Beach to Battleship HIM - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Wilmington, North Carolina
United States
Set Up Events
38F / 3C
Sunny
Total Time = 5h 27m 58s
Overall Rank = 16/163
Age Group = F40-44
Age Group Rank = 3/27
Pre-race routine:

Woke up around 5 and ate my usual pre-race bagel and peanut butter. Loaded up the van and head down the beach around 6am. No rush since my wave didn't start until 8:50! After turning in my bags and setting up my transition area, Jeff, Tommy and I drove down the beach to watch the Full Ironman participants swim by. We stood on a high dock almost directly across from the boat carrying the yellow squiggly man and watched all the swimmers fly by. Also saw a lot of swimmers swimming WAY off course. They must not have been at the race meeting when the RD said "touch the boat with the yellow man with your left shoulder as you go by" because a lot of the them were way far right of the turn. Anyway, this was great reconnaissance and helped my swim immensely!
Event warmup:

Wiggling into my wetsuit, neoprene socks and hat.
Swim
  • 27m 8s
  • 2078 yards
  • 01m 18s / 100 yards
Comments:

Horn blew and I took off the for squiggly man. It was a little choppy and I had to be careful not to swallow too much water. I swam straight for the boat w/ the yellow man and started to worry that I was getting too close. I didn't want a wave to know be into the boat! After passing the boat, I could only see one other purple cap (my wave wore purple caps) in front of me so I sighted b/n her and the channel markers. I decided to use the channel markers and not the buoys for sighting b/c the buoys seemed to be all over the place. It is a little confusing after the first turn and I was happy to finally see the other squiggly man on the dock.

Had to actually fight the current in order to not blow past the ladders at the marina. Climbed up the ladder and ran for the strippers. God Bless the strippers!!
What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Transition 1
  • 04m 30s
Comments:

LONG, painful run from the swim exit to T1. Running on asphalt and concrete with cold feet is extremely painful. At one point I jumped on the grass until I heard someone say 'watch out for sand spurs'. Yikes -- Back onto the concrete!

Once in T1 I decided to go with just a vest. Left the arm warmers behind. I had put 'toastie' warmers in with my socks and shoes so they were nice and warm when I put them on (dumped the toasties before putting on shoes). Fumbled around a little bit b/c I was cold but, otherwise, an okay transition.
What would you do differently?:

Not wear the vest.
Bike
  • 2h 50m 27s
  • 56 miles
  • 19.71 mile/hr
Comments:

This is the split from my pt. Started out feeling very sluggish and never got into a real groove. Half my aero bottle of Infinit spilled out when I hit a pot hole before ever leaving Wrightsville beach. So I was getting very thirsty before I got to the first water hand off at mile 30. I did resort to drinking concentrated Infinit. Luckily, that didn't come back to bite me!

For all my worrying about the cold, it was never an issue. I shed my vest at the first water stop and felt great. The first 2/3 of the ride seemed to fly by. I was only passed by two other females and a hand full of men. Was looking forward to flying back down 421 to the Battleship like last year. Unfortunately, a steady headwind foiled that plan.. Had hoped to go closer to 2:45 but no such luck. Oh well, still a good ride.

Had planned to keep power at 135. NP ended up being 132. A little low. I'm okay with that. Rather be undercooked than overcooked!
What would you do differently?:

Push a little harder on the way back.
Transition 2
  • 01m 59s
Comments:

Ran into transition and handed my bike to the volunteer. Took a few moments for them to figure out where my transition spot was located. Found my spot, switched shoes, put on my garmin, grabbed my gels/beans and took off.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Run
  • 2h 03m 20s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 09m 25s  min/mile
Comments:

Leaving transition, I immediately started looking for a port-a-john. Saw a row of about 6 up on the left. Ran up to them, and lo and behold, they were all full! So I waited for a few moments, cussed and started to run off. Decided I better turn around and wait b/c my bladder was about to bust and there were no bushes until around mile 5. Ran back to the port-a-johns danced around a little more until the spectators finally came out! WTF?!?! I was pissed (no pun intended).
Anyway, after that fiasco I took off running. Legs felt really good from the start. I looked down and I was running 8:20 -- whoa girl, slow down! I knew I was going too fast. I had to really work to keep the pace down the first 3 miles. I felt like I was crawling! But after a while I settled into a nice pace. I saw Jeff and Tommy at mile 3 Took a gel at mile 2, 6 and 9. At mile 11 I broke out my extreme Sport Beans and they provided just the boost I needed. I LOVE those things. Ran into nuthouse on the bridge back to transition and we ran together for a bit. I was in a world of hurt but I refused to stop. My goal for this run was sub 2-hrs and NO WALKING. I succeeded in not walking but I still didn't break 2 hrs. -aargh! Darn potty break!
What would you do differently?:

Learn to pee on the bike.
Post race
Warm down:

Crossed the finish line and stumbled around a bit before finding Jeff and Tommy.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Nothing. Did the best I could on that day.

Event comments:

Overall, a great race. No transportation problems this year. Hopped right on the bus back to town without a wait. I'll definitely be back. Maybe I'll even tackle the Full?!?!?




Last updated: 2009-01-08 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:27:08 | 2078 yards | 01m 18s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/27
Overall: 23/163
Performance: Good
Suit: Zoot Zenith
Course: Point-to-point in Banks Channel with the current.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 67F / 19C Current: High
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Average Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 04:30
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
02:50:27 | 56 miles | 19.71 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/27
Overall: 14/163
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: Mostly flat cross between a lollipop, out-and-back and point-to-point. ;)
Road: Smooth  Cadence: 88
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:59
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
02:03:20 | 13.1 miles | 09m 25s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/27
Overall: 29/163
Performance: Good
1 01m 55s 0.07 miles 29m 13s /mile 2 00m 02s 0.00 miles 07m 18s /mile 3 08m 37s 1.00 miles 08m 37s /mile 4 08m 56s 1.00 miles 08m 56s /mile 5 09m 08s 1.00 miles 09m 08s /mile 6 09m 06s 1.00 miles 09m 06s /mile 7 09m 00s 1.00 miles 09m /mile 8 09m 05s 1.00 miles 09m 05s /mile 9 09m 11s 1.00 miles 09m 11s /mile 10 09m 02s 1.00 miles 09m 02s /mile 11 09m 16s 1.00 miles 09m 16s /mile 12 09m 22s 1.00 miles 09m 22s /mile 13 09m 19s 1.00 miles 09m 19s /mile 14 09m 23s 1.00 miles 09m 23s /mile 15 09m 12s 1.00 miles 09m 12s /mile 16 03m 06s 0.31 miles 09m 58s /mile
Course: Out and back. Over 2 bridges, through downtown , out to Greenfield Lake and back.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5