{"id":23695,"date":"2026-11-02T18:40:15","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T02:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/?p=23695"},"modified":"2026-11-02T19:31:59","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T03:31:59","slug":"ironman-california-2026-back-for-a-better-race-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/ironman-california-2026-back-for-a-better-race-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Ironman California 2026 – back for a better race day"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have wanted to redo this event since the miserable time I had in 2022… this year I finally went back and raced it again.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And while it wasn’t the finishing time I hoped for, it was a great day all around, and an insanely busy weekend. I’m glad I did it again.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I have been unhappy with my race day at the 2022 Sacramento Iron<\/a> ever since finishing that race. It was a miserable day and I did not enjoy myself. I’ve always looked back at it frustrated with how it turned out, and I’ve thought that one day I’ll go back and do Sacramento again to try and enjoy it. And it turned out that I really may have needed to go back and race IMCA again for myself.
\nI’m not really a “race it again” type with triathlons; they’re just so expensive and I rather put that money toward racing a different location. But IMCA was close to family, I can drive there, and redoing it seemed like a reasonable thing to do. As reasonable as training for a full distance triathlon can be, anyway.<\/p>\n

But let’s just get to the race report..<\/p>\n

Overall Target – 13 Hours<\/h2>\n

My goal was to hit 13 hours or faster on race day. And I missed it by about 22 minutes.<\/p>\n

It was at mile 120 that I realized I would likely miss my goal time. By mile 130 I knew that I would, but also realized I was ok with that.
\nThere were a couple factors that ended up affecting my marathon – mainly nutrition – which killed my target finish time. But overall it was a great day, and I realized during the back half of the marathon that I wasn’t upset with my day at all. My last month of training was seriously affected by my work schedule, and travel for family events. So while I was thinking about those things, and trying to speed walk as quickly as possible waiting on my stomach settle, I realized that at that point I was having the best day I could have had given how everything played out.<\/p>\n

And I was happy with that.<\/p>\n

I prepped for a grind, and that’s what I got.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The IMCA course is largely boring. I’ll say it. I’m not going to sugarcoat it for anyone.<\/p>\n

It’s 112 miles of cycling through flat farmland where you are pedaling\u00a0the entire time.<\/em> There is almost zero relief on the course in terms of being able to coast since there are basically no downhill parts of the course. And if you\u00a0do<\/em> have a tailwind that allows you to stop pedaling for any length of time, just realize you’re going to have that as a headwind on the way back.
\nSo all my training was on my trainer. Indoors. Pedaling. For hours.<\/p>\n

And amazingly, the weather largely cooperated this year compared to ’22, and we had very little wind during the entire bike. But I’ll comment on that below.<\/p>\n

Transition and the Bus to the Start Line<\/h2>\n

The morning of the race it was going to just be me and Joe making our way to Transition and then the busses. So I got ready in the morning and after saying goodbye to Kellie, she was able to go back to bed for a couple more\u00a0hours\u00a0<\/strong>of sleep!<\/p>\n

Joe and I walked to Transition – it was a couple blocks walk from the hotels we were staying at downtown. Staying hyper local this time around, and within walking distance, was definitely worth it (as always) for the ease in the morning.<\/p>\n

While walking over it was eerily quiet on the streets by us. But as soon as we got to the bridge things got livelier. And of course once at the Transition paddock there was all sorts of craziness going on.
\nThe biggest problem I had that morning was finding a damn bike pump! And honestly, I was getting really mad about it, too. Asking any of the volunteers only resulted in no one knowing where there was any pumps left. One of of the staff just said “they’re out there somewhere”… great.
\nI ended up borrowing a pump from a racer a few bikes down from me. Joe found me shortly after and we sat for a few minutes while he finished his food. Then we made our way to the busses.<\/p>\n

This was another event with a drive to the start, just like Redding a few months before.<\/p>\n

The difference at this race was the swim was point-to-point downriver. Versus the Redding race that was point-to-point on the bike.<\/p>\n

Now the bus ride this year was lively and everyone was in a great mood. I was telling Joe how different that was from 2022 – that year was colder outside and people seemed much more nervous about the day ahead.
\nAfter arrival, as one of the first several busses that morning, Joe and I were able to actually find space at a bench\/table to sit and wait for the start<\/p>\n

