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Ironman Wales 2013
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Here we go, my ramblings, first up pre-race & the swim.
I forgot to bag my sunglasses in the bike bag Saturday but was allowed to go back into T1 and bag them at about 4:45 just before the race briefing in Tenby. That said I planned ahead as well & put my Gabba jersey & my Nanoflex arm warmers in my blue bag, more on them later.
Had dinner in town & retired for an early night......................
0130 woken by the inconsiderate a-hole in the room next door who couldn't handle her drink, dealt with swiftly & left her in no doubt about what would happen to her if I heard her so much as fart from under her duvet.
0300 woken again by a group of people who couldn't handle their drink who decided to stop & have a shout at each other outside the hotel in the pouring rain. I was downstairs in my PJ trousers in a flash, I must have looked quite the sight, all numbered up, puffed up & pissed off. They went swiftly into the night.
Up at 4. Breakfast & wandered into town to transition in drizzle.
Checked the bike loaded up gels & bars & bottles & headed off to change and drop the white bag. All good.
Joined the queue for the walk down and bumped into an old army colleague I hadn't seen for 10 years at least, exchanged best wishes, manly bear hugs & promised to meet up with each other in a pub afterwards, yeah right, like I'll remember your mobile number later!
On the beach with 5 minutes to the start I opted for not getting in the water & just stared out to the first bouy under the cliffs. 2 hats on today and my noseclip tethered to my goggles with 100lb breaking strain fishing line, I opted for ear plugs as well, not only because I didn't want sea water trickling around inside my head all day, it helps with preventing seasickness so I was told.
Were off, I'm halway back on the right, I pick my spot and start to swim, bearing in mind this is my first Ironman & I've never swum with more than 500 people before this isn't too bad. I get a rythm quickly, there's some bumping & barging, a few grabs, 1 is a very determined grab of my right ankle, a few powerful kicks from me and they're gone and that was it really for the rest of the swim. Lap 1 done in 34 minutes, my father in law told me after the race I was 9th in category (M44-49), he was seeing me on the way to Kona already, ha ha. Bad ice cream headache now, I think it was from my hats being too tight not the cold, man up & crack on.
Lap 2, the swell was definitely picking up, between turn 1 & the lifeboat station it was really noticeable, swim done with lap 2 in 35 minutes so a 1:09 in total, best I'd done in training was a 1:13 & my personal target was 1:20. Does Tenby have the saltiest seawater in the UK? I swallowed a little and boy it was salty.
Found my T0.5 purple bag, cleared the steps, why did people even think to try & change on the steps? Off with wetsuit and started to run to T1, saw my wife & kids which was great & already the noise in Tenby was amazing.
More later.
Rv.just sat down with my brekkie to read it.come on.can't let my brekkie get cold
I'm on a roll now so here comes the ride.
First off I consider myself to be a very, very average cyclist, I am seriously overbiked having bought a Specialized Venge with Di2 back in March as part of my mid life crisis. This belief is backed up by my cycling friends & my sportive & bike split data at every triathlon I do.
Into T1, I get my blue bag quickly, choice of tri suit or full change into bib shorts and the Gabba jersey, I go for comfort and head to the modesty tent. Thinking on my feet now I realise I have nothing to wear for the run in my red bag if I dont wear my tri suit, one of the helpers puts my dry tri suit in my red bag for me, they really are superstars.
My plan for the day was to break it all up into many smaller manageable chunks, the swim was 3 parts, swim a mile and a bit, jog on the beach a little then swim for a mile and a bit, easy. The bike I broke into 7 parts, each part was the ride to a feed station & if I made it there were rewards there, food & drinks. On some duck tape I wrote the distance in miles for each feed station and a target time to get there, so Angle for example was 25 miles, target time to get there was 1 hr 45 mins. I calculated every feed station target time based on a worst case scenario plan of having done a 2:20 swim and needing to beat the 10:30 cut off. Average speed needed to be a little over 14 mph to get me to T2 by 5:30 Sunday afternoon.
