Mark ‘Ironman’ Butcher

Well I think most of you know by now (and thank you for your messages)....I AM AN IRONMAN!!!

I’m not sure that I can really describe the race experience, but I’ll give it a go.

Friday 29^th July

I travelled up Friday morning. Eventually leaving Cardiff around 1030 and getting to registration (in Wigan) at about 1430. As I’d hoped, registration was quiet and I avoided all the queues. Once again, it was full of statuesque blokes (not in a gay way) with top of the range bikes and a ‘suns out so shirts off’ ethos. There seemed to be a lot of foreigners too. If they’ve travelled from abroad to race they must be good? I kept spotting the odd ironman tattoo as well...everyone’s done it before; they all know what they’re doing. There was a race Expo at registration as well (essentially stalls selling ‘go faster’ gadgets). A lot of people were stocking up more gels and kit but I had a word with myself and decided that the prep I’d done was fine.

I had a bit of time to kill before checking in at the hotel so I figured I’d go and have a look at the lake and transition 1 (swim to bike). The lake looked BIG...and I was doing two laps of it.

Saturday 30^th July

So I had pasta (again) for dinner Friday night and slept pretty well too. Saturday was the set up day for race day. I had to check my bike and transition bags (full of the kit you need to change in to for the next discipline) into the relevant transitions. T1 and T2 were in different places for the ironman so it took a fair bit of time. Once the bags were checked in I relaxed a bit. Everything was in place now, all I had to think about was the race. Although, I still was a bit unsure about the protocol on taking a pee during the bike ride. The rules state that you’ll be penalised and potentially disqualified for nudity, but ideally I didn’t want to waste time queuing for a port-a-loo if I only needed a whizz. I spoke to one of the marshalls...his advice was to stand up and pee whilst cycling. I didn’t fancy that but agreed and moved on.

After checking the bags in the Old Man drove me round some of the course. I was analysing everything. Questioning every incline....how difficult would it be, where I could get some food down, where I could get out of the saddle if I needed too etc. I was really keen to see the ‘killer climb’ that everyone had been talking about too. You can never really tell until you’ve ridden a course but it looked OK. Not easy, but I’d done bigger climbs and this was supposed to be the hardest bit of the course. That gave me a nice confident boost. I still had to climb it three times, but it didn’t look too bad.

Later on in the afternoon all athletes had to report for a race briefing. 1300 of us cramped into a conference room at the Reebok Stadium (Bolton Football Ground). The race rules and regs were explained to us, as were the health risks associated with an event of this proportion. No mention of the urination protocol though. I wasn’t going to put my hand up and ask either...didn’t seem like the done thing. At one point the speaker asked every ‘ironman virgin’ to stand up. I waited to see if anyone else was going to get up. Half the room did. You could feel the collective sigh of relief. “I’m not the only one!”. The other thing I remember was the words of advice given to us...If you think you’re going slowly. Go slower.

Saturday evening was another dinner of chicken and pasta and an early night.

If half the competitors were new to Ironman, why weren’t people coming back?

Sunday 31^st July. Race Day.

Up at 3am. I’d managed to fall asleep at 9 the night before and I’d slept better than expected. I forced down a bowl of porridge, banana and energy bar. It wasn’t exactly appetizing but I knew it was important to get as many calories on board as possible. We set off to the swim at 0430. Transition was already pretty busy. I checked the bike (for the 20^th time), had my number marked on me and got into my wetsuit. The organisers wanted to get people in the water from 0530 for a 0600 start. I didn’t want to get in too early, but at the same time didn’t want to be stood on the shore when the gun went off. I got a position in the middle of the queue (after a few photos) and waited to be shepherded into the Lake. I saw one guy throwing up by the railings. I don’t know whether he’d drunk too much energy drink or tried to eat too much or whether he was just really nervous. I remember thinking- ‘don’t look in case it makes you sick’, and ‘unlucky mate’. All heart, me.

Just before we entered the water, the pro athletes and a team from the injured soldier unit walked through the middle of the queue to the front. Applause followed the soldiers’ as they made their way to the water –it was pretty inspiring. There were single, double and even triple amputees racing either as part of a relay or by themselves. Amazing.

