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Beach2Battleship
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Beach2Battleship - TriathlonFull Ironman
View Member's Race Log View other race reports
 Swim
Comments: Although I was no longer worried about the cold I still had some major anxiety about the swim. The mass start of 500+ racers, temperature, my training.....everything seemed to just hit me at once. The National Anthem (still pisses me off when people disregard it, most don't but many do, and for the record, I'm the asshole that will always say hey dude, do you mind) passed then we all were herded into the corral for the mass start. Just before the start they began playing Eminem's song "Lose Yourself" I never have really listened to the lyrics until then and was surprised how appropriate it was. Kinda summed it all up for me. Horn goes off.....back to reality. The first 100 yards to the turn buoy into the river channel was chaos. I held my ground and swam through it. Once I made the right turn I immediately relaxed and fell into my rhythm. I could tell the current was pushing me. My sighting sucked, and probably added several minutes to my time. After about 20 minutes I realized the full suit was absolutly the right decision. The additional buoyance, combined with additional warmth was a major improvement over the sleeveless. This boosted my confidence 110%. Before I knew it I was at the ladders climbing out of the water and was immedaitely attacked by the wetsuit strippers. I looked at my watch and couldn't believe my eyes. The run to the transition area was looooong but I really didn't care. I just swam 2.4 miles in one hour and change. So much better than the 1:45 I was expecting. This was turning out to be a great day! What would you do differently?: Nothing!  Transition 1
Comments: Transition time? Who cares. Loooooong run to the transition area, grabbed my bag from the rack and went into the changing tent. The changing tent was commical chaos. I found a chair, dried off, changed out of my wet shorts, took time drying off. Donned my tri top bike shorts, arm warmers, knee warmers, socks, shoes, and gloves. Threw my wet suit back in the bag, and grabbed my bike. It all seemed to go by in a flash. What would you do differently?: Nothing  Bike
Comments: The first 56 miles went by in a flash. The wind was alittle irritating, but not a major issue. Although I was not hauling ass I did continue to steadily pass people for the first half. I think after 56 miles the bike seeding was probably set. Around mile 60 one of my bottle cages came loose and began flopping around. The noise was irritating plus it kept rubbing my leg so I stopped took it off and disgarded it, and pee'd in the woods. Probably cost me 5 min. No big deal. The remainder of the ride was uneventful until mile 108. Believe it or not I ran over a nail and flatted. WTF.. Jumped off my bike, and changed the tube out (glad I practiced that) pee'd again, and back on my way. That probably cost me another 5-8 minutes. No biggie. My bike time was slower than I thought it should have been but I was sticking to my my HR plan. What would you do differently?: Nothing Transition 2
Comments: Back to the changing tent, or should I say viewing tent. Funny the guy next to me in the tent, butt naked, talking to his wife who was standing in the door. Oh well, if in Rome....... What would you do differently?: Nothing  Run
Comments: Ahhh the run. I have to look at this as Run part 1 and part 2 as each lap were completly different experiences for me. Loop 1. Perfect. Eased into my rhythm and pace easily, hr under 130 everything under control. I couldn't believe how good I felt. As I was crossing over the large draw bridge I realized my first lap was going to be under 2:00 hours. As I started doing the math in my head I realized I was on target for a finish of 11:30ish! My first lap time was 1:55:45. Loop 2 started just like loop 1. The first three miles just ticked off. As I walked through the mile 16 aid station to take a gel I began to feel my right IT band start to tighten up. I've been through this before, no problem, just stop stretch, slow the pace down until it begins to relax. Never happened. It just worsened to point of sheer agony. As a matter of fact I walked more than I ran. Finishing was never an issue, however as I walked I began to see my finish time beging moving ito the 12's. I couldn't believe it. In no way is this race soley defined by the second part of the run for me, but it was frustrating. As I was walking I just realized it's all part of the experience. As I was limping in to the last miles I began to pass runners just starting their second lap and immediately began to feel better, mentally at least. Crossing the finish line was awesome. What would you do differently?: Nothing! Post race
