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PSOF Championships 2014 - Ironman France
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Great effort pirates! Well done
Awesome pirate support. Thanks everyone.
I need to apologise for the rain. If I hadn't borrowed some sun cream from mrs funkin it would have been glorious sunshine all day
I made the bike cut and the marshals were encouraging me to start the run but I know how long an IM makes me and that I wouldn't make 16 hrs. Therefore I elected not to run. On the training I've had this year this is what I anticipated but I thought I'd give it a go as I'd paid my money. On a good day I might have done it but I had a rough swim and almost had to withdraw due to hypothermia coming down the mountain. Those aren't excuses just factors that if things had gone well might have meant I made it. I have learnt lots for next year.
I'm way too old for this game, tell Buddha to budge up on the retirement sofa !
Thanks for rhe sterling work seren - ace reporting
Rain on the bike course made the final decent like ice. Saw lots of people down.
Thw later ridrs had it for rhe whole decebt ao they wpuld have lost a ton of time
What an epic day!! Sorry for the chaps and chapessses that didn't make it for whatever reason.
Siggy, it was the worst swim I have ever done, horrendous. I have never been kicked, hit, punched or swum over so much before. Wtf are they thinking putting approx 2800 swimmers in at once, it's bloody dangerous and the result is something that in no way resembles a swim. I was most cross when I got out! And then there was the 5 min bottle neck to cross the beeps line.
I should be in bed, yes I was there 14:02 unofficially- full report to follow
Top stalking & reporting Seren
Well done everyone and sorry to hear about the problems some had, it sounds like it was a tough day.
Thanks for stalking, sorry reporting, Seren, i only knew a few numbers so was great to watch how everyone was doing. Looking forward to reading the reports!
OFFICIAL POST RACE PIRATE SWIM TRAINING
This morning.... 10:30am. Any takers...
When you're 'out in the field' with no internet access, it's a good way to catch up with how everyone's day went
Thanks, Seren
That is a superb bike course. I loved it. I was very lucky to get dry roads on the descents from the mountains. The rain came as I hit T2. So much so that I slipped on the matting and cut my leg up. The pain from that did help take the pain away of running a marathon off of very limited run training.
Tough day out there for everyone who managed to step into the water at 6:30am - whether you finished or not.
x
Swim
Could only be described as a bifff-fest. A
ong with RidgebackMax I had located myself right at the far end of the start in the 1:25+ pen, secretly hoping for a 1:20. I was quite frankly, with this being my first IM, shitting myself at this time. or actually I wasn't, as three trips to the portaloos had gotten me nowhere. So, at this point in time, my body decided that it would like to go after all. And then the gun went off. Holy cow! I was dragged into the water, stood on, kicked, punched, and generally beaten.... but we were off. All thoughts of bodily functions gone, I set into a steady rhythm as soon as I could. It felt great. Apart from the Pirate swim on Friday morning, I hadn't swum in the sea in a lot of years, and was really appreciating the extra buoyancy.
Every buoy was chaos, with swimmers converging, and more biff-fest ensued, but before I knew it, I was scrambling out of the water to complete the first lap in just over 40 mins... great, on target for my 1:20.
Back into the water, and off again... and more biff-fest.
The second lap seemed to fly by, with a bit more space appearing as swimmers spread out, so felt quick. We were funneled into a narrow space as we finished, and I spotted Dermot just in front of me.... and then we queued.... yes queued, to get up the steps, for a good few mins, with progress being slowed while people stopped for a hug from their loved ones in the crowd.... grrrrrr!... it was now that I remembered to stop my watch... 1:26... Damn! I really thought a 1:20 was on... but thinking about it, I lost a good few mins getting up the steps, and it was a very busy swim, so I'll take that!
Bike
Transition had seemed to whizz by... I couldn't help but think about the legendary long transitions from the forum, and was determined not to make that hall of fame. I suspect I failed
And off onto the bike. In my head was ringing the words of a few old hands... its a long day, with a still climb coming shortly, so take it easy to start with. So I just rolled along for a bit. Only the roads were so perfectly tarmaced, that despite it feeling very gentle, I was banging along at 23mph.
It didn't last... 6 miles in, I hit a big bump, and both the bottles in my rear carrier behind the saddle jumped out... I had to stop and retrieve them... one of them contained all my gels for the first half of the ride... It would have buggered my nutrition strategy completely... It was a bit suicidal dodging oncoming riders to get them from the road!
Then the road turned up hill... OMG
the first short shock wasn't long, probably only 500m, but it was steep. Already, people were walking... I just kept my head down and ground out the climb. I was really pleased with myself, and then a Dutch bloke passed me on a Boris bike.... yep, a rental from the town. I put my ego back in my bento bag, and looked forward.