The swim start was about 300m from the shore so I got in about 15 minutes before the start so that I could get a good position. In the swim the options are either get stuck in and put up with mêlée or stick out wide or to the back and look for clean water. Getting in the mix is a bit of a risk as you can end up getting kicked/punched in the face, possibly ending your day. I felt like I could come out with a good swim time and didn’t want to be held up dodging breast strokers at the back so I decided to get stuck in. It wasn’t too bad. It was a bit congested at the start and I had to clamber over a few stragglers. I was trying to keep my stroke long and relaxed, conserving as much energy as possible. If I’m honest I probably went out a bit quick. The adrenaline and mass of people just make you swim quicker I guess. The downside of being in the crowd was that it did get pretty hectic around the buoys where people were turning, so on the second lap I decided to go out wide. This gave me a nice bit of clean water which allowed me to swim my own stroke at my own pace. However, it does mean I was swimming a longer course without the benefit of drafting. As I approached the shore toward the end of my second lap I felt like I could probably do with a pee. I didn’t want to waste time in transition so I decided to do it on the go. After much concentration (whilst still swimming crawl) I managed to start weeing! Another first for the weekend.

In retrospect , I should have swam out wide at the start and come into the crowd for the second lap, once the field had spread out a bit. Anyway, I came out of the swim in 1 hour 7 minutes, 384^th in the field. I was hoping for a 1:15 – 1:30 so that was quick. I felt good though.

It was about a 200m jog into T1. Off with the wetsuit (after struggling to get my bag off the racks) and on with the cycling kit. It sounds as if that was a smooth, flowing experience. It wasn’t; more of an orchestrated fumble. So after buttering myself up and getting my cycling gear on I went to get my bike, running past a guy who’d already got a puncture. He seemed relatively upbeat about it though!

The bike involved a 16ish mile uphill ride out of Wigan and onto a 32 mile loop that needed to be completed 3 times. In total, the bike course was 112 miles with 7291 ft of climbing. On a typical training ride I’d average about 17-18mph so figured that if I could keep my pace at around 16mph I should be okay. That meant taking an hour to get to the loop and 2 hours to complete each lap of the loop, giving me a bike time of 7 hours. In the back of my mind I was hoping for a 6:30 though.

I paced the ride out of Wigan just right. It was more uphill than I expected and I was overtaken by quite a few people. That always happens though- come out with a good swim time and get overtaken by expensive bikes. I was fine with that, thinking in the back of mind “I’ll catch you later- you’re going to quick”. I started taking food on after half an hour and made it to the loop with 5 minutes to play with. The loop was more or less 16 miles up hill followed by 16 miles down according to the elevation map I’d got hold of and I felt like I was cycling pretty quickly over the first lap. I still felt like I was only working at about a 6/10 (effort) though so I kept going at that pace, thinking that if I could get a bit of buffer time in the first lap it would be a bonus. It turned out that the downhill section of the ride was more of a rolling section, and it was into a head wind. I completed the first lap, expecting to be well ahead of time. I wasn’t though, coming in at only 5 minutes ahead of schedule. I was going to have to cycle pretty hard to get the time I wanted.

I’d said before that my race plan was to take the first 30 miles very steady, the next 30 steady, the following 30 pushing a 7/10 effort and finish up around an 8/10. By 50 miles I was looking at the bike computer; clock watching. Effort wise I was feeling about 10-15 miles ahead of schedule (as in by 45 miles I was getting toward the 7/10 effort). I’d packed 7 energy gels, 7 energy bars and a ham roll for my nutrition on the ride. By the three hour mark I was beginning to feel a bit sick from all of the energy drinks/gels and homogenised bars so I picked up a water from the aid station and tucked into the dry ham roll. The water was just the best drink ever and the roll tasted awesome. Eating the roll was a bad move though. It was too stodgy and dry and took ages to digest, making me feel a bit ill for the next hour or so. By Four hours I was really beginning to lose my head. I was so far into the ride that I couldn’t see the beginning or the end. At the beginning you’re really grateful for all of the supporters along the streets, thinking how nice it is of them to give up their day to try and spur us along. After four hours on the bike though you just want them to stop ringing their fricking cow bell in your face (that’s not a euphemism). And if one more person tells me to “keep going”....I know I have to keep going-that isn’t advice! You know you’re being totally irrational but you can’t help it. I’d love to say that thinking about all of the sponsorship helped me to finish...but in all honesty it didn’t. You could have offered me a mansion in LA and I’d have told you to piss off quite frankly. I was ready to stop at the 80 mile mark. My knees were aching. My bum was aching. I was feeling sick of energy drinks/gels and I didn’t feel like I could eat any more bars without throwing up. It’s a horrible place to be. Feeling like if you eat anything else you’ll throw up, but knowing if you don’t eat you’ll never finish. At 100 miles I had no choice but to eat my last remaining bar. I didn’t throw up but I couldn’t wait to get to T2 just so I could get some more gels. Not that I wanted them, but I just didn’t want to eat anything solid.

