Beach 2 Battleship Iron Distance - TriathlonFull Ironman

I really enjoyed this swim. It was supposed to be fast, but it didn't work out that way. When the gun went off, I hit the water pretty quickly. Huge release of adrenaline! Was in the washing machine for a couple of hundred yards. I managed to make it through the crowds without any major issues. I found some clean water and space and started to get into a nice pace. I kept trying to catch the feet of anyone that came past me, but never really got much of a draft. About 1000 meters in I stopped and looked around. It was an amazing site to look every direction and see folks stroking away. The sun was coming up, and the water felt great. I got a little caught up in the moment and was a little over whelmed. I took about 30 seconds or so and just tried to absorb the scene. It was awesome!
I was really comfortable on the swim, and never really pushed my pace. I figured that I would have a great swim time with the help the current was supposed to provide. As we reached the half way point the chop started to pick up. As I would raise my head to sight, I began to take a few mouthfuls of sea water. This probably happened 5 or 6 times. More salty water than I would have liked to drink. I believe this seemingly inconsequential few mouthfuls of sea water would play a huge role in shaping the test of my race. I glanced at my watch as I rounded the corner to the marina and swim exit, and saw 1:19. To this point I still thought I was gonna be out of the water in around 1 hour. I climbed up the ladder and saw the clock at 1:30 and thought, what the hell? Where was the current? I glanced over and coming out of the water right beside me was my buddy Dave. Small world.

I would have pushed my pace more. This has been my problem on the swim all season.I stay way to comfortable. More importantly, I would do my best not to drink any ocean water.

What can I say. By the time I had ran the 300 yards to the changing tent, I was an ice cube. I literally couldn't make my fingers work. I changed as fast as I could, but I was layering on the bike gear. Bike shorts, under armor base layer, Tri jersey, sleeveless cycling jersey, arm warmers, 2 pair socks, shoes and full shoe covers. Finally was dressed and headed to the bike.

speed up.

Mounted and headed out on the course. I was feeling cold, but awesome! About a quarter mile out of transition there were a few speed bumps, I hit the 1st one and both my infinit bottles went flying. I had to turn around and stop.they were both laying under a parked car. I had to lay down and crawl under to retrieve my nutrition. Was a bad omen.
The wind started pretty early on, and was in our faces. Not terrible, but definitely enough of a headwind to slow ya down.around mile 10 on the bike, I started to have stomach cramps. I've never had GI issues, so I was very frustrated. The cramps continued to get worse, and drinking infinit only seemed to make them worse. I dropped my power to try and reduce my heart rate to see if it would help, but the cramps were just brutal. The vomiting started around mile 45. Must have been horrible for those behind me when I ralphed over my right shoulder. I was not feeling good. Even with all this, my power average was spot on, and I was carrying a 19.9 mph average when I hit special needs at mile 51. I knew I had packed a few antacids in my special needs bag, and I knew I needed to try and hit the port a John and see if I could get some relief. I pulled into special needs and both bathrooms were full. I ate a few antacids and finally had my turn in the stall. It was violent. I lost about 20 minutes at special needs. My speed average had dropped to 16.9. I continued to battle the stomach cramps, but was determined not to stop again on the bike. By the time I was nearing the bike finish I knew I was gonna have lots of trouble on the run.I had only managed to get down about half a bottle of nutrition. Maybe 500 calories. I knew it was already to late to try and catch up on my nutrition. No way around a rough marathon at this point.

Not much I could do to prevent the cramps.

T2 went well, but I had to make another stop by the POJ.

I actually felt really good on the first hour of the run. I made the first turn around at mile 6.5 in about an hour and thought "wow, maybe I can put together a good run." I was putting down as many calories at the aid stations as I could grab. I guess I was trying to make up for the deficit I knew I already had. This strategy back fired around mile 8. I had to visit the POJ at every aid station for the next 5 miles. I made the turn around at the half way point in 2:20 and was still running to each aid station. At mile 15 my friend Eric jumped out of his spectator spot and ran with me for about a mile. It was great to have the company. Miles 18 to 24 were really rough. I was reduced to run a minute, walk a minute. At mile 25 I decided that I was gonna finish as strong as I could, so I picked up the pace as best I could, and ran like hell. Just before the finishers shoot, I saw my family. My 5 year old hopped in and ran the last few hundred yards to the finish with me. That was really cool.

other than the GI issues slowing me down, I regret that I ever started walking. Once you start walking, its easier just to keep walking and harder to start running again.

I just wanted to get in bed. It would have been nice to hang out for a while, and take in the moment, but my kids were cold and they had been out cheering me on all day. I couldn't wait to go to bed.


GI,GI,GI

I'm happy with my first Iron Distance finish, but definitely disappointed that I couldn't perform my best due to the GI problems. I thought I may me a one and done Iron Man racer. Now i know I have to do another one, to see what sort of time I can post without stomach trouble.


Great Race, and setup did a great job, but there has to be a better way to get out of the finish than just the boats across the river. We had to stand in line for 45 minutes waiting to catch a boat.