Beach 2 Battleship Half and Full Triathlon
Susan's post nearly says everything there is interesting to say about this race - and about all that I can add is that "it hurt." The event was well coordinated for the full participants as I had just enough time after catching the bus from downtown to look over my equipment before heading to the tip of Wrightsville beach on the trolley. We started the race by running (or walking in my case) into the surf and swimming into the channel. As I made the right turn to head along shore it was as if I had a propeller strapped to my back. After the few days of edginess leading up to the race, having the hour to speed along on the incoming tide was calming. I was amazed when I got out of the water and saw that I had swum the 2.4 miles in 1 hour flat!
The bike was enjoyable but definitely a bit draining. As Susan reported - the day warmed up nicely and before I knew it (I mean after about 2.5 hours) my feet defrosted and I was able to take off my gloves and arm-warmers. I averaged just over 19 mph on the bike and came into the run a bit tired but feeling ok. I started the run at right around hour 7 and headed up the first (of 6) bridge crossings. Like Susan I was a bit concerned about the run and my ability to keep moving for the entire distance.
I really wanted to run the first 13 miles anyway and seeing all the support of the people in downtown Wilmington really helped. The run included a beautiful loop around Greenfield Lake and I have to say qualifies as one of the nicest setup-events run ever. Starting the second loop was both exciting and painful - I took two ibuprofen and decided to try running on a mile-by-mile basis. As lap 2 settled in so I resigned myself to probably not breaking the 12 hour mark I had set leading up to this race but somewhere around mile 17 the ibuprofen kicked in and - in my one real surprise of the day, my pace picked up from what can only be called a 'shuffle' to a 'slow run.' It was my first experience of 'finishing strong' on a long distance race and it felt good :).
As Susan said, the quality of the aid stations and level of support was really amazing. The residents of Wilmington had to put up with long lines to get over the bridges (I had several folks cheer me on from their cars as they waited), closed streets, and exhausted runners all Saturday and all I could think as a rounded the run course a second time was that while my day was about over - those volunteers had another 5 hours in front of them.
Although I've got no pics (well there are a few of me but I don't think we need to be posting them on the web), there is a nice article about the event in the Wilmington Star.
And as a last note - I hear we are getting the OBX group together for the Misltetoe 5K and Half-Marathon. The 5k is walker friendly and the half-marathon features a portion of the now famous WTL5K route. . . .
The bike was enjoyable but definitely a bit draining. As Susan reported - the day warmed up nicely and before I knew it (I mean after about 2.5 hours) my feet defrosted and I was able to take off my gloves and arm-warmers. I averaged just over 19 mph on the bike and came into the run a bit tired but feeling ok. I started the run at right around hour 7 and headed up the first (of 6) bridge crossings. Like Susan I was a bit concerned about the run and my ability to keep moving for the entire distance.
I really wanted to run the first 13 miles anyway and seeing all the support of the people in downtown Wilmington really helped. The run included a beautiful loop around Greenfield Lake and I have to say qualifies as one of the nicest setup-events run ever. Starting the second loop was both exciting and painful - I took two ibuprofen and decided to try running on a mile-by-mile basis. As lap 2 settled in so I resigned myself to probably not breaking the 12 hour mark I had set leading up to this race but somewhere around mile 17 the ibuprofen kicked in and - in my one real surprise of the day, my pace picked up from what can only be called a 'shuffle' to a 'slow run.' It was my first experience of 'finishing strong' on a long distance race and it felt good :).
As Susan said, the quality of the aid stations and level of support was really amazing. The residents of Wilmington had to put up with long lines to get over the bridges (I had several folks cheer me on from their cars as they waited), closed streets, and exhausted runners all Saturday and all I could think as a rounded the run course a second time was that while my day was about over - those volunteers had another 5 hours in front of them.
Although I've got no pics (well there are a few of me but I don't think we need to be posting them on the web), there is a nice article about the event in the Wilmington Star.
And as a last note - I hear we are getting the OBX group together for the Misltetoe 5K and Half-Marathon. The 5k is walker friendly and the half-marathon features a portion of the now famous WTL5K route. . . .
posted by Erik Mitchell at 2:28 AM
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