The Triathlon thread - Ironman, 70.3, Olympic, Sprint
Discussion
baxb said:
could you bring a chopped up malt loaf out with you ?
Cheers chap - that's a good shout and one I'd forgotten about (don't mind the taste either!)drgav2005 said:
Hopefully won't make that mistake in IM Switzerland next year!!! 
You could always try these rice cakes http://pages.rapha.cc/team/rice-cakes-a-recipe - looks like the boys at SKY scoff them, so could be worth a go!
Can't see lightning striking twice with that!You could always try these rice cakes http://pages.rapha.cc/team/rice-cakes-a-recipe - looks like the boys at SKY scoff them, so could be worth a go!
Ooh, thanks for the link - I'll go take a look at that . . . sounds up my street
blade runner said:
Best of luck, you'll probably surprise yourself come race day! Give us a race report afterwards as I'm thinking about IM Mallorca next year and would especially like to know what the bike course is like. Given the big climb and descent, not sure whether to take TT bike or road bike with clip-ons?
Cheers! We'll have to see how things go come race day - I'll be happy with a finish and if it's even marginally less painful than Lanzarote, so much the better This week's been a bit of a blowout - managed a 170k hilly ride and a 7k sea swim last weekend - then went for 25k run on Monday, only to get home and discover my trainers are obviously knackered - the nailbed on the toe next to my big toe on my right foot is absolutely black (and chuffing painful!), so no running or cycling this week.
On the plus side I now have a shiny new pair of Brook Ghost 7's and now the swelling/pain has subsided I'm gonna give 'em a try over this weekend and try and see if I can squeeze in a 4hr ride at some stage as well.
I'll definitely be posting a detailed race report though, so I'll let you know as much poss about the bike
Edited by dangerousB on Friday 12th September 17:59
baxb said:
i'll stick a race report up when i've written it in a day or two if anyone wants to see.
croftsj said:
Holy cow, IM Wales was another epic day.
Love to hear your race reports guys - heard the swim was "something special" this year (40 - 50 DNF's before T1??) well done on getting through just that alone!Must have made an already very tough day a monumental challenge
Back from IM Mallorca at the beginning of the week and for the second time running, I've managed to contract a cracking post-race chest infection . . . fortunately on this occasion I've been able to intervene before it got to pneumonia - unlike last time!!
I'm almost over it (feels more like a heavy cold now), but spent the vast majority of this week with what felt like a hypersensitive upper respiratory tract - every time I took a remotely large breath it would send me off into long bouts of hacking coughs. You could have been forgiven for thinking I'd been away for a week smoking 40 fags a day rather than on IM duty!
Anyway, race report to come shortly, but just wondered whether I'm on my own with this or have any of you IM competitors have ever suffered (or heard of) similar post-race ailments?
I'm almost over it (feels more like a heavy cold now), but spent the vast majority of this week with what felt like a hypersensitive upper respiratory tract - every time I took a remotely large breath it would send me off into long bouts of hacking coughs. You could have been forgiven for thinking I'd been away for a week smoking 40 fags a day rather than on IM duty!
Anyway, race report to come shortly, but just wondered whether I'm on my own with this or have any of you IM competitors have ever suffered (or heard of) similar post-race ailments?
Finished it! Sorry if the report's a bit wordy chaps - I started writing and found it difficult to stop!!
IM MALLORCA 2014
For me, this race was actually supposed to have been IM Wales 2013, but I sustained an ankle injury in early August 2013, so transferred my entry to IM Lanzarote which was on 17th May 2014. Three weeks after I did this, my girlfriend and I discovered we were expecting our first baby . . . and the due date? 20th May 2014!!! Absolutely typical! Unfortunately IM rules dictate that you can only transfer once - no exceptions, so there was only one thing to be done - get entered for a later race!!
All that was left in Europe that wasn’t sold out was IM Zurich, IMUK in Bolton and IM Wales, but Ironman pretty much made my choice for me when they announced a new race for the calendar - the inaugural IM Mallorca on 27th September. No brainer for me!
TRAINING
One thing I did realise at the outset, was that training with an increasingly pregnant girlfriend may not actually be the easiest thing in the world to fit in and to a certain extent that was true - I ticked over during the winter (thinking the usual thing that September 27th 2014 was miles away anyway) and decided to get going properly from April onwards - in other words, when I absolutely had to!
April was OK - eased the volume up slowly, then on May 3rd our little girl was born - that’s where everything got a lot more difficult! My training plan was literally take what sessions I could, when they were possible and when I could physically complete them. In one sense it was good, in that the vast majority of my sessions were good quality, I had to make the few sessions I had count, but volume? Unfortunately that’ll have to wait until next year I think!
From April 1st - to my 2 week taper 1 managed to fit in 108hrs of training or an average of 4½hrs per week, or to put that into context:-
SWIM TOTAL 39.6km AVG 1.72km/week
BIKE TOTAL 1692.71km AVG 73.6km/week
RUN TOTAL 490.34km AVG 21.32km/week
RACE BRIEF
This covered the usual - itinerary, route, safety, rules and offences and also included a couple of motivational stories, one from the third guy home at the very first Ironman race back in 1978 (which still, even now, he was pretty choked talking about).
The BIG THING to come out of the race brief though, was that the water temperature was 26°C and it was a wetsuit free swim. No if’s, no but’s. Skins only. I wasn’t unduly bothered by this - after all, in my (very small!) amount of swim training, I hadn’t worn a wetsuit in the pool and I’d managed not to sink (I had worn one in all my in my OW swims though), but it did take away that buoyant comfort blanket and introduce just a small amount of apprehension - I’ve never started ANY race in my just my tri-suit, let alone one with 2650 swim wave!!!
