June – I’m an Ironman 70.3er.
Before I knew it we were there. Race weekend was upon us and I was walking towards the Ironman Expo & Registration at the end of the beach. TI licence, passport and waiver in hand I got my race bags and hit the Expo. I didn’t want to buy anything until after the race but my wife Denise insisted on buying me a couple of mementos as encouragement (women love to shop!!).
Ger Vowles was leaving the tented village and together we collected our bikes and put together a plan – quick swim followed by a spin on the bikes. So we trotted off to meet Ciara and her team from Ship my Tri Bike. Quick chat and off we went.
We hit the beach were we met up with Darragh, Cathal and Stuart. I have to admit this was a bit nerve racking as I went in to the water and started swimming. No support, no kayaks to help I was on my own. I swam a bit, stopped, swam a bit more and all of a sudden felt some confidence in my ability not to drown. I could see the sea bed and the fish swimming after Cathal. The water was warm and I felt surprisingly comfortable. I have always hated open water swimming, but I knew this could be a step towards getting over it.
I talked myself through my race day swim plan and felt I was good to go.
The same crew met for our cycle which took us out along the first section of the race day route. The weather was perfect and the pace was just enough to get the muscles moving and ensure the bike was in good working order.
I spent Friday making sure I had packed the right gear in the right bag and did nothing else but sit around except for a trip to transition to rack my bags and bike.
Raceday
I got out of bed around 5.30am haven’t barely slept. I couldn’t eat but managed to get some light cake and coffee in to me.
Looked out the window and seen the weather. DCT 2015 rain was a light shower compared to this – a yellow weather warning. The rain was hopping off the ground as I walked off to meet team mates at 6am. It was like the March of the Penguins as everyone made their way to the swim start in their wet suits. We were waiting for Teresa Mannion from RTE news to warn us about making “unnecessary journeys” and not to get in to the sea!
A quick check of the bike, race bags and a chat with teammates and I was in the water warming up for the swim.
I was anxious, but surprisingly not too nervous. I was scheduled for an 8am start and so we stood and watched the pros start.
Then it was our turn to get ready for the rolling start. The excitement was almost tangible – the only thing thicker was the dark clouds pouring rain on us and the unfortunate spectators. Teammates with better swim times began to move to their pens for the start. This is where I made my first mistake. I made my way to the last wave ignoring all the advice I had been given to swim in a different time slot.
It seemed like an eternity but all eventually at exactly 9am I was front of the queue and in the water.
The Swim
I was nervous for the swim leading up to the race. While comfortable in the pool, I’ve never found my comfort zone in open water and tend to forget to sight. However after the experience of Thursdays practice I felt confident as I ran (yes ran) into the water – my goal was to stay confident and relaxed and sight regularly.
And I did exactly that. I kept a nice, steady stroke speed and just focused on getting from one buoy to the next as opposed to the whole 1.9 km. I did stray off course and ended up to the far left but instead of my usual panic found the buoy and swam straight for it. At times it was a little bit difficult to sight given that there were yellow buoys and competitors were wearing yellow hats!
Back on course and with frequent sighting I comfortably rounded the second of the large buoys and headed for the shore. Felling strong I kicked on, felt the jellyfish stings and this spurred me on to kick harder.
While the swim certainly didn’t feel short, I found myself sighting the swim exit and then the water began to shallow out. I remembered the coaching I had received and swam until my hands were touching the bottom and only then stood up. This gained me a couple of places as others tried to walk out of the water. Goggles and hat off I started stripping off the wet suit and hit the beach.
Swim time 45.25, (not great but not a disaster – I had done it).
T1
I ran off the beach and seemed drier than the spectators. And as I rounded the corner I spotted Denise standing in the pouring rain. I could see the relief on her face to see me get through the swim. A big cheer and a wave as I passed and others in the crowd hearing my name started shouting encouragement as well.
T1 was huge but I found my bag, changed, and went for my bike – down the wrong lane. So a quick limbo under the rack and I was running the 150m with my bike to the exit.
The Bike
I left transition, crossed the mounting line and was off. It was pouring rain and I smiled to myself at all the people I passed wearing jackets – did they know something I didn’t? Yes.
Out of Alcudia and along the coast we headed for the climb which was about 20k from the start. As planned I emptied my water bottle on the climb and reached the top where I took on another. Headed for the descent with the sole purpose of making up some time.
