Great report Frank, you manage to capture what it feels like to suffer on an IM marathon with great accuracy and detail.
.......and then there were 6????
ironman race reports here please!
Re: ironman race reports here please!
Thanks all - here is an interesting article
http://triathlete-europe.competitor.com ... human-body
http://triathlete-europe.competitor.com ... human-body
-
ragingbill-74
- Posts: 154
- Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2012 6:10 pm
Re: ironman race reports here please!
Ok, I may as well start at the beginning. A long long time ago in a galaxy far far away. Ok, not a galaxy, but ya get the idea. When I was a chap, while I was up waiting for some late night metal show, I came across this documentary about a guy who had Aids and after some time of self pity and abuse he decided to change his life around. He ended up doin an Ironman( i think Hawaii ). It was a very inspiring docu, and as I had seen some Triathlons and enjoyed watching them, I said to myself that one day I would do an Ironman.
Fast forward quite a few years, and drunk one night at a wedding, surrounded by my fellow almost retired footballers, I declared I would do an Ironman before I was 40. Waking up the next morning, I realised that not only had I set myself a goal, but I had given myself a deadline. Oh sh*t, what have I done. Ok, its out in the open, I may just go and do it.
The next year I did my first triathlons and I was on the way. A few of my friends decided they were fed up of team sports, and they were taking up tri as well. Because of young kids i decided I would wait till my youngest Renee was at least sleeping through the night before comitting to the preperation for Ironman. In the meantime my mate had only went and done an Ironman before me. The cheek. He wanted to get it in before kids!! Wise move. Anyways, my mate, the one and only David Devine from Waterford tri club set a benchmark of 10:54. So there was my target. As you can see I'm not the least bit competitive!!!!!
I was planning on doing Austria as my mate had done Austria, and lets be straight, I wanted more than anything to beat him. But myself and Alma were saving to go to to visit our best friends in Sydney the year after, and after a suggestion while on skype to them, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and do my Ironman in Australia. So some time last November, I embarked on my Ironman training. I tried my best to follow the Joe Friel training plan. It was a long lonely, cold, sleep deprived Winter. Training was done mostly in the mornings before work or straight after work. Long runs and bikes early Sat/Sun to get back to spend time with family. But to be honest, I wasn't much company!!!! The training got especially tough in the New Year when sessions were too long for indoor training, but the weather was shocking for outdoor. I would have loved to train more with all you guys, but I was on a different plan than ye, and I wasnt the most reliable time keeper when fatigue started to set in and I would give myself an extra hour in bed. Thr training in the pool with you guys really set me up well for my swim. Liam worked wonders with my stroke, and my competitive nature made sure Peter and Don pushed me hard. On one of my toughest days out on the bike I met a similarly soaked and cold Fintan going the opposite direction on the Carlow/Kilkenny road. As it turned out I had to abandon after 140k due to being soaked right through and shivering with the cold. But the thoughts that my team-mate was out suffering too, kept me going to that point. I couldnt wait to get to the sunshine in Oz.
The stress of the logistics of getting myself, wife, two kids, and the precious bike to Oz, and to the start line was made minimal by Alma's brilliant skills and hard work organising everything from flights, accomodation etc. My mate in Oz, Pa was great and collected us from the airport and roped in a mate Trent to carry me and the bike. We arrived at our rented house in North Bondi, and began the acclimitisation process. A week of very little sleep followed, as the kids were bouncing off the walls with energy in the middle of the frickin night!!!! The second day there, Pa had me up at 5 in the morning to cycle out with him and his mate (ex pro-cyclist) to West head. Undulating he said. I'm on taper I said. We'll take it easy he said. Easy and undulating it wasn't, but boy was it worth it. It blew the cobwebs and jetlag off me and I was rewarded with one of the most enjoyable cycles of my entire life. And the scenery was fantastic. I had two weeks of taper training( and sight-seeing) in Sydney before my race and Pa became my tour guide around Sydney, training in Centennial Park on bike, running along Bondi beach, and swimming in sydney harbour behind a shark net in Parsley Bay. On one loop around the small bay, as I swam along the shark net I suddenly noticed a very large, fast, dark shadow on the other side of the net!! I practiced my T1 transition as quickly as possible!!