RACE DAY
Did my usual pre-race prep thing of having very little sleep - woke at 5am having had about 3 hours, jumped into my trisuit and tried my best to get a bowl of porridge and a couple of bananas down me. Picked up my gel bottle, carb concentrate bottle, dilute carb bottle (to drink on my way to swim start), track pump, swim cap and goggles and jumped into the car with my bruv in law and my girlfriends brother for the 5k drive down to transition.
Sorted my bike, finished my drink and wandered down to swim start - still dark, but now the sun was beginning to make its presence felt with a faint glow on the horizon. Forecast was good (sunny and 27°C) and there was barely a cloud in the sky.
If I look like I've just gotten out of bed after 3 hours sleep and am bricking it, that's because in this picture I have and I am!!!
SWIM
I hate this part of the day - swim start 15mins away and you just have to wait and make nervous adjustments - swim cap on, swim cap off. Stretch. Jump. Goggles on, have I got a good seal? Goggles off. Done with chat now, just have to focus. Say cheers to my buddies and walk into the swim pen. Kick the water. Wander back 20 metres. Catch a glance with another competitor - he’s as nervous as I am. Slap him on the shoulders and clench one another’s hand. “Have a good one mate” . . . don’t even know if he spoke English, but I know he understood. It’s in the eyes.
Pro men go off. Right 5 mins. Goggles on. Get a good seal. Stretch. Jump. Pro women off. 2 mins to go. Swim cap on. Everybody moves forward as one. Thousand yard stare. AC/DC plays over the PA. Starting pistol sounds.
Game on.
I’m in the centre of the pack probably 5m from the front running into the gently shelving sea. Eventually it’s up over my thighs and in we go. It is ABSOLUTE chaos. I’m packed in like a sardine - people either side pressing into my shoulders, every time I stroke I catch someone’s feet. There’s no point in trying to kick as I can’t. I’ve at least 2 people punching the back of my thigh with their stroke. 400 - 600m in and I’ve already spotted 3 or 4 poor sods resorting to backstroke!
“Relax, sight and focus” I keep telling myself. It’ll sort itself out soon. But it doesn’t. 1.25k out at the first turn buoy and I’m still trying to swim, entwined in a writhing mass of bodies. I’m getting punched in the back of head repeatedly. The water is boiling all around us and it’s making breathing really tough - every other breath I’m kopping the equivalent of an eggcup full of the Med straight into my stomach (or at least that’s how it feels). Sighting is tough for the same reason (well that and my absolutely s
te eyesight!!!).
At about 2k some Spaniard (I know ‘cause I saw the “ESP” legend on his trisuit) decided to go on a mission and swim pretty much about 60° across me from my right hand side. God knows what he was sighting. I stroked with my right hand and caught his leg - he responded by explosively kicking out with it, catching me right in the meat of my left shoulder with his heel. Any other time I’d probably congratulate him on a perfect shot, but not now! Bloody painful (and felt it every stroke for the rest of the swim). Shortly after my stomach cried enough of the salt water and I started retching. I briefly stopped to empty my stomach (not that much came out but air and water).
Soon I was out of the water with an Ozzie exit and into the shorter 1.3k loop. Experienced pretty much exactly what I had done on the first out and back and still didn’t manage to find much clean water, but after what seemed to be an eternity I was out, running underneath the water showers to T1 - THANK GOD!!!!!
SWIM 1:17:20 - told my mates that if I had a good one, I’d be out in 1:10, 1:15 if it was average and 1:20 if it was bad - ‘nuff said
BIKE
I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to run into T1!
Quick turnaround (7:52 in one of the longest transitions on the calendar apparently) and off onto the bike course.
The first section was right up my street - we headed East out towards a place called Arta - great road surface and flat/gently undulating. The first 10k, according to my Garmin, whizzed by at an average speed of 36kmh. I was passing HEAPS of people and beginning to enjoy myself after that total bunfight of a swim.
It was pretty congested though and I had to run the gauntlet a bit with passing the multiple peletons that seemed to have formed (totally illegally!). On occasions I came up to bunches of 20 riders, 3 or 4 abreast across the whole right hand lane. Crossing the white line (as was drilled into us during race brief) is a DQ offence, but occasionally there was just no other choice - briefly cross the centre line or brake and drop into a group (yellow card offence in itself), completely arresting your momentum just because others can’t ride by the rules. I did find that quite annoying!!
This was pretty much the pattern until we turned back on ourselves at Arta and headed inland to Petra (at 55k), before heading back towards Alcudia via Santa Margalida (at 65k) and Sa Pobla (at 85k) - all of this was TT territory on great scenic rolling roads - all pretty quick with the odd gradient thrown in (quite a few false flats if I remember correctly) - I also particularly remember sheep and goats with cow bells clanking around their necks through this section!
At Sa Pobla I made a mental note to save my legs a little - we had the main climb at approx. 115/120k and not that I’d seen it, I knew it was about 12k or so long and despite having a reasonable climbers build, I resolutely DO NOT enjoy climbing (on a bike anyway!).
That decision was in vain though, as on the run in from Sa Pobla to Alcudia (90k) we hit the first of the headwinds, so there was no real opportunity to save any energy. Just get down on the bars, get as aero as poss and grind it out.
I went through the 90k point in 2hr 49min feeling pretty good. Main nutrition was fig rolls, with carb concentrate (”The Edge” from Reflex nutrition that I swear by) squeezed into the water from aid stations in my aero bottle. I had a backup of a small bottle of berry gels, but they were a last resort as from previous experience, they generally make me feel sick after a while!
