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Beach2Battleship Iron Distance Triathlon
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Beach2Battleship Iron Distance Triathlon - TriathlonFull Ironman
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 Swim
Comments: for the first 500 meters or so it was too thick to even swim effectively. you could not make 5 strokes without bumping into someone. this was my first ironman and first shotgun start. i breathe on my right side and this was a problem since the sun was rising on my right. to sight i would have to look left or straight ahead. this caused me to take in salt water. the salt water and the choppy current (boats, wind, etc) caused me to get a little queasy for a minute. i focused on my form and getting good long strokes. my breathing was very good and effortless. i did not push myself during the swim. i had some calf cramping (maybe i should have warmed up?!?). my sighting was awful - i think i zig zagged pretty much the entire course, causing me to swim 2.7 miles or so. i do not think i swam a straight line longer than 100 m at a time, if that long. the 2nd half of my swim was more effective. i got kicked in the head about 100 m from the finish and this really threw me for a loop. my hands, feet and head (even with the neoprene cap) were numb. i finally made it to the ladder. i had decided on friday that i would take my wetsuit off immediately. i did that and boy was it a mistake. i was now freezing....and i had to run 300 - 400 yards in wet trishorts. What would you do differently?: sight better, warm up, swim in a straight line and pray for a current. i will wear gloves as well. not sure if i will use swim socks next time.  Transition 1
Comments: good wetsuit stripper - thanks. my head was spinning and it must have been obvious as numerous people asked me if i was ok. i could not think effectively and i had trouble completing the simpliest of tasks. no, i did not take a nap or read a book in T1. my hands were so cold they were not working very well as i was tring to put on my socks, etc. i dedcided not to wear arm or leg warmers. i put on a long sleeve compression shirt, a tri top, and a bike racing top. i had gloves that came in handy. i had to stop and pee before leaving T1. What would you do differently?: speed up. organize my t1 bag much better. get more of a sense of urgency. this is the one area that i feel i could have really made up some time.  Bike
Comments: the first 20 miles or so were mind blowingly cold. i started my regimen of nutrition. my plan was every 15 minutes i would have a shot of gel (3 flasks on me) and then every hour i would have a banana or a power bar. i had 3 of each on my bike. i was constantly drinking water. on friday afternoon i peeled 3 bananas and put each one in a ziplock bag. when i needed a banana, i would pull out a bag, bit off a corner and then suck the banana out. i had done this in training and it worked wonderfully for me. i would eat an antacid every 2 hours or so to prevent any GI issues. i had some gatorade endurance on my bike and a aerobottle of water. i picked up water at most aid stations. i had to pee around mile 31 and i decided to hold it until the special needs at mile 51. the first 2/3 of the race there was a tough headwind. everything i read about this race was the last 1/3 was the strong headwind so i was determined to save my legs for that portion of the ride. turns out we had a tailwind from mile 74 or so - hwy 421 back into town. during this 38 mile portion of the ride i averaged more than 22 mph. i was able to push up the speed with minimal effort and a low hr. What would you do differently?: push myself more early in the ride Transition 2
Comments: t2 was not well organized. no one was there to take my bike and i had to find my own t2 bag after they looked for it for 15 - 20 seconds without any success. i had not been to t2 before i pulled in that day, and i will know next time. i did not know what to do with my t2 bag and i did not know which direction to run. i had to ask someone twice as to what to do with my bag and which direction to go. i stopped to pee. What would you do differently?: scout out t2 next time and not wait on the volunteers to try to locate my bag - i would just do it myself.  Run
