Beach 2 Battleship - TriathlonFull Ironman

Waited on the beach with David, Steve (RottieGuy), Todd (CincyTodd), and several other BTers for the swim start. Cold. Gun went off and we all ran to the water. When I dove in and the cold water hit my chest, I could feel my lungs tighten. I swam for a few minutes, but I was caught up in a big crowd and was getting beat around. My lungs hurt, so I swam off to the side of the group to tread water a minute or two. Once I felt relaxed I caught back up with the crowd. After the first or second buoy the crowd broke up and I found some water space. The sun was up to our right and was quite bright. I was breathing too much and only to the left. I had some trouble seeing the buoys. They could have added a few more. I didn't notice any waves or chop until about the middle of the swim. It was mild. Made a left turn and then I could feel the current pushing me along. Fast swim due to swimming with the tide. I should have swam closer to the middle of the channel, but had my own space fee of other swimmers off to the side. This is one fast swim due to the tide! I could see the swim finish and made it to the ladder. Climbed on the dock and started to unzip the top of my wetsuit as I jogged. Wetsuit strippers were down the dock. I stopped and had the wetsuit stripped. Grabbed it and jogged the rest of the dock, parking lot, sidewalk, and street to T. It is about 300-400 meters from the dock to T1. Not bad. Feet were very cold and numb! People were lined up and down the street screaming and yelling giving the participants that rock star feeling.

Due to the chilly weather, I decided to dry off and make a full change to dry clothes. I knew I would be in T1 for a while. I removed the swimsuit I had on under the wetsuit and put on dry tri shorts, sport bra, tri top, arm warmers, compression socks, bike gloves, throw-away gloves, and throw-away long sleeve t-shirt. There was only 1 volunteer for the changing tent. I was the 3rd female in the tent. No big deal. I was fine changing on my own. Of course I took time to put on my dove deodorant. :-) Shoes and helmet were on and I went out the tent. There were only 2 port-a-potty in the transition area. They needed more! I had to wait a minute until one was free. I need to learn to pee while swimming!

I knew this transition was going to take some time.

Feet were numb, but the rest of my body was good. I started off feeling good. Got up to a race pace and was feeling good. There was a bit of headwind from the start. What a nice, flat, smooth course. I started to warm up and decided to throw my long sleeve t-shirt at the first aid station. The first aid station was at mile 30 and it was staffed by the military. I stopped and unclipped so I could rip the t-shirt down the front and off. Two nice military men were over in a second and helped me rip off the shirt. The asked if I need any other clothes removed and asked fro my phone number! LOL!! See - all the BTers that tease me about putting on deodorant in T1 - I was smelling dove fresh! LOL! :-) Left the arm warmers on during the entire ride. I was having trouble opening nutrition with the extra set of throw-away gloves and actually dropped a gel. I had plenty, but ended up tossing the extra layer of gloves around mile 35. People were drafting. One guy was riding on my wheel for a while. I was getting pissed and turned around and gave him a dirty look a few times. Finally, I asked him if he was going to pass. He still stayed on my wheel. Then, I said, "Kind of sad you drafting off a chick." I finally pulled away from him. There were a group of guys in VT clothing that were really drafting off each other. I saw the officials go by multiple times, but not sure if they ended up with a penalty. There were several hunters near the road around mile 45. Guess we were messing up their day. The special needs was around mile 65 or so. I didn't have a bad and didn't need anything. By mile 80 my asthma was bothering me and I was tired. The headwind was strong. I was hoping for a tail wind on the way in, but that didn't happen. I knew I was not 100% since I had the flu. I was really tired and had tightness in my lungs. I dropped my pace down to 16mph and stayed there for about 3-4 miles. By mile 84, I decided I needed to HTFU and get moving. I pushed it back up to race pace and fought the wind. I didn't need to stop to pee or get off the bike except at the first aid station to toss the t-shirt. The bike course was kind of boring. Saw a blackberry (or maybe a blueberry farm), sand, woods, etc. It was fun biking on the expressway. Once I got past mile 65, the groups i saw broke up, so lots of riding solo. The volunteers were GREAT and the course was very well marked. I pushed the bike a bit too fast and could feel it. I was so happy to see the battleship in sight. I was ready to be off the bike. The crowds coming in off the bike course by the battleship were great! Saw hubby and other friends. Nice and loud!

I pushed a little too hard on the bike.

I pushed too hard on the bike and was very tired going into T2. I changed my shoes and put on a hat. Left on the arm warmers. No port-a-potty in the transition area. The were outside of transition in the start of the run. I stopped.

Garmin time was a bit faster than the race time, but I will go with the race time. I was tired starting on the run, so I knew it was going to be a long marathon. I started off at a good pace. Stopped at the 2nd aid station and walked. Started running again. Stopped at the 3rd aid station and used my inhaler - lungs were hating me! That helped a bit. I stayed with the run and walk the aid stations for the first 6 miles. I ran with a guy from South Carolina for about 6 miles. That helped. I was having trouble keeping a steady pace. I would be too fast and then go too slow. i couldn't find a pace that felt "good". I enjoyed running in the downtown area with all the people. The out and back course was nice and I saw lots of BTers. There were some hills on this course. The bridges and some other hills in the mix made for a challenge. I could feel myself starting to really struggle at mile 20. The last section back to the finish was rough. My hubby and JungleJenn were in the downtown area and had gummy bears for me. They were so good! The last 3.5 miles were horrible. I was running, but at a slow pace. I knew i could not stop or I would not start again. Hubby & Jenn were really yelling for me to finish strong and keep moving. Somehow I ran up the last bridge hill. I was kind of out of it and it was getting dark. The lights from the oncoming cars were making weird shadows and I was feeling funny. They needed some more lighting on the run course. I was too dark. Also, I didn't get a glow stick. They needed to have more of these out and pass them our earlier. I didn't even realize that I ran up the bridge until I turned down the street to the battleship. I then realized that I ran up the last hill and it was done. I picked up my pace as fast as I could and finished strong. Lots of people cheering!

Not push as hard on the bike to save some for the run. Find my pace and stay with it. Have asthma under control.

They had a GREAT party at the finish line. I ate some pizza and drank 2 bottles of water. My asthma was bad so I went to medical for a breathing treatment. They had a wonderful mobile hospital set up on site and were able to provide excellent care. Talked to a few BTers, gathered bike and gear, and took the ferry to the car.


Having the flu two weeks before the race and asthma problems limited my performance. I didn't feel as strong as I usually do while I was racing. I still had a fun time and am happy with my performance.


This is a fast course and a great race to PR. The race is well organized and with plenty of volunteers. I would love to race B2B again.