From Alcudia (massive support from great crowds all over the road!), we headed along the coast, through Puerto de Pollensa (105k & fab views!) and back inland towards Pollensa (115k). At Pollensa I stopped at the aid station for a quick pee break, jumped back on, took a big old slug of gel and metaphorically said my prayers. This climb, I knew, could go either way. It’s all well and good trying to consciously save your legs, but we were at 115k - the point during an IM bike leg that I dislike anyway. You’ve already come a long way, but you’ve still got a fair way to go. Things can go very wrong, very quickly during that last 65k, so it’s important to not stop thinking and make the right decisions.
OK here goes.
The climb starts with a couple of k’s of false flat - you don’t really notice the gradient, but backing off means you slow down quickly. Then we’re round a corner and up it ramps - the trees are abundant here which offer some welcome protection from the sun, but that’s the only positive. Your front wheel’s pointing upwards and by the looks of things it’ll be that way for some time.
And it is. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not talking brutal gradients and if this climb were at 20k rather than 120, I’d probably talk about it very differently, but OH MY GOD did it ever feel relentless! I didn’t feel as if there was anywhere to rest - I think it’s only an average of about 7 - 8% and generally I’d always prefer periods of 10 - 12% or 12 - 15% and then an opportunity to rest on a 4/5% section. This was (or certainly felt like) 7 - 8% EVERYWHERE and the cruellest thing was just at the point I started thinking “Jeez, when on earth is this going to end” I saw a crest up infront of me. JOY! Time to descend (which I just LOVE!). Sure enough we did descend. For about 200m and then the road ramped up AGAIN for ANOTHER 2k.
I think we had 3 false summits - I hated them! I think they broke a few riders - saw several poor sods walking at the 130k point and I really felt for them. A proper cyclist would probably tell you different, but I felt that climb was a proper sting in the tail of the bike course and I could only think of 3 consolations . . . 1) The view at the top was EPIC. Proper alpine feel, 2) I could soft peddle it back to Alcudia (as it was a fairly flat run-in) and leave something for the run and 3) The DESCENT!!!!
The quality of the descent into Campanet almost made up for the pain the other side! Hit over 80k’s and loved every single second. A couple of sections could have easily caught anyone out (blind hairpins with some tasty drops if you got it wrong), but it was switchbacks all the way and a magical ride down. Awesome.
At Campanet I just told myself to get it home easily. Save energy. Doesn’t matter if you lose time, you’ll thank yourself when you get those runners on.
Famous last words. First we had to go down what can only be described as a donkey track, full of potholes (that I felt sure I was going to puncture down) and then back onto normal roads, but a fierce headwind scuppered any energy saving plans! Once again, the tri bars were invaluable and I’d hate to have ridden the course without them. From 160k onwards though, I was just willing the bike to finish. The relentless roar in my ears hadn’t been amusing when we hit the headwinds and it was now just plain demoralising.
20k later though - that was it
T2. Two down, one to go!
BIKE 6:31:40 - wanted as close to 6hr as poss, but the bike was a lot harder than it looked on paper!
RUN
A reasonable transition for me (6:43) and out on the run.
It was a 4½ lap course through the centre of Alcudia, back a few k’s towards Can Picafort and then another turn along the beach back towards the port.
First lap and I did not feel great at all - I was ROASTING and just couldn’t get up to speed. Every time I picked up the pace I spiked my HR way too much - I made sure I walked every aid station to ensure I got fluid down me, but the best thing I did was grab a handful of ice cubes at every aid station and shove them down my trisuit to try and get my core temperature down.
This certainly helped and I managed to see off the first 10k in (what in any other scenario would be a monumentally pedestrian) 59:10.
Suffering from huge amounts of “band envy”, I picked up my first of 4. There were some guys with 2 or 3 bands at this point and to help myself mentally, I convinced myself with a smile (or more likely grimace) that they’d all been cheating.
On to lap 2 and I’d begun to feel a bit better in myself. My core temperature felt back to normal, everyone with more bands than me was cheating and I was looking forward to getting back to the beach where the support from the massive crowd was HUGE. There was also a guy with a hosepipe that drenched anyone who asked - that was sublime
My second 10k was dispensed in an equally pedestrian 59:20, but I was still on target for my pre race run target and hey! I now had 2 bands! Check me out
Lap 3 however was horrible. I think this was the stage at which my tougher than expected bike came home to roost. My legs started to feel heavy and getting going after slowing to walk the aid stations became increasingly tough. This was starting to hurt now and I was far from home and dry. Time to dig in, ride the storm and hope this was just a phase. Forward momentum was all that mattered, however slow it felt!
My third 10k was awful - 1:07:15, but on the plus I was approaching the start of lap 4 - I had less distance to go than I had come already and already into my 4th 10k.
The support was still immense around the beach and at 33k, my niece briefly popped out and ran with me for 100m, asked how I was feeling, to which I think I said “very tired”! That was a welcome boost and all I kept telling myself was that at 36k I was going to pick up the Holy Grail - the elusive, enigmatic 4th band. It was yellow and it had my name written all over it! Just 3k and I'd be on my way home. What a delirious thought!
It was one I was going to have to put on hold though - at 34k I suffered what can only be described as an apocalyptic episode. If my bike leg had come home to roost at 27k, at this point it invited all it’s mates and partied. I didn’t feel particularly terrific before this moment, but like a flick of a switch, all of a sudden I felt absolutely awful - with no exaggeration whatsoever, I genuinely didn’t know whether I was going pass out, throw up or s**t myself. Or possibly all 3 at once. This was totally desperate.