Warm down: Walked over to the transition area to retrieve my special needs bags to find some warm clothing. I was freezing. After about a hour of searching for transportation back to the swim start I realized there wasn't any (I guess I missed that part). Since I was by myself at this race I decided to call a cab to take me to my car. I then drove back to the finish line retrieved my gear. My right IT Band was aching so I decided to leave and go back to the hotel. What limited your ability to perform faster: There are always thing that inhibit our performance. I could probably think of hundreds of nit picky things that would make me faster but I'm not going to. I would not have it any other way. This was a perfect race. Event comments: What a great way to finish an awesome race season. Last updated: 2008-01-13 12:00 AM
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 2008-11-03 1:22 PM |
Expert  862    BFE |  Subject: Beach2Battleship |
| 2008-11-03 1:44 PM in reply to: #1783940 |
Elite 2998 Fishers, Indiana | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship Congratulations!! You did GREAT out there and wise move with the wetsuit too!! You were well trained for this and it shows! Congrats Ironman! |
| 2008-11-03 1:54 PM in reply to: #1783940 |
Extreme Veteran 326 | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship Falls-Runner, Great Race! Hate it about the nail and the IT problems. Also, GREAT decision and price on the wetsuit. I bought a pair of the neoprene booties for the run to T1. I am in the north part of Gainesville and am always looking for someone to train with. I have a really good friend up in Dahlonega (Leland Cox). PS: Agree with you 100% on the National Anthem! |
| 2008-11-03 2:03 PM in reply to: #1783940 |
Expert 749 | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship My husband thought about a sleveless too, until the practice swim. Luckily he had brought both along & was really glad to have worn the full! I had to laugh about the 'viewing' tent - I was one of the spectators out there in the grass right by the tent. I had the kids so I needed an open space for them to run around, but I wanted to make sure I saw my husband come off the bike so we chose that spot. We were there for 10 min. or so before I noticed the naked butts everywhere! Had to keep the kids away from the fence!!! Great race out there!!!! |
| 2008-11-03 2:09 PM in reply to: #1783940 |
Master 2021 Alpharetta, GA | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship WOW, great job!! Congrats on the finish, and pushing through the IT band (even though that was not going to be an issue for you to finish). Very impressive swim time (and price on the wetsuite)! Just flying. |
| 2008-11-03 3:01 PM in reply to: #1783940 |
Pro 3715 AZ | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship Awesome job David!!! Great call on the wetsuit! And what a super swim time!!! Bummer that you got the flat so close to the end, but you just did what you had to do and kept going. Glad to hear you had an awesome first lap, and then as the wheels started falling off the bus on loop 2 you did what you had to do again to get to the finish! Even having to walk that much you still ended up with an awesome race time!!!! STUD! |
| 2008-11-03 3:16 PM in reply to: #1783940 |
Extreme Veteran 441 Roswell, GA | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship Good job dude. We both got our first out of the way and despite issues we still made it. Now we need to kill #2! |
| 2008-11-03 4:19 PM in reply to: #1783940 |
Elite 2796 Texas | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship |
| 2008-11-03 4:27 PM in reply to: #1783940 |
Master 2379 Alpharetta, GA | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship Great RR, David and fantastic job out there!! |
| 2008-11-03 4:39 PM in reply to: #1783940 |
Master 1741 Chapel Hill, NC | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship Wow, great race report and great time despite water bottle issues and flat tire and HTFUing thru it band pain. Great job! |
| 2008-11-03 7:57 PM in reply to: #1783940 |
Veteran 293 | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship Great job out there. Flats suck, I got mine at mile 13 on 421. Cost me 30 minutes changing a tubular. Way to stick with that run. YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!! |
| 2008-11-03 9:41 PM in reply to: #1783940 |
| Extreme Veteran 353 Randleman, NC | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship Awesome job Falls-Runner! We ALL learned something on that run course. Way to push through. Good call on the wetsuit! |
| 2008-11-03 9:48 PM in reply to: #1783940 |
