Beach2Battleship Ironman Event

The blog doesn't seem to want to take the text with the pictures, so the pictures will follow. Mission Accomplished!****** Thirty eight weeks after beginning the journey, it’s over! ****** Here’s a recap: Mom and I had an enjoyable trip to the southern coast of North Carolina, staying in a community called Wrightsville Beach—literally overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. We arrived Wednesday night, allowing for a relaxing day on Thursday.****** Race preparation began in earnest on Friday, pulling all the last minute details together—delivering four separate bags of equipment (one for the swim to bike transition, one for the half-way point in the bike, one for the bike to run transition, and one for half-way point on the run) and a bike. I am a pretty good planner, but the logistics tested my limits. On Friday evening we shared dinner with about 1000 competitors and guests. The full Iron distance race had 665 entrants and the half Iron distance had 1200; you should have seen the first transition area—more bikes than you’d ever want to count!****** I ate breakfast at 4:15 on Saturday then went back to bed—giving the food plenty of time to digest. I caught a 6 am shuttle bus to the start line. The swim was a point to point event—beginning at the tip of a long peninsula which protected us from the waves of the Atlantic ocean. It was a beautiful morning—no clouds in the sky, with temperatures about 60 degrees. Following the national anthem, we hit the water in a mass start! We headed down the channel for about 2+ miles before turning into another channel toward the finish. I felt fine during the swim—even a few mouthfuls of salt water didn’t throw me off too much. The biggest swim challenge was not knowing how much farther we had to swim. There were no yard or mile markers—so I was continually guessing how much farther we needed to swim. So I had to take Dory’s advice from Finding Nemo, “Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.”****** We rented a bike from the hotel for mom to ride during the race. By the time I exited the water she had biked her way from the start line to T1 and was there to greet me with her camera, balloons, and a kiss! I saw her many times on the course and she was very encouraging! Traveling the bike course was a bit challenging—and mom would admit that she’s not the best with maps, so it was quite the feat to navigate rural NC (especially since the bike maps were shy on details).****** Before I knew it, I was on my bike—heading out of Wrightsville Beach. 112 miles is a long bike ride—but it went as well as I could have hoped. I felt strong almost the entire way, except for a one hour section at about mile 70, where I felt sluggish, tired, and pretty weary. I doused myself with two bottles of water—and then I felt 100%--just like that! (There is a pick-me-up tip for my graduate school sons—but don’t try it in the library.) My bike split was just under 7 hours—which is a long time to sit in a car and an even longer time to ride a bike.****** The transition to the run was done inside of Wilmington’s convention center, which was very unique and pretty cool. The run started out warm—probably upper 70s. Mom got stuck in a very long traffic delay (courtesy of the race), so she missed the beginning of the run. I felt bad for the hundreds of vehicles (including mom’s) that were delayed by our race.****** After the first six miles, most of the marathon was very challenging; my legs and body felt fine—but I didn’t have much energy to draw on. I am guessing that my body was just plain tired after 11 hours of racing. The last third of the marathon I alternated between walking 40 yards and running 200-300—that seemed to work. I was in the back third of the field, with virtually everyone walking—so finding others to emulate (who were running) was not easy. I could have easily chosen to walk the rest of the marathon, but at about mile 12 I decided that I didn’t do all the training to merely walk the marathon. ****** Eventually I got within about a mile of the finish line—and cherished the moment—knowing that the end was so near. Knowing that this was my last long event, I was somewhat sentimental, tearful, and grateful. My first marathon was 11 years earlier at age 44 and now at age 55 the longer distance events were coming to an end (entirely by my choosing—because I think it is time to adjust my lifestyle a bit—spending less time training for these longer events). I am most grateful that I have been able to share the start and finish lines with so many focused and disciplined athletes/people—and that I was blessed with the lifestyle, DNA, and ambition to let me to participate in such high energy events.****** Overall, my swim and bike were very satisfying. My run was challenging and much more difficult than Vineman. As I reviewed the race results I could see that there were quite a few participants who didn’t finish the event. I am grateful that I was able to finish—and experience the finish line experience with a lot of people providing genuine recognition for the accomplishment that was mine. ****** Thanks to all who provided so much encouragement and support—before, during, and after the event. As I have said before, each of you has your own personal mountain to climb—at least as challenging as this weekend’s event. I respect your patience, drive, resilience, and resolve—and am confident of your ability to meet each of your challenges!