The last lap of the loop I felt stronger than I had done on the previous lap and the wind felt less inhibiting. Whether it had died down or whether it was just a mental thing I don’t know. I just got to T2 as quick as possible without totally blowing my legs.

In T2 there was a guy laid out in first aid and a load of people just sat down getting themselves together. The last thing I wanted to do was run a marathon. There wasn’t really another option though. I took a seat – it felt great – and slowly got changed into my run gear. Running felt surprisingly good. I guess it’s because you’re using your leg muscles in different ways. The run course was a 6 mile run into Bolton city centre, followed by 3 laps of 6 mile loop around the town; 3 miles up hill, 3 miles down. Early on in the run we passed a pub with a large group of spectators.  One of the guys shouted “Well done 359- looking strong- running well”. I thought “brilliant- I must be running quite well’. Then I heard “Well done 206- looking strong- running well”. Nope-just another encouraging sound bite. At least he didn’t tell me to keep going. The run around the town centre was soul destroying. You ran past the exit to the completion run-in on every lap. The uphill section of the run was torture. Dad said I was black under the eyes at one point. I felt ill for pretty much the whole thing; on the verge of puking. I didn’t want another energy gel, or banana, or Gatorade. The promise of fish and chips on the finish line wasn’t doing much for me either. After about 2 hours of the run (I think- I can’t remember really) I found that having a bite of banana after each gel stopped me feeling so sick. That became the norm then. Reach the aid station, have a gel, bite of banana, sip of water, chuck a water over myself, set off again.

 I kept pretty much to plan with my walk run strategy. Although I did adapt it to make sure I was walking through the aid stations and up the big hill. I always ran around the town centre (where most of the spectators were) too. I got to 10 miles without really thinking about it. My knees were throbbing but there was no way I was going to stop. Lap 2 was grim. Again it was that ‘no man’s land’ part of the course. Just running. Mindless running. It was about this time (I think?!) that I remember thinking – I should thank the family for coming up and supporting me. As I thought this I got all choked up and was on the verge of breaking into tears...What the hell are you doing Butcher?! Again, I knew I was being ridiculous. I was just so emotionally drained that I wasn’t behaving normally. My emotions were either up or down. No middle ground, and mostly down during the race! I was exhausted.

On the last lap I got talking to another bloke walking up the big hill, also on his last lap. We got talking and ran the last circuit together. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have kept up my pace if it wasn’t for him at the end. Chatting was a welcome distraction and there’s always that element of ‘I’m not going to break first’ when you’re running with someone else. The run downhill into town was quick and I’d been on the edge of cramping up since halfway through lap 2. If I moved me head to the side to look around I’d feel a twinge in my entire left leg, so I couldn’t look around for the family when I came down the finishing straight. I couldn’t cramp up on the finish straight, that’d be too embarrassing. I wasn't the only one feeling the pain though. Rachel found out the hard way that getting too close to the competitors can end badly. I say 'too close' because she was close enough for a bit of foreign sweat to land on her top lip just as a particularly sweaty gentleman limped past! Those of you that know Rachel (and even those of you that don't! ) can imagine how impressed she was at the whole thing!

Crossing the line was amazing. Everybody cheering. The swim, the bike, the run. Just a bit of a blur really. And more importantly, I could stop eating gels. I don’t remember the words “You are an Ironman”. To be honest I was a zombie come the end.

Someone took the electronic chip off my ankle and I walked through to the finishers area to pick up my medal, have a photo and grab my finishers t-shirt. At the time I remember thinking. Never again. The day after it became a decade, and now I’m thinking 5 years. I don’t think I’ll be able to achieve any significant time improvements before then. I’d like to focus on the shorter tris and try and get a quicker. I’d definitely return as a supporter next year though...so if anyone else fancies giving it a go?!