At the next aid station I immediately ran into a portaloo. Mentally I worked out how far was left - 8k. Right at that moment it may as well have been 80k. I felt there was NO WAY I could walk or crawl that, let alone run it. I leaned my forearm against the portaloo wall, my head lolling just above it. God I felt rough. I HAD to get through this. It’s hard to describe the absolute despair I felt at that moment, but God it was real. Monumentally hideous. I’d come so far, there was no way I was going to allow this to stop me.
I came up with a brief plan - a series of small incremental steps to get myself out of this. Number 1 was a number 2 - if nothing else it would shed a bit of weight! Number 2 was a quick pee. Number 3 was get back out there, try to appear normal and grab a flat coke as quickly as possible. Lastly number 4 was run that 8.2k. I knew I could do that - Jeez 8.2k was nothing - at home I would have barely warmed up at 8.2k Goddamnit!
And that’s what I did.
2k later I picked up that last yellow band and it felt like a shot of amphetamine (not that I've ever had one, but you get what Imean!). Now I was on my way home. Every step I took wouldn’t have to be repeated and every step I took would be a step closer to that finish line.
The further I ran, the easier it became and finally I ran down onto the beach road for the last time - the support still immense and rather than running towards the port again, this lap I turned right onto the beach itself and down that carpeted finishing 'chute. And it felt like I still had miles left in my legs - I finished the last 200m with a proper sprint and draped myself over the barriers in the finishing area - people I didn’t even know, spectators, competitors clenching my fist and slapping my back shouting at me over the music on the PA . . . “You are an IRONMAN!”
This is why I do this. It’s unbelievably tough, but what an atmosphere. What camaraderie. It was only 30 odd years ago that the medical profession thought it wasn’t possible for us to complete this distance. And today I did just that. How amazing is that? Right at that moment I couldn’t have cared less what my finishing time was. I had to dig so deep, but I finished. That was all that mattered.
RUN 4:30:10 - pre-race I’d hoped to sneak under 4hr, but nowhere near enough in the tank for that!
FINISH 12:33:45 - as I told everyone before I left, given my poor prep, I’d take what I was given. That’ll have to do
Today though it’s different
Whilst I’m still amazed that I (and everyone else) finished, I do care what my finishing time was and 12:33:45 isn’t remotely good enough Good news is that my girlfriend’s brother having watched a race for the first time wants to compete next year (used to row in a 4 so a very good athlete, but can only just swim at the moment!).
Here’s to next season!
Apologies for the lack of bike and run piccies, btw, but Finisherpix wanted 75 quid for them and they weren't worth anything near that!
Also, for a bit of montaged footage of the race, have a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaUBMASZPs0 - pause it at around 4:50 and you'll see some idiot on the left of your picture, sat on his arse in T1 sorting his bike kit out . . . that's me!!
IM MALLORCA 2014
For me, this race was actually supposed to have been IM Wales 2013, but I sustained an ankle injury in early August 2013, so transferred my entry to IM Lanzarote which was on 17th May 2014. Three weeks after I did this, my girlfriend and I discovered we were expecting our first baby . . . and the due date? 20th May 2014!!! Absolutely typical! Unfortunately IM rules dictate that you can only transfer once - no exceptions, so there was only one thing to be done - get entered for a later race!!
All that was left in Europe that wasn’t sold out was IM Zurich, IMUK in Bolton and IM Wales, but Ironman pretty much made my choice for me when they announced a new race for the calendar - the inaugural IM Mallorca on 27th September. No brainer for me!
TRAINING
One thing I did realise at the outset, was that training with an increasingly pregnant girlfriend may not actually be the easiest thing in the world to fit in and to a certain extent that was true - I ticked over during the winter (thinking the usual thing that September 27th 2014 was miles away anyway) and decided to get going properly from April onwards - in other words, when I absolutely had to!
April was OK - eased the volume up slowly, then on May 3rd our little girl was born - that’s where everything got a lot more difficult! My training plan was literally take what sessions I could, when they were possible and when I could physically complete them. In one sense it was good, in that the vast majority of my sessions were good quality, I had to make the few sessions I had count, but volume? Unfortunately that’ll have to wait until next year I think!
From April 1st - to my 2 week taper 1 managed to fit in 108hrs of training or an average of 4½hrs per week, or to put that into context:-
SWIM TOTAL 39.6km AVG 1.72km/week
BIKE TOTAL 1692.71km AVG 73.6km/week
RUN TOTAL 490.34km AVG 21.32km/week
RACE BRIEF
This covered the usual - itinerary, route, safety, rules and offences and also included a couple of motivational stories, one from the third guy home at the very first Ironman race back in 1978 (which still, even now, he was pretty choked talking about).
The BIG THING to come out of the race brief though, was that the water temperature was 26°C and it was a wetsuit free swim. No if’s, no but’s. Skins only. I wasn’t unduly bothered by this - after all, in my (very small!) amount of swim training, I hadn’t worn a wetsuit in the pool and I’d managed not to sink (I had worn one in all my in my OW swims though), but it did take away that buoyant comfort blanket and introduce just a small amount of apprehension - I’ve never started ANY race in my just my tri-suit, let alone one with 2650 swim wave!!!
RACE DAY
Did my usual pre-race prep thing of having very little sleep - woke at 5am having had about 3 hours, jumped into my trisuit and tried my best to get a bowl of porridge and a couple of bananas down me. Picked up my gel bottle, carb concentrate bottle, dilute carb bottle (to drink on my way to swim start), track pump, swim cap and goggles and jumped into the car with my bruv in law and my girlfriends brother for the 5k drive down to transition.