Swim<\/h2>\n

Projected Time: 1hr or less
\n“Good day” time: “Faster than 58min” – I wanted to beat my 2022 swim time
\nActual official clock time: 55:43\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Water was 63.8 on race day according to the official temp check<\/p>\n

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I was expecting to have a better day than I did in 2022 during this swim – but was also trying not to overdo it at the same time.<\/p>\n

I spent a good amount of time in the pool this year during training versus 2022 when I did barely any. I wanted to make sure I had enough of a swim base built up so that I could “casually” swim it, beat my previous time, and<\/strong> not feel tired coming out of the water.<\/p>\n

I seeded myself just slightly ahead of what my pool time would have been for this distance, knowing that the river was going to push all of us anyway. Making our way down to the waterline I also made sure to turn on my watch early since I remembered in 2022 I got nearly to the start and realized I hadn’t turned my Garmin to Tri mode and it still had to find satellites.<\/p>\n

The water was definitely a bit of a cold shock running in that morning – a crisp 64 or so was definitely cold on your face. My feet weren’t too bad since I was wearing booties – another decision based off my previous experience on this course when I cut my toe somewhere between the water exit and getting my cleats on for the bike. Man, as I’ve organized my thoughts and type all this out, it really sounds like I had a lot of trauma from my last experience at this event. haha!<\/p>\n

But overall, swim was good. I bounced between feeling as though my stroke and pace was smooth and efficient, and other points I felt like I wasn’t having good form at all.<\/p>\n

I also wore clear goggles this time around instead of my tinted ones like the previous time. There were only a handful of points on the course that the sun was breaking over the treeline making it hard to see. If you’re a right-side breather though, you’ll have zero issue the entire swim.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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I’m both trying to figure out if I want to use the wetsuit strippers to help get my suit off, and also trying to keep an eye out for my family<\/p>\n

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Ironman posted a handful of really great images from the event. I would probably enjoy photographing an event – but I’m sure part of me would wish I was racing.<\/p>\n

T1<\/h2>\n

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The Transition route compared the first year was much shorter. And lots of credit goes to Ironman for covering an entire dirt parking lot with mats for everyone to have a completely ground-covered bike paddock.<\/p>\n

Bag pickup wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be, either. They had everything arranged in rows of ten, and blocks of one hundred. It was confusing during bag drop, but during pickup in transition there were plenty of helpers – even though mine was quick to grab myself without help.<\/p>\n

In the change tent I walk\/jogged to the back half of the tent where there were chairs to sit down. I rather take a bit of time to get my bearings, put on my socks properly, sunblock, sleeves, etc.
\nI drank some water, offered my spray sunblock to another racer, and then made my way toward the bikes… doing my best to eat a gel while carrying my bag, and speed walking in my cleats. Quick bathroom stop and then on to my bike!<\/p>\n

“Notification: Power Critical…”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Uh… what the HELL does that mean?! That was not a warning I expected to get when turning on my Garmin Edge. I had charged everything a few days beforehand. But ok, I guess we’ll see what happens?<\/p>\n

I made my way to Bike Out, and the veryyy crowded mount line. Got on my bike, waved to my family as I started pedaling, and worked to get settled in to an extremely boring 112 miles ahead<\/p>\n

Bike<\/h2>\n

Projected Time: 6:30 or faster
\n“Good day” time: anything under 6:15
\nActual official clock time: 6:05:49<\/strong><\/p>\n

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I went into this race hoping to do a 6 hour bike.
\nAND in the days before the race, J went through all my numbers and training data. He said that if I managed to keep my watts at 145-150 the entire race, that would put me around 18mph and I would hit my 6hr to 6:15 target, and I should be fresh enough still to run!<\/p>\n

So\u00a0what I heard\u00a0<\/strong>was “John, you can do 145-150 watts\u00a0or<\/em> 18mph…. whichever one is lower.” Awesome!<\/p>\n

For anyone unaware.. I have a terrible habit of going way too fast on the bike leg and sacrificing my running ability if I’m having a good day on the bike. Now, back in 2022 it was just an overall terrible day, and the wind on the course was a brutal 25-30 sustained wind, which fried me entirely before even getting to the run. I was determined to not let that happen to me this time around.<\/p>\n

