Sorry in advance for the length....
So, like a lot of folks, this was gonna be my first full IM race. The venue looked ideal, had a great group of pals racing, rented the perfect beach house right next to the swim start....weather looked good and the Ironman folks assured me there would be no impact from the storm. And then everything blew up Tuesday. I'll avoid the sturm and drang from elsewhere on ST in regard to the race communications and shortening the race. After about an hour of being upset, some calls/texts with my fellow racers, we all decided to race the race we were given, to paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld.
My buddy and I drove down early Wed morning, arriving in Wrightsville Beach/Wilmington about three in the afternoon. Nothing like two hydrating triathletes to discover every rest stop on the drive down from DC! Did the very early check in, did an athlete briefing and checked into our hotel (house wasn't open for guests till Thu). I got a nice five mile taper run in the still warm beach evening. Lovely, quiet beach community, but man it gets dark quick there! Light dinner at a local place and up early for the practice swim.
Thu am - gathered with about 30 or so STers for Turd Ferguson's practice swim outside the Blockade Runner. Turd is a true prince. He gave us some outstanding pointers, stood by with medical assistance if needed and guided us through about a 1500 meter practice of a little less than half the course. It really paid dividends on race day. Thanks a million Turd! I also appreciated the high fives on the run!
The rest of our crew trickled in on Thu and Friday...Bike racking on Friday was a breeze and dropping off the Bike to Run bags was also easy, although I wasn't thrilled about my nutrition baking in the still hot sun.
Friday night, I slept not at all...between race nerves and a hurricane like wind howling non-stop outside, it was a pretty miserable night. Oh, and I had to pee every ten minutes. Up at 4:30 and downed my prerace bagel, peanut butter, and banana, took care of business in the men's room, and headed out to T1 to drop off nutrition and pump up the bike tires. No drama, but man it was cold!! My buddy Jason made quite the scene in his Deadpool onesie - nice to have a little race morning humor. Luckily with our house literally a five minute walk from the swim start, we just went home and chilled out for about an hour, staying nice and warm.
The swim - needless to say, I was a bit nervous for my first 2.4 mile swim - the wait for the gun was interminable...finally, the National Anthem is sung, Mike Reilly asks "Who wants to be an Ironman today??" and it all starts happening very quickly. I had planned to stay toward the back of the swim start as I am not the strongest swimmer...but hell, the Eminem got going, the cannon goes off and I find myself going in the water in the first minute or so. Hit the water and started swimming about three steps in - got some good strokes in getting out to the first directional buoy and then the body contact started. It was a damned crowded swim for pretty much the whole time. Lotta contact, but the current was friendly and the yellow buoys seemed to come just about as fast as possible - seemed like about five our six strokes and the next buoy was upon me. Great stuff. At the half way point, I could hear the announcer getting the 70.3 folks ready for their start...checked the watch...was on pace for a good swim....despite the practice swim, I sort of lost the bead on where exactly the exit would be...seemed like there were two extra turns thrown in there...ah well...anyway, suddenly the swim exit is upon me (no wiggly guy, oh well) and other than a little bit of a wait due to traffic congestion at the exit, there's no drama. I managed not to fall off the ladder or on my face and began the long, long run to T1 grabbing a very quick shower. Swim time - 1:09:40 - way better than my projected 1:25 time.
T1 - the change tent was a steamy, sweaty mess of men changing. Some things you just can't unsee. Got my shoes on, helmet on, glasses on (they promptly steamed up) and slipped on the vest i bought the day before at the village and my arm warmers. Best decision of the day.
