Here's my wrap on this past weekend's Ironman 70.3 Santa Rosa

Although I've only been an official member of the PPF Squad for about a month, I was honored to represent the team down in Santa Rosa!

Despite a crazy hectic Friday schedule (drive up from Palo Alto, race check-in, bike dropoff up at the lake, etc), I made the time to get to the PPF meet-up / course preview on Friday afternoon, and it was one of the best decisions I made all weekend! Meeting other Squad teammates and hearing Matt's great insights and advice was wonderful. The quick-hit reminders, especially the advice to use the first climb on the bike to "find your riding legs for the day" and looking for opportunities for "variance" on the run really helped me execute a great day on Saturday. 

Interestingly, I asked Matt what head unit metrics he would recommend using on the bike, and his answer to "use the computer between your ears" was amazingly prophetic. I made a silly error of not charging up my Garmin 520 before the race, and it promptly went DEAD on the descent down from the lake. Like less than 5 miles into the ride. Oops. I didn't panic or get pissed...I just shrugged my shoulders, accepted it for what it was, and switched over to that other computer between my ears! Result: smartly paced, even effort 2:36 bike split that set me up for what was to follow:

Smashing run split of 1:33! Easily my best 70.3 run EVER. I was flying by people super fast, but my effort felt controlled but solid. Leaving T2 I was in 26th in my age group, and ended up 13th (with the 9th fastest run), so I am very very pleased with that showing. Massive credit to keeping Matt's voice and advice in my head all day!

Overall, it was a 70.3 PR by nearly 2 minutes (and that includes the long and slow transitions...oops, gotta clean that up a bit!)

I was lucky enough to snag a slot for IM Canada's return to Penticton in 2020, so I am super stoked to dig in to the meat and potatoes of the Squad training plan and see where it takes me over the next year!

Cheers, team! And thanks for support and camaraderie so far and going forward! Now, back to training...396 days till IMCanada ;)

And yes, that post-race beer tasted GOOD!!