A Day in the Lakes Half Ironman - Report!!

Well - it's nice to look back on it but boy, that was a tough one.

Up late on Friday night with the Calderglen Trail Race meant that the 'important' sleep the night before the night before was not a good one. Woke up shattered on Sat morning for a full days work then the drive down to the Lakes (Gen drove, I tried to sleep without too much success).

Arrived into Ullswater about 8.00pm ish - stunning scenery, then into Pooley Bridge & the Park Foot campsite which was just my worst nightmare come true - noisy, absolutely teaming with kids & drunk blokes. Fortunately we were directed away from all this to the Triathlons own field down by the lake - much calmer & we managed to pitch the tent about 200 yards from transition.

Tent up, BBQ lit & we started to relax a little - until the BBQ went out & we still hadn't eaten at 9.45pm! Still, pulled it all together & off to bed for about 5 hours restless sleep.

Woke up on race day - Genevieve seemed ok but I just felt sick, nervous & tired so I took a fair amount of direction to get me sorted out & organised. NOTE; MUST go into Barcelona in a better state than this because it is an exhausting state to be in.

SWIM
Race started at 8.30am. 3 swim heats - we were both in heat 2. Water was lovely - clear & flat, just perfect. We were to swim at an even pace throughout - I really enjoyed it & stayed out of trouble, the only issue was the buoys were too small to sight on properly & I couldn't see anything swimming into the low sun with a blue lens in my mask. Need to take a couple of lens options to Barcelona.

Exited the swim with ease & ran to T1, rolled off the wetsuit & looked up to see Gen standing there in T1 also, couldn't believe it - what a great swim she had! Our swim times were approx 36 mins - no chip time unfortunately but bang on target.

BIKE
We both exited T1 at the same time & feeling quite strong I pulled away from Gen who sensibly rode her own race, not mine. The bike route was a cracker but a tough one - undulating to say the least especially the 20% Kirkstone Climb & Shap later on but I felt strong all the way - overtaking steadily all the time, especially in the hills. Gen was going well until some sharp lower back pains forced her to stop & stretch out for a few minutes but better to do that then push on through the pain - still a long way to go.

My total time for this very hilly 56 miles was 3.11, Gen was about 20 minutes more after the back issues. We did not have any problem with the distance or terrain but I personally need to try & relax on the bike, I felt like I was always pushing myself to get to the run which put a bit too much pressure on myself. Gen needs to do some more core strengthening.

It was good to practice the nutrition - we set our watch timers for 20 minute repeats & fed & watered every time. Ok at first but it makes you realise how much you need to take on board in these events.

RUN
So, the dreaded run arrived - we knew it was going to be tough but had no idea quite how bad it was going to be. I left T2 in a group of about 6 -running for about half a mile along the road before turning right & seeing the road climb steeply in front of us. To my surprise everyone I was with just stopped & walked but I kept on running even as the road turned to path then scrabbley sheep track. I kept running for a full hour - right up over the first summit feeling extremely hot & wretching occasionally with the effort of all the climbing, twists, turns & leaping over streams & rocks. Very glad I followed the Fell shoe advice. Came to the first of only 2 feed stations & paused for long awaited water & forced down a gel then trotted along for a short while before I saw the climb ahead (see picture on previous post). Attempted to continue running but just too steep & rugged & as soon as 1 person ahead started walking everyone did. Climbed up here for what seemed like hours until I got to the summit & the most incredible views across Ullswater. Looked behind & saw a chain of people walking behind far into the distance. Headed off the summit across a very boggy area then started descending very carefully for an age. Almost as bad as going up. We eventually made it off the fells & back onto the road for the longest 3.5 miles of my life - the sun beating down & the road still undulating. 2 miles from home & Mark from the Daily Record shot past me at what seemed like 10k pace & skelped me on the ass. I resigned myself to the fact that he had beaten me on this occasion only to turn another corner & find him bent double by the hedge with cronic stitch. I didn't stop to help.
The camp site & finish finally arrived & I crossed the line in a run time of 2.11 and a fraction over 6 hours in total. Mark finished 2 minutes later & I sat & waited for Genevieve who I feared would absolutely hate the run. She appeared into the finish area looking none too bad, finishing in 6.44 & an outstanding 9th female. People were generally about 50 minutes outside their normal half marathon time & this was true for both of us.
POST RACE
Back to the tent for a BBQ, glass or 2 of wine then passed out at about 7.00pm knackered & burnt to a crisp.

In summary this was a big confidence boost for us for Ironman distance in October - it was very hot, the swim & bike were not too much trouble & the run felt more like 20 miles because of the terrain. The nutrition went fairly well and we survived & feel fairly well recovered today if not a little bit limp!
As far as this being a race to recommend - I would say yes, I would seriously recommend that you don't do it!!

1/7/09 UPDATED TIMES!! - Apparently Heat 2 swim times were a minute slow so now Genevieves time is 6.43 & mine 5.59 - yee haa Sub 6 hours!

See the link below for Mark's Blog entry on the Daily Record Blog too....
http://blogs.dailyrecord.co.uk/ironman/2009/06/a-long-day-in-the-lakes.html#more

C.