Beach2Battleship Iron Distance Triathlon - TriathlonFull Ironman

Only a bit of contact at the beginning. They make everyone start through a relatively narrow gate on the beach so there weren't too many people starting in the water at the same time. Swam mostly with my head above water the first 200 then found a groove. Drafted some but not for more than a minute or two at a time. Made a few navigation mistakes looking back at it but swimming is my relative strength and I wanted to just finish and not burn any matches. The tide was a huge bonus. I've had a recent swimming break though but went 1:10 in 2010 with slack tide.

navigate better

Took my time here and used the restroom. Full change and loaded up nutrition. Took some more time to say hi to the family who had a heck of a time getting to T1 due to traffic. Saw that my little boys had made a couple "go Daddy" signs and seeing those was probably better than seeing the finish line in retrospect. So it set a good mood for the start of the bike.

Easy to gain time here but I wasn't counting minutes for this race.

Started the bike trying to ride at granny pace but HR wasn't coming down. Thought I could have been coming down with something or just excited to be in the race. I'm typically a FOP swimmer and and MOP cyclist so I get passed a lot which may have caused me to try to go harder and 'keep-up'. After about an hour, the HR finally came down some and I was right on track and finished the first infinit bottle at the 21 mile aid station. Stopped to fill up with water and mix another bottle. Also had half a power bar knowing I was pretty lean with breakfast. Actually probably felt the best on the course around mile 40. I thought special needs was a mile 50, but it was actually 55 so I thought I might have missed it... but finally arrived and filled bottles then took another restroom trip. Also had an uncrustable PB&J. The stop was about 7 minutes but I remember looking at the avg mph right before I stopped and then right after I started and lost almost 1 mph avg. That was disappointing but pressed on feeling fresh.

Started to get a bit rough around mile 60 so took a stinger waffle. Then around mile 70 or 80 was probably the low point. I wasn't making up any time from the stops and likely fighting the winds. Had to pee again about mile 80 but held it until the mile 87 rest stop. Filled bottles again and set-off. The light at the end of the tunnel was getting brighter to make it to 112 which kept me going. Didn't need to stop again until the convention center. I came off the bike about 25 minutes behind my goal pace and what I road in 2010. Good news is I was able to follow my nutrition plan and had ~6 bottles of infinit, 1 power bar, 1 stinger waffle, and 1 uncrustable PB&J.

Manage HR better

Took my time here again. Felt woozy coming off the bike and didn't have any hustle. It was interesting being "inside" a building for a transition. Took a restroom break in a 'normal' bathroom inside and remember thinking "am I in a race?". Actually washed my hands in the sink. After changing, I still didn't feel well but remembered someone told me "T2 is where many Ironman dreams die". So I told myself hurry up and just get out there on the 26.2 journey. Saw the family right outside T2 and stop to chat for a few... I tried to look like I felt better than I did, and then set off.

Once again, more free time to be gained here with a bit of hustle.

My original goal was 12:59 but I admittedly gave up that goal after feeling poorly on the bike. I changed my watch from using a 4:30/1 run walk to a 4:30/2 right at the beginning with focus on not blowing up and being able to run/walk the entire way. I had a bad experience on the run here in 2010 and didn't want to duplicate mistakes. Turns out the run/walk method worked great. After the first 2 miles, I started to feel better and wanted to just run and run faster, but I held back knowing there was a long way to go. Made the first 10k feeling pretty good but reserved. Was taking on infinit as the main nutrition source. Nothing remarkable on the 2nd 10k just kept moving on keeping with the run/walk strategy. Made it to the special needs turnaround and saw the family again. Stop to chat and say hi. Took more infinit on and my long sleeve top which I wrapped around my waist and never used.

Heading back out after seeing the finish line was tough, but I felt much better than I did in 2010 so it didn't bother me as much. I changed the run/walk to 4/2 and kept plugging along. The section along the river after the riverwalk and the houses is probably the toughest. No scenery other than industrial buildings. Started chicken broth about mile 15 and kept looking for the triangle which finally came and I saw a few ambulances which I didn't like. Kept plugging along and it seemed like a long stretch to the turn around but I knew if I could make it there, I was home free. It finally arrived and I started to think about just trying to run it out from there. I increased the pace some but was meet with feeling worse so I pulled back and kept the run/walk. Actually, a few times I felt worse when I started walking but stayed the course and tried to be consistent. It felt good to make it past the last triangle and "head home". Still tried to push some the last 4 miles but wasn't able to find the gear but was comfortable I was going to beat 14 hrs. I got to the last 800 meters and enjoyed every minute of it. I was running, felt good and had the feeling of exhilaration which I expected from an IM but did not have in 2010. Crossed the finish line with a big smile and embraced the moment.

I left some out of the course but enjoyed the journey much more this time and had a PR by just over 1 hr... so nothing.

Met with the family and thanked them for supporting me on what was an equally long day for my wife and two little boys. The finish in downtown Wilmington was much better than at the battleship in my opinion. This could be because I finished a lot earlier but the music, more people cheering, and the concessions were great....I even stopped and bought a few extra souvenirs. Made it back to the hotel and took an ice bath. Also went to the athlete breakfast the following day at the battleship which had terrific food.


Mental obstacles.


This race has logistical challenges but Set-up does a great job of helping you manage them. There was plenty of support and fantastic volunteers. The pre and post events were terrific.