Bike - after a few turns, the first dreaded bridge, and some minor riding in town, we were out on the highway and BOOM the headwind hits. And hits. And hits. The previous night I figured I would hammer it a bit more on the bike and try to go for a 2:30 split...that plan went right out the window. I literally have no idea how folks running discs didn't get blown off the road between the crosswinds and brutal headwinds...kudos to them for their handling skills. At one point, we were heading uphill up a bridge with a hard headwind and I just had to laugh. On those moments where things were slack, I "made hay while the sun was shining" and tried to hammer it. Was drinking Infinit bike formula and didn't bother with either aid station, but found them to be placed at mileage points different from the briefing. Ah well. Didn't see a single ref out on the course as well, but that might have had something to do with the fact we were in the left lane of an active highway. I DID see plenty of semis blowing past us at 65 or 70 mph. Made for some interesting wind effects as well. Finally, after the turn around, we got a tailwind. My computer told me I topped out at 27 mph - frankly after the headwinds, it felt like about 100 mph...my lower back was really sore from fighting the headwinds so the tail wind gave me a nice chance to stand up and stretch. Finally got to the dreaded second bridge and damn if I didn't cross it without beefing it...like i was terrified I would. Whew. Made the right turn toward the PPD building and the convention center, dismounted and ran the bike through the cyclocross area to the hand off point, without leaving my Garmin on the bike. Found my T2 bag pretty quickly and headed to the T2 tent. Bike 3:07:38
The run - first big issue as I was jogging through the construction site was realizing that somehow one of my Infinit bottles on the fuel belt had come loose. I chose not to go back to T2 and just did a little mental calculation for what I would need to get through the first half of the run before I could get more bottles at special needs. Turns out that Gatorade Endurance, a few Clif Bloks and Base Salt worked just fine. First loop of the run was really nice - clicked off the first four miles a little too fast and deliberately slowed down as we headed out of town to the little lake community. Caught up with my buddy at mile 8 or so (he had a rocking 50 minute swim) and we ran for a few miles before he needed to walk...I kept on going, basically walking just the aid stations but running the rest at about a ten minute pace following the first four miles. At the first half, got a huge lift from having two sherpa buddies run along side and take pictures, video, shout encouragement. Amazing lift! The crowds were great in town - Thanks again Turd! Grabbed special needs a few minutes later, reloaded the fuel belt, took one bite of my Nutella sandwich before tossing it, changed my socks and was off again. The second half of the run course was pretty uneventful, just a slower and more painful version of the first. As this was also my very first marathon, I realized I was heading into the unknown...the biggest issue for me was just not being able to find a faster gear...I had hoped to do a negative second half, especially as I had zero issues with heart rate or caloric deficit at this or any part of the race....but the body would not cooperate. By mile 18 or 19 I had a bit of a headache that aid station cokes helped and the balls of my feet were beginning to act up, but nothing dramatic. No dark places. Mile 20 aka 10K left was a big landmark for me and by mile 24 you couldn't wipe the smile off my face. Made the final turn and turned up the pace a little bit and suddenly felt a little choked up that the end was coming...I was just having too much damned fun. Sure enough, that gorgeous arch was just down the carpet from me...and like most folks, I didn't hear Mike Reilly call me out (I did on the replay), but frankly, it was more about the journey than the finish. Run - 4:38:56
Final race time: 9:11:42. I won't try to project what it would have been if there had been a full bike - hard to tell if the additional miles in the head winds would have killed me or the additional miles with the tailwind would have helped. Was I disappointed that I didn't get the full 140.6? Absolutely. Did it dampen my spirit from having done a fun long distance triathlon and conquer my two biggest unknowns - the long swim and the marathon? Not one little bit. I've said it before, this sport has changed, probably saved my life. In summer 2014 I smoked, weighed a good 50 lbs more than I do now, and couldn't run 2 miles without stopping. I'm not threatening anybody's Kona bid anytime soon, but I am having a hell of a time doing this stuff.
So, like a lot of folks, this was gonna be my first full IM race. The venue looked ideal, had a great group of pals racing, rented the perfect beach house right next to the swim start....weather looked good and the Ironman folks assured me there would be no impact from the storm. And then everything blew up Tuesday. I'll avoid the sturm and drang from elsewhere on ST in regard to the race communications and shortening the race. After about an hour of being upset, some calls/texts with my fellow racers, we all decided to race the race we were given, to paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld.
My buddy and I drove down early Wed morning, arriving in Wrightsville Beach/Wilmington about three in the afternoon. Nothing like two hydrating triathletes to discover every rest stop on the drive down from DC! Did the very early check in, did an athlete briefing and checked into our hotel (house wasn't open for guests till Thu). I got a nice five mile taper run in the still warm beach evening. Lovely, quiet beach community, but man it gets dark quick there! Light dinner at a local place and up early for the practice swim.
Thu am - gathered with about 30 or so STers for Turd Ferguson's practice swim outside the Blockade Runner. Turd is a true prince. He gave us some outstanding pointers, stood by with medical assistance if needed and guided us through about a 1500 meter practice of a little less than half the course. It really paid dividends on race day. Thanks a million Turd! I also appreciated the high fives on the run!
The rest of our crew trickled in on Thu and Friday...Bike racking on Friday was a breeze and dropping off the Bike to Run bags was also easy, although I wasn't thrilled about my nutrition baking in the still hot sun.
Friday night, I slept not at all...between race nerves and a hurricane like wind howling non-stop outside, it was a pretty miserable night. Oh, and I had to pee every ten minutes. Up at 4:30 and downed my prerace bagel, peanut butter, and banana, took care of business in the men's room, and headed out to T1 to drop off nutrition and pump up the bike tires. No drama, but man it was cold!! My buddy Jason made quite the scene in his Deadpool onesie - nice to have a little race morning humor. Luckily with our house literally a five minute walk from the swim start, we just went home and chilled out for about an hour, staying nice and warm.
