Results:
06:09:02 - With all the problems I've had over the past year, this was really
just a training day. I'm happy with the time considering how poorly I've trained.
Team Satori Results
This is the overall results of all the friends who raced together. We loosely
call this Team Satori, Larry Pace's racing team. Larry is a certified USAT
coach and the best coach there is.
| |--- | ---- | swim | -----| | |--- | ---- | bike | ------| | |--- | ---- | Run | -----| | |||||||||
| Place | Time | Name | City |
Plc/Total
|
Grp |
#
|
Grp
Plc |
Ovr
all |
Time
|
/100m
|
T1
|
Grp
Plc |
Ovr
all |
Time
|
Mile/hr
|
T2
|
Grp
Plc |
Ovr
all |
Time
|
/Mile
|
| 873 | 05:30:19 | Rollins, Cricket | Villa Park |
18/57
|
W40-44 |
1960
|
8
|
470
|
32:08
|
1:37
|
5:46
|
23
|
1074
|
2:53:31
|
19.4
|
3:30
|
14
|
792
|
1:55:26
|
8:49
|
| 1181 | 05:55:54 | Pace, Larry | Orange |
228/288
|
M35-39 |
740
|
250
|
1408
|
41:10
|
2:04
|
6:16
|
220
|
1085
|
2:53:50
|
19.3
|
2:09
|
223
|
1256
|
2:12:31
|
10:07
|
| 1303 | 06:09:02 | Harter, Wood | Orange |
241/288
|
M35-39 |
663
|
105
|
556
|
32:50
|
1:39
|
5:06
|
246
|
1231
|
2:59:39
|
18.7
|
2:34
|
256
|
1477
|
2:28:55
|
11:22
|
| 1414 | 06:25:15 | Rollins, Tom | Villa Park |
105/128
|
M45-49 |
1283
|
70
|
1035
|
36:57
|
1:51
|
8:49
|
108
|
1416
|
3:09:55
|
17.7
|
6:05
|
101
|
1422
|
2:23:31
|
10:58
|
| 1554 | 07:01:04 | Harter, Bill | Garden Grove |
3/3
|
M65-69 |
1554
|
3
|
1454
|
42:01
|
2:07
|
10:36
|
3
|
1402
|
3:09:06
|
17.8
|
8:32
|
3
|
1618
|
2:50:51
|
13:03
|
| 1700 | Total | Finishers |
Looks like Cricket really did a number on us all. Great race everyone. The numbers don't tell the whole story, just finishing a race this size is a huge accomplishment.
Pre-Race
On Tuesday the week before this race, it was 90-100 degrees outside at lunch time. I thought to myself, "I hope it cools down for Sunday's race". The lesson being, be careful what you wish for. We were up at 3:30 to be on the road by 4. My dad's wave started at 6:45. Looking out the window, it looked like it had been raining. The drive down to Oceanside was drizzle and rain the whole way. Not my preferred conditions and I'm not sure that's much better than 90-100 degrees? Also, the week before I had heard a statistic that this was the driest Los Angeles winter for over 100 years. It figures we would get rain only on race day.
Swim 32:50
The swim was in the Oceanside harbor. Nice calm water and it wasn't too cold.
The rain had pretty much stopped by the time the swim was starting. The ground
was very wet though and I keep all of my gear in bags instead of laying it out
by the bike. My dad's age group went first. I watched them swim by, but couldn't
make him out. We're about 30 minutes after him. I talk with Larry as we head
towards the boat ramp. Finally we get into the water. I start to adjust my wetsuit.
Just as I have it adjusted, they start the race. They sure didn't give us much
time. Since I took the extra time to adjust my wetsuit, I'm not in the best
position for the start. I usually try to get to the side towards the front.
I'm about in the middle. This had to be the roughest swim I have ever participated
in. I'm kicked and bumped all over the place. After about a quarter mile, it
starts to thin out. I touch someone's leg and he blatantly bends his leg over
and kicks my arm and shoulder extra hard. Ouch. I take it and begin to pass
him. As I get past him, I feel his hand grab my shoulder and he pulls himself
ahead real hard. I'm not proud of this part so don't tell anyone. Instinct puts
me into Water Polo mode although I probably would have gotten kicked out of
a game for it. In the blink of an eye, I've got one hand on his back and take
a punch at his kidney. I really expected him to turn around, but he just swam
on. I feel bad about this, but it was complete instinct. Sorry.