Over the top I went and then it hit me. Rain and cold like North County Dublin on a Sunday morning in mid-January. I now knew why all those others competitors had decent jackets on them and me wearing only my (proud to be a) Piranha tri suit. The rain lashed in to my face and there were rivers of water running off the side of the road. My pace down the mountain at times was slower than my pace going up – all I was short of was stabilisers. As I passed two riders who had gone off in to the ditch and another couple wrapped in foil blankets I was determined to get down in one piece. I was freezing and shaking uncontrollably on the bars of the bike when an official on a motorbike came alongside me. He looked at me and asked if I was ok. I assured him I was and off he went.
Eventually we got on to some lower ground and I got some heat back in to my body but as I was in survival mode I hadn’t drunk enough liquid – something which I would pay for. I set myself a goal of not letting the speed go under 30kph no matter what.
So it was head down and push the pedals as hard as I could. Malahide to my house is 10km so I kept breaking the distance down in to chunks of that journey. I hit the main drag in Alcudia and pushed on strong. About 2km from the end I heard a shout from Denise and Ger’s family and felt strong. Up to the roundabout, off the bike and in to transition.
Cycle time 3:22:59 – (disappointed – should have done it in around 3 hours).
T2
I quickly found my racking point and found my bag. Here I took a minute to compose myself and as I looked around the tent there were guys with scraped knees and elbows from falling and one English guy was trying to convince his friend to continue.
The Run
Don’t go off at 100 miles an hour was all that kept going through my head as I started out on the 2.7 laps of the town. Out of T2 and in to the first puddle of the day at a pace of about 5:40 which I held for the first few km’s.
The run route was flat and went through the town and along the beach. This was great as you were lapping you met some teammates which gave me a little extra energy and added a bounce to my step. At about the 5km mark Denise and the Vowles family cheered me on and this helped. On the route it was great to hear you name shouted by Barry, Ciara (from Ship My Tri Bike) and I was feeling good. I looked at the watch and I was running at 5:10 pace.
At each of the aid stations I tried to take some liquid on board and took a little food as I was feeling hungry – a sign that it is already too late.
With two wristbands I was on the last lap. What a feeling – I had done it. There was a sign for 3km to go and all those long runs planned by John, the 10 miler in St Anne’s on Easter Monday, the days where it lashed rain on the run were paying off. I felt really good and I kicked for home.
I have to admit I felt quite emotional as I turned in to the finishing chute. But crossing the line is a feeling I will never forget – I am an Ironman 70.3er!!!
Run time 1:57:15 – (under the 2 hour mark but room for improvement).
Overall time 6:18:31 – (a bit disappointed not to get under the 6 hours but taking in to account the weather not too bad. It is a PB!!!).
The good, the bad & the ugly.
As Barry handed me a beer in the athletes zone all I could think about was how can I improve on my time.
I loved the distance and feel confident that with the excellent training programme set out by the age group winner of the race, John Wallnutt I can beat that 6 hour mark.
Some key learnings for me:
The swim was the swim I needed. I hope/think I am finally over the hump in terms of anxiety and open water swimming. I even did the Howth Aquathon this month!! I know that not every swim will be as pleasant as Mallorca, but I think the fear is gone. Now to work on getting some speed in to my swim.
As for the race I really enjoyed the experience. The course was brilliant, it was challenging, as expected, but definitely doable with solid training. The swim was fun and the bike route scenic and the support along the way was amazing – I can only imagine what it would be like if the weather had been better.
And the biggest takeaway – I need to work with John on my nutrition. He had given me advice and I feel my food intake was good but my hydration was all wrong. I didn’t drink enough on the bike.
I also need to learn about post-race nutrition/hydration. The following evening I got very sick. When I returned to Ireland a doctor advised that it was probably a combination of swallowing sea water and dehydration. Thanks to Aileen, Rachael, Roger and Tom and of course to Denise who looked after me on the Sunday night. I missed a great party!
Finally a word of thanks to everyone in the club who ran, cycled or swam with me over the past few months and to everyone who wished me well and gave me advice.
And I will be forever grateful to John Wallnutt for the coaching, the sound advice and his confidence in me. Last summer completing an IM 70.3 was something I never thought I could achieve but thanks to JW I did it.
If you are considering taking on an IM 70.3, I would say do it!
10 things I learned from the IM 70.3 experience?
1. Get a coach – if you are going to take on the challenge get a coach who will challenge and push you.
2. With your coach log your sessions and review them.
3. Ask the experienced members of the club for advice – for the cost of a cup of coffee they are always willing to help.
4. Strength & conditioning is a must.
5. Learn about nutrition & hydration and importantly practice it in training (I didn’t).
6. Listen to your body and get injuries treated. An old injury came back to haunt me for the last 5 weeks of training.
7. Plan your race. Other Piranhas can give great advice on picking your race and race day plan.
8. I love open water swimming!
9. The rain in Spain is biblical.
10. All the effort is definitely worth it.
COMMENTS