Beach to Battleship HIM - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

This was one of the best swims I have ever had. Not just because it was my fastest - I was expecting that because of the current. But it was my best feeling swim in a race. I usually have periods during the swim where I am having trouble with my breathing, I am questioning why I am doing this, and I am just trying to force myself to keep swimming. I had none of those issues this time. The horn went off and I started swimming. Before I knew it, I was in a rhythm and I just kept going. I got the normal hits, pushes and kicks but they didn't bother me at all (except for the really big guy from the wave after us that decided he had to swim right over me towards the end of my swim).

Sighting was a bit tough (weird turns on the course). But I basically ignored the buoys (except the one we had to keep at our left for the first turn) and just sighted off the heads in front of me. And since I stayed in the middle of the pack this time, I was actually able to do some drafting.

The water was very cold when we first got in. But once I started swimming, I didn't even notice the cold. I actually think I swim better in cold water!

The swim time includes climbing the ladder, stopping at the wetsuit strippers, and then running to the timing mat.

Nothing really - this was a good swim for me.

It was a long run from the swim finish to T1. Some people chose to leave their wetsuits on until T1 to stay warm. But I am glad I let the wetsuit strippers take mine off. I can run faster with it off and I wasn't feeling cold.

I got to my bike, put on my helmet and sunglasses, grabbed my arm warmers, grabbed my bike and started running. I had worn a tri jersey under my wetsuit. I had a dry jersey in my bag to change into if I decided it was too cold to wear the wet jersey. But I decided to just leave the wet one on.

Nothing. I had the fastest T1 time in my age group (and one of the fastest overall), so I was happy with it.

I left my shoes on my bike. So, I mounted with my feet on top of my shoes and put my feet in once I got moving a bit. Once I got into my shoes, I tried to decide if I wanted to put on my arm warmers. I had been holding them in my hand (I didn't take the time to put them on in T1). I had made some disposable arm warmers from socks so I could throw them away when I warmed up. I was feeling fine without them, but decided to put them on. I am glad I did. I would have been alright without them, but they did make me feel more toasty.

I had a plan to keep my HR in zone 3 for the ride. So, I ignored my pace and just watched my HR. We had a headwind for the first part of the ride. Then we turned onto I-140 and had a crosswind for a while. We had a headwind again on N 421, but got a tailwind for the final stretch back on S 421. I had checked the forecast before we started and knew it would be this way and was prepared. I didn't try to push the pace when I had the headwind, I just kept in my HR zone and effort level. I knew I would get the tailwind at the end.

I felt good through the entire ride. I drifted into zone 4 several times, but would back off as soon as I did. So, I don't think I spent too much time in zone 4 (I left my Garmin with my daughter in Wilmington, so I won't have my HR data until I see her at Thanksgiving).

I consistently passed people the entire time. I was passed by a few of the 45+ men that were in the wave behind me. But I passed a whole lot more than I was passed. I took my arm warmers off at the first aid station.

I got slowed down once. I got stuck behind a truck that was stuck behind a man riding at 16mph. The truck waved me around, so I passed the truck and then the biker and continued on.

When I turned back onto 421 and got the tailwind, I took full advantage of it. I was averaging between 20-22 mph in this section. When I was about 5 miles from the end, I passed a man that yelled out to me "Git it, girly!". I was creeping up into zone 4 more and more at the end. I was worried that I would regret it on the run. I continued to back off whenever I noticed that I was into zone 4. I felt really good through the entire bike.

Nothing. I felt like I paced this bike exactly how I wanted. I felt good from the beginning to the end. I never hit a point where I started to feel tired.

This transition didn't go nearly as well as T1. It was my own fault. I should have taken the time to come the night before and find my spot.

I did my running dismount off the bike and handed my bike to a volunteer. Then I started running through transition trying to look for my rack. I found what I thought was the right rack. I found bags for # 1506, 1505, but no 1504! I started to panic. I tried to get a volunteers attention to help me find my bag. He took a second to look where I was looking and realized mine number was the first last one on the opposite rack! So, I had to run straight across to the other side of the transition.

