Beach 2 Battleship Iron Distance : Official Thread (Page 3)

As a point of reference for those concerned about temps, figure when you get on your bike the temp will likely be high 40's to low 50's and the highs that afternoon will be around upper 60's to max mid 70's. With it being in Nov. you will not experience the high humidity normally associated with beach areas. In my opinion, it has to be the most ideal temps to do a HIM or Ironman. One thing to be aware of for those training in hot weather areas through the summer and even into Oct, since it will be so cool race day you will need to dial back your hydration and caloric needs compared to what you did during training. It might be more important for those with GI issues typically. Just my .02.

I believe there's 750 spots for the full, it sold out it's 500 spots the first year and was increased to 750 last year which didn't sell out.  The Half has sold out both years.

If you check the B2B web site, there's a link for participants for both the full and half, you can keep an eye on the numbers there on how many folks signed up so far.

Couple things:

1. Do the practice swim from Blockade Runner.  It helped me with the water temp, sighting, and the run to T1
2. Wear booties for the run to T1.  I bought mine at a scuba shop for about $10.
3. I wore a sleeveless wetsuit and I was fine.  The water isn't really cold.
4. The air temp coming out of the water is cold.  37 degrees is cold when you are soaking wet. 
5. I wore bike shorts, bike shirt, and a thin windbreaker on the bike.  I stuffed the jacket in my SN bag.
6. The weather reports leading up to the race were all over the place.  You need to have a plan for both cold and hot.
7. During the last 3-4 weeks there were enough cool days here in ATL to test my clothing and nutrition.

I can't stress the practice swim enough.  I almost didn't do it, and it had a big impact on my race day.  I sighted great, knew the water temp was fine, and knew how cold it was going to be when I went out on the bike.

For those of us that came from the northern states/provinces the temps were pretty nice.  I got away with my tri shorts (put on dry in t1), black short sleeved top and black arm warmers.  The sun was enough to keep me warm and even in the wamer part of the day I was still comfortable.  I thought the water was fine and wouldn't have even considered booties, or a neoprene swim cap.  I noticed the cold feet on our Friday practice swim after walking to T1 area, but on race day I didn't notice the cool pavement at all or have any numb feet issues while riding.  We had a cool summer and nasty fall so I had much worse weather training for B2B.

I'm glad I didn't wear any other layers, as I cruised on by SN's with no intentions of stopping unless I needed tubes or CO2 cartridges.  I was actually shocked at how much clothing some folks wore for both the ride and the run and had some fun conversations with others while on the run course as I was fine in my shorts and sleevless top, though I had a long sleeve top in SN's if needed, and did stop for a half of PB&J and a dove chocolate bar   SN's for the run is right along the course on the ground after you come back to the battleship for your second loop.

Just remember to schedule your practice swim aprox 20-30 minutes after low tide for the full iron, so you'll see what kinda of push you have on race morning when I think the tide is abit after 6:30 am.  Check tides for Masonboro Inlet.  Looking at my logs we did it at 7:15 last year on Friday morning.  I thought it was real beneficial since I wasn't familiar with the area or water ways at all.  Made race morning that much easier.

Don't forget the bike for a quick spin on Friday, the roads were nice enough to ride around in Wrightsville Beach area and make sure everything is working okay.

B2B sites says they serve HEED and energy bars.  Since I will be living off the course can anyone tell me what flavor(s) HEED and which brand of energy bars were served?