The Vineman is a beautiful, affordable and enjoyable Ironman distance triathlon in Sonoma county. Highly recommended!
I finished in a time of 10:18, 8th in AG & 17th place overall
(Swim: 1:07, bike: 5:25, run: 3:40)

 My full vineman race report from saturday is here (warning: the post is about as long as an Ironman!)

If you don't want to read the whole post, here is my brief  summary of the race:

- location: awesome
- chaotic pre-start T1
- swim: the most enjoyable tri swim I've ever done. Improved my IM swim by 8 mins
- bike: great course, I cranked it out higher than I was meant to (on purpose). Had digestive issues on lap 2. Next time don't wash down bars with gatorade.
- run: sorted digestive issues and had a great run, tough, hilly, hot course! No walking. solid 3:40 

PS if you want to see why your legs are sore after a marathon, zoom into the pic of me running, take a look at my left quad and see what impact does to you - no wonder I can't walk down stairs 2 days after!

!