Once I finally had it, I took no time. I already had my helmet in my hands. So, I quickly put on my socks and shoes. Stuck my helmet in the bag. Grabbed my hat and race belt, and started running out of the transition area (and put them on as I ran).

Know where my transition spot was located!

I was completely out of the transition area and about a .25 mile down the road when I realized I didn't have my flask of concentrated Infinit! It must have been hiding in a corner of my transition bag because I didn't even see it in the bag!

I panicked for a second trying to decide what I was going to do. I decided I didn't have much choice. I was going to have to live off the course and hope for the best (but they were serving HEED and I haven't had much luck with it in the past). I drank just water at the first aid station. At the second aid station, I grabbed a cup of HEED. It was pretty weak, but I think that actually turned out to be a good thing. My stomach seemed to do all right with it that way. So, I continued to take a HEED at each aid station. I didn't think it would be enough calories, as weak as it was, for the entire run. So, at the turn around I took a gel and some water. I was only able to take in half the gel, but at least it was something. For the second half, I started adding in soda. I alternated HEED and soda at each aid station.

The course is mostly flat, but there are two bridges that you have to cross at the beginning (and then again at the end). They were tough to have to do just as you were trying to get your running legs after the bike. They were complete torture at the end of the run!

I felt pretty good through most of the run. I had a few moments during the run where I was feeling tired and hoping it would end soon. But mainly, I just tried to keep up my pace. I saw one of my tri club members up ahead as I was approaching the 4 mile mark. I called his name as I was passing and we spoke for a second. Then I kept on. I saw the other 2 tri members in the race on my way back (after my turn around). It was nice to see familiar faces on the run. It helped keep my mind off my aching legs.

Once I got back to downtown, I knew I was on pace to hit my race goal. But I was really dreading the bridges that were still coming up. I had not walked a step the entire run (not even aid stations) and was just hoping I could make it back over the bridges without having to walk.

While all of this was going through my head, I head someone call my name (that wasn't too unusual since we had our names on our race numbers), but they were also running towards me. I realized after a second that it was my coach. I had not expected her to be there. It was a happy distraction and just the boost I needed to finish strong.

After I finished running to the top of the last bridge, I could see the Battleship down below. I was only about a half mile away. I picked up the pace a little. I saw a women running ahead of me and looked at her leg. She was in my age group! So, I pushed a little harder to see if I could pass her before we got to the finish. I passed her just as we were turning on the road to the Battleship. As I passed her, I knew she was looking down at my leg. I heard her say "Oh shit". :) We still had .25 mile to go and I knew she would try to get back ahead. So, I just ran as strong as I could to hold her off. I normally sprint into the finish line. But I had given this race all I had and there just wasn't much left for a sprint. I did pick up the pace a little, but not much. I did manage to stay ahead of the lady though and beat her by 9 seconds.

I felt like I was giving it all I had at the time. And since I had nothing left at the end, I think that was the best I could do on that day.

I walked around a bit, got something to eat, and then found my pre/post race bag to get some dry clothes to put on.

I checked the race results after a while. I saw that I had finished 4th in my age group, but I knew they were giving out Masters awards (down to 5) in addition to AG awards. So, since I knew I had placed, I stuck around for the awards. They were late and didn't even start the awards until 4:30. But 2 people in my AG placed in the Overall, so I ended up with 2nd Masters. The awards were made from pieces of the deck from the Battleship.


Not much. I still need to work on my swim to get it to the front of the pack (at least to the back of the front of the pack). But this was the best I could do on that day. So, I am happy with it.


I thought this was a well organized and well run race. There were plenty of volunteers and spectators. But it is a hard race for spectators (having to deal with moving from T1 to T2). And after the race, it takes forever to get back off the island to downtown Wilmington. We stood in line for over an hour to ride the water taxi back to get to our car.