The Thursday before race day we drove the five hours to Port Macquarie. By we, I mean Alma and Pa drove. Our family in one car, Pa, Lily and their two boys in the other. I was delighted they were coming to cheer me on. We were staying in a motel 100m from the swim start. Race check in and I was finally starting to get nervous. Did some recce's of the course and first thing I noticed as we drove the bike course was the road surface. It was shit. Even Alma noticed it just from driving on it. That had me worried. Did a short brick recce and I was happy enough with that. Two days out I did the early morning swim on course. All the Aussies were remarking how cold the water was. It was like a frickin bath. Yez should try swim in Lough Dan!!!! I swam up to the first turn and I didn't feel particularly well. I decided there and then to ignore Joe Friel and give myself a rest day the day befor race. Also I took a spin out to the new addition to the swim course. Namely a concrete weir we had to climb in the middle of the swim. More on that later.
Race morning, and I was quite calm. The kids weren't too happy at being woken in the middle of the night, but Alma got the cheer squad up and at em. Wetsuit on and across the road for swim start. Pa met me in the carpark which was being used as assembly point and that was a very welcome sight. Swim start was the new rolling swim start, which meant I had to pick my forecasted swim time. I went for second group of 1:00 to 1:10. Ambitious I thought but hey, give it a go. Before I knew it our group was released and it was a very casual stroll down to waters edge and over the timing mat to start my race. All very surreal after a few years of bedlam swim starts. I got into my stroke very quick and noticed I was travelling at roughly the same pace as a guy beside me , so I decided to tuck in as close as I could to avail of a draft. After a few hundred metres we approached the first of many doglegs on the swim course. It was the first time I saw a bouy as lots of moored boats were blocking our view. I noticed the guy I was drafting on my right had pushed me way out left of our first dogleg right. I made a decision there and then to do my own sighting from that point. Sighting was difficult with all the boats, but thanks to Liam's sighting practice in the pool(boy did i curse him at the time) I made my way towards the weir. Going over the weir the first time wasn't too bad(if a little odd), but on the way back down the scaffold steps were only half the width of the out section. It made for a very contested approach to the second stair climb. This really got my blood going. I probably swam way faster in the second half, coz I was fighting for position the whole way back down through all the boats and doglegs til I could finally see the final turn into swim finish. I came out of the water feeling upper body tired but like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and relieved that phase one had been ticked off. I have to say that the feeling I had throughout the swim was that I was swimming consistent but slow. I got a nice little surprise later.
So, into T1 and took my time and was quite calm through my routine. Collected the bike and I was off. This I was dreading. It was a bit fresh at the start but I knew I'd warm up. Lots of people around me were wearing jackets!! The route out of town started with a testy little climb that I was to discover after had been added to the run route!! It was up and down for the first few km's and I found myself being passed by lots of people going up the climbs and then passing same said people on the way down other side. I didn't care, i was sticking to my plan not to raise my HR. Eventually got out on the open road and felt comfortable enough at my selected pace, if a little rattled on the heavy-gritted road. After a few km's a marshall came up beside me and started yelling at a group behind me. I didn't even know they were there." Pass out or back off". The course was flat on this coastal section but started to get a bit lumpy again comin out towards the turnaround. A few km's out from the turnaround and I hear a familiar Irish voice hollering at me. Pa had driven out to cheer me on. I would be very welcome for that later on. Out to turnaround and back in by Pa and his son Lucas. That cheered me up again. On the way back into Port Macquarie I noticed the wind picking up a bit. And the climb up Matt Flinders drive was cruel after that distance. By the time i got back to town several people had come off their bikes due to the crosswinds at certain exposed points. Boy was I glad to have listened to the advice given by Pa's Aussie mates to steer clear of full discs!! Heading to end of first lap I was very glad to be on target at 2:53 or thereabouts. And I still felt reasonably comfortable. But that was all to change. Met Alma and the kids on the climb out of town and Renee was fast asleep. The poor mite. Aveline was jumping around with a 'Go Daddy sign'. When I got back out to flat coastal road I was met with an unrelenting headwind. Ah feck. My speed was down to 16mph and on the same stretch on the first lap I was 10mph faster. This is not good. The second lap outward was cruel in the extreme. By the time I met Pa near turnaround i was demoralised. Cooked I shouted at him. Bollox he shouted back. I trudged on. At the second turnaround(it's a double turnaround per lap) I stopped to use the single portaloo. In my exhaustion I didn't realise it was occupied. I sat on a fence and felt very sorry for myself. I may even have shed a tear.SShhh!! Had a chat with myself which went something like "you've come all this way, you're not f***king giving in now." Got back on the bike and carried on. Passed in by Pa again and had the strangest exchange. The way I heard it , he screamed at me " get your f***king arse back into town, yer on the bloody home straight". Apparently he said no such thing, and was very couteous and civil to me and just said softly to me to get myself back to the finish. Ya hear what ya need to hear I guess. Well, what I heard did the business and it spurrred me on. After I got through the horrible crosswinds on the bottom end of course I was back on the open highway and with a strong wind behind me i put the hammer down. Out went the HR plan and it was flat out all the way home. I pushed as hard as I could all the way back, til I got to Matt Flinders drive again. I'll never forget the name of that hill. After almost 180km i nearly blew a gasket trying to power up it. Through all the ups and downs and crosswinds and into town. Boy was I glad that leg was over. I tried to push it all the way to finish, but Matt Flinders nearly broke me. Into T2 after 6:18. I was happy with that after the pain of that second loop.