Expert 1205 Herndon VA | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship Congratulations! Bummer about the troubles on the bike but way to stick it out on the second loop of the run. It was great to meet you. Ernie |
| 2008-11-03 10:09 PM in reply to: #1783940 |
Pro 4216 Sous Mon Diadème | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship Great call on the wet suit and dealing with the stupideyhead tire (mile 108?? Oh, that just seems kinda cruel but I'm sure you were cool as could be). Fantastic race and yay for you that you nailed the nutrition and felt well trained. For the record, I'm a most excellent jockstrapper... I have mad skillz when it comes to jockstrapping and I can fetch cars! Congratulations, Ironman! |
| 2008-11-04 7:05 AM in reply to: #1785475 |
Master 2638 | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship Awesome race! Way to power through all of the issues that came up! : ) FWIW, my IT band flares up when I get too cold also - maybe tights next time. |
| 2008-11-04 7:15 AM in reply to: #1783940 |
Master 1432 Woodstock | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship Awesome race David! You dealt with some issues and stuck to the plan and still had a very solid time. Congrats on your first IM! |
| 2008-11-04 7:38 AM in reply to: #1783940 |
Master 2125 | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship Great race. I have nothing really to add that others haven't commented on. |
| 2008-11-04 7:42 AM in reply to: #1783940 |
Master 1888 Winder, GA | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship Way to go, David! Your training has been great and it definitely showed in the results! You nailed this race, congrats on a great day! |
| 2008-11-04 8:24 AM in reply to: #1783940 |
Champion 7704 Williamston, Michigan | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship Awesome job congratulations Ironman!!! |
| 2008-11-04 10:22 AM in reply to: #1783940 |
Pro 3883 Woodstock,GA | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship Great job David! All that mountain riding paid off on the flats of NC. Sounds like a great race, glad that you had fun. |
| 2008-11-04 12:58 PM in reply to: #1786306 |
Master 1201 Woodstock, GA | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship Great Job! That is what I expected though. |
| 2008-11-04 1:20 PM in reply to: #1783940 |
Member 239 Apex, NC | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship Glad your race went well. It was good to meet you - even briefly - at the dinner. |
| 2008-11-04 3:36 PM in reply to: #1783940 |
Champion 5529 Nashville, TN | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship Great job David. Welcome to the madness. Congrats on the great race. |
| 2008-11-10 1:19 PM in reply to: #1783940 |
Expert 882 Marietta, GA | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship I'm a little late here, but just having a chance to read your race report. Sounds like a near-perfect day, incredible race! Congratulations Ironman!! |
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50isF / 0C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 177/
Age Group = Military
Age Group Rank = 8/
Woke up at 4 am, ate a bowl of cereal, a bagel, and 20oz of perpetuem. Did one final check of my equipment and made the 20 minute drive to Wrightsville Beach. Since this was a point to point race with two different transition locations logistics were a little complicated. This would also prove costly to the tune of a $30 cab ride to pick up my car after the race
Arrived a little after 5 am. Since I was early I was able to find a parking place right by the Swim/Bike transition area. Dropped off my special needs bags, dropped off my bike nutrition, and jumped on the first bus to the swim start.
I arrived at the swim start about an hour before the race start. I slow jogged/walked about a mile to stay warm trying to calm my nerves about the swim and my decision to use a full suit rather than my sleeveless. After the practice swim the day prior I had major concerns about circulation and my ability to retain body heat. Over the years in my work in the mountains I have experienced hypothermic symptoms several times as well as superficial frostbite. Although I have never sustained any permanent damage from these injuries I know first hand how dibilitating these injuries can be. It took several hours after the practice swim for me to warm up so.... I went to the expo purchased a 2XU full wetsuit that was on sale for $130.00. I understand the mantra of not trying anything new on race day but I also understand that if something is not working you have to fix it.
About 30 minutes out I began the process of putting on my wetsuit. Once I got into the suit I went up to the beach and eased into the water. The air temperature was several degrees warmer than the day before but it still in the mid 40's. The water temp was 67.