Beach2Battleship Half Iron Distance Triathlon : Official Thread (Page 8)

You forgot to mention that you narrowly avoided a crash on the bike. Just after you said hi and passed me, I saw how that girl in front of me (cute blonde with long hair) weaved left and almost clipped you as you passed. Sounds like that was the least of your worries though. Glad you got it done, thanks for the bike course encouragement.

I got to hear about your bike mishap from Daryn at our small BT gathering. Now that is a real friend right there. As for being amused at only meeting online before, my family has seen the fruits of BT with Fred's gift of the bike, and last night Daryn made sure I left NC with a finisher's medal, not sure how long it would be until mine was mailed to me, so I have a "loaner" for my first HIM.

With everyone leaving town, a Sunday night gathering was probably not ideal, but Paula and Daryn were well fed by our crew here. I got to meet BT folks at the expo, swim start, bike course, run course, finish line, bike pickup, and brunch. I stick out like a sore thumb with my size and of course, doughboy on board gear, so I'm glad everyone said hi.

I had a great day!  The swim was pretty uneventful outside of having my 310xt knocked off my wrist about 1 minute into the swim.  Obviously the rest of the day was blind for data and I did the entire event on perceived effort.  The major upside of that was it forced me to be a bit more social on the bike as I kept asking other guys in my AG what our speed was since I had no clue!  Even though I didn't realize it until I read this post, one of them was d00d!  

We ended up riding within striking distance of each other for the last 40 miles of the bike course.  I too was a bit confused by the turn for the half, but I followed guys I knew were half competitors and made it through okay, otherwise I might have missed it.

d00d SMOKED me on the run, but I gave it all I had trying to reel him back in.  That funky turn wasn't much of an issue since I thought the race director did a good job explaining it in the pre-race meeting.  All and all a spectacular event.

Here's a shot of d00d and I accepting our AG awards... I think I'm saying: "One stinking minute!"

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What an awesome day! I got to meet a ton of new BTers, saw old friends, made new ones, and had a wonderful time.

Jason and I become good buddies on the bike...He told me about how Banks Channel was a graveyard for his Garmin, and I told him my nose hurt b/c somebody punched me on the swim! Then, he got all competitive and dropped me in the final miles.

Then, we had two seconds to bond while I passed him back on the run. Smoked? Ha! I just had to make up the beat down you put down on the swim!

Afterwards, I was shocked to see that I was the top 35-39AG finisher! First AG win in any tri! I was glad to see Jason get second! One minute!

Had a blast hanging out with Louiskie, Qrkid, and saw japarker and other BTers out there racing hard! 

Great race and I'm a big fan. Deciding whether or not to do the full next year.

Ready, Alan?

Do it...you know you wanna! :-)

Anyone else notice all the Suck it up, HTFU Alan Parker signs on that run course. i liked the pick it up this is not IM Louisville one.

Thanks to Stacey ( sci ) and Mandy "Iron" Midgett for those signs...........hope they made everyone's day!!

d00d:  I was thinking IM Florida next year, but just may stay closer to home, save some dough, and race B2B Full with you!!!!!

I noticed them, too! Alan had some nice support out there!

One of the funny signs, which was in a different section of the run, said "Nice Stamina, Call Me". I've seen that one before, but that one made me LOL this time, too.

I did hate seeing the Full mile markers on the run. They were always ahead of the Half. When I hit Full marker 8, i still had to run another while before I hit the Half marker 8. It was like a double whammy! Almost like a clock ticking backwards!

I forgot all about the double run of the triangle, and when I saw the half mile 9, I was temporarily very distressed, since I knew I was nowhere close to 9 miles, and had no idea how I would have missed such a huge part of the course. Glad I got it sorted out before I back tracked.

Ah, bunk...OK, here goes.

Oh, and funny story to accompany this pic:

After the race, I told me wife I thought I had won my AG. She looked at me with a concerned face and said, "Um, sweetie, maybe you need to go check again." Ha!! 

I never heard him say that (not doubting that he did, just that the only people who would have heard it were those lined up at that time- I was in a portajohn so not paying attention to the RD at that point), but I did hear him say VERY clearly at the pre-race meeting that you HAD to go around that big orange bouy (only the one at the turn- not the others). If you didn't you could just cut the corner and would have saved, maybe, 1/3 of the distance. If he changed the rules on race morning that is pretty unclear and he should have done a better job with making sure people knew he had changed his mind. Maybe I misunderstand though.

Hmm, OK. So because the first 200 people had a hard time you change the rules for the rest of the race? Seems pretty odd to me. The current wasn't THAT strong- not stronger than last year so I don't get it. But OK. Glad it worked out for you- thats a pleasant start to the day! :-)

He did mis-speak.  When I heard him, I thought that what he said made no sense and totally opposite of what we were told in the meeting, so I kept it to my left, per the meeting and the maps on the website.   Fortunately, most people were so excited to hear that the current was running at 3 knots, they didn't pay attention to anything else he said!!

First 70.3 race! The swim and the bike were great -- managed to be the second overall swimmer and got beat by only one guy (of course, now I know I could have gone 23 seconds faster - man!). I was thinking on the bike "wow, this is fun - I could keep doing these races." Then the run. Not so great. Should've taken in more nutrition, but it was a good learning experience (minus feeling like I was going to die the last three miles). What did others do nutrition wise on the run? At the finish line, I told my friends to "remind me of how horrible I feel now" because I knew I would be in a different mindset a little while after. And now, I'm already thinking about the next race. Debating trying a full or maybe doing another half to sort out the run.

About the swim -- friends who had done B2B in prior years insisted that there was not a mandatory turn buoy. However, the RD said that there was at the meeting on Friday. Then, the morning of, they announced (during each wave) that we didn't have to turn around the buoy and they recommended that we keep it on our right (instead of the "required" left. Maybe they change it from required to not required every year the morning of? That seems silly. Maybe in the future it will just be a point-to-point swim (and however you get from point to point is up to you).

1st in the 30-34F!!!  Yea, you should move up to the full!!!

Congratulations!!

Just getting over to the BT page, what a great day for a race and what an amazing experience.  My first half and got 4th in Masters.  I had not placed high enough for masters all year.

Congrats everyone! 

Yes, I absolutely swear by customized inifnit formula and sportslegs!  Liquid nutrition is the easiest to consume/digest and I KNOW that I'm getting the right balance of calories and electrolytes.  I do like a bit of solid nutrition on the bike, so I rotate Infinit with a Larabar or Honey Stinger Waffle.  Digestion usually shuts once getting into the run of an IM (at least for me), so I take in plenty on the bike, then back off the nutrition on the run.  I've never ever had muscle cramps during a race.

What did you use for nutrition on the run?  This is the one area that I have not nailed down yet.  I do great with liquids on the bike but can't handle gels or HEED on the run.

Neither have I!  Last year at IMFL, I was so sick of drinking Infinit by the time I got to the run, I didn't want any more of it.  I picked a few things from aid stations and drank water/chicken broth.  But digestion shut down so I took in nothing but water for the second half of the run. 

This year, I only had a couple of Chocolate Agave #9 energy gels (slow burn) in my pocket and picked at the aid stations and drank chicken broth again.  I do not drink Heed at all (blech!); only water or chicken broth.  It's hard to figure out, but once digestion shuts down, there is no sense in forcing down nutrition, it'll just come back up.

For Halfs, I'd just use a couple of gels chased down with water.  But if you can't stomach gels, I bet you'd do well with a Honey Stinger Waffle (YUM!).