Into T2 and I was very glad to sit down for a minute. Young fella started to put suncream on my shoulders. Handed him my chamois cream and asked him if he'd do that too. We had a good laugh at that. "Ya can look after that yerself mate". Out of the tent to start my first ever marathon and i was feeling very low. I knew my 11hr target was gone. But I was met by my wife just outside the fence and i stopped for a chat and grabbed a few gels on the table. I told her how I felt and she told me I had done a 1:05 swim. I thought it was more like 1:15-1:20. I was chuffed and that really made all the difference going into the marathon. My quads felt completely dead. Not sore, just dead. I set out at a slower pace than I was hoping for but picked it up a bit and really got going. This was my favourite discipline and i was determined to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the run. The first test was the newly added hill on the way out of town. I ran up it at a strong pace and out past the club cheer area. This was an area the organisers had encouraged all the clubs to set up a cheer tent to create a bit of atmosphere. Why they had to make us run up a hill to get to it I'll never know. But I was glad when they started cheering 'come on bill'. How did they know my name? Maybe there's another Bill behind me they know. Then on the way back through town a bunch of girls screamed 'come on Bill Barry'. Then I realised I had my name on my number!! d'oh. I was tired!! The wind on the top end of course was very tough. Blowing from all angles. Then the lead woman came past me. Nice view, I'll follow that for a while. That got me as far as the next fuelling station. The heat was starting to get to me on the second lap and I had no real nutrition or hydration plan for the run. I stopped at every second sation and grabbed a few gels and drank a few drinks. I had brought my own gels and most of my drinks on the bike leg and I was sorry I didn't bring my own for run. Boy was I sorry. The Gatorade was barely tolerable and the gels were disgusting. By the third lap of four I was struggling and felt myself getting sloppy with my technique. I clipped my foot on a cobble block that was sticking up a bit and I jarred my ankle. I was really struggling with my ankle and couldn't put my full weight on it when the camber changed. I could only run properly on the flat. By the middle of lap three I was walking through all the stations, I stopped and had a much needed chat with Alma and the kids and my mate Pa, but I couldn't stomach the gels. The next station I stopped and stuffed my face with cakes and chocolate and drank a litlle coke. This eventually got through to my muscles and i started to feel a little better. On the fourth and final lap I got to the hill at the start and for the first time I walked up it. It took all my mental strength just to get running again. I really just wanted to walk to the finish. Then as I was starting to realise I was on my final lap, I passed a bunch of kids blasting out Slipknot!!! That was it, I was pumped. Your'e on the last f***king lap, your'e gonna do this. Let's do this shit. I pumped out the last lap like a posessed maniac. I was screaming at people to get out of my way. On the run into town i picked it up another notch. The adrenaline was pumping now. I collected my last wristband and sprinted as hard as I could for the last few km's. As I came into the finish I was running like a Phoebe-esque maniac and looking around for Alma and the kids. Couldn't see them, but Pa nearly came out over the fence after me. I sprinted and jumped and fist-pumped all the way to the finish. You are an Ironman!!!!! I was carried to the recovery tent and sat down at a table and scoffed some pizza and coke. I nearly fell off my chair I was so exhausted, but some locals got me some more coke and propped me up. but I couldn't hang around. All I wanted at that moment was my wife and kids. I stumbled out of the recovery tent and fell into my wife and kids embrace. What a day!!!!
Fast forward quite a few years, and drunk one night at a wedding, surrounded by my fellow almost retired footballers, I declared I would do an Ironman before I was 40. Waking up the next morning, I realised that not only had I set myself a goal, but I had given myself a deadline. Oh sh*t, what have I done. Ok, its out in the open, I may just go and do it.
The next year I did my first triathlons and I was on the way. A few of my friends decided they were fed up of team sports, and they were taking up tri as well. Because of young kids i decided I would wait till my youngest Renee was at least sleeping through the night before comitting to the preperation for Ironman. In the meantime my mate had only went and done an Ironman before me. The cheek. He wanted to get it in before kids!! Wise move. Anyways, my mate, the one and only David Devine from Waterford tri club set a benchmark of 10:54. So there was my target. As you can see I'm not the least bit competitive!!!!!