So I only had to watch my watts – which was a great plan until it wasn’t.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I had already made the conscious decision that I was going to listen to J and stick to “under 150 watts” for my ride, try to capture any speed anywhere I could on the course, and grind out the mileage as close to my training sessions as possible (with hydrating\/eating\/etc). I felt I could likely do a sub-6 if the wind cooperated throughout the day. And for the first 20 miles I really did have everything on lock.<\/p>\n

The first hour I spent nearly the entire time around 20+mph, just over 150 watts, and 78rpm… that’s chillin for me. It was a great start to the race. I was nice and comfortable.<\/p>\n

Then my pedals died. Shit.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Ok, first, it sucks that I had no power data suddenly in the middle of a race. But a very big second, is that I HAVE NO DATA TO GO BACK AND LOOK AT LATER.<\/p>\n

I can’t even begin to explain how upsetting, annoying, frustrating, maddening, and fucking hilarious<\/em> this was to me at the 20 mile mark…
\nI’m one hour into my ride, with 92 miles to go… a full distance triathlon that I spent ALL my training hours on a trainer, in aero, to prepare for a miserably boring course grinding out mileage, AND\u00a0I WAS LISTENING TO J WHO SAID TO STAY AT A CERTAIN WATT OUTPUT… and my damn power died<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was literally laughing as I realized what happened. That my Edge and Epix2 (watch) didn’t suddenly lose connection to my pedals and that my pedals were now dead.<\/p>\n

Ok, so, I have to do this based off Speed and Heart Rate. Hell, when I didn’t have power pedals when I raced Iron Tahoe or Florida I at least still had Cadence to also use. Now I didn’t even have that!
\nI tried to change my Edge screens to remove Power and replace it with Stamina, so I could at least track that. Andddd instead I accidentally deleted one of my screens. More laughing and then just giving up worrying about tech being of anymore help this ride.<\/p>\n

So, 92 miles to go, and we’re going to base this ride and race on Feel alone.<\/p>\n

WE’RE RACIN ENTIRELY ON VIBES, FAM!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Cheesin’ it for the family. I think this is right at the start of the race. Both my bottles are completely filled, and I had my watch under my sun sleeve for the first hour or so, too, until my pedals died and I checked to see if it was just<\/em> my Edge, or both my Garmins.<\/p>\n

The rest of the bike was mostly uneventful. This really is a boring course. I’m convinced that the comments you see online from people talking about it being scenic just haven’t had opportunities to cycle actual scenic areas.<\/p>\n

Plenty of support out on the course for the most part. The schools and groups that are out volunteering all do seem to have a great time out there. There was also a number of spots with locals who came out and setup chairs to watch and cheer.
\nThe first half (or first loop) wasn’t bad at all. And of course I was mentally comparing the whole day to the 2022 race. So it was pretty much better in every way with the lack of insane wind.<\/p>\n

At the turn around to the start the second loop I was annoyed that they had zero bathrooms for racers to stop and use. That’s on me for not actually looking at the map of the course and just relying on “well, last time there were bathrooms… four years ago”. hahaha!
\nMy family was there cheering and shouting as I went by, which is always great. Especially on this course since that’s the only time they see you during the bike, as you head back out to do another lap.<\/p>\n

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I was in much better shape overall during and after the bike ride this time around, too.<\/p>\n

I started the ride with a 90% Stamina potential according to Garmin. And I finished with 66%, honestly pretty damn solid and better than where I thought I’d be. Especially because I felt like I was putting out much more energy on the last quarter of the ride than I should have been. This is again where I became frustrated not having power data to monitor.<\/p>\n

Wind had picked up a bit more during the back half of my bike in general – although still nothing like 2022. However I realized I was messing up my nutrition. I was still carrying way too much of my pre-mixed drinks and I should have been out of that and on course nutrition at that point. And in hindsight now looking back, I should have brought regular food, too. I usually bring an uncrustable PB&J as a solid food to eat during a race. That day it was bars and gels.<\/p>\n

