Beach 2 Battleship Iron Distance - TriathlonFull Ironman


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Wilmington, North Carolina
United States
Setup Events
Sunny
Total Time = 14h 29m
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Last year I did the Norseman Extreme and next year I have signed up for Louisville. This year has been an in between season and my training, or lack of reflects that, last bike ride was more than a month ago and no open water swim since 2009. So I was in no way ready for this, oh so, late in the season race.

Got to Wilmington on Thursday evening after a very looong drive down from Toronto Canada. Friday morning 630AM out on the beach checking out the conditions the day before, windy and cold. Getting worried, no sign of any good current, only waves going the wrong way.

Then did a drive on the bike course, yes it was flat!

Continued my carbo-loading, have been doing that for the last 3 months, gained lots of weight and had to borrow a wetsuit from a very big friend.

But HEY! I can do this! Lets go!
Event warmup:

My kingdom for gloves!!!! Not a warm up more a trying not to cool down to much
Swim
  • 1h 39m
  • 3862 meters
  • 02m 34s / 100 meters
Comments:

They promised strong tail current! And this is what I get: Freezing cold wind and a very slack tide!
I kicked a few few and took a few in the head. The water was warm but with every stroke I had my arms up in the freezing wind, the fingers turned numb halfway into it and I could not keep them together, not a very efficient way unless you have webbed gloves on.
What would you do differently?:

Train, train train more, and gloves!!!!
Transition 1
  • 21m
Comments:

21 minutes!!!
Looked like a crazy drunk guy trying to get his inner ear gyroscope back on-line. At least I did not crash into the showers like some other poor soul did. I did skip the showers though (important for later event)

half of those 21 spent trying to fix the connection between my brain and the fingers. Eventually I got it all together and put on arm/leg warmers and jacket, had thick wool socks on and caps on the shoes.
What would you do differently?:

Gloves, gloves gloves!!!!
Bike
  • 6h 58m
  • 180.25 kms
  • 25.87 km/hr
Comments:

One reason for picking this race was to try something flat, last years Norseman had almost 10,000 feet of uphill on the bike part alone.

I was very cold still from the swim until we got to the interstate, I loved that part, downwind and sun was starting to provide some heat. Felt the warmth coming back and the connection between my brain and the fingers and toes were back. After the interstate my groin area started feeling like a piece of feta in brine, damn I should have done that shower in T1. A handful of butt-cream took care of that. The wind was annoying and always there, I started missing hills, I had not trained well with aero position for prolonged times so I had to sit up a lot. At the special needs stop I got rid of all my extra clothing. Also started to worry about my intake of fluids, normally I should have taken a leak by now, so I start drinking with gusto. Went to the porta-potty or the side of the road 4 times before T2. Diabetes Insipidus coming my way? Anyways, pulled into T2 way behind my schedule.
What would you do differently?:

Train, Train, Train!!!!
Transition 2
  • 12m
Comments:

Did it all nice and slow. Got a bit lost in the transition area but otherwise OK T2
Run
  • 5h 18m
  • 42.16 kms
  • 07m 32s  min/km
Comments:

OK! Swim and bike done! Now I only have to get through the run. Started of very slowly, no running if there where more than 0,01% incline. Had to pee even more, 3 times on the way out on the first loop. Bloody hell I was spending more time peeing on this race than racing. I slowed down my fluid intake and from there and in thing just got better and better. At the half way mark I got my special needs bag, hey I put sunscreen in that bag, next time I will put a flashlight in instead!
I probably had my first negative split for a marathon. Got to the finish line in much better shape than after the bike part.
What would you do differently?:

Not much
Post race
Warm down:

Felt great, took the ferry back with all my stuff to the car, had a big mac and went to sleep. Next morning up early and drove back to Toronto 15 Hrs straight.

Event comments:

The race organizers pulled off a great event, I could have trained better myself but I cannot see how the organizers can get this event done better.




Last updated: 2010-04-25 12:00 AM
Swimming
01:39:00 | 3862 meters | 02m 34s / 100meters
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Below average
Suit:
Course:
Start type: Run Plus: Shot
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Below average Drafting: Bad
Waves: Average Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 21:00
Performance: Bad
Cap removal: Bad Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Bad
Biking
06:58:00 | 180.25 kms | 25.87 km/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Below average
Wind: Headwind
Course: FLAT!!!
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 12:00
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
05:18:00 | 42.16 kms | 07m 32s  min/km
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Course: Out and back x2. First part on awful highway bridges with traffic and no lights. The rest on small streets and a very nice park part as well.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4