I was planning on doing Austria as my mate had done Austria, and lets be straight, I wanted more than anything to beat him. But myself and Alma were saving to go to to visit our best friends in Sydney the year after, and after a suggestion while on skype to them, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and do my Ironman in Australia. So some time last November, I embarked on my Ironman training. I tried my best to follow the Joe Friel training plan. It was a long lonely, cold, sleep deprived Winter. Training was done mostly in the mornings before work or straight after work. Long runs and bikes early Sat/Sun to get back to spend time with family. But to be honest, I wasn't much company!!!! The training got especially tough in the New Year when sessions were too long for indoor training, but the weather was shocking for outdoor. I would have loved to train more with all you guys, but I was on a different plan than ye, and I wasnt the most reliable time keeper when fatigue started to set in and I would give myself an extra hour in bed. Thr training in the pool with you guys really set me up well for my swim. Liam worked wonders with my stroke, and my competitive nature made sure Peter and Don pushed me hard. On one of my toughest days out on the bike I met a similarly soaked and cold Fintan going the opposite direction on the Carlow/Kilkenny road. As it turned out I had to abandon after 140k due to being soaked right through and shivering with the cold. But the thoughts that my team-mate was out suffering too, kept me going to that point. I couldnt wait to get to the sunshine in Oz.
The stress of the logistics of getting myself, wife, two kids, and the precious bike to Oz, and to the start line was made minimal by Alma's brilliant skills and hard work organising everything from flights, accomodation etc. My mate in Oz, Pa was great and collected us from the airport and roped in a mate Trent to carry me and the bike. We arrived at our rented house in North Bondi, and began the acclimitisation process. A week of very little sleep followed, as the kids were bouncing off the walls with energy in the middle of the frickin night!!!! The second day there, Pa had me up at 5 in the morning to cycle out with him and his mate (ex pro-cyclist) to West head. Undulating he said. I'm on taper I said. We'll take it easy he said. Easy and undulating it wasn't, but boy was it worth it. It blew the cobwebs and jetlag off me and I was rewarded with one of the most enjoyable cycles of my entire life. And the scenery was fantastic. I had two weeks of taper training( and sight-seeing) in Sydney before my race and Pa became my tour guide around Sydney, training in Centennial Park on bike, running along Bondi beach, and swimming in sydney harbour behind a shark net in Parsley Bay. On one loop around the small bay, as I swam along the shark net I suddenly noticed a very large, fast, dark shadow on the other side of the net!! I practiced my T1 transition as quickly as possible!!
The Thursday before race day we drove the five hours to Port Macquarie. By we, I mean Alma and Pa drove. Our family in one car, Pa, Lily and their two boys in the other. I was delighted they were coming to cheer me on. We were staying in a motel 100m from the swim start. Race check in and I was finally starting to get nervous. Did some recce's of the course and first thing I noticed as we drove the bike course was the road surface. It was shit. Even Alma noticed it just from driving on it. That had me worried. Did a short brick recce and I was happy enough with that. Two days out I did the early morning swim on course. All the Aussies were remarking how cold the water was. It was like a frickin bath. Yez should try swim in Lough Dan!!!! I swam up to the first turn and I didn't feel particularly well. I decided there and then to ignore Joe Friel and give myself a rest day the day befor race. Also I took a spin out to the new addition to the swim course. Namely a concrete weir we had to climb in the middle of the swim. More on that later.
Race morning, and I was quite calm. The kids weren't too happy at being woken in the middle of the night, but Alma got the cheer squad up and at em. Wetsuit on and across the road for swim start. Pa met me in the carpark which was being used as assembly point and that was a very welcome sight. Swim start was the new rolling swim start, which meant I had to pick my forecasted swim time. I went for second group of 1:00 to 1:10. Ambitious I thought but hey, give it a go. Before I knew it our group was released and it was a very casual stroll down to waters edge and over the timing mat to start my race. All very surreal after a few years of bedlam swim starts. I got into my stroke very quick and noticed I was travelling at roughly the same pace as a guy beside me , so I decided to tuck in as close as I could to avail of a draft. After a few hundred metres we approached the first of many doglegs on the swim course. It was the first time I saw a bouy as lots of moored boats were blocking our view. I noticed the guy I was drafting on my right had pushed me way out left of our first dogleg right. I made a decision there and then to do my own sighting from that point. Sighting was difficult with all the boats, but thanks to Liam's sighting practice in the pool(boy did i curse him at the time) I made my way towards the weir. Going over the weir the first time wasn't too bad(if a little odd), but on the way back down the scaffold steps were only half the width of the out section. It made for a very contested approach to the second stair climb. This really got my blood going. I probably swam way faster in the second half, coz I was fighting for position the whole way back down through all the boats and doglegs til I could finally see the final turn into swim finish. I came out of the water feeling upper body tired but like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and relieved that phase one had been ticked off. I have to say that the feeling I had throughout the swim was that I was swimming consistent but slow. I got a nice little surprise later.