Coming in to the finish I was feeling mostly ok. But looking back as I type this, I realize the bit of “off” I was feeling was that nutrition component.<\/p>\n

T2<\/h2>\n

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Coming into Transition was crowded. I felt as thought the chute got very narrow at the actual dismount line.
\nIt was so distracting that you can see above I didn’t remember to hit my Garmin until I was racking my bike. So, I need to go back and adjust my data in Connect so it’s more accurate.<\/p>\n

This transition was fairly smooth overall. I emptied my pockets of most things. Grabbed my bottle of water I had. And headed out to the run. It was feeling a bit hotter than I hoped it would. And coming in at the end of the bike I realized the run course actually went along part of the bike course as well this year.<\/p>\n

Run<\/h2>\n

Projected Time: no idea at all
\n“Good day” time: 5:15 or faster
\nActual official clock time: 5:58:25 (hahaha! terrible!)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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I’m not a marathoner. I point that out to everyone when I discuss triathlon. It’s probably my weakest discipline. Half Marathon and below is my jam. But I also signed up for the LA Marathon in 2027 out of pure curiosity about trying to do a standalone marathon – since the five that I’ve done are all during Iron races.<\/p>\n

Getting started on the Run leg of this race I saw my family cheering at the start; we headed South for the first out and back. And ooooooh man, that whole stretch was really exposed. Just running along the hot street in direct sun.<\/p>\n

Normally that wouldn’t bother me much at all. But this is when I started to realize something was up… and in hindsight I think it was simply slight dehydration.
\nI was carrying a bottle of water, but it had cooked all day in my Transition bag so it was really warm – honestly it was gross to try and drink because it so was warm. So I threw that away around mile 2 rather than keep carrying it.<\/p>\n

At the three mile mark I stopped to walk a mile. I was just too hot. And I was surprised I had yet to see any ice on the course. In Redding we had ice EVERYWHERE. And it turned out that Sacramento\u00a0did\u00a0<\/em>have ice at the aid stations, but it was kinda hidden and not as obvious. So, that was my fault for not finding it at the one-mile aid station and having to wait til I was back at the same station three miles later before finding it.<\/p>\n

From miles 4 to 8 I was doing a mix of jogging and walking. I thought I would be able to keep that on\/off pace going since I wasn’t depleted of energy at all. I had stuck as close as I could to a reasonable bike effort, and could feel that it wasn’t an energy issue I was dealing with. Then around Mile 9 my stomach just felt like it twisted and I needed the throw up. And that never really happens to me.<\/p>\n

I stopped jogging immediately and started walking. And then, just as quickly, thought “you know, I might feel better<\/em> if I did threw up and then I could keep running…”
\nBut, that’s just not me. I didn’t want to throw up. Even if it might have made me feel better, I could not justify that in my head. So I walked as quickly as I could.<\/p>\n

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Around halfway through the run we pass over the bridge. My entire family, and many family friends were there to cheer! It was super cool to have a huge cheering section.
\nI was also much further “ahead” in the day than the last time I did this race, and even though I felt guilty going slower than I hoped, I was happy that they weren’t waiting around forever for me.<\/p>\n

After completing the first “loop” of the whole run course, the sun was starting to set. I knew at some point I would be very glad I brought my bike shell, again, as I did previously at this event. It’s a super thin layer that I kept rolled up tightly and carried with me the entire run in my back pocket on my tri suit.<\/p>\n

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Starting the marathon I was at 66% Stamina potential, which is great and means my cycling base I built did actually exist. lol!<\/p>\n

And it wasn’t until Mile 139 of the entire race that my stamina hit 1% – the irony here is that was also right when my stomach finally felt calm and I was able to start running again without any discomfort.<\/p>\n

I had been slowly eating small things during the walking I was doing. Water of course, occasional electrolytes. But also Coke here, and some grapes there, and an orange slice. I honestly think it was the solid food and Coke that kinda balanced out whatever was going on with my stomach. Again, I typically would have solid food during the bike, and I didn’t this race, and think that was where I screwed up.<\/p>\n

But I still had a great time out there. Talked to a few other racers. One first timer just tryin’ to make it through his day, and another who is a Sacramento local that has raced each IMCA event since the first one back in 2022! The positive part of having to walk at all is the chatting with some other racers you get to do.<\/p>\n

