Wednesday 11 August 2010

Ironman Report

Well over a week since the ironman now and although havent really given myself much rest am starting to get back into a bit of training. Before I forget all about the event though I thought Id put down a quick report about how the day went.
After registering/racking bike and attending race briefing on the saturday I camped pretty close to the swim start on the saturday night although this still meant a 4am start and down to pennington flash for 5am. After checking over bike and getting into wetsuit I was in the water pretty early as I wanted to get a good start and prob had 20mins treading water before the gun went off. The swim itself went really well (apart from the manky water!) and after the first lap I checked my watch to see I had done it in 25mins, settled down a bit on the 2nd lap and eventually exited the water in 53mins- after the race most people thought the swim might have been a bit short but who cares.
After my usual slow transition it was out onto the bike and although I lost my water bottle about 2 miles in the first part of the cycle was fast with me making up quite a few places and probably getting into the top 20 before the first 30 mile lap was started. I didnt realise at the time but I absolutely blitzed this first lap and think I averaged about 22mph over a hilly course and was still up with the top guys. At the climb and the start of the 2nd lap however I realised I probably wouldnt be able to keep the same pace up and then run a marathon so eased off and slowly dropped back through the field. Pretty accidentally I found the lead female and she seemed to be doing a good pace so I cycled with her for the majority of the rest of the cycle. 3rd lap of the bike was pretty uneventful and just tried to keep eating and drinking at the feed stations. At the end of my bike I looked down to see 115 miles registering on my garmin (should be 112) and so although I had done the same time as france last year, 5hr45, the course was that bit longer and harder technically.
Legs were still feeling pretty good when I came into the final transition and everything went pretty smoothly as I set out for the marathon.......that is until they made us run up a massive hill right at the start and then through a 3 mile cross country section!! luckily after this we made our way out onto the roads and began the long run into bolton town centre. Although the run wasnt that scenic the crowds were good and that helped push you along. The most evil part of the run came when they made you turn right near the finish line and head back out the town for another 12 odd miles:( heard some people didnt know about this and thought they had finished!! Anyway on the way back out I probably had my only hard time in the race, maybe at about 16 miles where I had to walk for a few minutes and get myself together- not sure what was wrong but it passed and I was able to get back going. After the turn point to head back in I started to run smoothly again and the next hour seemed to speed in (wish it always felt like this) and before I knew it I was right at the finish line. Even got to do a sprint finish with what turned out to be the 3rd place female pro and just get her at the line:) finished in 10hr16 so although I didnt break 10hrs I was more than happy with the time on that course and to take 45mins off france time. The male pro won it in 8hr40 and the female pro in 10hr01. 38th out of the finishers overall and 10th in age group.
Overall a good day and didnt even feel that bad the next day, maybe I didnt go hard enough! With the easier bike course in austria and a good winters run training I know I can break 10hrs next time- oh yeah forgot to say on here that im already entered for IM Austria in july next year:)

Ironman photos











Wednesday 4 August 2010

Done for another year!!

The Ironman is over for another year and although it hurts so much whilst doing it the feeling of completing it and knowing all the training was worth it more than makes up for it! Have put the results below and although a bit small can be seen if you click on them and zoom in.
Really busy this week so no time to put anything up in detail but will get round to writing a race report and will also put some of the event photos up when they are avaliable.
Helen also completed the course in 14hr29 which she was more than happy with as did terry gallagher (12hr10) from inverness but who races for wick tri club.
Lastly ive decided im not going to get any faster as im currently at the level of the female pro athletes which means I get to race round with them and believe me some of them are really fit:)

Ironman UK results