So, into T1 and took my time and was quite calm through my routine. Collected the bike and I was off. This I was dreading. It was a bit fresh at the start but I knew I'd warm up. Lots of people around me were wearing jackets!! The route out of town started with a testy little climb that I was to discover after had been added to the run route!! It was up and down for the first few km's and I found myself being passed by lots of people going up the climbs and then passing same said people on the way down other side. I didn't care, i was sticking to my plan not to raise my HR. Eventually got out on the open road and felt comfortable enough at my selected pace, if a little rattled on the heavy-gritted road. After a few km's a marshall came up beside me and started yelling at a group behind me. I didn't even know they were there." Pass out or back off". The course was flat on this coastal section but started to get a bit lumpy again comin out towards the turnaround. A few km's out from the turnaround and I hear a familiar Irish voice hollering at me. Pa had driven out to cheer me on. I would be very welcome for that later on. Out to turnaround and back in by Pa and his son Lucas. That cheered me up again. On the way back into Port Macquarie I noticed the wind picking up a bit. And the climb up Matt Flinders drive was cruel after that distance. By the time i got back to town several people had come off their bikes due to the crosswinds at certain exposed points. Boy was I glad to have listened to the advice given by Pa's Aussie mates to steer clear of full discs!! Heading to end of first lap I was very glad to be on target at 2:53 or thereabouts. And I still felt reasonably comfortable. But that was all to change. Met Alma and the kids on the climb out of town and Renee was fast asleep. The poor mite. Aveline was jumping around with a 'Go Daddy sign'. When I got back out to flat coastal road I was met with an unrelenting headwind. Ah feck. My speed was down to 16mph and on the same stretch on the first lap I was 10mph faster. This is not good. The second lap outward was cruel in the extreme. By the time I met Pa near turnaround i was demoralised. Cooked I shouted at him. Bollox he shouted back. I trudged on. At the second turnaround(it's a double turnaround per lap) I stopped to use the single portaloo. In my exhaustion I didn't realise it was occupied. I sat on a fence and felt very sorry for myself. I may even have shed a tear.SShhh!! Had a chat with myself which went something like "you've come all this way, you're not f***king giving in now." Got back on the bike and carried on. Passed in by Pa again and had the strangest exchange. The way I heard it , he screamed at me " get your f***king arse back into town, yer on the bloody home straight". Apparently he said no such thing, and was very couteous and civil to me and just said softly to me to get myself back to the finish. Ya hear what ya need to hear I guess. Well, what I heard did the business and it spurrred me on. After I got through the horrible crosswinds on the bottom end of course I was back on the open highway and with a strong wind behind me i put the hammer down. Out went the HR plan and it was flat out all the way home. I pushed as hard as I could all the way back, til I got to Matt Flinders drive again. I'll never forget the name of that hill. After almost 180km i nearly blew a gasket trying to power up it. Through all the ups and downs and crosswinds and into town. Boy was I glad that leg was over. I tried to push it all the way to finish, but Matt Flinders nearly broke me. Into T2 after 6:18. I was happy with that after the pain of that second loop.