Sorted my bike, finished my drink and wandered down to swim start - still dark, but now the sun was beginning to make its presence felt with a faint glow on the horizon. Forecast was good (sunny and 27°C) and there was barely a cloud in the sky.
If I look like I've just gotten out of bed after 3 hours sleep and am bricking it, that's because in this picture I have and I am!!!
SWIM
I hate this part of the day - swim start 15mins away and you just have to wait and make nervous adjustments - swim cap on, swim cap off. Stretch. Jump. Goggles on, have I got a good seal? Goggles off. Done with chat now, just have to focus. Say cheers to my buddies and walk into the swim pen. Kick the water. Wander back 20 metres. Catch a glance with another competitor - he’s as nervous as I am. Slap him on the shoulders and clench one another’s hand. “Have a good one mate” . . . don’t even know if he spoke English, but I know he understood. It’s in the eyes.
Pro men go off. Right 5 mins. Goggles on. Get a good seal. Stretch. Jump. Pro women off. 2 mins to go. Swim cap on. Everybody moves forward as one. Thousand yard stare. AC/DC plays over the PA. Starting pistol sounds.
Game on.
I’m in the centre of the pack probably 5m from the front running into the gently shelving sea. Eventually it’s up over my thighs and in we go. It is ABSOLUTE chaos. I’m packed in like a sardine - people either side pressing into my shoulders, every time I stroke I catch someone’s feet. There’s no point in trying to kick as I can’t. I’ve at least 2 people punching the back of my thigh with their stroke. 400 - 600m in and I’ve already spotted 3 or 4 poor sods resorting to backstroke!
“Relax, sight and focus” I keep telling myself. It’ll sort itself out soon. But it doesn’t. 1.25k out at the first turn buoy and I’m still trying to swim, entwined in a writhing mass of bodies. I’m getting punched in the back of head repeatedly. The water is boiling all around us and it’s making breathing really tough - every other breath I’m kopping the equivalent of an eggcup full of the Med straight into my stomach (or at least that’s how it feels). Sighting is tough for the same reason (well that and my absolutely s
te eyesight!!!).At about 2k some Spaniard (I know ‘cause I saw the “ESP” legend on his trisuit) decided to go on a mission and swim pretty much about 60° across me from my right hand side. God knows what he was sighting. I stroked with my right hand and caught his leg - he responded by explosively kicking out with it, catching me right in the meat of my left shoulder with his heel. Any other time I’d probably congratulate him on a perfect shot, but not now! Bloody painful (and felt it every stroke for the rest of the swim). Shortly after my stomach cried enough of the salt water and I started retching. I briefly stopped to empty my stomach (not that much came out but air and water).
Soon I was out of the water with an Ozzie exit and into the shorter 1.3k loop. Experienced pretty much exactly what I had done on the first out and back and still didn’t manage to find much clean water, but after what seemed to be an eternity I was out, running underneath the water showers to T1 - THANK GOD!!!!!
SWIM 1:17:20 - told my mates that if I had a good one, I’d be out in 1:10, 1:15 if it was average and 1:20 if it was bad - ‘nuff said
BIKE
I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to run into T1!
Quick turnaround (7:52 in one of the longest transitions on the calendar apparently) and off onto the bike course.
The first section was right up my street - we headed East out towards a place called Arta - great road surface and flat/gently undulating. The first 10k, according to my Garmin, whizzed by at an average speed of 36kmh. I was passing HEAPS of people and beginning to enjoy myself after that total bunfight of a swim.
It was pretty congested though and I had to run the gauntlet a bit with passing the multiple peletons that seemed to have formed (totally illegally!). On occasions I came up to bunches of 20 riders, 3 or 4 abreast across the whole right hand lane. Crossing the white line (as was drilled into us during race brief) is a DQ offence, but occasionally there was just no other choice - briefly cross the centre line or brake and drop into a group (yellow card offence in itself), completely arresting your momentum just because others can’t ride by the rules. I did find that quite annoying!!
This was pretty much the pattern until we turned back on ourselves at Arta and headed inland to Petra (at 55k), before heading back towards Alcudia via Santa Margalida (at 65k) and Sa Pobla (at 85k) - all of this was TT territory on great scenic rolling roads - all pretty quick with the odd gradient thrown in (quite a few false flats if I remember correctly) - I also particularly remember sheep and goats with cow bells clanking around their necks through this section!
At Sa Pobla I made a mental note to save my legs a little - we had the main climb at approx. 115/120k and not that I’d seen it, I knew it was about 12k or so long and despite having a reasonable climbers build, I resolutely DO NOT enjoy climbing (on a bike anyway!).
That decision was in vain though, as on the run in from Sa Pobla to Alcudia (90k) we hit the first of the headwinds, so there was no real opportunity to save any energy. Just get down on the bars, get as aero as poss and grind it out.
I went through the 90k point in 2hr 49min feeling pretty good. Main nutrition was fig rolls, with carb concentrate (”The Edge” from Reflex nutrition that I swear by) squeezed into the water from aid stations in my aero bottle. I had a backup of a small bottle of berry gels, but they were a last resort as from previous experience, they generally make me feel sick after a while!
From Alcudia (massive support from great crowds all over the road!), we headed along the coast, through Puerto de Pollensa (105k & fab views!) and back inland towards Pollensa (115k). At Pollensa I stopped at the aid station for a quick pee break, jumped back on, took a big old slug of gel and metaphorically said my prayers. This climb, I knew, could go either way. It’s all well and good trying to consciously save your legs, but we were at 115k - the point during an IM bike leg that I dislike anyway. You’ve already come a long way, but you’ve still got a fair way to go. Things can go very wrong, very quickly during that last 65k, so it’s important to not stop thinking and make the right decisions.
