Beach 2 Battleship - Full Iron Distance - TriathlonFull Ironman

The gun went off and a mass of humanity entered the water. The swim was rough at first. There was a lot of contact and kicking. After about 15-20 minutes, the pack spread out enough for everyone to find their own space. I settled in and stroked away. The swim course was point to point supposedly with the tide, however, the RD stated that the tide may have still been going out at the start and then we went into a slack tide. Sighting was very difficult for me in this race. The buoys were so far apart that I could not see them very well. I developed a pattern of reaching a buoy, breaking into a breast stroke to locate the next buoy. Until I got close enough to see the next buoy with alligator eyes, I broke into a brief breast stroke every now and then. I tried following feet but found myself zig zagging. The second half of the swim some chop picked up making sighting even a bit tougher. Eventually we made the turn to the swim exit and the entire field cut what I thought was the final turn buoy. After realizing I was the only one heading for the buoy, I swam back to the pack. I’m not 100% sure if it was a buoy, channel marker, or what it was. I exited the water and ran to t1.

gonna become a swimmer in the offseason

The run to t1 was long but awesome. After crossing the street, we ran up a sidewalk for about 100-200 yards that was lined with cheering people. I slapped hands and encouraged the crowd. It was a lot of fun!!!!!!! I did a complete change of clothes (the bike start was about 40 degrees and I wanted to be dry) hopped on the bike and off I went.

I started the bike on a mission which was the beginning of the end. I quickly started blasting by people and was feeling good. A few miles in, the headwind started. It didn’t let up until around mile 70. The winds taught me a lesson about the irrationality of ego. For the first several miles, my hr was in the mid 160s and at times got up to 170. My LT is 164. I wasn’t breathing heavy and the work felt easy so I assumed the salt water must have messed up my heart rate monitor. I continued riding thinking that it would settle down soon. It did not so I checked my pulse. My pulse was close to what my hrm was reading so I slowed down until my hr was in the low 150s. I looked at my speed and I was going 15 mph. My ego would not allow me to believe the data presented to me. I also was over confident based on having a really good (and somewhat easy) race at IMFL the previous year. As Lappi stated in his MOO race report, you need to have the courage to go slow.
I continued pushing. Mile 40 came around and I felt some fatigue in my legs. “oh shit!” I exclaimed. I had just realized that I went too hard early on and was a ticking time bomb. I eased the pace back and cruised on. The rest of the ride was uneventful. The course is really flat and very rural. It was a nice ride. Shelly surprised me by driving the course and following me for a few miles. She took some good pictures. Around mile 70-75 we turned south and picked up the sought after tailwind. The tailwind wasn’t very strong, but, my speed increased dramatically. I went from a steady 18 mph to an easy 22 mph with a lower heart rate. I was flying and having fun. The easier effort allowed my legs to recover and I thought the day could be salvaged. I finished in 5:51 (I rode 5:27 at IMFL last year). Coming into t2 was a fuster cluck. The traffic was awful and there were several very large flat bed trucks delivering something that looked like it should support a bridge. The trucks clogged up the last quarter mile to t2. As I arrived to T2, the crowds were amazing. I handed my bike off to a volunteer, got my t2 bag, changed, and off I went.


not fight the headwind

The first 6 miles of the run were simply awesome! I felt great, the energy from the crowd was amazing (thanks for the cheers, Rivi!), and I was running a decent pace. The first miles were as follows-8:45 (with a very long uphill over a bridge) 8:30 (another bridge) 8:15-felt good and sustainable, 8:00- this was a bit quick so I eased back, then I settled into 8:10-8:30 for the next several miles. My quads were a bit tired, but, my stride was good and my effort was easy but quick. I was having a blast. At about mile 8 I felt a little fatigue in the legs, but a swig of EFS liquid shot made me feel better. I hit mile 10 and took another swig of EFS and instantly puked. I heaved, stepped, heaved, stepped. I remember thinking that it would be really cool for someone to see me moving and puking because it takes a tough mutha effa to puke and rally. Because the same thing happened at IMFL last year, I knew I’d be ok. After the heaves stopped, I walked a bit until my stomach settled then continued running. I started the second lap not feeling too good. I walked up the bridge and felt like I wanted to die. I wondered how the hell I was going to finish this thing running. I had just blown up and felt very low. I began a lot of positive self talk and trudged on. I walked when my stomach would hurt and ran when I felt better. I hit and aid station and had an epiphany. I had just bonked hard and needed sugar and salt. I drank cola and chicken broth at the aid station and was instantly better. Holy crap! The turnaround was amazing. I was back from the dead. My mental approach was now to run from aid station to aid station walking through each one to take in cola and water and occasionally broth. Because of this approach, the latter portion of the run was a blast despite my shredded legs. I cheered other participants on, cut up with the crowd, had a chance to cheer on Tanzy and Leann, and enjoyed the quiet sounds of my feet hitting the pavement when the course left town. The final time through the crowds in downtown I egged people on by putting my hand to my ear and pumping my fist in the air. I ran over the bridges the final time and turned down the finishing chute. The chute was lined with people and I slapped about 1000 hands. The crowd was awesome. I came down the chute, pumped my fist in the air, and became emotional. I had survived and persevered through some very low points to finish strong. I clawed my way back from mistakes and stubbornly refused to lie down even though every fiber in my body was telling me otherwise. The difficulty of the day made the victory incredible. The day was hard, the day was incredible.

B2B was simply awesome. It had the environment of a WTC event without all the bullshit. I did IMFL in 2009 and can say that B2B was better than IMFL. It is big enough to have the excitement of a large event, but small enough so that the race can be enjoyed without huge lines and tons of drafting. I am glad that there are high quality alternatives to WTC races.