Into T2 and I was very glad to sit down for a minute. Young fella started to put suncream on my shoulders. Handed him my chamois cream and asked him if he'd do that too. We had a good laugh at that. "Ya can look after that yerself mate". Out of the tent to start my first ever marathon and i was feeling very low. I knew my 11hr target was gone. But I was met by my wife just outside the fence and i stopped for a chat and grabbed a few gels on the table. I told her how I felt and she told me I had done a 1:05 swim. I thought it was more like 1:15-1:20. I was chuffed and that really made all the difference going into the marathon. My quads felt completely dead. Not sore, just dead. I set out at a slower pace than I was hoping for but picked it up a bit and really got going. This was my favourite discipline and i was determined to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the run. The first test was the newly added hill on the way out of town. I ran up it at a strong pace and out past the club cheer area. This was an area the organisers had encouraged all the clubs to set up a cheer tent to create a bit of atmosphere. Why they had to make us run up a hill to get to it I'll never know. But I was glad when they started cheering 'come on bill'. How did they know my name? Maybe there's another Bill behind me they know. Then on the way back through town a bunch of girls screamed 'come on Bill Barry'. Then I realised I had my name on my number!! d'oh. I was tired!! The wind on the top end of course was very tough. Blowing from all angles. Then the lead woman came past me. Nice view, I'll follow that for a while. That got me as far as the next fuelling station. The heat was starting to get to me on the second lap and I had no real nutrition or hydration plan for the run. I stopped at every second sation and grabbed a few gels and drank a few drinks. I had brought my own gels and most of my drinks on the bike leg and I was sorry I didn't bring my own for run. Boy was I sorry. The Gatorade was barely tolerable and the gels were disgusting. By the third lap of four I was struggling and felt myself getting sloppy with my technique. I clipped my foot on a cobble block that was sticking up a bit and I jarred my ankle. I was really struggling with my ankle and couldn't put my full weight on it when the camber changed. I could only run properly on the flat. By the middle of lap three I was walking through all the stations, I stopped and had a much needed chat with Alma and the kids and my mate Pa, but I couldn't stomach the gels. The next station I stopped and stuffed my face with cakes and chocolate and drank a litlle coke. This eventually got through to my muscles and i started to feel a little better. On the fourth and final lap I got to the hill at the start and for the first time I walked up it. It took all my mental strength just to get running again. I really just wanted to walk to the finish. Then as I was starting to realise I was on my final lap, I passed a bunch of kids blasting out Slipknot!!! That was it, I was pumped. Your'e on the last f***king lap, your'e gonna do this. Let's do this shit. I pumped out the last lap like a posessed maniac. I was screaming at people to get out of my way. On the run into town i picked it up another notch. The adrenaline was pumping now. I collected my last wristband and sprinted as hard as I could for the last few km's. As I came into the finish I was running like a Phoebe-esque maniac and looking around for Alma and the kids. Couldn't see them, but Pa nearly came out over the fence after me. I sprinted and jumped and fist-pumped all the way to the finish. You are an Ironman!!!!! I was carried to the recovery tent and sat down at a table and scoffed some pizza and coke. I nearly fell off my chair I was so exhausted, but some locals got me some more coke and propped me up. but I couldn't hang around. All I wanted at that moment was my wife and kids. I stumbled out of the recovery tent and fell into my wife and kids embrace. What a day!!!!
Re: ironman race reports here please!
Great stuff Bill. Worth waiting for!
Re: ironman race reports here please!
Only got round to reading this now Bill - classic report thanks really enjoyed it. Fair fecking play
Re: ironman race reports here please!
A little late but here goes...
IM training officially bean on the 1st of January and i can honestly say that i have never given as much time, and effort to a race in my life. It took over everything and came 1st to everything. 16 hours training a week quickly became 20 and towards the last 8 weeks 24 hours.
I had also qualified for the European championships in Austria which turned out to be 4 weeks before Roth and Tom had to race in France for the mountain running so the adventure was born to go to the continent and travel to the races with the kids fitting in a few things for them in between.
I had a great time training over there, Olympic outdoor pools, trails and trails at altitude, warm weather,and of course my beloved turbo trainer(in 6mths i went on the road 13times everything else was done on the turbo.) fantastic.
Europeans went really well, my bike split was a little slower then i had hoped but unfortunately that was due to my tt bike not really suiting the very steep accents and descents. I think about 70% of the athletes had road bikes but i was still able to ride the whole route unlike some who were off and walking the bikes. My run was very good and i clocked the 4th fastest split of all the female age groupers on the day. I finished 11th overall my goal was top 10 but i wasn't disappointed the atmosphere was amazing and i enjoyed the race.1hour 32min
Fast forward a few weeks and we pull up to Roth the wed 4 days before the race, prime location, 300 meters from the finish, expo, and the race route went straight by us.
staying in the heart of the action in Roth really made it for me, Alan Ryan had told me this before hand i was so glad i took his advice. The whole town is alive with the buzz and so many things to do and see that we would have missed being anywhere else.
Day before the race and it is scorching lots of us meet up and sit around the caravan trying to stay hydrated and shaded i have to admit the weather really didn't worry me, i love the heat and had been training in it for the last month.