When I look at the time I did this marathon compared to 2022’s IMCA race, I was only\u00a0twenty-nine<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>seconds faster. Hahaha! Crazy. Cuz that race I was feeling horrible during the marathon and having trouble seeing at the end of it due to the extreme wind\/dust on the bike ride. This year didn’t end up being faster, but I had a much more enjoyable time.<\/p>\n

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Running the last couple miles was a great feeling to be back moving quickly again compared to walking. I was able to jog the last 2 1\/2 without any issue.
\nBut it was also frustrating because I could feel that I still had plenty of strength – and all I could do was laugh at how this time<\/em> it was my stomach that blew up my day. Oh well!<\/p>\n

Jogging up and then back down the Capitol Mall was darker than I expected. But, my last experience in 2022 featured several laps around the Mall… so it was a very busy part of that course design that year.<\/p>\n

I tried to go for a strong finish and run all the way in. At that point I was warmed back up from running (and actually sweating again due to my jacket), happy I finished IMCA better than last, and ready to be done for the evening.<\/p>\n

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Finished Time: 13:22:22<\/strong><\/p>\n

Officially I was 176 of 272 in my age group for Men. There were 9 DNFs, and 3 DNS in my group
\nAnd 1287 out of 2167 All Men.
\nAnd 1542 out of 2824 racers.<\/p>\n

That’s a back-half finish for me at Sacramento. Which I’ll say is a bummer. It was my slow walked-most-it marathon that did it, of course. I was top half my division, of men, and of all racers for the Swim and Bike.
\nThat just means I have to keep running I guess. Again, I have the LA Marathon in March. So that’ll be my first real test of any kind of pacing work for me.<\/p>\n

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California Challenge!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anyone who signed up, and completed, IMCA along with another Calfornia half this year gets the “Cali Combo” medal. Which I got since I completed Half Ironman Redding<\/a> in August.<\/p>\n

It’s actually a really cool design of a grizzly bear wearing shades. I’ve already put all three in a shadow box for my wall since I got home. And yes, I did bring my Redding medal with me specifically for this photo (Kellie brought it down from the hotel room for me that night before I finished)<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/imca26_jremus_vid.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

Was racing IMCA again worth it? <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Yes. It absolutely was, for me, for all the personal reasons I’ve said above.<\/p>\n

Will I race IMCA again? Mostly likely not. The only exception would be if October rolled around one year, I was already in Iron shape, and the race still has spots left to sign up.<\/p>\n

But redoing the Sacramento Ironman was, kind of, a purely selfish endeavor for me.
\nI’m very aware that it’s a privilege to be in shape enough to “just train and go race an Iron”, also a privilege to be able to\u00a0afford to do so<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But my 2022 race has never sat right with me at a deeper, personal level. And I was never really happy with that race experience. And even with the hurdles of work and life affecting my training this year, I still had a great time overall. I was bummed to not be able to run my entire marathon – especially after SO MUCH run training all summer. But it wasn’t my fitness that blew up my race, it was my nutrition. And I can forgive myself for that.<\/p>\n

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I think I needed to go back to Sacramento and race again more than I might have realized. To be able to leave the course that night feeling good about it.
\nAnd this was a really amazing time with my family all there to support. Not only did everyone spend a huge part of their day out cheering for me AND stay all the way til the end of my race that evening. But Joe was there racing also! So his wife Jessie was there, and at one point their folks and kids too! My sister’s boyfriend stopped by midday to cheer with his kids, as well!<\/p>\n

Sacramento 2026 was an incredible time – despite a few hiccups in my race day.<\/p>\n

And totally worth the training-all-summer-again.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Pre Race and Post Race Gear Drop Off & Pick Up.<\/h2>\n

Drop off the day before the race was straight forward. They’ve improved a lot since that inaugural year. The only confusing part of it was the Bike Bag drop, and that’s really just because I was there early enough that you couldn’t yet “see” the way it was organized by number.<\/p>\n

As far as gear pickup? Kellie gets all the brownie points for that. She used my gear collection ticket and picked up my bags and bike during the evening and walked it back to the hotel for me! She’s amazing. It was such a nice surprise that night to not have to go get my bike.<\/p>\n