OK here goes.
The climb starts with a couple of k’s of false flat - you don’t really notice the gradient, but backing off means you slow down quickly. Then we’re round a corner and up it ramps - the trees are abundant here which offer some welcome protection from the sun, but that’s the only positive. Your front wheel’s pointing upwards and by the looks of things it’ll be that way for some time.
And it is. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not talking brutal gradients and if this climb were at 20k rather than 120, I’d probably talk about it very differently, but OH MY GOD did it ever feel relentless! I didn’t feel as if there was anywhere to rest - I think it’s only an average of about 7 - 8% and generally I’d always prefer periods of 10 - 12% or 12 - 15% and then an opportunity to rest on a 4/5% section. This was (or certainly felt like) 7 - 8% EVERYWHERE and the cruellest thing was just at the point I started thinking “Jeez, when on earth is this going to end” I saw a crest up infront of me. JOY! Time to descend (which I just LOVE!). Sure enough we did descend. For about 200m and then the road ramped up AGAIN for ANOTHER 2k.
I think we had 3 false summits - I hated them! I think they broke a few riders - saw several poor sods walking at the 130k point and I really felt for them. A proper cyclist would probably tell you different, but I felt that climb was a proper sting in the tail of the bike course and I could only think of 3 consolations . . . 1) The view at the top was EPIC. Proper alpine feel, 2) I could soft peddle it back to Alcudia (as it was a fairly flat run-in) and leave something for the run and 3) The DESCENT!!!!
The quality of the descent into Campanet almost made up for the pain the other side! Hit over 80k’s and loved every single second. A couple of sections could have easily caught anyone out (blind hairpins with some tasty drops if you got it wrong), but it was switchbacks all the way and a magical ride down. Awesome.
At Campanet I just told myself to get it home easily. Save energy. Doesn’t matter if you lose time, you’ll thank yourself when you get those runners on.
Famous last words. First we had to go down what can only be described as a donkey track, full of potholes (that I felt sure I was going to puncture down) and then back onto normal roads, but a fierce headwind scuppered any energy saving plans! Once again, the tri bars were invaluable and I’d hate to have ridden the course without them. From 160k onwards though, I was just willing the bike to finish. The relentless roar in my ears hadn’t been amusing when we hit the headwinds and it was now just plain demoralising.
20k later though - that was it
T2. Two down, one to go!BIKE 6:31:40 - wanted as close to 6hr as poss, but the bike was a lot harder than it looked on paper!
RUN
A reasonable transition for me (6:43) and out on the run.
It was a 4½ lap course through the centre of Alcudia, back a few k’s towards Can Picafort and then another turn along the beach back towards the port.
First lap and I did not feel great at all - I was ROASTING and just couldn’t get up to speed. Every time I picked up the pace I spiked my HR way too much - I made sure I walked every aid station to ensure I got fluid down me, but the best thing I did was grab a handful of ice cubes at every aid station and shove them down my trisuit to try and get my core temperature down.
This certainly helped and I managed to see off the first 10k in (what in any other scenario would be a monumentally pedestrian) 59:10.
Suffering from huge amounts of “band envy”, I picked up my first of 4. There were some guys with 2 or 3 bands at this point and to help myself mentally, I convinced myself with a smile (or more likely grimace) that they’d all been cheating
.On to lap 2 and I’d begun to feel a bit better in myself. My core temperature felt back to normal, everyone with more bands than me was cheating and I was looking forward to getting back to the beach where the support from the massive crowd was HUGE. There was also a guy with a hosepipe that drenched anyone who asked - that was sublime
My second 10k was dispensed in an equally pedestrian 59:20, but I was still on target for my pre race run target and hey! I now had 2 bands! Check me out
Lap 3 however was horrible. I think this was the stage at which my tougher than expected bike came home to roost. My legs started to feel heavy and getting going after slowing to walk the aid stations became increasingly tough. This was starting to hurt now and I was far from home and dry. Time to dig in, ride the storm and hope this was just a phase. Forward momentum was all that mattered, however slow it felt!
My third 10k was awful - 1:07:15, but on the plus I was approaching the start of lap 4 - I had less distance to go than I had come already and already into my 4th 10k.
The support was still immense around the beach and at 33k, my niece briefly popped out and ran with me for 100m, asked how I was feeling, to which I think I said “very tired”! That was a welcome boost and all I kept telling myself was that at 36k I was going to pick up the Holy Grail - the elusive, enigmatic 4th band. It was yellow and it had my name written all over it! Just 3k and I'd be on my way home. What a delirious thought!
It was one I was going to have to put on hold though - at 34k I suffered what can only be described as an apocalyptic episode. If my bike leg had come home to roost at 27k, at this point it invited all it’s mates and partied. I didn’t feel particularly terrific before this moment, but like a flick of a switch, all of a sudden I felt absolutely awful - with no exaggeration whatsoever, I genuinely didn’t know whether I was going pass out, throw up or s**t myself. Or possibly all 3 at once. This was totally desperate.
At the next aid station I immediately ran into a portaloo. Mentally I worked out how far was left - 8k. Right at that moment it may as well have been 80k. I felt there was NO WAY I could walk or crawl that, let alone run it. I leaned my forearm against the portaloo wall, my head lolling just above it. God I felt rough. I HAD to get through this. It’s hard to describe the absolute despair I felt at that moment, but God it was real. Monumentally hideous. I’d come so far, there was no way I was going to allow this to stop me.