Myself and Lou headed to T1 to drop bikes and bags and the nervous laughter begins ... with a run through of swim exit to bag drop to bike we pray we have forgotten nothing and head out. Que to get out of the car-park was unnatural and the 2 blondes forgot to bring any water so we roll down the window bat our eyelashes and scam some water of some lads gong to rack their bikes.
That night we headed with Tracy and Fin to the pasta party which was another great big challenge party music dancing introducing the pros and carbo loading.
I slept very well that night and when the alarm went off at 3 i still felt relaxed. Had my breakfast and then headed over to the shuttle bus to get into Roth.
T1 was again just one massive big buzz, final checks, chat to the lads, gave Tracy a hug who was still crying... standing then chatting i said what time is it Mike said u have just under 10 minuets to the start SHIT i hadn't even got my wet suit on. Fastest change in history sprint to the start and i join the other women getting in. Just hitting the water and the cannon goes off I'm still 100m from the start line. oh well nothing i can do now only go for it.
The swim was actually more congested then i thought it would be and most people i talked to clocked it long, but still 1:14 happy enough.
T1 went perfect grabbed the helmet , bike, a big wave to the kids and off i go.
Started my nutrition plan that i had been practicing and felt good, then out of no where i got sick the bar id eaten, ok don't panic its probably just nerves and going vertical after being horizontal, but no wait i actually feel sick now, and i have pains oh God i feel awful, .. i stuck to the plan and keep eating but it just keep coming up.. meet David Furlong and he suggested i try just water for a while.. i was starting to panic bad i knew i had to stay hydrated but by 140k i couldn't even keep water down. Surprisingly i was actually losing no time even though i wasn't on the bars because of the pain, and i had this last hope that maybe when i ran and was up straight my stomach would improve. With all this going on i didn't really take in the bike route, Solar hill was amazing but apart from that i just needed it to be over . 5:45
Into T2 and something went right for me 25th fastest split of the day lol
Ahh the run this should have been my moment, my mantra in training and racing and even the swim and bike was always get to the run and your winning its your strongest of all 3, all the hard work will be done. oh boy how that back fired. 1mile at target pace and then i was walking before 5k in. I saw the kids and Tom at this stage and between crying and getting sick i managed to tell them what had been happening.
i cant explain the disappointment that was going on with me. And so this went on for another 18 miles,, walk, puck , cry, jog repeat.
still trying to even put some water in but it wouldn't happen. I did catch a break at around 20-miles where a little water and some banana bread stayed down and i was able to jog the last 6miles. looking back at my garmin i had burned 6300 calories from the swim and the bike, so i suppose it would be like asking my body to run a marathon after not eating for 3 days. 4;45 YIKES.
I finished though just scrapping under the 12... i cant lie i was bitterly disappointed i felt it didn't reflect m ability and defiantly didn't reflect the work put in. but this feeling lasted all of about a minuet. The atmosphere, buzz and just the race itself was like nothing ive ever done before. i couldn't recommend it enough. We stayed up till 1 in the morning clapping people into the finish including the iron nun.
I cant say i would change a thing about my training, i think in these long events u have to have an element of luck.
Thanks to all the others from 795 ye defiantly keep me going even if you don't know it, and Tracy and Pj for listening to me on the course talking throughout the tears..
Hopefully Roth 2015 will go a little better
Sorry for typos but im gone squared eyed now.
IM training officially bean on the 1st of January and i can honestly say that i have never given as much time, and effort to a race in my life. It took over everything and came 1st to everything. 16 hours training a week quickly became 20 and towards the last 8 weeks 24 hours.
I had also qualified for the European championships in Austria which turned out to be 4 weeks before Roth and Tom had to race in France for the mountain running so the adventure was born to go to the continent and travel to the races with the kids fitting in a few things for them in between.
I had a great time training over there, Olympic outdoor pools, trails and trails at altitude, warm weather,and of course my beloved turbo trainer(in 6mths i went on the road 13times everything else was done on the turbo.) fantastic.
Europeans went really well, my bike split was a little slower then i had hoped but unfortunately that was due to my tt bike not really suiting the very steep accents and descents. I think about 70% of the athletes had road bikes but i was still able to ride the whole route unlike some who were off and walking the bikes. My run was very good and i clocked the 4th fastest split of all the female age groupers on the day. I finished 11th overall my goal was top 10 but i wasn't disappointed the atmosphere was amazing and i enjoyed the race.1hour 32min
Fast forward a few weeks and we pull up to Roth the wed 4 days before the race, prime location, 300 meters from the finish, expo, and the race route went straight by us.
staying in the heart of the action in Roth really made it for me, Alan Ryan had told me this before hand i was so glad i took his advice. The whole town is alive with the buzz and so many things to do and see that we would have missed being anywhere else.
