Beach to Battleship 2014 Half Iron Distance Race Report

This wasn’t the race I had planned on. In 2012 I finished the B2B half iron distance in 4:30:14. My plan for 2014 was to finish in the low to mid 4:20’s. Unfortunately I suffered an injury in late spring that hampered my training all summer and into fall. So race morning left me with a “lets see what the day hands me” type of attitude. I had a nice swim, coming out of the water only 15″ slower than two years ago, and this was on significantly less swim training. The bike would be a challenge as riding aero really stresses the high hamstring tendon injury. 10-15 miles in I was really feeling the pain but decided to go with it and gut it out. My goal wattage was a NP of 220, I finished at a NP of 221 – spot on, I biked smart. My time was almost 3′ faster than my 2012 bike split! However, once I dismounted and headed into T2 I knew it wasn’t going to be my day. I spent A LOT of time in T2 trying in vain to roll out my hamstrings but to no avail. I actually thought about quitting in T2, the run was going to be painful! Then I realized that only 13.1 miles lay before me and the finish, and I sure as heck didn’t drive 10 hours to quit. I saw my wife at the run start, she asked how I was doing. “I am dying,” I said, “don’t expect anything fast today!” Went through the out and back and saw her again 5′ later. ” Are you doing better?” she asked. “WORSE!” was my reply. As fate would have it, my watch stopped working around mile 50 of the bike. I am usually so meticulous about my run splits, and at times it causes undo stress. Two years ago I told myself that I wasn’t going to see any mile split that started with a 7, every mile would begin with a 6. Well about four miles in I registered a 7:08 mile and started stressing. I ended up running 11 of the 13 miles that day at a sub 7 pace but I am not sure how much I enjoyed the day in 2012. Back to 2014, not having a working watch might have been a blessing. I just ran on feel and enjoyed the aid stations and scenery. It’s funny, in that respect. Two days prior my wife, good friend and I all walked along the river walk. My good friend remarked at how scenic the run course was. My reply was, “Ed, the last two years I was so dialed in, I didn’t even notice.” So today I was taking notice of the sights and not taking notice of the mile splits. As painful as the run was, every mile brought me a mile closer to the finish. It felt like I was walking, and if you had pulled alongside me on race day and asked me to guess my pace, I would have told you a time at least a min/mile slower than I was actually moving. Time was really slowing down due to the pain I was experiencing. Each and every step hurt! I felt as if people were going to go flying by but in the first four miles, but somehow nobody passed me. Well, one guy did very early but he never pulled away and I ended up passing him back. Around mile 5 a runner came by, the first to pass me, and I asked him what pace he was running. “Right around a 7:15 mile,” was his reply. Hey, that’s not so bad, I thought to myself. Near the turn around the fast runners from earlier waves were hauling ass back to the finish. Two years ago I only counted 4 or 5 athletes, today it was close to 20. Two years ago that was me flying towards the finish and a top ten finish. Today, I just hoped to get there. Around mile 10 or 11 the pain was becoming almost too much to take and I thought about walking. That thought lasted all of 5″, because I knew if I started walking, it was day over for me. I forged on, and when I made the left turn down the hill into downtown Wilmington and the river walk, I knew I had made it. Less than a half mile remained and I took in all the sights and sounds. Beach to Battleship has one of the best finishes and post race finish line parties of any long course triathlon I have ever done. As I entered the chute, I got my first look at the clock since way back in T2. If I kicked it in, I knew I would finish in under 4:40:00. As luck would have it, the final push got me in at 4:39:41, good for 25th overall out of almost 1000 athletes and first in my AG. Was it the time I had hoped for? Not even close, my run was almost 10′ slower than 2012, and the 2014 run course was easier than the 2012 course. Under much better conditions than the 2012 race, my 2014 race ended with the final stats: Swim 26:30 – official swim of 27:57 as the timing mat is a WAYYYYYS away from the swim finish. Bike split 2:25:17 and run split of 1:39:35. How fast would I have raced this year racing healthy and in almost perfect conditions? I guess I will never know! However, this much I do know – I finished my 18th half ironman under circumstances that had me wondering if I would ever finish. And that, in a nutshell, is what I will always remember about this race!