Beach2Battleship Iron Distance Triathlon - TriathlonFull Ironman

As soon as I got into the water, I was happy and contented. The water was BEAUTIFUL. Warm, clear, and there wasn't too much "washing machine" around me at first. I just pushed forward into the water and started into a nice, relaxed rhythm. The first half of the swim seemed to fly by. Not a lot of contact and I seemed to always have some feet to draft off of. Before I knew it, when I turned to breathe I could see a bunch of silhouetted bodies on shore - that had to be all of the Half peeps, which means I was half way there! On the second half of the swim, I started to feel a little slower. I also started to run into more people as we neared the turn buoy and my sighting was starting to fall apart a bit. I just adjusted myself as best I could and kept going, never really feeling too tired. When I finally got to the exit, I was SOOOO happy! My first IM swim was done, and I was feeling GREAT!

Hands down, this is one of my favorites swims, ever. Probably second only to San Juan.... perhaps I need to put more salt water on my schedule?

Sight better? Push harder? Absolutely nothing?!

I came up the ladder and as soon as I was at the top, some nice young lady unzipped me... that's ALWAYS a plus. Ran up a ramp and around a corner to the wetsuit strippers. Suit was off in seconds and I was back on my feet and trotting to grab my T1 bag. Saw Tony (mr2tony) on the run up... thanks for the cheers! Saw my T1 bag immediately without really even having to look hard, snagged it and headed into the changing tent. The feet were numb and hurting at the same time from running on the cold ground. I grabbed a chair, dumped my stuff out and put on my bike shoes, bike gloves, and my brand new, never worn arm warmers. Thank God I bought those at the Expo!! I ate two gels and then stuffed my gear into my bag and dropped it off. I got to my bike quick enough, but I was a little slow putting my helmet on and un-racking the bike. Finally got my butt in gear and headed out. No running/jumping/flying mounts here, it was a tight and awkward turn at the mount line, so I just stopped and climbed on - it was going to be a long day, those couple of seconds weren't going to matter.

I could definitely have moved faster, but I preferred to be thorough and sure of what I was doing given that it was my first IM.

This is the animal that I have been fearing.
In short, I had no idea at all how well I would handle this, so my approach from the outset was to manage myself around the course. I felt that, based upon my HIM bike splits, that I could probably average 19 mph for a 6 hour bike, so I set out with that as the primary goal but guided by the notion that if RPE didn't feel "easy", I should back off. My nutrition plan was two water bottles with a 3-hour Perpetuem mix in each, then an aero-bottle between the arms full of water that I would refill as I go. The plan was to keep hydrating to the point where I needed to pee. I also was taking one Salt Stick capsule per hour.
The first 20 miles flew by, but the body also started to give me reminders that I'd had Mexican for dinner the night before... I started to get a little gassy. So, when I came to the first aid station at mile 25, I stopped and hit the port-o-potty and took my time refilling water. I then stopped at every single aid station during the bike, even if I was just refilling on water. I gave up 5 minutes at that first stop, 15 minutes at mile 55, and 2 to 5 minutes at the other four aid stations. From a racing standpoint, it was less than ideal, but in terms of managing myself and ensuring that I got to T2 ready to do a marathon, I think that it was just what I needed. The headwinds had been killer most of the day, and I was entering uncharted territory. The stomach started to feel a wee bit nauseous around mile 70-75 because of the lack of solid foods, so I made sure that I grabbed something solid (chocolate covered donut and a Nature Valley bar) at the next aid station. I gave myself a little cheer of "W00T!" when I hit mile 100 because I had now done my first Century, then I was just holding on for that bridge at mile 111 so that I could start thinking ahead to T2.
I almost got creamed by a white car driving into the bike course less than a quarter mile from T2 with volunteers screaming "STOP!!" all over the place It was a little disconcerting, but as soon as I saw that I wasn't going be creamed, I got back on my way and finished the bike. W00H00!!!
Goal was 6 hours, I nailed it at 6.5 - I was quite happy!

I could have taken shorter stops at the aid stations, I could have hit a few on-the-fly.... I could have actually prepared for the distance.
For where I was physically, I wouldn't change a thing.