Day before the race and it is scorching lots of us meet up and sit around the caravan trying to stay hydrated and shaded i have to admit the weather really didn't worry me, i love the heat and had been training in it for the last month.
Myself and Lou headed to T1 to drop bikes and bags and the nervous laughter begins ... with a run through of swim exit to bag drop to bike we pray we have forgotten nothing and head out. Que to get out of the car-park was unnatural and the 2 blondes forgot to bring any water so we roll down the window bat our eyelashes and scam some water of some lads gong to rack their bikes.
That night we headed with Tracy and Fin to the pasta party which was another great big challenge party music dancing introducing the pros and carbo loading.
I slept very well that night and when the alarm went off at 3 i still felt relaxed. Had my breakfast and then headed over to the shuttle bus to get into Roth.
T1 was again just one massive big buzz, final checks, chat to the lads, gave Tracy a hug who was still crying... standing then chatting i said what time is it Mike said u have just under 10 minuets to the start SHIT i hadn't even got my wet suit on. Fastest change in history sprint to the start and i join the other women getting in. Just hitting the water and the cannon goes off I'm still 100m from the start line. oh well nothing i can do now only go for it.
The swim was actually more congested then i thought it would be and most people i talked to clocked it long, but still 1:14 happy enough.
T1 went perfect grabbed the helmet , bike, a big wave to the kids and off i go.
Started my nutrition plan that i had been practicing and felt good, then out of no where i got sick the bar id eaten, ok don't panic its probably just nerves and going vertical after being horizontal, but no wait i actually feel sick now, and i have pains oh God i feel awful, .. i stuck to the plan and keep eating but it just keep coming up.. meet David Furlong and he suggested i try just water for a while.. i was starting to panic bad i knew i had to stay hydrated but by 140k i couldn't even keep water down. Surprisingly i was actually losing no time even though i wasn't on the bars because of the pain, and i had this last hope that maybe when i ran and was up straight my stomach would improve. With all this going on i didn't really take in the bike route, Solar hill was amazing but apart from that i just needed it to be over . 5:45
Into T2 and something went right for me 25th fastest split of the day lol
Ahh the run this should have been my moment, my mantra in training and racing and even the swim and bike was always get to the run and your winning its your strongest of all 3, all the hard work will be done. oh boy how that back fired. 1mile at target pace and then i was walking before 5k in. I saw the kids and Tom at this stage and between crying and getting sick i managed to tell them what had been happening.
i cant explain the disappointment that was going on with me. And so this went on for another 18 miles,, walk, puck , cry, jog repeat.
still trying to even put some water in but it wouldn't happen. I did catch a break at around 20-miles where a little water and some banana bread stayed down and i was able to jog the last 6miles. looking back at my garmin i had burned 6300 calories from the swim and the bike, so i suppose it would be like asking my body to run a marathon after not eating for 3 days. 4;45 YIKES.
I finished though just scrapping under the 12... i cant lie i was bitterly disappointed i felt it didn't reflect m ability and defiantly didn't reflect the work put in. but this feeling lasted all of about a minuet. The atmosphere, buzz and just the race itself was like nothing ive ever done before. i couldn't recommend it enough. We stayed up till 1 in the morning clapping people into the finish including the iron nun.
I cant say i would change a thing about my training, i think in these long events u have to have an element of luck.
Thanks to all the others from 795 ye defiantly keep me going even if you don't know it, and Tracy and Pj for listening to me on the course talking throughout the tears..
Hopefully Roth 2015 will go a little better
Sorry for typos but im gone squared eyed now.
Re: ironman race reports here please!
Great reports Dena and Bill. Fair play for going to the bother - club members will always learn something from these reports, I know i did!
Re: ironman race reports here please!
Great reports, well done again.
Re: ironman race reports here please!
Good honest report.
Interesting insight into a pro cycling teams hot weather hydration plan. ( that's a mouth full)
http://www.slipstreamsports.com/2014/08 ... he-vuelta/
Interesting insight into a pro cycling teams hot weather hydration plan. ( that's a mouth full)
http://www.slipstreamsports.com/2014/08 ... he-vuelta/
Re: ironman race reports here please!
That sort of puts it in perspective alright!Dena wrote: it would be like asking my body to run a marathon after not eating for 3 days. 4;45 YIKES.
Still can't believe you finished given how bad you looked at 20k.
The Ironman is so cruel - months and months of hard training to lay it on the line for one day
A lot of positives to take from it though, and you know the old saying - the more races you do the luckier you get!