At the turn around buoy, there was the usual backup of people. I put my head
up to swim around and someone doing breast stroke kicked me really hard in the
Adams apple. It drove me about a foot and a half into the air. I grabbed his
ankle with my hand and held it for a second. I let go and continued to swim.
I'm writing this two days later and my throat is still sore.
On the way back to the finish there was another turn where there was a backup.
A swimmer who had stopped, gave a big initial down kick to get going again.
This rolled right across my right shoulder. Ouch. He looked back and said sorry.
Overall, it was a good swim though and I'm happy with the time.
Bike 2:59:39
A quick transition and out onto the bike. The streets are very wet. I'm just out for a training ride, so I try to keep it at 17-18mph. Lots of people going faster. I see my dad before one of the first of four turn arounds. I mark the spot and the time. I get back there in 15 minutes. I see Larry a little before that spot. That means he's about 10 minutes back. I expect him to pass me, but catching my dad is going to be tough. Cricket passes me and says hello.
During the ride there were huge packs of riders all drafting off each other. Drafting is completely illegal in triathlon and there are official who give out time penalties. There were so many large packs and the officials so few, I didn't see many people getting stopped. Basically, it's an individual event and you just shouldn't draft. If you do, you should know your race time is tainted. This doesn't help me any here. I guess over the years, I'm coming to the conclusion that I'll never win an Ironman Hawaii slot without cheating (drafting). It's sad that so many people in Triathlon hold so little value in their own integrity.
I only see Larry on the next turn around. At the third one, I see my dad and mark the time and spot. I get back there in 14 minutes. I guess I'm not going to catch him on the bike. At the last turn around, I mark the spot, but forget to look at the time. Coming back with the last 10 miles into a head wind I started to feel really good. I put it in a big gear for the first time and really pushed for a while. It felt good and I was passing lots of people. Larry still didn't pass me. I was very surprised.
I racked my bike at the transition area and sat down to change my shoes.
Run
As I sit down, I hear the announcer yell my dad's name as he leaves the transition area. Ahh, he's mine. I change quickly and feel great running out of the transition area. I head down the hill and my legs feel great. I know it's going to be a tough run though, the furthest I've run in the last four months is 10 miles and it was only two weeks earlier. After about a quarter mile, I see my dad ahead. I pull up next to him and he says his knee is already starting to hurt. We chit chat a bit and I start running again. Coming back from a turn around, my dad is running and Larry isn't too far behind him.
The course was two 6.5 mile loops. It doesn't take long for Larry to pass me. I stop to walk a few times as my legs are quite tired and I know that walking now will allow me to finish the 13. I didn't see my dad after the second turn around. I'm thinking he may have packed it in? I've kind of thought he did since we had talked about him only doing the swim and bike.
I was thinking a lot about him while I ran. Hoping he was okay. I made the third turn around and there was my dad, about a mile behind me. My spirits lift. He's not all that far behind. I'm walking through the aid stations and trying not to walk outside of them. The sun is up and its a warm afternoon. I see my dad after the last turn around and he says Larry is about a mile ahead of me. I have about three miles left to go.
As I'm running back towards the finish I have this great thought that I'm lucky enough to get to do a race with my hero, my dad. It's amazing to me that he's hasn't run for two months because his knee has been bothering him and he's able to come out and finish his first half-ironman. He is my hero. Thanks dad.
After I finished, I asked someone official looking if I could run back through with my dad? They said yes. I went back out on the course and waited about 15 minutes for him. We ran through together and I held his hand up as we crossed the finish line. That was cool. It doesn't get much better.
Finish
We got some water and food and went to the medical tent to get some ice on my
dad's knee. We all sat around for the awards ceremony where my dad received
his 3rd place finisher's plaque. Lucky dog!
Post race
This is a well run race. The aid-stations are better than any other race I have
done, by far. Ralph's as the title sponsor
meant the post race food was good. I'm still mad at Ironman
North America for moving the full Ironman California to Utah (and taking
nearly all the Hawaii Ironman slots out of California), but they do run a great
race. I've boycotted all of their Ironman races this year, but I may do one
next year?
© 2002 W. Wood Harter - All Rights Reserved