After just a few mins of fairly easy stuff the road kicked up again... here we go... 21km of climbing in front of me. I'm not much of a climber at the best of times, and this would be the longest climb I've ever faced by a huge margin... so I was apprehensive.
Low gear, spin, spin, spin... it was working!... I soon caught and overtook Barlos, and then spent the next 2 hours, trading places with IronSwissBobby.
The climbing was going well, until we hit the steeper section, and then it hurt. It hurt a lot. 5km of 6 to 7%, and I struggled... just to make matters worse, it started raining.
The aid station was a blessed relied... not because I needed water or food, but I needed to stop!
The distance markers became a kind of private hell, gleefuly declaring 5km to go, with me realising that this was still the best part of 30mins more climbing.
The summit was a glorious feeling... YES.... I
A good few miles now of flat or undulating, let me get a bit of life back into my legs, and then the first downhilll.... weeeeeee... I loved it!
Another 6km climb just to remind me that It wasn't over yet, and then more easier stuff, before the final, painful climb... as I neared the top of this, the rain came back, only heavier this time, and more set in.
So, the main descent started... lots of hairpins, lots of sweeping corners, all at 30mph, but it was very wet... around me, people were coming off all over the place... just sliding out. In the distance, the air was full of the sound of ambulances. I passed several riders, getting medical assistance for what looked like really nasty gravel rash.
I took it carefully round the corners, but was still overtaking a lot of people... there was some serious careful riding going on. And some crazy riding too.
It was also getting very cold... soaking wet, doing 30mph, on a cloudy day, everyone was feeling freezing. I was thinking to myself, hang on... this is the bloody med... why am I shaking!!!!
Nutrition strategy fell apart. I was concentrating so hard on staying on the bike, that I wasn't taking gels every 20 mins.
However, the downhill bits soon ticked the miles by, and it seemed quick to re-enter Nice, and back towards transition. i was drier in Nice, and with the loss of altitude, I was warmed up pretty quickly.
And so, into transition.
Run
I successfully repeated my effort to be shit at transition, but soon enough had my running shoes on, a pirate visor, and off I shot.
Well, sort of.
Actually, it was pretty steady to start with. My legs were really tired already, and so, by the turn around on just the first lap, I decided to start a run-walk strategy, run a mile, walk a quarter mile. Seemed to work...
The sun had come out, and it was getting hot... very hot, so lots of fluid at the aid stations.
Completing the first lap, and getting my first band was great, and it was then that I experienced Pirate support properly for the first time...WOW!... i was sooooo uplifting... I'm sure I added some extra speed...
It was also brilliant to have CaptainJack out half way down the course... more brilliant, and much needed support.
The laps slowly ticked off, with the run parts of my walk-run getting shorter, and the walk parts getting longer...
I've read before about 'band envy'... now I understand.... It was hurting a lot, and that last band seemed so far away... I now hated everyone who had more bands than me.
Nutrition had gone to pot completely. The poor nutrition on the bike earlier probably hadn't helped, and I was tired... very tired.
By the third lap, I was running half a mile, walking half a mile, and by the fourth, I barely ran at all... just 100m sections as that was all my destroyed legs could handle.
There had been a steady stream of crossing pirates... we had, as is the Pirate way, been offering big support to one another, and the final leg of the final lap was superb, as Pirates yelled congrats (and a little abuse too!).
And there it was. The finish line. Oh crikey. Months of training, early starts, late finishes, missed family occasions, absence from the family all weekend, months and months of it....and there was the finish line...
I ran down the chute, with my head all over the place. I have no idea what the commentator said, I had no idea what time was on the board, I was just in the moment. Ecstasy. I had to fight hard to control my emotions as I felt myself welling up on the line, and then there it was. I had finished an Ironman.
It hurt. I was cold, wet, miserable, in pain, defeated, destroyed, and I LOVED it.
Ironman.... I'll be back!
Great report Magna Carta, brilliant result for your first one!
And go Little Sis on your PB, huge slice to have knocked off it
Great report MC - well done you!
Excellent report MC
We had a great day supporting the Pirates. I really felt for you all when the rain came down at lunch time and thought you'd probably appreciate it more on the run. When the thunderstorm broke out on that, one of the inflatable gantries towards the finish line collapsed under the weight of the rain and blocked the road. We had runners either side with WTF expressions until they pulled it off the road.
Great report MC
Great report MC, and amazing work by all. Sounds like a tough old day!! Not sure whether to be inspired or put off this lark!
When do we do Norseman as the official race?
I feel like I've been hit by a bus all over, twice!! And can't sleep either
Barlos has collected the shields and is intending on starting the Pirate Awards at 4:30. Please can you let him have your spot prizes before then. Thanks
Do we have a name for the meet ? Or just the little square outside the cathedral and head for all the noise ?