I came up with a brief plan - a series of small incremental steps to get myself out of this. Number 1 was a number 2 - if nothing else it would shed a bit of weight! Number 2 was a quick pee. Number 3 was get back out there, try to appear normal and grab a flat coke as quickly as possible. Lastly number 4 was run that 8.2k. I knew I could do that - Jeez 8.2k was nothing - at home I would have barely warmed up at 8.2k Goddamnit!
And that’s what I did.
2k later I picked up that last yellow band and it felt like a shot of amphetamine (not that I've ever had one, but you get what Imean!). Now I was on my way home. Every step I took wouldn’t have to be repeated and every step I took would be a step closer to that finish line.
The further I ran, the easier it became and finally I ran down onto the beach road for the last time - the support still immense and rather than running towards the port again, this lap I turned right onto the beach itself and down that carpeted finishing 'chute. And it felt like I still had miles left in my legs - I finished the last 200m with a proper sprint and draped myself over the barriers in the finishing area - people I didn’t even know, spectators, competitors clenching my fist and slapping my back shouting at me over the music on the PA . . . “You are an IRONMAN!”
This is why I do this. It’s unbelievably tough, but what an atmosphere. What camaraderie. It was only 30 odd years ago that the medical profession thought it wasn’t possible for us to complete this distance. And today I did just that. How amazing is that? Right at that moment I couldn’t have cared less what my finishing time was. I had to dig so deep, but I finished. That was all that mattered.
RUN 4:30:10 - pre-race I’d hoped to sneak under 4hr, but nowhere near enough in the tank for that!
FINISH 12:33:45 - as I told everyone before I left, given my poor prep, I’d take what I was given. That’ll have to do
Today though it’s different
Whilst I’m still amazed that I (and everyone else) finished, I do care what my finishing time was and 12:33:45 isn’t remotely good enough
Good news is that my girlfriend’s brother having watched a race for the first time wants to compete next year (used to row in a 4 so a very good athlete, but can only just swim at the moment!).Here’s to next season!
Apologies for the lack of bike and run piccies, btw, but Finisherpix wanted 75 quid for them and they weren't worth anything near that!
Also, for a bit of montaged footage of the race, have a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaUBMASZPs0 - pause it at around 4:50 and you'll see some idiot on the left of your picture, sat on his arse in T1 sorting his bike kit out . . . that's me!!
By the way, Kona coverage live online at http://eu.ironman.com/triathlon/events/americas/ir... . . . pro men & women off in 10 - 15 mins age groupers of in 30 - 40 mins . . .
Cheers guys!
It was a cracking race - I'd definitely recommend it if anyone fancies a European event . . . someone asked a while back whether it's a TT or a road bike course. Think I made it clear, but if not, it's definitely a TT course.
Forgot to mention the jelly fish on the swim (like heaps of the things), but tbh I was more concerned about the biff than them!
It was a cracking race - I'd definitely recommend it if anyone fancies a European event . . . someone asked a while back whether it's a TT or a road bike course. Think I made it clear, but if not, it's definitely a TT course.
Forgot to mention the jelly fish on the swim (like heaps of the things), but tbh I was more concerned about the biff than them!
esuuv said:
those last 10k, seems so straightforward from the outside
Blimey, ain't that ever the truth!!!Fatbloke said:
excellent review, looking forward to it
did Mallorca & Lanza 70.3 this year my firsts at that distance
Big Mallorca 2015
Cheers! Get Mallorca booked for next year - you'll love it.did Mallorca & Lanza 70.3 this year my firsts at that distance
Big Mallorca 2015
It really did have a great atmosphere which matched the event strap line:-
"Fiesta, no siesta"
Fatbloke said:
Registered :-)
Hotel Astoria Playa was very nice for the 70.3 this year
Hotel Astoria Playa was very nice for the 70.3 this year
blade runner said:
Well I'm registered now for Mallorca 2015 on 26th September.
Any recommendations on where's good to stay? Guessing there's no shortage of apartments in Alcudia to choose from a that time of year?
Nice work guys!!!Any recommendations on where's good to stay? Guessing there's no shortage of apartments in Alcudia to choose from a that time of year?
As far as accommodation goes, there is a great deal to choose from - there was 10 of us going in our party, 2 of the guys fancied an all inclusive so stayed at the Viva Eden Lago (surrounded by Germans apparently, but perfectly OK from what they had to say!) and the rest of us stayed in a 4 bed villa (just off Cami Can Blau if you can find it on google maps).
We were probably just a little bit too far out I'd say - probably about 4/5k(ish) from transition. You certainly wouldn't want to go too much further away for sure. Just try and get somewhere as close as you can to the marina as that's where it's all at.
The problem on race day is that most of the major roads are shut to traffic between 8am - 6pm ish, so if you've got friends/family supporting you and they fancy popping back for a swim/food/nap/whatever, that's extra difficult when you can't drive there directly!
slg said:
Evening, I'm about to start training for the Bolton IM and have an idea of a training plan but am struggling with the nutrition side & making sure I'm eating enough of the correct foods.
Can anyone recommend some sites to look at for some guidance?
Thanks
http://www.healthaliciousness.com/ is pretty neat for working out a meal plan, but I think you can't go too far wrong by just avoiding any processed foods or any with "low fat" or "low sugar" on the packaging.Can anyone recommend some sites to look at for some guidance?
Thanks
My golden rules are staying well hydrated throughout the day (not to the extent of peeing every 5 mins!), making sure I eat 3-400kCal (carby meal/drink) a couple of hours before any workout (with the exception of my 5.30am runs!) and ensuring I have 500-600cKal in the 30min/1hr window post workout (carby again but with a higher protein element).
