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Derrick B's Ironman Journey

Created: Sunday, 05 November 2017

Welcome to my Ironman Journey! You will find my race reports here as I work towards my next Ironman event. Big thanks to my sponsors, Zoot Sports and Hammer Nutrition. Click the link to save 15% on your first online purchase from Hammer.

IM Cozumel 2021 Race Report

Created: Saturday, 27 November 2021

Ironman Cozumel was an excellent race! A very fast course, beautiful location, and well supported. I had a goal of earning my fastest race and I did, finishing at 12:27:58. The ocean swim is downstream, strong current, and a .5 mile short of the standard 2.4 mile swim. The 112 mile bike didn't have the typical high winds, but they were replaced with tropical storms and major road flooding. The run was warm and humid with amazing crowd support. Everything was in place for everyone to have their fastest race ever. Read on for the gritty details. If you have read my other reports, this is will be another very long read.

2021 IM Tulsa Race Report

Created: Saturday, 05 June 2021

Balancing speed and safety on wet, rough roads!

Ironman Tulsa was a huge race! It was the inaugural race in Tulsa, the first full Ironman race in North America this year, and a sign that we are slowly returning to normal. This was my 6th full IM, and whoa was it challenging. 2.4 miles in Keystone Lake, 112 miles of biking on dangerous roads that were filled with potholes, gravel, and mud. Then finish with a 26.2 mile run that also had its share of hills. All in the rain. I had my best swim time, and my fastest overall time. Read on if you want to know the gritty details.

After flying out to Tulsa from Atlanta, I had to assemble my own bike together. My Garmin Vector 3 power meter stopped working properly, and their great customer service sent me a replacement set right before I left. I installed the new pedals, and the power was reading perfectly!

2021 Ironman Florida 70.3 Race Report

Created: Wednesday, 21 April 2021

Finally! I am racing again after the world shut down due to COVID. IM Florida 70.3 was in Haines City, Florida. 1.2 mile swim in Lake Eva, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. I completed it with a leg injury in 6 hours, 22 mins. My last race was IM Italy, in 2019. This was followed by several race deferrals, and cancellations. 2020 was spent enjoying the swimming, biking, and running lifestyle, not knowing when the next race would actually happen. Surprisingly, IMFL 70.3 was proceeding as scheduled, and that left all the participants rushing to get into race shape! Unfortunately, after driving to Haines City from Atlanta, I was too eager to go for a shakeout run and loosen up my legs. My calves were already tight from my training, and failed to follow my own advice. I should have loosened up my legs first with some dynamic stretches. Instead, I went running and quickly pulled my right calf muscle!!! I couldn't even run slowly on it. Big Bummer. This was just a training race for me to help prepare for IM Tulsa 5 weeks later, so I was not too disappointed. Anyways, this report describes what it was like to return to racing with new safety guidelines, and the details of my race.

Ironman Maryland 2018 Race Report

Created: Tuesday, 09 October 2018

This is my 3rd Ironman! As usual, I had my adventures and mishaps to go along with it. I had a great swim, and bike, but had a tough run. This journey brought me up to the Eastern shores of Maryland to conquer a 2.4 mile swim in the Choptank River, 112 very windy bike miles, and a 2 and a half loops to complete a 26.2 mi run.

Tugaloo Triathlon 2018 Race Report

Created: Tuesday, 09 October 2018

My 8 year old God-daughter has been swimming and running, and told me “Uncle Derrick, I want to see you race!” How could I say no. Although I haven’t raced in Georgia since 2015 when I completed my first half Ironman in Augusta, I signed up for the Olympic Distance Tugaloo Triathlon. Huge thanks goes out to Hammer Nutrition for sponsoring me in this race. Although I had a lot of stress entering the race, I was relaxed by approaching the start line treating it as an Ironman training day. My only goals were to have 3 excellent legs, and don’t suck!

Ironman Ohio 70.3 Race Report

Created: Sunday, 29 July 2018

It was time to finally race in my home state! Both of my parents came down to Delaware, OH, from Cleveland to support me. It was the first time my Dad has seen a triathlon. My wife joined me, so this race was special. This looked like an enjoyable race: 1.2 mi lake swim, 56 mi flat bike, 13.1 mi two loop run with the finish line in the stadium of Ohio Wesleyan University.

Reports

Schedule

Race Schedule