Well I didn't need to race to get anywhere having done a 1:09 swim, but I stuck to beating the timings, Angle came up in 1:25 so the feel good factor was doubled as I was there around an hour before I really had to be there if you see what I mean! I cant remember where the hail started but I was sure glad I was wearing the Gabba jersey, I was toasty, comfortable and feeling great. Sorry to see a big bad looking crash coming out of Angle, I hope whoever it was is OK.
Pembroke & Lamphey flew by, next thing I knew I am descending fast into Narbeth and halfway already. Through Princes Gate and it's downhill all the way to Tenby! Wisemans Bridge and that cheeky 16%, I span up it alongside a local lady and we chatted our way up like 2 old ladies at bingo, great support halfway up as well. Saundersfoot, was just amazing, wow, it was like Le Tour, the crowd parted before me, I saw my wife & kids, I was feeling good and I have a smile on my face & pictures to prove it.
Lap 1 done, Lamphey rolled by again, the sun even came out for a little bit and I rolled my arm warmers down, summer is here. Back through Narbeth and the climb up into town seems a little harder this time round. Wisemans Bridge again, this time I'm on my own, nobody to chat with, dig in & before I know it I'm turning left and I'm descending again. Saundersfoot, St Brides Hill for the second time, I swing wide at the left hander at the foot of the first ramp to avoid the steep apex, my goodness there are so many people on the raod, again it's like a tour stage, I'm thankful I'm wearing dark glasses becasue there's something in my eye now, not the pain just the emotions coming out. Wife & kids are there again at the right turn at the top of the ramp, they run alongside me for 50 yards, nearly there now.
I feel good, I stayed within myself, I spun up the steep bits and resisted the urge to push hard on the less steep, I kept an eye on HR throughout, yeah there were some moments in Z5 but I got it under control quickly. 7:23 for the bike, well pleased. Into T2 and it looks like the weather is settling down for the marathon.
Red bag in hand, back to the modesty tent.
First things first, take 2 imodium as a precaution, take 1 Salt Stick. Change into tri suit, clean box fresh socks feel great on my feet. Stick a Clif bar in my pocket for later, peanut butter flavour, stick a pair of arm warmers in pocket just in case (so glad I did) shades on, hat on. Ditch the red bag and walk to the timing mat.
Run is 4 parts, easy really as there are 4 laps, doh, except my watch is now dead so I have no idea of what time of day it is let alone my splits. Right, let's try this running lark and off we go into town, it feels OK, better than OK actually.
You've heard of bike envy? There's a lot of it at an Ironman I guess, I now have arm band envy, ooh look at you with your 3 coloured bands & you with 4, bastards. Slog it out of town uphill, I'm running all the time, first feed station, walk it, take on water only, lets see how my guts are going to react, I'm farting like a schoolboy who's eaten a catering size can of baked beans, mind you so is everyone else.
Back in the stride of running, next feed stop I allow myself a Ritz cracker and water. Top of the hill out at New Hedges the turn around point it's sunny and warm, I'm comfortable and all seems well. Pick up my first arm band a few minutes later, feels good to have a bit of recognition, a reward if you like. Down into town & Tenby is rocking. Every feed station I have walked and taken water only and Ritz crackers apart from the first station.
Lap 2, tick tock tick tock, keep a cadence going, keep the pace steady, no big efforts, walk the feed stations, water only, ritz cracker when I want one. Second band.
Town is rocking even more, but if I hear Eye Of The Tiger again, I might just stop & go home.
Lap 3 it's raining, it's dark and I'm cold, cadence, pace, a steady effort all the way, no walking except in the feed stations, hit every one for water only. Another band. I see Seren on this lap I think! I shout a few words of encouragement and I'm happy she's clearly beaten the bike cut off.
I see Oli Williams who runs the Tri20 swim centre in Reading, he gives me a big shout out. I see the Pirates support by The Mariners and get a shout out.
One last big effort needed now, I still have no idea what the time is.
Somewhere on the climb out to New Hedges a spectator says out loud 'It's just turned 8 o'clock'
8 o'clock? My brain starts doing the math. My race number is 1335, if I push this last lap hard I can beat my race number. So I pick up the pace. I still walk the feed stations and again, water only and a Ritz cracker when I want one. Downhill to town, 4 arm bands, yes look at me, I'm in the red band gang. Above North Beach, I'm talking to myself, come on, push it harder, miss the last feed station out, I don't need it now, pushing harder and harder now, no idea of the time. Through the arch, turn left at judgement junction, the magic carpet awaits.
