Beach2Battleship Iron Distance Triathlon - TriathlonFull Ironman

I had never done a mass start before, so to say the least, heading into the water with 700+ other people was going to be a challenge. I could not believe how often I got hit on the swim - probably 40 times at least. The positive is it forced me to keep swimming. I only stopped one time to get my bearings and didn't stop long or I'd be "swum over." Even though I was careful to use lube all over my neck, I almost immediately noticed a friction burn starting on the back of my neck. Other than the discomofort associated with that, I felt great on the swim. The current was strong and the water temperature was fantastic - both huge contradictions to the conditions the previous year at the half, where it was very cold and the current was non-existent. I swam the half in 2010 in 44:12 and did the full in 53:00. My swim effort and time buoyed my confidence going into the first transition.

I would have done a better job applying anti-friction and I would have sighted a little better at the turns. Otherwise, I was thrilled with my swim, particularly since it is my weakest event of the three, by far.

It's always a little disorienting getting out of the water after swimming any length, and swimming 2.4 miles was no different. I was staggering around as I tried to find my legs. Then the 400 yard run over pretty rough concrete to the first transition area, which wasn't that bad. All in all, everything went well and I took advantage of a warm shower area, which felt great.

Nothing, my T1 time was 90 seconds quicker than it was when I did the half ironman.

Coming out of the water, I felt great. I came out of transition pretty quickly (for me) and headed out on the bike. I threw on some arm warmers and biking gloves, as well as an extra pair of bike shorts. Finally, a light windbreaker I had purchased only two days prior due to the forecast conditions (which ended up being money very well spent). I felt great on the first ten miles of the bike and was optimistic about possibly finishing the race in under 12 hours. Then I came to a very long bridge going over I140 and the winds just ripped into us, to the point that is became difficult to keep my bike steady, and even upright. Not fun. Little did I know it at the time, but these winds were going to punish us for the next 70 miles. My cadence had to stay strong to keep moving steady into the wind, but my time was suffering tremendously. I was getting passed enough that my confidence was also suffering. I limped into the special needs area at mile 51, put an ice pack on my throbbing neck and evaluated my positioon and nutrition. I hadn't taken hardly anything in because it was so windy and cold and I didn't want to get out of aero position or even take my hands off the bars. My plan was to take in at least 5,000 calories during the race and most of that needed to be on the bike. I was way behind and this was very concerning. I barely needed to restock anything at mile 51 and I had prepared to replace everything. I headed out of special needs angry and determined. I was tired of the wind and tired of getting passed and mostly, I was tired of letting the conditions dictate my race. The next 20 miles were a little better, with headwinds mixed with cross winds, but I was optimistic that the final stretch would be with a tailwind. Coming out of special needs, I thought I was going to be lucky to break 13 hours if my time continued like it was.
But I rode hard and made it to about mile 75 where we finally got a break with the winds. I was already riding strong, but when I made the turn to head back to town and felt the wind, I put the hammer down and never let up. From special needs on, I never got passed by a single rider and I passed about 40-50 during that stretch. Every time I passed someone, it gave me a surge of energy as I looked to the next person on the horizon. My neck was killing me, but each five-mile marker seemed to be coming faster and faster and I made it into the second transition in just under 6:10. Prior to the race I assumed the run would be the most challenging part of the race. Turns out the first sixty miles of the bike were definitely the most challenging. I had hoped to do the bike portion in 5:30-5:40, but after the first half out there, I was fearing it would take 7:00, so I felt good coming in close to six hours.

It was tough to get the proper nutrition down in the tough weather conditions, but I should have forced it. I'm also not sure I would have ridden the wheels that I did. They were great when the wind was favorable, but with cross winds they became hazardous.

Not much difficult about T2 - pull the bike shorts and shoes off, put on some running shoes, get your mind right, and head out for a 26.2 jaunt. I applied my second ice pack of the day on my neck - not bad considering I packed four of them and expected to use them all.

Nothing.

The run has typically been my strongest discipline (which isn't really saying much - it's more accurate to say it's my least weakest), but I had never done a marathon before, so I really didn't know what to expect, especially after riding 112 miles when the furthest I had ever ridden was 83 miles going into the race. I felt pretty good leaving transition and heading out on the two loop course. I walked up the steep bridge, but immediately started running once I got to the top. I was thrilled that I never had any cramping on the bike and thus far, my legs were responding fine to the transition from biking to running (which again, was not the case at the half distance last year). I covered my first 1/4 of the marathon in under an hour, so I was happy about that. I also got to see my family for the first time, which was awesome. The second 1/4 was back into the wind and that definitely slowed my pace and messed with my head. I was getting really, really sick of the wind. Weather reports indicated that the sustained wind was 15-20 throughout most of the day, with gusts up to 30. Not cool.
At this point I thought I had a pretty legitimate shot of getting in under 12 hours. All I had to do was manage my time and pace. Because I didn't get nearly enough nutrition on the bike, I was starving and needed some energy. All my race planning went out the window and I started eating and drinking anything and everything at the aid stations, which thankfully were every mile. I was eating cookies, chicken broth, mike and ikes (yep, no kidding), trail mix, oranges, bananas, bagels, whatever I could get my hands on that wasn't an energy gel or heed (seriously, why can't they make that stuff taste less awful - it's ridiculous). My plan became to run between each aid station, then walk through the aid stations as I took in nutrition. This worked well and other than walking up the crazy steep bridge each of the four times I came to it, I was able to do this the entire marathon. My final three quarters were relatively consistent, with splits of 1:12:28 and 1:14:10 and 1:17:44. The goal of getting in under 12 hours was the only thing that kept me going and I was obsessed with it for the entire marathon. I was grateful for the goal because it gave me something to shoot for and made any extensive walking absolutely unacceptable. As I was coming into the final three miles, I knew it was going to be close, but I never had a doubt I was going to make it. I made it with 92 seconds to spare.

Had I been able to get better nutrition on the bike, I might have been stronger on the run. I had really hoped to do thee marathon in 4:30 or better, so missing it by 12 minutes was likely due to lacking nutrition.

Oddly I felt better after finishing the full than I did the half last year. I was miserable last year. This year I just felt cold...almost immediately. I quickly found my post race gear and bundled up, but I was still freezing. All I could think about was a hot shower at that point. Got some pizza and something to drink and waited for my buddy to finish the race.


Weather conditions and lack of nutrition while on the bike. I had never biked through weather conditions that even came close to approximating what we had out there.


Awesome race - great volunteers and crowd support. Very fortunate to have such a great race, ranked five in the world, just a few hours from my house.