TBH, you have to periodise your diet much in the same way that you periodise your training and I've just experimented and seen what works for me - one thing to try and ensure is as an endurance athlete you get enough iron in your diet - it's not uncommon for endurance athletes to be borderline anaemic.
aspender said:
Just got entry to the first Ironman 70.3 Dublin
I had a look at that one and was very tempted!I've been looking at a 70.3 for my girlfriend's brother (as well as myself) after Staffs & Wimbleball both sold out.
He came over to Mallorca to watch the IM and was that fired up by it, he wants to give it a crack. He's an extremely good rower (4's and 8's I think), has about 8 or 10 marathons under his belt and is pretty handy on the bike, so has an excellent place to start from, but his swimming is . . . well, not anywhere near the same level, so that'll take a fair few months to sort out. I suggested we do a mid year half (more so that he can gauge his swim progress) and then go "full fat".
Dublin's a little bit late though and will probably be a bit dear (in addition to next years IM), so if anyone has any suggestions for a UK 70.3 in June or July I'm all
aspender said:
This is a warm up event for my first Ironman in Barcelona in October
We may well see you there! So that he's got plenty of time to prepare, we picked a late one and Barcelona looked perfect. Entries sorted To give us a winter running focus, he's also entered us for the Paris marathon so if anyone's got any tips for going close to 3hrs, once again
baxb said:
Cheers for that - I'll go have a look! drgav2005 said:
Only way I'd get close to 3 hours in a marathon would be to use my bike and leave my number in transition... 
Amen, DrGav!I think he ran 3:17 in his last race (with a 2 or 3 mile walk he reckoned), so I've got to up the ante a bit as far as my running's concerned!
Dimski said:
Right. Time to join in.
I'm committed now; I've stopped procrastinating and have entered Ironman Wales 2015.
I dislike running, and have never so much as sat on a road bike. Oh dear.
Excellent work! You've got plenty of time to sort your weaknesses out though and as you're aware, Wales is an epic race - albeit in a masochistic sense, you're in for an absolute treat!I'm committed now; I've stopped procrastinating and have entered Ironman Wales 2015.
I dislike running, and have never so much as sat on a road bike. Oh dear.
Look forward to your training updates!
whatleytom said:
Anyone fancy going for a 1900m swim on 31st May at the Nottingham water sports centre? Thinking of changing my Outlaw half entry and doing it as a relay instead.
Decided I'm going to concentrate on just cycling this year, and have a friend who is keen on doing the run part.
That may be perfect timing for my girlfriend's brother to give it a crack - we should have his swimming up to a reasonable standard by then.Decided I'm going to concentrate on just cycling this year, and have a friend who is keen on doing the run part.
If he doesn't fancy it, I'll put myself forward though - nothing better than a poor start for encouraging a fast bike split
drgav2005 said:
Dimski,
If you've already got a road bike you may want to think about getting a turbo trainer rather than a Winter hack (if you haven't already got one!). I know the Velominati rules reckon you're awesome if you cycle outdoors in Winter but I'm of the opinion you can get a much better (and much safer) training session indoors using a turbo trainer, trainer road.com and the Sufferfest videos than sliding about on icy roads in poor conditions. Maybe I'm just a big wuss but I see nothing appealing about cycling up here through sleet, snow and trying to avoid drivers who can't be chewed to defrost their windows! Enjoy the training!
Totally agree with this - safer, warmer and in a controlled environment. You'll train more, with greater consistency and reap the benefits in the Spring when it is actually pleasant to get out there!If you've already got a road bike you may want to think about getting a turbo trainer rather than a Winter hack (if you haven't already got one!). I know the Velominati rules reckon you're awesome if you cycle outdoors in Winter but I'm of the opinion you can get a much better (and much safer) training session indoors using a turbo trainer, trainer road.com and the Sufferfest videos than sliding about on icy roads in poor conditions. Maybe I'm just a big wuss but I see nothing appealing about cycling up here through sleet, snow and trying to avoid drivers who can't be chewed to defrost their windows! Enjoy the training!
Greg66 said:
whatleytom said:
Ooh we've got a battle for it!? Dangerous was first so I guess he has first refusal at the moment. Only just beginning to think about it, so still need to get in touch with the organisers, but having read the site it just involves an email and a £20 admin fee.
I did it in 5:13 last year with a 33min swim, 2:36 bike and a 1:58 run. My mate should be good for a 1:30 half and I'd hope to go 2:25ish so with a decent swim we'd be looking at a reasonable time.
Right, well I am cleared to do it if you need me. Reckon with some luck avoiding the melee I could go close to 30min flat (famous last words and all that!).I did it in 5:13 last year with a 33min swim, 2:36 bike and a 1:58 run. My mate should be good for a 1:30 half and I'd hope to go 2:25ish so with a decent swim we'd be looking at a reasonable time.
Just posted in the running thread mentioning a new piece of kit I got over Christmas - an LED headtorch and what a wicked piece of kit. Not very expensive (iro 20 quid or so) and as I mentioned there, an absolute game changer for winter run training . . . no more excuses for dipping out on an early morning/evening winter run now (unfortunately)!!
Definitely recommended if anyone fancies gaining some extra hours to burn off some christmas timber
Definitely recommended if anyone fancies gaining some extra hours to burn off some christmas timber
whatleytom said:
Ok, I'll enquire as to whats needed to swap the entry over to a team one and get the ball rolling. No names needed just yet, but will keep you posted
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