Beach to Battleship Iron Distance

2011 Beach to Battleship Iron Distance (Wilmington,NC)

Getting there:
Heading into the LT100 run I wasn’t sure of what to do with the rest of the season. Should I pick a local triathlon to close out the season? Or should I just call it good and start gearing up for 2012? Would I be able to recover from the 100 miles to even try to race again? Well, the middle of August rolled around and I decided to cancel my trip to Maui for Xterra Worlds, and instead head to Wilmington for an Iron Distance with my good friend Lucas McCain and my father. My dad had wanted to do a half and we needed to find a reason to get together. So why not race one more full and rent a house on a beautiful beach in NC with the family?
Leading into NC, I was feeling pretty good considering the length of my season. It all started with Xterra West Championships in April, and then really started with a disappointing Ironman Texas in May, and supposedly was going to end following the LT100 at the end of August. However, there was a need to race one more time. So post Leadville, I took 2 weeks off to try and let my IT band calm down, and to mentally try and unwind before my final push. I figured after this recovery period I would have 8 weeks to focus in on one last Ironman. However, I decided that I would focus on speed being that I felt my endurance was where it needed to be. Most of the workouts had direct focus, and were geared at race pace efforts. I ran no longer than 2:15 and only had two rides at or above 100 miles, the rest were short and fast. Swimming is swimming and the guys and gals at the Golden Recreation Center keep me honest. So I would hit it hard for 6 weeks and hope a two week taper would have me somewhat prepared for B2B. However, I was going into this race with NO expectations, I just wanted to feel decent and have a solid run.
My race plan was to not do what I have done the previous 5 Ironmans: go too hard on the bike and blow-up on the run. I had nailed that game plan for the last 4 years, it was time to try and be “less predictable”. My new race plan was to play it safe on the bike and see what we can do on the run.

THE RACE:

Swim:
During the pre-race meeting (my dad made us go J) the race director informed us that if we were to put our timing chip in a bag of chips at the swim start it would finish the swim in 1:25, so I knew the swim would be fast. However, I wasn’t sure about the salt water and the supposed alligators. We also had been following the weather predictions, and things weren’t looking so hot, or should I say it was looking so cold! Middle to high 40’s hopefully by midday warming to middle 50’s, raining, with 15 to 20 mph winds. However, worrying gets you nowhere.
I met Lucas at the swim start. We geared up and headed down to the beach for a warm-up swim. Upon initial submersion I noted two things: 1) the water was fairly warm 2) holy salt fest. I needed to be mindful during the swim to not swallow water. Once my warm-up was complete I headed back to the swim start. During the warm-up I had lost sight Lucas, but honestly I would rather start alone, and I knew we would see each other out on course.
The gun went off and the race to the water began. Being on the smaller side I got about knee deep and was pounced on by a larger gentleman, knocking me face first into the salty water. I was bummed… I was really looking forward to my pro like dolphin entry! Again Typical swim, 10 minute fight followed by trying to hang with the true swimmers. This swim was different, I could feel the current. My effort was the same, but I could tell I was moving faster. Little did I know it was going to be 10 minutes faster than my typical IM swim. Once we arrived at the dock, I climbed the exiting steps looked at my watch and it said 42 minutes. I asked the gentlemen exiting next to me if we had really just swam 42 minutes, he said “yep”, and I began to laugh. Though there was a decent run to transition, my race had started well.
Swim: 42:17

T1:
Wetsuit was stripped, but I was slightly disoriented, being that we entered the transition opposite to what I was expecting. After what felt like forever I found my bike. It was now time to choose what to wear for the bike ride. I was warm from the wetsuit and the swim, so I grabbed my arm warmers, struggled to put them on, and decided I would be wasting too much time to put on gloves and a vest. BIG MISTAKE that I would pay for over the next 3 hours.
T1: 4:11

