Race Reports - Derrick B's Ironman Journey

LA Championship Tri Series #3 San Dimas 2017 Race Report

Created: Saturday, 27 May 2017

I had a rare free weekend in California, so I signed up this race. My 3rd this season. Just before the race I learned this Olympic distance race is part of a championship series. Now the title of the race made sense. It also means that the race will be highly competitive. My training is not even close to where it should be due to work away from home, living in a hotel, frequent traveling, and recent injuries. Despite the situation, I was determined to have a fun race day and have a strong performance. I did both while experiencing a few surprises!!

Rage Triathlon 2017 Race Report

Created: Saturday, 22 April 2017

The main goal leading up to any race is to arrive strong and healthy. Unfortunately, I had pulled my hamstring 2 weeks earlier, and it had not healed yet. I felt I was able to race the first 2 legs (swim and bike), then take it easy on the run. I ignored all the advice for me to drop out the race, and showed up ready to race and have fun. There were multiple races going on simultaneously. I signed up for the Olympic distance: 0.93 mi swim, 25 mi bike, 6.2 mi run. Despite jogging the run, I finished 90/183 among all the men and 12/22 in my age group.

Ironman Chattanooga 2016 Race Report

Created: Sunday, 25 September 2016

My journey to become an Ironman has arrived!! IM Chattanooga was chosen to be my first Ironman race due to the downriver swim, and it's proximity to my home in Atlanta. It turned out to be one of the hardest Ironman events ever! 2600+ started the race, over 600 didn't finish. That's a 26% DNF rate!! The second highest ever for an Ironman. To make it more challenging, the race is 4 miles longer than a standard IM, and the cutoff time was reduced to 16 hours 15 minutes from the standard 17 hours. The race consisted of a 2.4 mile swim down the Tennessee River, 116 mile bike ride through TN & North GA with 4800 ft of climbing, followed by a 26.2 mile run with 14oo feet of climbing through Chattanooga. The extreme late September weather made it a brutal race: Temp: 97°, Heat Index: 107°, Humidity: 80%. My goal for the race: "Don't Suck!" I learned a lot in this race. I hope my readers can learn from experience as well.

High Desert Triathlon 2017 Race Report

Created: Saturday, 15 April 2017

Ca Edwards Air Force Base, CA 4/1/17

Pre-Race – How I got to Cali

I know it may seem odd that I am racing a pool Sprint triathlon in California, when my previous race was an Ironman (Chattanooga). To make a long story short, I basically decided to start working outside of Los Angeles, and hadn’t signed up for any races. I hadn’t even been triathlon training. After I decided where I would be working, I signed up for the next race that wasn’t sold out. I arrived on a Monday, and raced on Saturday. So here I am. This race had a very disappointing conclusion though.

Lake Logan Half Iron 2016 Race Report

Created: Sunday, 14 August 2016

My third 1/2 Iron distance race was at the Lake Logan Half Triathlon, just outside of Asheville, NC. The swim was wetsuit legal with 72 deg temps, in a very shallow lake. 1.2 mi in 45:21. I try to make up time in transition, had the 14th fastest. The bike had lots of challenging hills. 3,000 ft of climbing over 56 mi. I averaged 18.1 mph, max speed of 40 mph. Finished with the 23rd fastest time, 3:05:22. I blazed through T2 with 4th fastest time!!! Half of the 1/2 marathon run was uphill! I finished 32nd with a time of 2:24:09. Overall, I finished in 28th place, at 6:20:01. Keep reading for the more interesting details.

Reports

Schedule

Race Schedule