Beach 2 Battleship - TriathlonFull Ironman


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Wilmington, North Carolina
United States
40F / 4C
Sunny
Total Time = 12h 39m 40s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 4:15. Downed a PBJ sandwich, orange Vitamin water, and banana. Kristina and I caught the first Holiday Inn shuttle over to T1 with a few other athletes. Filled our tires and our water bottles. Dropped off our special needs bags and made our way over to the line for the buses to the swim start.
Event warmup:

It was a chilly morning, and most of us just seemed concerned with staying warm, but I knew I had to get the blood flowing, so I did a short jog and started stretching. About 20 minutes before the start I took off my warm clothes and put on the full wetsuit. By that time, we were all making our way down the beach to the start. After the National Anthem, kissed Kristina one last time and told her I'd see her throughout the day.


Swim
  • 51m 4s
  • 4224 yards
  • 01m 13s / 100 yards
Comments:

I can't complain about the swim time, but it could have been a little faster had I known where to make that left.
What would you do differently?:

Sight better.
Transition 1
  • 00m
Comments:

No T1 times posted, and I didn't feel up to the math on my own. I took awhile, but that was expected being that I was going to completely change and that it was 40 some degrees out which meant layers, etc.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Bike
  • 6h 04m 43s
  • 112 miles
  • 18.43 mile/hr
Comments:

They had two choices out on the bike course to drink: water and Heed. The Heed was terrible. After finishing my own GU mixed bottle, I tried the Heed, but ended up just doing water the rest of the ride.
Transition 2
  • 08m 11s
Comments:

I was a little out of it as I came into T2. After that wind kicked my ass, I was real happy to be through with the bike. I was again going to change completely, so I knew T2 was going to be 7-10 minutes.
Run
  • 5h 35m 43s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 12m 49s  min/mile
Comments:

My goal was to beat my Louisville time, and I wanted to run the marathon...not walk. Coming out of T2, I just focused on slow cadence and EZ breathing. There was a large bridge we had to climb just outside of transition, and my goal was to get up and down before I would give into the fatigue in my legs. It is kind of a blur, but I think I did accomplish that goal. Unfortunately, after mile 1 I slowly started to walk more and run less. By the time I finished, I was doing the iron-shuffle. It is disapointing to walk so much, but I gave it what I had. I met another BT guy out on the run. Can't recall his name, but he was wearing the Louisville BT t-shirt. I saw Kristina out on the run and she was suffering too. She kicked ass on the bike as always and was well ahead of me.
What would you do differently?:

I need to tweak my iron training so that I can better prepare my upper legs for the rigors of the marathon after 112 miles of biking. My knees were on fire as well. The most obvious thing to do would be to do longer bricks / transition runs.
Post race
Warm down:

Kristina and my buddy Scott were there to cheer me on as I finished, and the volunteers were great. I was a little woozy, so I grabbed a few donuts and some water and took about 10 minutes to gain some composure. Then I went back to the changing tent and put my dry clothes on, and we crammed our bikes into a trolley and headed back to where we had parked in Wilmington.

We got back to the Holiday Inn - Wrightsville Beach and tossed out stuff in the room and headed to the hotel restaraunt for our post race meal! My brother Barry, Scott, Kristina and I chowed down on pizza and replayed the day's events. Saw a few other triathletes and chatted with them as well.

Back to the room and into the whirpool, showered, and passed out.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

This distance has kicked my butt twice this year, but I am satisfied that I improved my last Ironman time by about an hour and a half. I tweaked a few things in my training and in my diet since Louisville, and that helped me at B2B for sure. So I need to make some more adjustments to keep improving.

Event comments:

Logistically, this is a tough race - especially for the spectators. With that in mind, I think the organization was good. I would recommend the race, and I highly recommend Wrightsville Beach and the Holiday Inn Sunspree.

My only real complaints with this race were the Heed -- I couldn't get it down, and the run course needed a few more light towers in the park section. There were some places where it was too dark to see where we were running.

The volunteers were awesome. And the spectators gave me some encouragement when I needed it.




Last updated: 2009-09-07 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:51:04 | 4224 yards | 01m 13s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Suit: full
Course: We started up on the beach and slowly made our way into the channel - then out about 60 yards or so to a buoy and then right up the channel. We had the tide pushing us which made for great swim times. There was supposed to be a "wiggly man" where we were to turn left, but I never saw it. I was way right at that point and had to change my course along with a few others. From there it seemed like about 10 minutes until I saw the swim exit. Legs did not cramp like Louisville...even as I was climbing the ladder to get out.
Start type: Run Plus:
Water temp: 67F / 19C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 00:00
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
06:04:43 | 112 miles | 18.43 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
Wind: Headwind
Course: Mostly flat course. Took us out in the sticks and then we hit the head wind with 38 miles to go! I had been averaging around 20.5 MPH and not pushing too hard. Once I got into the headwind, I really slowed to a crawl. Had some minor cramping in the legs, but nothing like the agony at Louisville!
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 08:11
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
05:35:43 | 26.2 miles | 12m 49s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Bad
Course: Two loops through Wilmington with a few hills.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 4