4:35 for the matathon.
13:40:05 I didnt make the 13:35, there's always next year.
My target was 15 hours, conservative, maybe, achievable yes for a first Ironman and Ironman Wales at that.
Secretly I thought maybe 14 something was achievable, I never imagined my finish time would start with a 13.
Armband envy, lol
Great report Final RV - well done on a great result
Great reports guys, sounds like a spectacular race. Itching to enter for 2014.
I loved your shout out RV....you should have been in kit though
good report and a cracking time
Wonderful reports!
Great reports! Well done to everyone finishing.
IM Wales on telly on Sunday morning, C4!
Congrats again to everyone, and keep the race reports coming, love them!
I was especially chuffed for you Seren, as I know how much you wanted this
Hey there Stokey, nice to see you round here again. Hope you're well
Hi LtP, very well thank you, only came on to say thanks and well done to all for making my 4 YO nieces day with the Pirate Shenanigans..........
I wish I could place who you were. I think you were near the Lion. I try to acknowledge all the support and high 5 the children so I hope I did. Thanks again for being there and supporting us
M..o.use - I think I remember seeing you, well pretty sure tbh, but was laughing too hard at my niece winding her sister up, by saying Awkward in a sly voice when the elder was being told off...........Priceless.
Mind you It may not have been you as I have killed a few brain cells in the last few years...........Rum - Drink of champions......
Typical, will be on the coach on my way to watch live triathlon in London.
Stoke - there were only two female pirates on course. Seren was only wearing a Tri top because she's nails. I was wearing a long sleeved bike jacket!
Well I did see you then. We were on the front overlooking the swim start (a bit before it) the own end, opposite us was a lot of scaffold, and a boarded up building.
Pretty sure I offered the other female pirate a banana too!
I had the pleasure off meeting a few Pirates on Sunday and very much appreciated the help I got carrying one of my bags back to Kiln Park. What an awesome event. Got to be up there with the best Ironman courses and amazing support.
Well done Pirates, it sounds like you managed to take the worst of the weather off us softies in Henley.
Can anyone walk unaided yet?
of course. Blisters.I had my majic compression gueards on.can run up and down stairs and everything
stoke...I was the other female pirate.i am the one with the big mouth....normally i never refuse food.but on the run at wales could hardly manage half a ritz cracker.but i would have loved some crisps or cut up orange
My race report as a lot of you know I didn't complete The bike course in time it's my second attempt now at Wales and it's beating me twice so I'm going to give it a miss for a few years and attempt some easier courses I've got that outlaw next year and I will attempt Wales when I have more experience. Sorry to let my friends my family and all you pirates out there down need to get some knowledge under my belt come back stronger like a lot of you have been saying to me thanks again for all the support of been getting.
Button Mushroom youve not let anyone down,the majority of people wouldnt even make it to the start line. Train hard mate and il see you at the Outlaw.
BM
I don't think you let anyone down, you got injured and could train right.
One of the secrets is good consistant training, being able to complete the DIY half IM is a good indication, hope to see you there next year.
If your in for the outlaw, that will be good for you, it took me 2 attempts at Outlaw before I felt ready for IM Wales.
Can you still do a race report please, what was your swim like?
How far into the bike course did you get? Did they pull you out or let you complete it and then stop you going on the run?
Speak soon
SA
I took 2 years before foing ack for IMW BM........its a course that you need to be on form to get the bike done...take your time ,.......
BM
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt
I echo the others Button, no reason to think you let anyone down. It is a hellishly tough course by all accounts, and succumbing to injury during the training, then that's a total pisser. I agree with SA - still do a race report. We'd love to hear what you thought, and it might help you even just as a review of 'what could I do differently next time'
Nice quote Barlos
Theodore Rossevelt was the guy who staged the manouvre to try and steal away Cuba from Spain. Good quote though, just little respect for the chap.
Kindda set the tone though for the foreign relationships policy
Don't mention Gibralter! I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it!!