IRONMAN!!! (& woman)

We have returned having conquered the beast of the Ironman event that has been our focus since we entered way back last year, and what an event it was. Go grab a Cafe con Leche & set yourself 10 mins aside to read my ridiculously long race report of our Spanish excursion.

Thursday 1st

We were due to get up at 3.50am to catch the Red eye flight from Prestwick to Girona. We went to bed early but seeing as everyone else who could not sleep kept texting me to tell me through the night, I didn't encounter much sleep myself. We made the flight ok & breathed a sigh of relief when the bikes came off at the other end. Phase 1 complete.

Myself, Genevieve & our support team Mandy, my sister Adele & Gens Mum Liz headed south on the bus to Calella to the our Cabins on the Campsite that was conveniently 200 metres from the race start line & Expo. As we travelled into Calella, then through it & out the other end it became clear that this just wasn't true. We were more like 2 miles away which was to create a few logistical issues over the next few days but was a fantastic & relaxing site once there. The plan was to settle in, go shopping for lots of fruit, water & essentials & relax. Having walked half an hour to town, checked out the Expo on the beach & walked back with all the shopping we were knackered so just tried to rest up for the evening. I was very edgy, as expected, so stupidly started unpacking bikes & putting them back together again. A bit tired for this really & just ended winding myself up. Everyone else was calm.

Friday 2nd

Today was the day we had to start getting organised & get the body moving again. Nice & quiet on the site, slept fairly well & woke up looking out to the twinkling sea & blue skies. Lovely. Still very tense though below the surface!

We were up at 7.00am to head down to the beach with our wetsuits for a 20 minute swim at the same time as the race start on Sunday to get an idea of waves, tides etc.

Loads of people in the water but Genevieve in particular was very tentative about going out to sea - this was the bit we hadn't tackled before. It was actually really nice - pretty calm & crystal clear to the bottom even 200 metres out. We swam in all directions to practice & felt much better afterwards. Very salty mouth though.

We went back & I sat on the veranda & carried on with the bikes. I had to build them then we were to do a 30 minute spin. I struggled getting the headsets right, struggled getting the gears right & destroyed 2 of our 6 inner tubes whilst putting new tyres on. Oh dear. Having pumped up Gens tyres I stupidly left the bike in the baking sun & the tubes exploded in the heat. Another worry for race day.

We rode part of the bike route for half an hour - the bikes felt odd, it was hot & the legs wouldn't work. In the afternoon we headed down to meet Jack, Johnny & Bill at the Pasta Party - lots of people, loads of food & very loud Spanglish commentary in the background & we started to get the feeling of what a huge event this was going to be.

Saturday 3rd

Getting close now! Another early swim, this time with the Jack, Johnny & Bill there as well - just 10 minutes in the water but felt more confident again, even though it was a bit choppier. Practiced swim exit & wetsuit removal then went for a 10 minute run. 8.00am & it felt too hot to run. How were we going to run a marathon in this!?!?! The temp rose to 26 through the day.

We did a 10 minute bike down to the English race briefing & Bill kindly gave our bikes the once over - correcting our headsets & gears. Alarmingly in my tense state I had connected my rear gear changer incorrectly & it was only held on by 2 threads - this would surely have failed on race day. Thank god we got them checked over.

We had prepared all our transition bags which are hung in the huge transition tent (as opposed to in transition with the bikes as we are used to) on long rows of numbered pegs. I was 888, Gen was 118. We checked & double checked our Bike Bags, Run Bags & Street Wear Bags (for after the race), racked our bikes & walked through transition repeatedly to commit our bike & bag positions to memory in the vast transition area.

Dinner & Bed. Tomorrow was the big day & an early start. I felt calmer now as there was no more prep to do other than get to the line on time.

RACE DAY!!

Slept restlessly for about 4 hours until the 4.00am alarm. Tried to eat a good breakfast with coffee & we headed off for the walk to the start at 5.00am. At this point we were minus Adele & Mandy as they both failed to set their alarms & overslept!
We were both fairly calm but my stomach was doing somersaults as we saw the floodlights on the beach in the pitch dark in the distance. There was an eerie calm around transition under the floodlights as everyone made final checks. Pumped tyres to 110 psi, gears, nutrition & Transition bags checked, crossed fingers, said goodbye to our ever present support team & we headed to the beach.

The Swim - 2.4 miles

A very strange feeling standing there waiting before 7.00am in a wetsuit with thousands of athletes, race officials & supporters. Still fairly dark but everything kept lighting up with the burners from the 2 huge hot air ballons tethered to the beach at the start line. At 7.00 exactly the sun peeped over the horizon & lit up the sea & the swim course buoys far, far into the distance. At 7.30 the the Pros went off in heat 1 & 2. Genevieve waited in her pen with all the other females in heat 3. I felt scared for her, she looked both nervous, excited & very small in a big group of rubber clad athletes. Then off they went into the waves & I waited another 30 minutes with Jack & co for my 8.10 start. When it came it actually wasn't so bad - a lot of pushing, shoving & kicking but only for the first 200 metres then it spread out. I relaxed, glided & focussed on all those drills that Jack made us do every time in the pool. When looking up to sight you could just see a never ending row of buoys into the distance. They eventually came to an end & we turned for the beach. Out, flicked the wetsuit off & in and out of T1 in 4.20. Not too bad given the size of it. My swim was 1.11 & I actually felt I could have kept going, Gen was 1.18 & also had a very comfortable swim. Both close to prediction & feeling fresh.

