Robert, You Are An Ironman!

So it's been a week since the big race, so I'll write things here as I remember them!

After getting up to some rather dreary weather, I drove to the Macron stadium (and T2) to catch the coach to the start line at Pennington Flash. The coach left a lot later than it was supposed to and by the time I got to T1 I only had about 30 minutes to fix up the bike, get changed and be ready to race. It was raining heavily and none of the gels would stick to the bike, and there was nowhere to fill my water bottles up. Not a good start. Fortunately one kind soul gave me the remainder of his bottle of water which allowed me to fill up at least some of the way.

After the chaos of getting ready, making the obligatory nervous toilet break, and heading on to the start line I was feeling... great actually. Everyone else was dancing around nervous as anything but I was confident, ready and raring to go.

The Swim
And we're off. This year it's a rolling start, so by the time I actually crossed the start line it was about 10 minutes after the 6AM start. The water was actually warmer than the air temperature and I got into my rhythm instantly, keeping on the toes of the swimmer in front. Usually I can't sight for love nor money, but this time I'd been practising and it seemed to be paying off.

Second lap started much the same as the first, all was going well. Then it happened, someone kicked my goggles off, which was quickly followed by the worst rain I think I've ever seen, coming down so hard you could feel it under the water. Needless to say it was pretty awful, the water became so choppy it was unbelievable and the waves were crashing over my head. I lost an earplug, and a fellow swimmer lost his Garmin. Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, the water temperature dropped sharply and a fog descended over the water. It was impossible to see the buoys and I just had to hope and pray that I was swimming in the correct direction.

Despite it all, I was out the water very near my estimated time of 90 minutes.
Swim:  01:31:57

T1
After having come out of the water, I was having panic attacks and nearly threw in the towel then and there. Eventually I managed to get myself into gear and get going. The actual transition area was steamy, and the grass to the mount line was boggy, made for an interesting experience anyway.

T1: 00:18:56


The Cycle
The cycle was hands down the best thing I've ever experienced. I was nervous because I hadn't had chance to recce the course, but in hindsight I'm glad I didn't, it made for a much more interesting and magical experience. The first section was a point to point from T1 to Adlington where you then joined the loop. From Adlington to Rivington and then the first big climb Sheep House Hill. This particular hill had a fearsome reputation and I was rather dreading it, but after peddling up it for a few minutes I decided it was easier than what I was used to. There were a number of people complaining about how hard it was and I passed at least one person who had dismounted and was walking up the hill.

The crowds up Sheep House Lane the first time around were pretty thin, at least for me, however at the top of the hill was, in my opinion, the best thing about Ironman. The Sheephouse Lane Fancy Dress Party.

These guys were amazing. Seriously, the fact they showed up at the very top of the climb, wearing... not a great deal, in the cold wet weather just put a smile on my face.

After the climb was the decent, and this was a steep one for sure, there were a few sharp turns and by the time I was upon them I was doing well over 40mph, something you don't want to misjudge.

The rest of the course was picturesque for the most part, some nice villages, a few minor inclines, plenty of open fields and so on.

And then it happened... Hunters Hill. I thought I must have passed it earlier and similar to Sheep House thought it was easy. Wrong. I hit the hill in totally the wrong gear and only marginally managed to mash my way up, it nearly defeated me that first lap and I honestly thought I wouldn't make it a second time..

First lap took just over 4 hours.

Second lap was much the same as the first, except the weather was better. Second time at Sheep House I was forced to drop to the small chain ring. The supporters were out in droves by this time too, which was nice for the second time around.

Again the course followed the same principles; the flats I overtook many cyclists, the shallow hills seemed to cause a problem to most other people leaving me the perfect chance to overtake again. The descents I freewheeled down to give my legs a rest before continuing the attack.

The support out on the course, in terms of spectators was absolutely amazing, truly a spectacle to behold.

When you see something like that you'd be mistaken for thinking it was part of Le Tour, but no this was actually the turn out on the cycle. At parts spectators were so close they were touching us. A few high fives were dealt on the way around, and a bit of showboating got the crowds to go wild. (Seriously, they were clapping for most people, for me there were shouts, whoops, claps, cheers, high fives, and screams of encouragement).

