Ironman Wales

[Will.Race]

It was a good race, I enjoyed most of it.

I'm no expert/coach & realise that you have a mate who did it this year, but if I can help in any way just holler.

Will do. Thanks

[(notsomuchofa)Fellrunner]

Back in January I was injured, unmotivated & unable to give away my
place for Ironman Wales. I slowly came to the conclusion that I could
say goodbye to half my entry fee & accept the fact that my best
triathlon days were behind me or I could suck it up, work on my
injuries & build up my fitness.

I chose the latter & although I promised myself that I would enjoy my
training this time & jack any sessions if I wasn’t feeling it. I loved
it all. I relished the turbo sessions, the fartlek runs, the long
bikes & the log runs. Obviously swimming still sucked, but I felt
myself getting fitter & stronger than I had for a couple of years as
the weeks & months went by.

So it was that I found myself on Tenby’s North Beach with Rob & Shauno
having sneaked ahead of the parade that Tony found himself stuck in.
After we had a brief warm-up - which consisted of Rob walking up to
his knees before getting out, me having a wee swim & Shaun having a
wee swim & then jumping around for a bit swinging his arms about like
Rocky at the top of the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps – we said our
good lucks & goodbyes before retreating into our own dark little
worlds as we waited for the hooter.

Due to the race starting a couple of hours before high tide & a
noticeable easterly breeze the sea was the roughest I’ve swam in.
Normally, even if conditions are bad you can reasonably expect to be
able breath on one side, but it seemed to be a bit of a lottery as to
whether you caught some air or a face full of sea. This also made for
some interesting sighting problems. I remember approaching one of the
buoys & glimpsing someone walking around it. Smart idea I thought, I
can do that. As I got caught up in the melee at the buoy I decide to
stand up & walk round. Imagine my surprise when I went straight under.
At that exact moment it dawned on that I had spotted a lifeguard on
his body board. What a plonker. I finally ran around the Australian
exit, persuaded myself to do it all again & swam the 2nd lap into the
ever quickening, incoming tide. Eventually I dragged myself up the
beach & after stopping a couple of times to hurl up some sea water I
hoiked off my wetsuit, put on my trainers & ran the mile or so to T1
through the crowd lined streets of Tenby. On my way to transition I
was lucky enough to hear & spot Nicola. Having got through what I
considered a reasonably tough swim I’ve got to admit I had a wee lump
in my throat. Even hearing & seeing Bill Crawshaw - who was to keep
popping up all over the place that day – did nothing to spoil that
tender moment.

Do We Have To Do That Again?

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Reasonably Happy With That.

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Swim:- 01:13:36, 34th in AG & 305th overall.


T1 was fairly uneventful, but mindful of the fact that I’d be riding
on my saddle-sore riddled ass for a few hours I allowed myself the
luxury of some extra Sudocream & bib-shorts, hoping that by the time I
finished the bike my under carriage would not feel like it had been
hung over hot coals.

T1:- 10:38

[(notsomuchofa)Fellrunner]

The bike course was pretty much as I expected, hilly & long. I clocked
it at 180km & 2800mtrs, so it was nothing we haven’t got in North
Wales & none of the gradients were surprising. Some of the descents
were a bit technical & sand on the road made for some sketchy moments.
I saw a couple of nasty offs which made me sit up & caw canny if I
couldn’t spot the exit of a bend. The thing I was completely
unprepared for was the amount of support & noise on the road. Whole
towns were going mad, families were having BBQ’s on the roadside & at
isolated houses people were sat in deck chairs wrapped in blankets
banging away at pots & pans with wooden spoons. Those South Walians
are loopy. It was brilliant, outstanding.


Bike:- 06:08:19, 18th in AG & 157th overall.

As I left T2 on my way onto the run course I once again heard &
spotted Nicola & managed to pop over for a sneaky wee kiss before
starting the first of my 4 laps.

T2:- 04:20

I was already aware that my legs were telling me that I had hit the
bike course a bit too hard, but despite this I was passing people for
fun & appreciating the crowds which were barmy throughout & 3 to 4
deep at many places. The best (only??) good thing about lapped courses
with plenty of doglegs is that I got ample opportunity to see Tony,
Rob & Shaun for a bit of playful banter & motivational advice ;-) .
All things considered I felt pretty chipper until about halfway round
the 3rd lap. My quads were starting to die, my vision was tunnelling
in & out & when Rob asked me how many laps I’d done I had little or no
idea. I could simply have counted the bands on my arms. I was
knackered & completely bewildered that my body had so completely let
me down. My Garmin shows that I walked for a lonely 6km before I
finally remembered that Nicola had palmed over 6 ProPlus to me during
that sneaky wee kiss as I left T2. I washed them down with Red Bull &
waited to see if this gave me wings. I coaxed my legs into life. Run 3
strides/ walk 3 steps, run 5 strides/ walk 5 steps, run 10 strides…..I
eventually got running smoothly again & finished the final 5km
strongly. Nicola handed me the Saltire as I passed her for the last
time & I headed to the finish with some sort of a grotesque parody of
a smile on my face.


Happy Times.

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The "Dark Period" or "Who Stole My Sweets".

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The Finishing Carpet.

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Run:- 03:56:43, 16th in AG & 134th overall.

Total Time:-11:33:36


Still Wired On Caffeine

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It’s customary to say a few words of thanks at the end of a report &
I’d like to take this chance to mention Mark & Christine at Absolute
Cycles for my bike fit & tune-up, all the boys & girls on Wrecsam
Tri’s Strava site for keeping me on my toes, Ollie & Steve for putting
up with my whinges at swimming, but most of all my long suffering
family without whose support I couldn’t walk around in lycra.