft race.  There were several motorcycle / ref passes, more than I’ve seen at any prior race, but I didn’t see any penalties given.  Everyone seemed very friendly, even the blatant drafters that I called out as they passed by me.

• T2 had folks to pick up our bags from where they were lined up on the ground.  Without carpeting mapping the way and with race brain in effect, I had to ask which way to go after getting my bag; I could see the tents but not the break in the fencing to get there.   The in-tent volunteers were dying to be helpful, offering lots of things (empty bag, fill bag, remove helmet for me…) but relying on others was not part of my game plan.  Here too, I ran past the sunscreen volunteers, so I can’t comment on how quick/thorough they were.

Part of the bike course that reminds me of the run course.

• The run used no designation of what lap runners are on.  I was hoping for elastic bracelets like Ironman Kalmar has, so you can tell who is ahead of you.  Despite being in wine country, there were zero grapes at aid stations (or watermelon; I'd have given my first born for some watermelon).  Some sections of the run course near the park were narrow and could be tough to navigate given the increased course density created by the 3-loops, however the people were great and stayed out of the way – contrast Ironman Boulder where there are a crazy amount of locals all over the run course, not giving a shit there is a race going on.

Other Notes: Check-in was easy, expo was fine, on-site bike support though, had no torque wrench; in other words if you use Vector pedals, best to travel with your own wrench.  Athlete dinner was outdoors in Santa Rosa.  Live music was nice, food was tasty (lightly barbecued chicken, red potatoes, quinoa salad, some other yummy salad, sourdough bread, ice cream).  The presentation gave a history of the event and had the usual inspirational videos, including footage of my friend Kristy.  Athlete breakfast was outside at the high school and here I thought the food tried too hard: instead of having enough coffee, and sausage, they had foo foo food: quinoa souffle quiche, cold oatmeal in mason jars.   The post-race video focused on the volunteers (instead of the racers), which was different (and actually kind of classy).

Would I do this race again – yes, if I got closer housing.  But the logistics of flying to an event are hassle enough without the added complexities presented by staying at neither T1 or T2.