All I had to collect that night was my morning-bag with my clothes\/shoes in it. And that was great to have, too, since as soon I was done with photos and got dinner with my food claim ticket, I started getting cold pretty quickly.<\/p>\n

And where we stayed.<\/h2>\n

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I went back and forth on where to stay this year. In 2021 (the cancelled year), J and I stayed outside downtown west of the river and was a short drive in. And in 2022 we stayed one highway stop down, outside downtown (also) west of the river. This year I was pretty certain I wanted to be right-there, right downtown in walking distance.<\/p>\n

Kellie ended up booking us at the Holiday Inn, two blocks from the finish line, since she had travel points she could use. But if you were to book the hotel outright, for two nights around the race, it was around $600.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Here’s a quick look at the map that I sent Joe prior to the race weekend to explain where things were at.<\/p>\n

The blue star is the finish line \/ Iron Village
\nThe blue circle is the hotel we were at (Joe\/Jessie were literally next door to us, too)
\nThe red circle is Transition
\nThe red square is the Swim Exit. So, the morning of the race when Joe and I had already been awake for a couple hours, Jessie and Kellie were able to wake up late and walk downstairs and outside, cross the bridge, and be there at the Transition to cheer.<\/p>\n

Total Cost:<\/h2>\n

I’ve started to try and include as much detail on cost as I can – both for transparency of the cost of these trips, and to help others who are just curious.<\/p>\n

Entry Fee: $965
\nRace Photo Package: $130
\nIronman Village \/ Souvenirs: $713 (this is only my items, my finisher jacket, plus a few things for Kellie)
\nIron Finisher medal display: $184
\nHotel Booking: $0 (Kellie used points)
\nParking Fees (Various): $100 or so
\nGas \/ Drive to Sacramento from Orange County and back: $383
\nFood: $373 (this includes coffee trips with family, lunches, etc)<\/p>\n

Total Spend: Approximately $2,848<\/strong>
\nThere are a few caveats here, of course.. Kellie covered the hotel and dinner the night before the race. My food spend also includes things like lunch with my dad during race check-in day, lunch with my old roommate the day after the race, etc.
\nAnd obviously you don’t have to buy souvenirs and race gear at every event – even though I typically do. The name t-shirts this event were incredibly expensive at $62 each, the cycling jersey was $120, and finisher jacket $150… so it adds up very quick.<\/p>\n

\n

Alright, let’s get to the rest of the photos:<\/h2>\n

Kicking things off with the other official race photos from the course<\/p>\n

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Getting out of the water, still feeling pretty good. But I was also thinking that it seemed far less crowded than the last time I did this. Wasn’t sure if that was due to better seeding on my part for the start of the race.<\/p>\n

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Image from earlier in my writeup – heading toward to Transition<\/p>\n

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Heading out into the race, there was still some shady spots and the cooler morning was still feeling quick on the course<\/p>\n

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Getting out away from the city and homes into more rural areas at this point<\/p>\n

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This may already be on my second lap of the course, at the turn around<\/p>\n

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Lots of flat farmland and fields… that’s most of this course<\/p>\n

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I liked the overall run course wayyy more this time around<\/p>\n

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Crossing the bridge halway through the marathon and seeing my family<\/p>\n

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High Five from Mom<\/p>\n

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And Jessie and her kids were on the bridge, too!<\/p>\n

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At this point I was still trying to jog here and there. But my stomach was still just angry and not cooperating<\/p>\n

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Heading down the finish chute! It wasn’t til the last 2 1\/2 miles that I finally felt ok and my stomach stopped bothering and I could run again<\/p>\n

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And it was still blinding running down the chute with all the flood lights. haha!<\/p>\n

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And the rest of the photos from the weekend, combined from me and my family<\/h3>\n

Wednesday – packing to head to Sacramento the next morning<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Getting all my race gear organized and packed separate from the regular stuff\u00a0 \"\"<\/p>\n

Bike is ready to load up – I keep my bike inside my 4Runner for the drive rather than on my bike rack<\/p>\n