The Bike - 112 miles

Settled in straight away on the bike after the initial speed bumps & switchbacks to get out of the town. The 1st lap was 66k (41 miles) & felt good if not a long way. They had actually closed the main coastal 4 lane highway & the road surface was fantastic, not as flat as I had thought but no big climbs. I got a lump in my throat as I rode past our support crew - my sister was just going nuts at the side of the road. On the 2nd 66k lap my hip start to cramp up which was a concern - I had to ease off slightly & couldn't push the gear I wanted to. It felt bruised & was quite painful & I just couldn't shake it off. When I stopped briefly for the toilet I couldn't put any weight on it - a real concern for the run. I just dug in, spun an easier gear & ignored it. I forgot about it on the 3rd 48k lap & picked up the pace to the finish feeling strong. I saw Gen a couple of times & she looked like she was flying. We both stayed aero for pretty much the whole ride apart from when I tried to stretch my hip. My Bike was 5.42, Gen was 5.48 -pretty close!! Both bang on prediction with gas still in the tank. We did both have to lay off the nutrition on the back end of the bike which I was hoping would not be my downfall later on. My watch beeped every 20 minutes to make me take gels on board but I just felt sick at the alarm, let alone taking a gel down. Converted from PSP & Gels to Nuun & banana quarters instead.

The Run - 26.2 miles

This was the make or break bit. In & out of T2 in 3.40 & off we went. I exited transition with about 15 guys & they all disappeared off ahead. I bided my time & listened to Polly in my head telling me to keep it in check for the first half. Having to walk the last 2 miles can add a huge amount on & it was a long way away. With relief I realised that my hip had eased off and felt normal again. As soon as we headed out on the 1st of the 4 10km loops the heat just hit me. Completely open to the sun & 30 degrees. A gentle head wind in one direction but after the turn at 5k it was just so hot. I really suffered in the first 10k - I couldn't take on any nutrition without retching. Even the thought of it made me want to throw up & I knew if I didn't take any there would be serious trouble. I threw my gel belt away after 17k & switched to water, coke & small bits of banana again & slowly everything calmed down. I saw Gen during this bad time & she said I looked awful. She looked great & kept shouting at me. I managed once again to knuckle down & got myself under control. As the afternoon progressed the run route was carnage - people lying on the side of the road with cramp & heat exhaustion & ambulances flying up & down picking people up & rushing them to the First Aid Tents. I pushed on, feeling more relaxed & stonger & didn't get passed or lapped by anyone in the last 10 miles.
Pretty much everyone still running was walking through the feed stations - drink of coke, water on the head & water filled sponges tucked under my Tri top shoulders - heaven. At one point I miscalculated & thought I was going to miss 11 hours but with 7k to go I realised it was going to be ok & picked it up a fraction, overtaking every guy who had left me out of T2 & they were now walking. As I was heading home I saw Gen going out on her last lap & shouted at her to count her steps. I counted to 100 non stop for the last 10k - it really works & makes you forget everything else.

Coming down the finishing chute was incredible - we had seen it in the morning & it brought a lump to the throat even then. My marathon time was 3.51 - slower than I wanted & I think I may have held back a little too much (easy to say afterwards!). Genevieve was 4.25 - bang on target. Over the lane in 10hrs 52 mins & an instant medical check. I was fine & felt ok. I waited for Gen who, because of the wave start was only 10 mins behind. She was actually sprinting down the finish & the crowds were loving it! 11 hours 40 & way within prediction. We had done it!!!!

Afterwards we got stuck into the feed tent - cakes & electrolytes. Walked past the medical tent & it was packed - it looked like MASH - everyone was lying on IV drips. Made us realise how well we had done.
We found our support team who had been out all day following us round the course in the baking sun & they walked the bikes & bags the 2 miles back to the camp site whilst we limped along behind. Good to keep moving though, I think it helped.

The next two days were great - laying on the beach & bobbing in the sea (which was now much rougher!), drinking beer & relaxing. A slice of proper holiday.

A huge thankyou to everyone who helped us get through all this - to Polly for all the Pro advice & training plans, to Jack for all the help with our initially rubbish swimming & to our fantastic support crew Mandy, Liz & Adele who made sure we were fed & watered in the right place at the time & for all the enthusiastic support on the day.

This will not be the last one we do for sure - there is no way we are doing all that training for one race & there are alot of things I would do differently now that I know. We both feel we could have gone faster but it is great to complete one in such a controlled way & it is a good benchmark for the future.

Watch this space!!!!