BIKE:
Once exiting transition I got down in the aero-bars and tried to settle in. After the adrenaline rush of T1 wore off I noticed the cold beginning to creep in. After around ten miles there was a group of us who had moved up to the front of the race. We were trading positions and trying to find our groove. We arrived at the on-ramp of highway 40, where the volunteers were yelling instructions I could not understand. There were also cones but you were not sure which side they were suggesting you to be on, and during the pre-race meeting the race director said the right side of the road was for the athletes. So our train headed right and followed the on-ramp heading down highway 40, unfortunately a police officer would roll up beside us after approximately half a mile and inform us we were headed the wrong direction. We all shook our head in disgust and turned around. My watch suggested we lost around 10 minutes, which in my head, erased most of my swim advantage. So here I was, freezing cold, headed in the wrong direction, and I hadn’t even been racing for 2hrs…
Upon the correction of our race course detour, I noticed myself working way too hard to try and make up for the lost time. Quickly I reminded of my race plan; I would not allow my HR to go above 140, which when in a race like situation feels pretty easy. No matter the circumstances, I was not going to break my game plan for this race, nor to make up for a mistake. “SAVE IT FOR THE RUN” was the motto I repeated to myself over and over. Once this debacle was behind me, I reassessed the situation. At this point I was very cold, my hands were completely numb, there was a 15-20 mph headwind, and my mental outlook was heading south. I made it to mile marker 26 and I just kept telling myself, “just make it 10 more miles”. This sounded great, but in reality my nutrition plan was way behind and I was getting fairly frustrated. I had been trying to eat, but my hands were so numb it was all but impossible. I had dropped my main source of calories (1000 cal. of perpetuem contained in my water bottle), and I couldn’t open the plastic bag that contained my energy bars. In desperation I decided to rip the plastic bag with my teeth to try and get at my bars. Another mistake, I got one bar and the other two fell to the wet asphalt. “10 more miles Josh, just ride for 10 more miles.” Again, I settled myself down and just rode. I did have one last bag of food: a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich. I knew if I could get this down, I had another perpetuem bottle containing 500 calories at the halfway marker. I fortunately was able to get the whole sandwich down, and was in the process of settling myself down. I would not be lying if I said that I was close to calling it quits at mile 50. I was still freezing, the wind was still blowing in my face, it was still raining, and my nutrition plan had been blown to pieces. However, I knew in less than 10 miles I would be halfway done and I could get my second nutrition bottle.
I reached the halfway point. Being that I still could not grab the bottle, I had to stop and allow the volunteer to hold me up while holstering the last of my nutrition. After the quick break, I clicked back in and headed on down the road. After another 10 miles or so the sun began to show and my attitude was resurrected; I can’t explain the energy this gave me, and what it did for the rest of my race. I began to warm up a slight bit, I still could not feel my fingers, but was able to sit up and use both hands to squeeze the much needed perpetuem down the gullet. Being that I was worried about losing my bottle again, I drank most of its contents in ten minutes. I was still behind on nutrition, but I was starting to warm up, I was able to get some food down, and I was ticking miles away on the bike. At around mile 75 I looked down at my average speed and it was considerably slower than I had expected (20 mph), however I was not getting passed by too many people, and I had still not seen Lucas. I figured I had beaten Lucas out of the water, and he is a strong cyclist. So if he had not caught me yet, I figured this was proving to be a rough day on the bike for all.
Mile 80... The bike ride changes for the better. Sun comes out in full strength, the headwind is now at my back, the roads are smooth, and the run is soon approaching. The last 30ish miles were rather enjoyable. I was cruising around 25 miles an hour, and surprisingly I was catching some people, and feeling strong. My bike split was considerably slower than expected, but considering the detour and weather, I was content with the ride. I had stuck to the plan; my average HR was right where I wanted it. Now it was time to see if this holding back was going to pay off.
Bike: 5:24

T2:
I racked the bike in good spirits. However, my hands were still fairly numb, and I wanted to put on some compression socks (manyhose). The volunteer ran up to me asking if he could help with anything. I replied with a “yes, could you please help me with my shoes and socks.” Needless to say, don’t try to put on compression wear with numb hands, and also don’t expect someone else to be any help at putting on manyhose. I did not want to tell him to give up, as he was working so hard, but it was taking what seemed to be like an hour. Finally we get me manyhose and shoes on. It is time to PR on the IM marathon…
T2: 4:33