The magnitude of what I’d just done didn’t really sink in on the day. To be honest I don’t know that it has yet...the goals you set yourself always seem smaller once you’ve achieved them. It was by far the most emotionally and physically challenging thing I’ve ever done. I massively underestimated how difficult it would be. I found the half Iron distance relatively easy and thought the full thing would just be twice as bad. It wasn’t. It was a different league. Absolutely epic. Looking back on things I was prepared for the physical aspect of it. My split times came in virtually perfect. Although I didn’t feel like I was going the same pace, in reality I was spot on. Plus I was still walking afterwards and my appetite came back pretty quickly. Emotionally I was nowhere near ready for it. I guess that’s where the forces’ guys realise an advantage. I’d be much more ready for it next time though.

 

So to finish, I guess all that’s left to say is a massive thank you to everyone that’s supported me and sponsored me. We’ve passed the £1000 mark in sponsorship now and the total is still growing. For now, I’m looking forward to training purely for enjoyment...but who knows what the next challenge will be?!

PS. forgot to mention my times! Total time was 12 hours 55 minutes. 1:07 swim, 7:19 bike, 4:12 run. I finished 617th overall (out of 1300) so very pleased!

Race Rule 3.2: "No form of locomotion other than running, walking or crawling is allowed"

About 3 days to go now. I’ve had quite a few texts/emails from people asking me how I’m feeling so I thought I’d upload an extra little blog entry- you lucky people!

So the week building up to race day (race week) is supposed to be a quiet one. Keep things ticking over but make sure you give your body a chance to fully repair so you’re in peak condition for race day. Allegedly, I should now have copious amounts of energy and every training session should feel like a breeze. I should have to tear myself away from each session; running should feel like I’m gliding.

The reality...I’m sheepishly exercising trying to avoid injury at every cost. In fact, I’m so conscious of potentially hurting myself I don’t really want to train- especially running! I’m aware of every little niggle in my body (niggles I’ve probably had for ages but have never bothered to notice before)and I feel anything but in peak condition. But, I think I’m as ready as I’ll ever be for race day.

I’ve just packed my stuff for the weekend. In total, my ironman day will consist of the following:

Breakfast (3am):        Porridge, energy bar, banana and energy drink

4:30 am:                     Get to transition 1, check the bike, probably queue for the toilet, get in the wetsuit, head down to the water.

6am:                            Race Start. 1300 people, mass start.

7:30 am:                     Should be on the bike by now. 7 energy bars. 7 energy gels. 3- 4 litres of energy drink.

3pm:                            Should be on the run by now. 12 energy gels (one every 20 minutes). Whatever drink I can handle. Probably flat coke or water.

7-8pm:                        Finish. Brag. Collapse. People need to look after me.

I’ve been reading up about race strategies too. Basically the advice seems to be hold back until miles 14-20 on the run. That’s when you’ll find out whether you’ve paced it correctly. The swim should feel super slow because you’ll be pumped full of adrenaline. You need to cruise it some you come out feeling really fresh for the bike.

The bike is your chance to fuel up for the run. I’m going to be taking on about 70g of carb each hour through a gel and a bar. Miles 1-30 should feel really easy. A chance to let your stomach settle after the swim and get a few calories on board. Miles 31-60 should be similar again. Keep eating, keep drinking.  Miles 61-90 should feel a bit harder than normal due to fatigue. If you’ve paced it right, you should start to move up the field again. 91-112; more than likely to be fed up with being on a bike and eating by this time. Need to keep hydrating- it’s the last real chance to fuel before starting the marathon.

I’m going to do my walk-run strategy for the marathon. 9 minute run, 1 minute walk. Take an energy gel every 20 minutes (every other walk). I figure I should be able to eat up at least a mile in every 10 minutes, which puts me in at a 4:20 marathon.

That’s the plan anyway. I guess only time will tell how things turn out. I feel ready for it and to be honest, it will be nice not to be thinking about it once it’s done! I’m travelling up tomorrow to register and I have the ‘pasta party’ (pre race meal) in the evening. Race brief and transition set uup on Saturday. Race Sunday.

Here goes!