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LA Traffic… figures.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thursday – Check In<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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Walking around Iron Village to find the entrace\/line<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Already a long line waiting for things to open<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I always go first thing (as often as I can help it) to make sure I can actually buy any souvenirs I want<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Alrighty, line is moving<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Have to pick up a mug for Kellie, since was annoyed at not getting one in Redding (which was my fault)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Sacramento race hat design for this year was pretty cool, too.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Anddd the official race jersey is white! Sweet. Def bought that.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ho.ly.Crap.
\nTo be fair, I bought stuff for Joe and Abhay who couldn’t make it to check in that day. And stuff for Kellie and Monica. But still. Crazy<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dad was at check in with me<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ok, now the\u00a0actual<\/em> check-in line<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The actual process once in the tent went really fast<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The backpack this year is really nice and big. Kind of an overnight size duffel backpack<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Athlete briefing is next<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Had to sign the huge sign with everyone. It was completely full by Saturday<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Done! Heading out!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Amazon delivery! I ordered glow sticks and cowbells for everyone to use that weekend.<\/p>\n

Friday<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Getting my bike stickered up, cleaned, and oiled<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Then I went over to 24hr Fitness to get a short workout in<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Time to organize my actual Transition bags<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And done! Pretty quick<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

That night was Cameron’s little league game<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Got to watch for a bit before heading to the airport<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I was wondering where this mural was! It was featured on the Ironman social account. Turns out it was at the airport<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Picked up Kellie and her mom!<\/p>\n

Saturday<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Morning coffee and bagels<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Everything is ready to go. Bags are ready<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kellie is ready<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Bike is ready<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Loading up and heading Downtown<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Bike drop time<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Still mostly empty, but it’s only midday<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Me, making my way to the racks<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As ready as I’m gonna be<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It was hard to “see” because there weren’t many bags yet… but they were by row. So you can see that 88x is a row, 87x above it, then 86x row where my bag “862” is at<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But walking into the bag area and seeing this, made zero sense at first<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

First time seeing the Combo medal since they didn’t show it online before the race. Honestly, that bear would be cool on a shirt. hahaha!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Met up with Joe – who is in even better shape than when I saw him in September last year<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Wandering back to Transition after leaving the Village<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

J was also there to meet up with some Abhay and others<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Wandering old town. If there’s something gothic\/halloween\/spooky you can bet Kellie will take a photo with it<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Trying to find a spot for lunch<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Checking in to the hotel, dropping stuff, and then heading out again<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It was my niece’s birthday party! We didn’t have a lot of time but we stopped by for a bit<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at IHOP for dinner – I had an omelette which is pretty typical for me before races<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Now time to try and get some sleep..<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The hotel arranged early breakfast hours for everyone<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Last arrangements for the night before race day<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Race Day<\/h3>\n

\"\"\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Waking up at 3:25… Garmin said I was mostly ready.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I’m actually in my tri suit here, with extra layers on cuz I’m about to leave and meet Joe to head to the start. Kellie got to go back to sleep for a couple more hours! haha!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now on to photos from my family and everyone throughout the race day!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mom waiting and cheering people a the swim exit<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/20261018_082407.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

Video clip of my mom cheering loudly :D<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/20261018_083433.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

And my mom yelling for me to Be Safe on the ride! haha, total mom thing to say. It made me laugh<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Abhay startin his bike ride<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kellie and her mom with my folks walkin around that morning<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Morning coffee. I’m somewhere on the bike at this point<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This is the tunnel under the streets connecting our hotel area to Old Town Sacramento<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Wherever this area was that they all grabbed lunch looks pretty cool.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jessie was hanging with my family for part of the day! Which is great. But of course she’s known my family nearly 30 years at this point… dang we’re getting old<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Joe coming in from the bike. He was about 20 min ahead of me<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Gotta wear your Ironman finisher gear at other events! Rebecca rockin’ her IMChattanooga gear. Mom had on her Santa Cruz and Tahoe gear<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

My Aunt Elena made it for the bike portion too!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

J was right at the corner and very easy to spot during the race<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Me transitioning for the run<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/20261018_153716.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

Kellie cheering for me, this was when my stomach was really starting to twist up and I was beginning to question how long I could keep running.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Cheer squad!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

