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There are lots of opportunities to do an Ironman Triathlon abroad where
I have been told the atmosphere and spectator support is second to
none, but I decided to 'have a go' at a homegrown one first under the
theory that;
not having a clue what to expect on the day
how I would cope or feel
eliminate foreign travel, accomodation, transport of bike etc
Again, lots of MTC Ironman finishers had also told me that the training
takes over your life ... no kidding! I couldn't believe how obsessed I
became with whole process and exactly how much training I needed to do. You could say that I had to fit work (and a very small amount of social life) around training! The training for me was a program set by Chris Clarke which included many MTC sessions. Most of my training was based on 3 weeks of building with 1 week recovery and off we go again.
Part of my training included the Gatorade Big Half Tri at Trentham
Gardens in June. Not only was it a very enjoyable event but it would be
a good indication of how well training was going and a taster of what
to expect on the big day.
As the big day did get nearer, I must admit I had a couple of panicky
moments and realised that the IM was just as much of a mental challenge as a physical one. I did think to myself on a number of occasions "O-mi-god! What have I done?!" I discovered that my partner in-Ironman-crime Lorraine had had a few of those thoughts herself, so a few pep talks between us and a couple of 6 hour ride outs together, we knew we could tough it out on the day.
We decided to camp from the Friday through to the Monday at Pinfold
Farm which is within Sherborne Castle grounds itself. 'Ironweek' is the
only time camping is allowed and the facilities were great for £8 per
person per night.
We had a mammoth journey to Sherborne which took 10.5 hours due to
extreme weather conditions, motorway accidents and subsequent motorway closures. We then turned into the campers from hell and had to pitch at 11pm at night illuminated by our car headlamps!
Saturday morning saw us take a quick dip in Sherborne lake and a quick
lesson in how not to be shy when every athlete gets starkers in front
of you - getting in and out of their wetsuits!!! The rest of Saturday was spent registering, wandering around stalls, last minute bike checks and kit checks, including a complete dress rehearsal of all items of kit to be worn and what item went in what bag for which transition! Saturday evening saw last minute carb-loading at Pizza Hut, which was a welcome distraction and a couple of hours away from 'Iron-fever'.
Race day arrived early - up at 4.45am for a breakfast of porridge and
bananas, with an estimated race start time of 7am (depending on what
the mist on the lake was upto). The time seem to fly by and before we
knew it we were back in transition re-checking the bikes and loading
our energy drinks onto our wheels of steel. The mist was kind and we
all entered the water on time and swam up to the start a couple of
hundred metres away. To be fair, it was a nice change to have a small
warm up rather than the usual standing start. I had never been in a
mass start this huge and was a little worried about how I would fair,
especially when I found myself about 3 to 4 rows from the front! 7am
and off we went - the first few hundred metres were a little hectic and
you couldn't really get into your stroke and there were a few stray
elbows here and there, but all of a sudden we seemed to smooth out.
There were quite a few periods of calm and space, followed by manic
moments where everyone seemed to converge again. The swim was 2 laps of an out and back course and I had settled into a good rhythm - along with 3 other guys in front of me of which we were all drafting off the poor guy at the front of this 5 man chain who didnt know we were there! "Conserve energy" was my mantra ... it's not all about the swim. I
completed the swim in 1hr.01min of which I was really chuffed.
Transition was like something I had never experienced before either.
Instead of having your box next to your bike with all your bits and
pieces in, you have a T1, T2 and post finish bag. The T1 and T2 bags
are hung on pegs within the changing tent - there is a separate female
area should you not want to get starkers (I later figured out that I
didn't care about the starkers bit as all anyone was bothered about was
getting into the next bit of kit as quickly as possible). So, not only
did you need to remember where your bike was racked ... and there were alot of bikes - you needed to remember where both you bags were hung up in the tent as well - argh!
When I eventually got my backside out onto the 3 lap bike course (a
record 12mins in transition ... I have a hamster bladder you know!) the
entire field seemed to pass me, which was a little demoralising. But
another female cyclist reminded me not to go mad on the bike and keep
it under control. She also said that I would pass alot of these guys on
the run - she was right on both points. (I seem to remember a certain
Nick Thomas giving gems of wisdom like this also). The bike course was hilly and there were 3 aid stations (and portaloos) spread around the course, of which I made use of! The first time my legs started to feel the course was about 90miles in. I then started to get out of the saddle on the hills - not because the legs were going but to give my saddle sore bum a rest! I completed the bike in 7hr15mins and I had had a couple of moments where I had words with myself - as this was the furthest I had ever cycled in one go but I knew I had legs left for the run.
Back through transition and the starkers changing tent for the final
time with only the run to go ... only the run to go indeed! This was
also my first attempt at a marathon and the first time I would run
further than 18 miles (I still have flashbacks to the reservoirs on the
training weekend). Whilst I was just starting out on the run the
winning male was just finishing - AWESOME! The first part of the run
was within the grounds of the castle which was great as it saw athletes
looping back on each other and there was lots of spectator support. The
second part of the run was on very undulating dual carriageway and the
streets of Sherborne. I couldn't believe that I was on the final part of the Ironman and feeling as good as I was. I kept waiting for the wheel to come off and me to go to bits, but it never happened. Don't get me wrong, I worked damn hard all the way round and at 18 miles into the run started to think "Ouch! my legs!" At 20 miles my hips and knees decided to join in the fun and every step hurt (I so understand where the '20 miles of hope and 6 miles of reality' comes from now Mr. Sav!) But with 6 miles to go there was absolutely no way anything was going to stop me now and no doubts in my mind that I wouldn't finish ... not even that dual carriageway or footbridge crossing - TWICE. There were portaloos and aid stations approximately every 1.5miles on the run course and a helper in transition told me to take the run as 26
miles of interval training and to walk through every aid station taking
something onboard. Another fine bit of advice which I stuck to. The
last 2 miles brought a spring in my step and this slight increase in
pace seemed to stop the old joints aching (amazing, should have gone at that pace all along ... only kidding). I reached the '200metres to go'
sign within the castle grounds which took you round a horse shoe to the
finish, the stupid grin was still on my face, I 'high fived' all the
kids along the spectator barriers and promptly burst into tears
crossing the line! I had completed my first marathon in 4hrs 25mins.
Fan-bloody-tastic! Uncontrollable emotions and yes, still had that
stupid grin.
Ironman finisher's medal proudly around my neck I wandered off into the athlete area to throw myself into a bubbling hot tub :) (note to self
to put warm clothing and a TOWEL in the post finish bag next time).
Bumped into Lorraine in the athlete's area a short while later and she
was doing exactly the same as me ... staring proudly at her finisher's
medal, with a daft grin on her face, completely in awe that she had
finished IronmanUK.
There were lots of learning points to be gained from our big day that
we will take away and use for our next one, but I wouldn't have changed
a single thing I did on the day or choosen to have done anything
differently (maybe a few pelvic floor exercises to reduce the loo stops
and not soo much chatting in transition??!!) Total race time (incl
mammoth transitions) 13hours 25mins.
Massive thank uuu's to f2kmultisports coaches and all the support and
advice from MTC members - we couldn't of done it without you. I think
the Ironbug has bitten ... I'm off try out the Ironman Austria 2007
along with a few other MTC members mad enough to prove themselves as
men and women of Iron!
Bonnie
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