The swim - needless to say, I was a bit nervous for my first 2.4 mile swim - the wait for the gun was interminable...finally, the National Anthem is sung, Mike Reilly asks "Who wants to be an Ironman today??" and it all starts happening very quickly. I had planned to stay toward the back of the swim start as I am not the strongest swimmer...but hell, the Eminem got going, the cannon goes off and I find myself going in the water in the first minute or so. Hit the water and started swimming about three steps in - got some good strokes in getting out to the first directional buoy and then the body contact started. It was a damned crowded swim for pretty much the whole time. Lotta contact, but the current was friendly and the yellow buoys seemed to come just about as fast as possible - seemed like about five our six strokes and the next buoy was upon me. Great stuff. At the half way point, I could hear the announcer getting the 70.3 folks ready for their start...checked the watch...was on pace for a good swim....despite the practice swim, I sort of lost the bead on where exactly the exit would be...seemed like there were two extra turns thrown in there...ah well...anyway, suddenly the swim exit is upon me (no wiggly guy, oh well) and other than a little bit of a wait due to traffic congestion at the exit, there's no drama. I managed not to fall off the ladder or on my face and began the long, long run to T1 grabbing a very quick shower. Swim time - 1:09:40 - way better than my projected 1:25 time.
T1 - the change tent was a steamy, sweaty mess of men changing. Some things you just can't unsee. Got my shoes on, helmet on, glasses on (they promptly steamed up) and slipped on the vest i bought the day before at the village and my arm warmers. Best decision of the day.
Bike - after a few turns, the first dreaded bridge, and some minor riding in town, we were out on the highway and BOOM the headwind hits. And hits. And hits. The previous night I figured I would hammer it a bit more on the bike and try to go for a 2:30 split...that plan went right out the window. I literally have no idea how folks running discs didn't get blown off the road between the crosswinds and brutal headwinds...kudos to them for their handling skills. At one point, we were heading uphill up a bridge with a hard headwind and I just had to laugh. On those moments where things were slack, I "made hay while the sun was shining" and tried to hammer it. Was drinking Infinit bike formula and didn't bother with either aid station, but found them to be placed at mileage points different from the briefing. Ah well. Didn't see a single ref out on the course as well, but that might have had something to do with the fact we were in the left lane of an active highway. I DID see plenty of semis blowing past us at 65 or 70 mph. Made for some interesting wind effects as well. Finally, after the turn around, we got a tailwind. My computer told me I topped out at 27 mph - frankly after the headwinds, it felt like about 100 mph...my lower back was really sore from fighting the headwinds so the tail wind gave me a nice chance to stand up and stretch. Finally got to the dreaded second bridge and damn if I didn't cross it without beefing it...like i was terrified I would. Whew. Made the right turn toward the PPD building and the convention center, dismounted and ran the bike through the cyclocross area to the hand off point, without leaving my Garmin on the bike. Found my T2 bag pretty quickly and headed to the T2 tent. Bike 3:07:38
The run - first big issue as I was jogging through the construction site was realizing that somehow one of my Infinit bottles on the fuel belt had come loose. I chose not to go back to T2 and just did a little mental calculation for what I would need to get through the first half of the run before I could get more bottles at special needs. Turns out that Gatorade Endurance, a few Clif Bloks and Base Salt worked just fine. First loop of the run was really nice - clicked off the first four miles a little too fast and deliberately slowed down as we headed out of town to the little lake community. Caught up with my buddy at mile 8 or so (he had a rocking 50 minute swim) and we ran for a few miles before he needed to walk...I kept on going, basically walking just the aid stations but running the rest at about a ten minute pace following the first four miles. At the first half, got a huge lift from having two sherpa buddies run along side and take pictures, video, shout encouragement. Amazing lift! The crowds were great in town - Thanks again Turd! Grabbed special needs a few minutes later, reloaded the fuel belt, took one bite of my Nutella sandwich before tossing it, changed my socks and was off again. The second half of the run course was pretty uneventful, just a slower and more painful version of the first. As this was also my very first marathon, I realized I was heading into the unknown...the biggest issue for me was just not being able to find a faster gear...I had hoped to do a negative second half, especially as I had zero issues with heart rate or caloric deficit at this or any part of the race....but the body would not cooperate. By mile 18 or 19 I had a bit of a headache that aid station cokes helped and the balls of my feet were beginning to act up, but nothing dramatic. No dark places. Mile 20 aka 10K left was a big landmark for me and by mile 24 you couldn't wipe the smile off my face. Made the final turn and turned up the pace a little bit and suddenly felt a little choked up that the end was coming...I was just having too much damned fun. Sure enough, that gorgeous arch was just down the carpet from me...and like most folks, I didn't hear Mike Reilly call me out (I did on the replay), but frankly, it was more about the journey than the finish. Run - 4:38:56
Final race time: 9:11:42. I won't try to project what it would have been if there had been a full bike - hard to tell if the additional miles in the head winds would have killed me or the additional miles with the tailwind would have helped. Was I disappointed that I didn't get the full 140.6? Absolutely. Did it dampen my spirit from having done a fun long distance triathlon and conquer my two biggest unknowns - the long swim and the marathon? Not one little bit. I've said it before, this sport has changed, probably saved my life. In summer 2014 I smoked, weighed a good 50 lbs more than I do now, and couldn't run 2 miles without stopping. I'm not threatening anybody's Kona bid anytime soon, but I am having a hell of a time doing this stuff.