RUN:
I Feel the need to start this section as usual. The run, oh the run…
Started the run feeling pretty good, the sun was still out, my body was feeling ready, but it was still a bit windy, and this was going to be a decently challenging run course. Again, I was not allowing my HR to go above 140. I started brisk, but well with in my limits. I had a good feeling about this one. I also knew if I could run under a 3:45 I could actually break my antagonizing 10 hour goal. I knew a 3:45 was more than possible, but I hadn’t run faster than a 3:55 in an IM marathon before. I also felt that I had a much better nutrition plan for this marathon than I had in the past. I had two gel flasks with 500 calories in each. My goal was to get one down in the first 7 or so miles and to use the other throughout the remainder. The run course was a two looper that was an out and back. I also knew I would be seeing my dad, wife, Tammy, Lucas, and couple others a few times throughout the run which would be a good motivator. What I didn’t know was how close behind me Lucas actually was. At approximately mile 4, and again mile 8 I saw my beautiful wife Katherine and my stepmom Tammy (who needs a huge thank you for everything she did). I could tell Katherine knew I was feeling good. She follows me around to all these IMs only to watch me fall apart on the run. I constantly tell her I can do it, I can run a 3:30 and complete a sub 10hr IM. She is nothing but supportive, however deep down I know she had her reservations. I’m sure she was super happy and relieved as she saw me on the road to finally being able to put it all together. I cannot thank her enough AGAIN for supporting me in these adventures.
On the first lap turnaround (approx. 6.5mi) I saw Lucas. He was around two minutes behind and closing in. As he got closer and closer I decided it would be a good idea to start yelling “C’mon McCain”. I knew I had to run my own race if I wanted to accomplish my goal, but I also knew I would want to run with Lucas if possible. At around mile 8 or so Lucas came up on my side. He admitted to running a bit too hard to catch me, and was trying to recover. He seemed to be on good form, so I knew if he was able to recover a bit, that we could use each other to pace. After about a mile of running together, we caught my father getting ready to finish the half. He looked very strong and was on his way to a PR and a 4th place AG finish. I gave him my love and continued on. It is a great bond to share things such as this with your father. This race was unique for Lucas and me both. Both of our fathers were racing, Lucas’s dad Rusty was on his way to a PR in the full, and my father Mike was on his way to a PR in the half. Really cool experience, and a great motivator.
So there I was, my run nutrition was right on target, I had a true friend that is similarly paced running right beside me, and I was feeling great. As we approached the turnaround I noted we were on pace for a 3:30, which I felt was very possible, but what I did not want to do was blow it by throwing caution to the wind. I grabbed my second gel flask, and Lucas and I headed out on lap 2. Lucas and I were both on the same plan: keep the pace moderate and consistent, take the hills slow, and run the flats. As we were on the flat section past the second big bridge, Lucas looked down at his watch and let me know we were running 7:25s. I was astonished, as I did not feel I was working that hard. However, I quickly mentioned to Lucas that “I don’t feel comfortable running 7:25s.” We slowed it down a notch as mile 15 or so is not the time to be testing the legs, I would save that for mile 20.
As we approached mile 20 Lucas mentioned that his stomach was giving him problems and for me to go ahead. I debated waiting as we had run 13 miles together, and kind of wanted to finish it out, but I knew it was time to go. As Lucas pulled off I decided it was time to let it go. No more HR no more playing it safe, let’s see what’s left. I was feeling amazing, catching people left and right, a couple of whom were in my AG. I was starting to suffer, but the good kind, the kind that says you are getting everything out of your body, not the, I am dizzy and struggling to stay upright kind that I have been accustomed to J. There is nothing like the feeling of running hard and fast at the end of race you have struggled to conquer. I knew I was going to break 10:00, but I did not know I would break 10:00 by 15 minutes! Needless to say it meant a lot to me, to run down the finishing shoot looking at a clock the reads 9:44. Also while doing on a back half with a negative split marathon.
RUN: 3:30

POST RACE:
The best part of an experience like this is to see your wife’s smiling face. She knows what this means to you, and the sacrifices you both make for this to happen. When all is said and done, great race, great friends, great accomplishment. I also have to thank Tammy and my father for all their help. Tammy along with my wife made sure everything was perfect. Thank you for doing all the dirty work!!!

Final stats:
Dad: 6:37:03
Lucas: 9:56:18
Rusty: 12:29:30
Me: 9:45:00