Two weeks to go

Two weeks left now. The nerves got to me a few weeks ago and I was really starting to doubt whether or not I’d be able to complete the Ironman course. I’m feeling better about it now and I’ve started tapering for race day.

So how confident do I feel about the whole thing?

If you’d have asked me two weeks ago, I’d have said not very. The Bolton Ironman course is renowned for being hilly and having not done a big (80+ miles) bike ride for a few weeks (and only doing two or three rides of that distance before) I was really starting to doubt whether or not I’d have the legs to do 112 miles on race day. That’s what was troubling me the most. I feel pretty confident about the swim and I’m relatively happy about the idea of the marathon. I can’t see myself not finishing once I’ve got past 10 miles on the run.

I suppose it’s only natural to start doubting your preparation as the event approaches. I’ve only done the full distance across the swim...but then that’s the idea I guess? Race day will be testing new ground.

What’s my training plan for these last weeks?

Originally my plan was to put some big miles in on each discipline until a week before the Ironman so that racing would just felt like the norm. But having spoken to some of the guys in the tri club, that’s not the way to go. Basically, it’s too late to achieve any significant endurance gains now and I need to start my ‘taper’. The ‘taper’ is essentially a period of training where you cut back on your training volume to ensure you’re fresh for race day.

So despite the fact that I was supposed to be tapering, I decided to do a big ride last Monday. Purely for confidence really. I’d been out to do 50 miles or so the week before with a few guys from the club and really struggled. So I found a route that had a big climb in it (similar to the Bolton course) and did 93 miles in the end. It took about 6 hours and I wouldn’t say it was easy; but I did it. That amount of time alone on a bike is a mental exercise as well as a physical one. I’m speaking to myself after about an hour and a half. After about 3 hours I’m asking myself why I’m still sat on a bike; why am I doing it?! At 5 or 6 hours I just want to be anywhere but on a pot hole ridden A-road, miles from home.

Anyway....I’m not bitter about it and it was a good confidence boost. The climb was bigger than the one I’ll have to do in Bolton (although I’ll be doing it 3 times then!) and I didn’t feel too ruined after completing it. Good.

I didn’t ride again last week until Saturday when I went out with the club. Did 60 miles in the rain with a couple of mates and finished it off with a cheeky 20 minute run. I felt good for the majority of it (despite the weather), so I’m really beginning to feel more and more confident about the Ironman. Maybe a podium?...more likely to be immodium. The one downside of that little expedition was getting a flat at about 30 miles. I need to practice changing my tyre so if it happens on race day it won’t delay me for too long.

What now?

Realistically I’ve got 1 more week of training left before I drastically slow things down in the week before D-Day. I think I’ll do a couple of swims, a one hour run and perhaps a couple of bike-run sessions. The important thing that I need to keep in my head is the fact that at this stage, resting is probably better for me than training. Although, when I’m resting, I’m just worrying about not training?!

View from the top of the climb. Hirwain in the Welsh Valleys.

I’m definitely apprehensive about the whole thing. I know I’ve got the endurance to do it. I know it’s going to painful and I know there’s going to be times when I want to stop. As long as I race slowly and sensibly (and don’t have a massive mechanical issue) I’ll do it.

Not long now...

5 weeks to go. I haven’t done a great deal of training since the half, largely on the basis of injury prevention. It was initially going to be a 2 week rest but better safe than sorry! I started to gear up the training again the other day. Started off with a couple of short runs (45 mins or so) and getting back in the pool. Not been on the bike, only because other things keep getting in the way. I’ve been a bit sluggish but I’m sure I’ll get back to normal soon enough.

I’ve been back in Plymouth recently so it’s been easy to go out for a couple of open water swims (got some photos too...more in the side bar).  I find swimming so much easier it my wetsuit, the only downside is I’m never sure how far I’ve swam. Still, its race specific so it’s better training than just using the pool.

Found this guy on the beach. He wouldn't leave me alone...
...I think he'd lost his carer

 

Yep...he definitely had. Seemed happy enough though.

In other sports news...every piece of sports literature I’ve read recommends regular massage to prevent injury and improve muscle repair, but at £25 for half an hour it’s just not an option. Luckily my sisters a physio so I get mates rates when I’m home. As I now understand it, a ‘sports massage’ essentially involves the masseuse inflicting pain on various areas of your body until you can’t bare it any more. Allegedly this is good for you.