About 4-5 miles in at this point. Shortly before I hit a point where I needed to walk :\/<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Monica and the kids all made it<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Abhay finishing his bike portion! I can only imagine how great he felt here. The bike was biggest hurdle of the three disciplines<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/20261018_160315.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

Joe coming through the bridge and our huge combined family and friends cheer section<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Course mom and had to get selfies with her grandkids<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And the big group shot of everyone out cheering for the day!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/20261018_165940.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Monica and Garrett and their many kids all hanging out! (Monica rockin her IM Santa Cruz shirt, too, cuz obviously)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/20261018_170034.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

My cousin Marissa made it!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Gang’s all here!<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/20261018_165723.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

Really cute moment around mile 15 of the marathon and Joe’s kids cheering for him but NOT wanting a sweaty hug. hahaha!<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/20261018_182718.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

… I think this was the line to collect gear. Jessie and Kellie both went back and collected my bike and Joe’s!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

hahaha! look at that multitasking!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Everyone collecting bikes early<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/20261018_184648.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

Mom saw Kellie on her walk with my bike and gear she picked up <3<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

all the brownie points to Kellie, cuz her grabbing my things early saved a huge hassle at the end of the night<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/20261018_184116.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

I thought it was cool how they’ve really made the bridge a centerpoint of the party at the race<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Night time and glow time!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The kids powering through all night was so sweet of them<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Pretty sure they’re watching the tracker to determine where we’re at on the course at this point<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/20261018_203115.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

And I think they almost missed me go by. I had been walking quite a while, and about 3\/4 a mile before this turn I realized my stomach was calm and I could run again. I was able to jog in the last ~3mi<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Joe finishes!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Second Ironman in the books! (his first one was only five months ago!)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/VID-20261019-WA0111.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

This video clip of me finishing is hilarious because my family is talking about how they missed me coming down the chute<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Done!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It was so cool and almost overwhelming to have so much family there at the finish after a long day<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kellie helping me with all the things I was holding<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sweaty hugs for everyone tho!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I’m sure these are all out of order since they’re from multiple people\/phones<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Joe and Jessie hung out to wait for me to finish, too! Which I’m positive was very chilly for Joe<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/20261018_210826.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Big group photo of everyone<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And a last congratulations to Joe before calling it a night<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Abhay was still out on the course gettin it done!<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/VID-20261019-WA0159.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

And Abhay’s finish a little later that night!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And he finished! Ironman!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

So proud! I met Abhay several years on one of his other attempts. This was his year though. J coached him for his training and kept him accountable to put in the work and hours and it paid off!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mom and J were there to cheer, with his family! I would have loved to stick around, but it was getting cold and I was ready to get inside and get warm<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sunday<\/h3>\n

\"\". \"\"
\n\"\" \u00a0 \"\"<\/p>\n

I got very little sleep. Woke up at 530a or so, and I don’t think Garmin registered me fall back asleep since it only captured 4.5hrs
\n“One day at a time”… thanks Garmin, haha<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Went to buy a snazzy finisher jacket<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Then coffee time with everyone… I ended up having an Iced Mocha and sandwich… then another Iced Mocha and a croissant. hahaha<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dropped off Kellie’s mom that morning for her flight home<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Then went back to the Village to meet Abhay<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Got to chat for a bit while he waited for medal engraving<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Afterward Kellie and I met up with Dave, my roommate from when we were on the Disney College Program<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Then that afternoon it was time to drop Kellie off at the airport for her flight home<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Monday<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The next day when I was back in SoCal my car battery died… but hey, at least it waited til I was done with all my driving<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Anddd bags and bins of stuff everywhere.. my living room was a mess for about nearly a week after I got home<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have wanted to redo this event since the miserable time I had in 2022… this year I finally went back and raced it again. And while it wasn’t the finishing time I hoped for, it was a great day all around, and an insanely busy weekend. I’m glad I did it again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,1415],"tags":[1460,1420,1416,1405],"class_list":["post-23695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal","category-race-report","tag-imca","tag-ironman","tag-race-report","tag-triathlon","is-cat-link-border-bottom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23695"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23936,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23695\/revisions\/23936"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnremus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}