Cycle: 07:05:50 (A PB)

T2
By the time I hit T2 I was feeling tired, so took a few minutes to just compose myself before embarking on the marathon. 26.2 miles of running is a serious endeavour when you're full of energy, after a 2.4mi swim and 112mi cycle, it's something that takes a lot of determination!

On the way out of T2, I stopped to get some sunscreen applied by one of the volunteers. Now that's what I call service!

T2: 00:11:37


The Run
The run is where it all fell apart I'm afraid. I'd convinced myself to run the first 8 miles where the initial point to point joins the laps. I managed it (for the most part, I also decided to walk the hills to conserve energy). My pacing wasn't too bad, maybe not as fast I would have liked, but not bad at all. It all seemed to be going ok until mile 20? (I thought mile 15, but my run data seems to indicate mile 20) when I finally flopped, I nearly passed out going on a steep downhill toward the second feed station and only marginally caught myself. From this point onward it seem to be the hardest moments of my life, all I wanted to do was collapse and give in, I vaguely remember the walk/stumble to my mum and brother and warning them it could take me an hour or 2 to get back to the finish line because I was unlikely to be running.

The reason I bonked/hit the wall/etc was simple; I wasn't eating. Why wasn't I eating? Because I felt sick. Turns out (and this is something I've never tried in training) that if you don't eat enough eventually your body starts to make you feel sick, which gives you even less reason to eat. I've never before, and hopefully never will again, be so physically depleted that I almost blacked out, it's not a good experience and something that's likely to stick with me for life.

On the run there were thousands of spectators cheering us all on and while a lot of it was a blur at this point, I do remember seeing a few fancy dress people cheering, I remember a woman (a finisher maybe) high-fiving every runner as they went past. I also remember seeing at least a couple of people collapsed at the side of the road being looked after by spectators while the ambulance arrived. In these moments you truly understand how difficult such a race is, and in these moments I realised just how close to collapse I was myself.

This was the most awe inspiring sight, this was what it was all about, this is where I made the transition from man to Ironman.

So on the out of the third and final lap, I decided to ignore the sickness and try eating something. They were handing out pretzels and dear God they were glorious. If I said they were the best tasting thing I'd ever had I'd be lying. They were the second most amazing thing I'd ever tasted, the first being the flat Pepsi they were also handing out. My mouth was practically having it's own orgasm, something that wasn't an energy bar, energy gel, or electrolyte drink. I stopped and devoured a couple of cups of pretzels and downed a few cups of Pepsi too before heading off. I did this at the next feed station, and on the return quickly gulped a few down before managing to sprint down the finish line and somehow summoned the energy to leap through the finish checkpoint punching the air!

My time wasn't anywhere near as good as I had hoped on the run, coming in at over 5 hours it makes it by far the worst Marathon time I've ever posted, and something I'll definitely work at beating next time. Lesson learned I'll make sure I eat correctly to keep my energy levels up.

Run: 05:10:25



The Aftermath
Afterwards, we were medalled, given a foil sheet to keep us warm, a bottle of water and our finishers' photo taken. After all that we were lead to a tent where I had a massage (which fixed problems in my shoulders, I now plan on getting a sports massage every few months to help with tightness and pains), and offered 'real food', pizza, cake, fruit, and soft drinks that weren't sports related. After eating copious amounts of pizza, guzzling a ton of Pepsi and chatting to the happiest bunch of physically battered people I'm ever likely to meet I staggered on to collect my finishers shirt and my 'streetwear' bag. Eventually after all that I managed to stumble out to my rather emotional mum and brother where I confessed that yes, this was by far the greatest day of my life!





What can I say? My Ironman journey has been pretty amazing, from an unfit lazy lout who struggled to cycle 2 miles to someone who has just completed one of the worlds hardest challenges. I've changed so much over the past couple of years!

I had already decided to get the Ironman tattoo once I had done the race, I was going to go for some elaborate design, give it a unique twist, but in the end I decided a vanilla tattoo was the best way to commemorate my monumental achievement.

This isn't the end of my journey; it's just the beginning. I've got my sights set on Ironman Wales and Ironman Switzerland, not to mention I want to push hard for my sub 13 hour finish. Hey, there's a reason there's plenty of space below my tattoo; it's for me to include every year I manage to beat another Ironman around the world!