 I’ve got an ongoing issue with my ITB band; a strip of muscle/ligament (it’s not quite either) that runs down the outside of each leg. It’s an injury that’s apparently common in runners and cyclists. To reduce the pressure I’m putting on it I’ve been advised to ‘activate my glutes’!?! Basically do bum clenches at points throughout the day whilst in a ‘neutral posture’ (either stood up or lying down). Unfortunately I’m yet to master clenching without making an obscure facial expression. So if you see me stood around town at any point with a wry smile and expression somewhere between contemplation and concentration, you’ll know what I’m up to!

Noddy, my mate who was supposed to be doing the ironman with me, found out last week that he’d slipped a disc in his back and has had to pull out. He’s obviously gutted but it’s the right decision to make. Extra pressure on me to finish now! On the up side (for me) he’s sending me down a load of his gear to use which should be a great help- especially the new saddle he’s promised!

Realistically, I’ve got about 3 weeks of serious training left before I calm things down pre race. No excuses now, I need to the make the most of them without pushing too hard and getting injured. It’s going to be a careful balancing act. Fingers crossed!

Half Way There!

Big news since the last blog...I am now a half ironman! 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run.

The night before the race I was a bit apprehensive about the whole thing. I hadn’t done a great deal of training in the weeks building up to it as I’d had exams and was resting me knee (I’d injured it going too hard on the bike a couple of weeks before). I knew I could do each discipline individually but was starting to doubt whether I’d have the endurance to do all three. If I couldn’t I’d need to seriously rethink the full ironman.

In the week building up to the race I was stretching regularly, laying off the training and trying to eat as much as possible. Sounds easy- doing less and eating more, but it feels counter-productive. Although I know resting is key to racing and training well, you can’t help but feel like time not training is wasted. Also, as I was exercising less my appetite wasn’t as big and the more I thought about ‘I should be eating’, the less I wanted to do it.

The race was in Weymouth (South coast) and the weather had been really good on the days building up to it....thunder and heavy rain forecast for race day though! Excellent. If I hadn’t had paid £80 to enter, I would have seriously considered giving it a miss! Anyway, my money was paid so I got an early night (ish) the night before, hoping to be fresh for race day.

5:15 am. I woke up 15 minutes before my alarm having had about 5 hours of intermittent sleep. I decided to get up and get moving early rather than fester in bed asking myself why I was doing this. I forced down a big bowl of porridge and mixed up 4 big bottles of energy drink. Two for the bike. One for the car. One for transition. Luckily the race was close to my mate’s place (where I was staying) so I left the house at 6 and got to the venue by 6:15. The swim didn’t start til 7, so I figured I’d have enough time to set up and get ready. As I drove into the car park I was again greeted by what looked like some serious athletes with some serious gear. I guess as the distance goes up, the number of novices goes down. All I was thinking was- don’t be last.

6:50 am. On the beach in Weymouth Bay.  It’s cold, the winds up and cross shore, it’s raining, overcast and the water looks anything but inviting. It’s lumpy; very lumpy and I’m being sent off in ‘wave 1’. Had I filled out my predicted time wrong?! Had they made a mistake?...surely I can’t be in wave 1?! I still have no idea whether that number had any relevance...but it didn’t fill me with confidence!...don’t be last. Do not be last.

Anyway, we had our race briefing and were sent into the water from the shore. I must admit that I largely ignore the ‘directions’ aspect of the briefing on the basis that I’m never going to be out front and can just follow the guys in front. It’s a tactic that’s worked so far.

In my head this moment was going to be Baywatch-esque. I was going to Hasslehoff my way into the surf and glide off into the turquoise waters. As it happened, I stumbled my way over the pebble beach, my feet numb from the cold, and sheepishly entered the freezing sea. It was so cold it took my breath away and my swim stroke that I’d worked on for months in training-the smooth, efficient, breathe both sides stroke, became a breathe every 2 strokes flailing paddle! As it turned out it was no use breathing both sides anyway (unless I fancied a face full of salt water) and I settled into a reasonable rhythm relatively quickly. The swim felt pretty fast heading down wind with the current behind us, but I felt like I was dropping down the field. I started to come past people as we turned and came back up the beach though (against the wind). I’m pretty sure my route wasn’t the most direct between the buoys but I came out of the water behind the lead pack with a time around the 23 minute mark so I was pleased with that. I hobbled back up the beach into transition and slowly sorted myself for the bike.

