Ironman UK Bolton Race Report

In 2013 I went to Bolton to take part in my first Ironman and I suffered greatly memories of coming into T2 feeling awful and suffering from the cold wet run brought me back for more.

2014 was the 10th anniversary of the Ironman UK event, the 6th time in Bolton, and the course changed to accommodate more competitors, the entries rising from 1600 to 2000. This year brought a new bike course consisting of 2 longer loops and T2 moved to the Macron(Reebok) stadium which from a logistic point of view was a great help.

Prerace day:
For me the day before Ironman is more stressful than the day its, having to prepare everything, check double check treble check then hand in your transition bags. Also there is the inconvenience of having to eat for me this was a struggle for me, which I put down to nerves but I ate what I could. T1 in Bolton is about 30k from T2 so you have to make a trip out to Pennington Flash reservoir to rack your bike and hang your T1 bag. In registration you can pick up a bike cover from the power bar stand to cover your bike over night so T1 looks lovely and peaceful prerace.

An early night and as much sleep as you are able to get nerves play a part.

Race day:
Breakfast at 3am isn’t ideal and I struggled to eat half the amount I would normally eat for a training ride, packed a protein bar in my back pocket and headed to T2 for the bus to T1. I promptly got my bike set up with drinks and checked air pressure and was ready to race with an hour to spare. I tried to eat the protein bar, I had a couple of bites then I had to stop eating or I was going to be sick.

Swim:
The water temperature was 21.6C wetsuit legal and perfect conditions hardly a breeze so the swim course was calm. Even though there were 2000 people starting the first turning point was far enough away to avoid too much bashing. I had a good first lap on the swim 39mins I was happy, but I got a bit wayward on the second lap and zigzagged around the course to come out of the water in 1.32

Bike:
I was focused on keeping my heart rate in zone 2 and keeping my pace steady and for the first section this was easy, plenty of smooth roads and no reason to get out of the saddle. I started eating some power shots almost as soon as I was on the bike I wanted to eat conscious that I would suffer later on without getting the nutrition in, something training had shown I was weak at. I had a plan to eat a bar between quarter past and half past the hour, a gel in the first 15mins of the hour and supplement with energy drinks and power shots. Pretty soon it was evident this wasn’t going to work as I was gagging on gels and the bars. I drank what I could and ate as much but I knew unless things changed race day was going to be tough. I reached the loop section of the bike course and climbed the hill through Belmont while the majority of the village slept. I worked my way up to sheep house lane, and climbed it without too much fuss and committed on the decent recalling the majority from 2013, I kept my wheels turning onto the new section of the bike course. The new section followed some country roads that are narrower than the majority of the roads on the course and Ali Brownlie was spotted at a crossing being prevented from crossing the bike course. ( I have to admit I didn’t spot the man myself I was busy suffering) The new section was undulating and it seemed that on or at the bottom of every descent there was a sharp turn to kill any speed you may have gained. There was a second climb that was short but steep and it hurt and took longer to recover than I would like to admit. I made my way around to the second lap and suffered in the heat and felt as if I were cooking in the TT helmet. Struggling for nutrition I was lucky that my pre-diluted power bar gels where staying down, but this was my plan to ensure I had energy in the legs for the run rather than to get me through the bike course, so I was very much aware today was not going to plan. I fought my way back to T2 in 7 hours an hour slower than targeted.

Run:
The run course changed slightly to accommodate the changed transition, shortly after leaving transition there was a climb that would break any rhythm I would have had, so I tried to put a plan in place to deal with this. I would jog/walk the first 2k do a few strides and try and run on, but it failed to work I had nothing left in the tank. Shoulders searing in the sun I took a couple of isogels and jogged on, the standard high 5 gels I have trained with were just too thick for me to swallow/digest. I decided I would walk for a section about 4k and eat as much as I could during that period and allow the body to recovery, prior to hitting the lap section of the run course. I made the run laps and for half a lap I moved well like I had been running for most of the year then I hit my wall with 3 full laps to go, my walking times per k dropped from 10 to 11 to 12 to 13mins and I have no idea why I stayed going, I can only think that if I knew how to quit (as in who to give my chip to, where to do it) I probably would have. I was struggling with sunburn too in the shade I shivered in the sun I fried I had smothered myself in sun cream for some reason it didn’t work. Rather than quit I decided I would support everyone else on the course especially the team true spirit who were made up of many injured soldiers one of whom came off his bike and broke his arm but still finished. When having a bad day as I had, being able to offer support to others who had obviously suffered more became a reason to keep moving towards that finish line.

Finishing feeling:
I took greater satisfaction in finishing this year in a slower time than last year, while the course was harder I felt it was a different feeling to 12 months ago. I know I should/could have done better, I knew something was wrong on the day and I just wanted to get it done. My finishers medal sits in the bag with last years with a sense of I can/must do better I already want to go again but I don’t think I will return to Bolton for a while. The support was amazing the course is well organised and marshalled but it was hard in 2013 it was harder again on 2014.