Got to the dismount line, hopped off and handed the bike to one of the volunteers. There were two guys just in front of me that were walking around the path inside the convention center and I was perfectly Ok with that... I was not in a mood to jog right now. I shouted out my Bib # to the volunteers with the bags and they got my my bag zippy-quick. Off to the changing tent. I seriously took my time here. I found a chair, and as I questioned the wisdom of sitting down, I sat and started changing shoes. I put on socks for the run, something I never do even for HIM's. I ate two more gels, put my gloves into the pocket in the back of my trisuit in case it got cold enough after sunset to put them back on, pushed the arm warmers down to my wrists and after a short bathroom visit, headed out for a little run. This was also going to be only my second run with a new pair/brand of shoes. In the test run the weekend before, they were fantastic, and as it would turn out, they still are.



Nada. It's my first IM, I made it to T2 still feeling decent.... I didn't make any mistakes, so I'm not going to rush myself and push my luck.

So, I totally expected that this was going to be a major suck-fest, but I ended up having a total BLAST on this run. The run along the boardwalk and through the historic district was incredible! The crowd support from spectators and volunteers alike was better than any event I've ever been to. At this point, I knew that barring some major medical fiasco, I was going to finish - even if I had to walk. My thoughts heading into this were that as long as I didn't smoke myself on the bike, I could probably do a 5 hour marathon, at worst I'd come in at 6 hours. With that in mind, I set out at whatever pace just felt "easy" making sure that I kept the turnover rate high. I also decided in the first mile that I was going to walk every aid station... no point in burning matches I may not have; manage it early so that I have something late. The way out on the first loop seemed to take forever, but it was really scenic and the crowds were great. There is one hill of note on the course that is short but semi-steep. I chose to walk it both times - again, just taking care to make sure I had something left toward the end. Finally, I got to the turnaround on the first lap and started to head back. I kept my mind entertained by high-fiving other Team RWB folks that I saw (there were several of us out there) and trying to calculate when I would make it back to certain mile markers, etc... I was wearing my Garmin, but other than just occasionally using it to satisfy curiosity about my pace, it was there only for data collection and to let me know how long I'd been out there. It was busy work for the brain. The trip back clicked off without much notice, but once I got back to the area around the finish, the atmosphere there REALLY energized me. That place was hopping! I went on past the finish line toward the start of the second lap where I hit special needs to get some Body Glide for my lats... the chaffing from my arms swinging was killing me. That only took about a minute or two and I was on my way again. I was carrying gels and more Salt Stick capsules, taking one cap per hour and taking a gel roughly every few miles (when I could remember to). I continued to walk every aid station, getting water, coke, or broth each time. A bit before mile 20 and the turnaround to go finish, I started to get REALLY lightheaded and kinda dizzy. I decided that perhaps the body just wasn't absorbing calories or something fast enough, so I decided to walk a little extra at the next few aid stations. At those I grabbed some pretzels and ate them as I walked and chased them with some water. Whatever the cause was, the dizziness cleared and when I hit mile 23, I decided that I'd had enough of the aid stations and it was time to finish this. I settled back into my shuffle and just passed the rest of the aid stations on the way and just held on until I finished.... and then I heard my name over the speakers and I was done!

I've never been so wiped out in my life, and so happy to be that wiped :)
I had hoped to finish the marathon in 5 hours and did it in almost 4.5, making up for the longer bike AND nearly setting a PR.... I was completely stoked!!

Not a thing. This was barely 5 minutes from being a PR for the marathon, period... I'm totally stoked that I had this run! On top of that, I had now completed two HIM's and my first IM in the last 7 weeks.

I was in a daze. I shuffled through the chute, grabbing water, my awesome Finisher's Pajamas, medal.. and then I set out to the food area. Nothing looked good except the pizza, but I only grabbed one slice and a can of Coke. Chugged the water, then ate the pizza. Walked back over to the finish chute to see if I could find my brother, where I drank the Coke waiting for the next hour, lol, when I finally got to see Tony again and Monica finishing!


Too much racing all summer, not enough training to prepare properly for this distance.