Comments: i keep my long sleeve compression shirt and trishrit on. i took my fuelbelt so i could drink water when i wanted to. i never stopped running, but i would slow down to get 2 bottles filled up at aid stations as needed. i started out very fast averaging 8:10 per mile for the 1st 5 miles. i thought i needed to slow down as i was concerned about maintaining that pace. i slowed down for maybe one tenth of a mile and i found this to be counterproductive. so i went back to the quicker pace. i was knocking out the miles and i took a gel every 3 miles. i did this for the first 12 miles and then i ate 1/2 a banana every 2 miles or so. i was drinking water constantly and i decided to quit eating around mile 20 as i thought i had enough nutrition to finish the race. i brought the race up into 4 segments, out, back, out again, and back again. this proved to be an effective way on breaking up a much longer run into 4 shorter managable segements. i only got the note from my wife out of the special needs bag. i struggled a bit in the last 6 miles or so but was still able to manage sub 9 min per mile pace. i was underwhelmed by the finishers chute. but i was very glad to get the race over with. i never hit the wall like i was expecting to do so. i had been preparing myself for this moment the entire run, and i was all to happy that it never came. What would you do differently?: not sure i could do much better on the run. i thought it went very well. Post race
Warm down: i found my wife immediately after finishing. unfortunately one of the volunteers tepped in front of her as she snapped a photo of my crossing the finsih line. she was highly upset, and i was disappointed. the volunteer seemed to be indifferent. i wanted a massage and i was able to go right to a massage table (next time i will go to a massage table in the warming tent as they suggested). i went from sweating to shivering in a matter of minutes. when i got up i realized that my muscles were extremely sore and i was hobbling around. What limited your ability to perform faster: myself - i wish i had pushed myself a little more on the ride, but my run may have suffered as a result, so you never know. i should have been more organized in my T's Event comments: this was my 1st ironman and i thought the race was well organized especially given the logistics of T1, T2, etc. i plan to do this race again! i planned this race out as well as i could - my training, my nutrition, my clothing, etc. my execution of the plan was flawless - i had a very good day - no flats and no other equipment issues. everything that i encountered that day i was able to adapt, overcome and move on. there were no surprises and i was very lucky and fortunate. Finally - i could not have done this without the continual support of my lovely wife. her neverending support of my training, meals, laundry, early morning swims, late night rides and runs, constant crankiness, and the waves of anxiety and obession over every aspect of this race. she was my rock and she was with me every step of the way. we are a team and together we achieved this result. Last updated: 2010-11-17 12:00 AM
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{postbutton}
 2010-11-17 8:02 PM |
 14 |  Subject: Beach2Battleship Iron Distance Triathlon |
| 2010-11-18 7:31 AM in reply to: #3215925 |
Member 36  Clayton/NC | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship Iron Distance Triathlon Congrats Ironman! Very nice run!!! |
| 2010-11-18 11:00 AM in reply to: #3215925 |
Master 2490  Atlanta, Georgia Silver member | Subject: RE: Beach2Battleship Iron Distance Triathlon Fast running!! Nice day all the way around and congrats on the hardware.. |
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Sunny
Overall Rank = 59/
Age Group = cyldesdales
Age Group Rank = 3/15
i went to bed at 8 pm the night before and i was and ready to sleep. i had gotten up at 5 am on friday. i ate dinner (2 plates of plain pasta noodles) between 4 and 5 pm. i did not have any problem going to sleep. I was a little nervous, but I tired to keep reassuring myself that i had planned everything out and i was ready to go. Race morning i woke up at 5 am. i had slept rather well. i ate 2 servings of oatmeal, a bagel, and then a banana. i drank mostly water - probably 48 ounces with a little bit of gatorade. I did not go to T1 that morning. i had set up my nutrition and bike the night before. i thought i had read in the athlete booklet that they would do body marking at the beach. it states "at the beach transition area". this is one suggestion i will make for the RD for next year's race. I stayed at surf suites (great place with a kitchen at $89 per night) - less than .5 mile from the swim start. i left the condo around 6:15 and walked down there. i took some water with me to sip on. i had my wetsuit on over my legs, a sweatshirt, knit cap, socks and flipflops. when i got down there and realized that i would not be body marked, my plan was to avoid the bodymarking alltogether since i had calf compression sleeves on and i would be wearing a long sleeve compression shirt during the bike and run. i eventually got marked but through no help of any event staff. i felt good, but nervous at this time.
i did not warm up at all. i was a little rushed with the body marking mixup and then turning in my pre-race bag. i walked down to the beach start and i stood in the water for less than a minute and it was then time to get in the chute. i thought i would have 2.4 miles to get warmed up...no need to waste energy right?