Beach 2 Battleship - TriathlonFull Ironman

I don't even remember a countdown-just 750 people running towards the beach. I had stayed to the left and I felt bad for swimming over people. From the beginning, I could tell we didn't have the usual "lazy river" type conditions. It felt like the swim was taking forever. I tried to keep a nice even pace. I kept seeing big and small fish and jellyfish. There were large swells that made me feel motion sickness and I dry heaved a few times.

My feet were numb when I went to climb up the ladder. A volunteer grabbed my hand and I almost pulled her in. Luckily 2 volunteers to grab me and her. As I ran towards T1 I saw the race clock say 1:05. I was disappointed because I thought I was going to be well under an hour. Then I saw all the spectators and of course I heard my loud cheering section. As I ran into the changing tent, the volunteer said I was the 2nd or 3rd girl in the tent. Then I realize that EVERYONE was much slower not just me.




Put body glide on my neck and practice breathing to my right side. I had to breath to my left b/c of the sun.

I wore a swim suit over my tri shorts so I'd look good for the pictures. Wearing a full length wetsuit, my shorts never feel overly wet so I just leave them under the wetsuit. It took two second to take the swim suit off. The hardest part about transition was putting my socks on. My hand eye coordination seemed off.

NA

The first little bit on the bike was fun. The spectators were super excited to see me, one of the first females, and were screaming their heads off. I felt like a celebrity. A section of 140 was closed off. We were able to ride on the highway with smooth pavement. Other than that the bike ride was tough due to the headwinds for 75 miles and to the "monthly gift." It was not comfortable and I did stop 3 times to pee. On the ride I ate around 2500 calories from Shot Bloks, Heed (sports drink), and Sour Patch Kids.

Best thing I did was put a Monster Energy drink in my transition bag. Very yummy!

One of the volunteers told me to stay left in the cones. Although I didn't go in the cones, I almost took out a runner (not running in the cones) who sweared at me. This year I was running through transition with my bike and had no idea where to go. The T2 volunteers seemed mia. Finally someone took my bike and there were a huddle of volunteers talking to each other while the volunteer who took my bike was yelling my number. No one moved or pointed where I was supposed to go. My nerves were already frazzled from the last mile or so coming in and then the T2 volunteers were clueless.

My family/friends were outside the changing tent. As we discussed the day, before I told them my T2 story, they mentioned how the T2 people were not trained/clueless/fill in the blank from a spectator's point of view. My mom said if I do this race next year she is going to volunteer for T2.

I preceeded to run like I stole something. Which, technically I did steal a kiss from Ron! I hate to feel thirsty so I held a water bottle in one hand and pain relief roll on cream in the other. I got behind a guy named Eric and we semi talked until mile 8 when my stomach turned sour. I knew I needed to let my stomach settle down. Chicken broth was served and it tasted like liquid gold. I continued to run and grabbed chicken broth or flat Pepsi at every 1 mile aid station.



I didn't realize my support crew was at mile 10 and I had 10 people screaming "Go Alex" all at once. I jumped 10 feet in the air and spilled chicken broth all over my face. When I glanced over it looked like they were doing the wave. In reality, I was 20 minutes earlier than predicted and I surprised them!



At mile 11ish, I saw my friend Paul from the 150 mile ultra cycling ride. I gave him a loud "Wooo" and when I got to mile 12 I caught up with Eric. Seeing people you know makes a huge difference. I saw Brad several times on the run.



Special needs is at Mile 13. I put on a long sleeved shirt and headlamp i'd borrowed from Valerie. I ate two oreos which was the only food I could stomach at that point. Then I continued to run because I knew my support crew was going to be at mile 16 which was a HUGE pick me up.



At mile 15 I saw Josh, he called everyone to get ready because I was coming. I saw everyone at mile 16 and then there is cobblestone and a pretty steep short incline. I wasn't going to run on the cobblestone because I was afraid I may trip since it was dark and at the point I was walking up the hills. There was Shannon, she walked on the sidewalk next to me. It was just what I needed at that point. I had 11.2 miles left and I knew I wouldn't see anyone again so seeing her gave me an extra lift.



I didn't look at my watch at all on the run until mile 19.5. It was 8:00. I had 2 hours left to make my goal of under 15 hours. I took my second trip to on the run to the port-o-potty. Both trips I rolled on the sports stuff as to make the best use of my time. haha. At mile 20 they broke out Coca Cola and I was so happy! As I ran back I told the other athletes "They have Coke at mile 20!"



At mile 22, I heard "Good Job Zolot" I flashed my headlight and saw Katie's good friend Mary. She gave me some quick encouraging words. I was too tired to speak so I gave her a thumbs up.



At mile 24, I realized if I could keep my pace I'd finish in under 14:30. I got more and more excited and less and less tired. I couldn't believe I had so much energy after doing this all day.



Soon I heard my support crew screaming at the top of their lungs. The announcer said "Alexandra Farlow from Greensboro North Carolina" I was all cheers and smiles.

Talking with family and friends.


Set up does a great job, I just had minor complaints.


Didn't like that everyone was packing up when I got finshed.