On the bike I’d planned to eat a high carb bar and drink about 500ml of energy drink every hour. I was trying some new bars out and they tasted like...high carb bars.  A generic, homogenised blend of food. The flavour vaguely resembles the description but I wasn’t looking forward to eating them. It was more a case of ‘I need to eat these’. I think for the full ironman I’m going to mix up the specialist bars with some snickers or something with a bit of taste! I definitely drank enough though. I needed two pees on the bike which threw up a bit of a dilemma. You have to battle with the voice that says ’if you stop you’ll lose at least 3 minutes’ and the voice that says ‘what are you thinking-you can’t piss yourself’...I was however, already wet....

....I didn’t. And I’m glad I didn’t. It was a bit of a faff to stop, but actually quite a nice break from the saddle. Most importantly I maintained my dignity (as much as pissing by the side of the road is ‘maintaining dignity’). Anyway, most of the people that passed me when I was relieving myself I passed again later on as they stopped to drain the lizard! The rest of the bike was relatively unremarkable. Thankfully the rain had stopped by the time I was out of the water and it was largely only the guys on bikes that appeared to be ready to go into outer space that came passed me. I was hoping for a time of around 3.5 hours on the bike and it took me about 3 so all was going well. It was a good good feeling not being sat on a saddle any longer.

I decided to run the race as I’m going to do the ironman. A walk-run strategy. Run for 9 minutes. Walk for 1 whilst taking on gels and fluid. The transition from bike to run was fine and my legs felt pretty fresh still. My first few 1 minute walks didn’t feel necessary and it was frustrating letting people go past me. I’d catch most of them during my run though which was a good feeling- knowing that my strategy was letting me run a quicker time. I also felt like I should explain to the crowd that I wasn’t stopping because I was knackered....it’s all part of the plan! After about 8 miles the 1 minute walks were more than welcome. I was checking my watch after about 4 minutes of running to see how much longer I had to go! As well as being a much needed physical break, it was also a good way to break up the mental monotony of the whole thing. It’s easy to keep going when you’ve only got to run for 9 minutes....not so easy when you’ve got to run for another hour!

My run time was about 1:48 and I was expecting somewhere around the 2 hour mark. So another good performance.

My finishing time was 5:16 and I’m really chuffed with that. I’m not convinced I could hold that bike pace for 112 miles and obviously the ironman bike course will be different to the one I’ve just done. Maybe a 7 hour bike, a 4ish hour marathon and a 1 hour swim. I’d be over the moon with those times. I need to be careful not to lose perspective though. The ironman’s about completion for me.

I'm officially a triathlete!

Triathlon virginity broken!

That’s the big news of this blog.

I competed (using the term loosely)...I ‘entered’ a sprint distance triathlon in Neath last Weds (11^th May). I wanted to do it just to get a feel of what a race was like, how I needed to set up transition etc. Theoretically the distances were a breeze (750m open water swim, 20km bike and 5km run) so the plan was to just cruise through, complete it and enjoy it without injuring myself.

I travelled up with a couple of guys from the tri club, both with similar aims to myself; finish and make it home....safety in numbers! We arrived about an hour before the start so had plenty of time to register and set up transition. I’d watched a few videos on youtube on how to set up correctly so I wasn’t a total pleb when I turned up. By the time we arrived transition was already pretty busy and there was plenty of ‘gear’ there. I’m talking thousands of pounds worth of bikes....I was beginning to feel a bit out of my depth. Still, I got myself a decidedly average place in transition (towards the middle of one of the racks) and set up my stuff.

First mistake...I’d forgotten my sun glasses. 25 mins til the start so plenty of time still. Ran back to the car and picked them up. Second mistake...I’d left my timing chip in the car.15 mins til the start and I’d still not got my wetsuit on. Ran back to the car, picked it up and started putting on my wetsuit as the race brief was taking place. I was pretty flustered by this point, but there were a couple of other guys still milling around, taking their time about getting sorted so I didn’t feel so bad...they looked like they knew what they were doing though!

Anyway, I made it to the end of the briefing (which went on a bit to be honest) and I was so conscious about trying to remember everything that was said (so not to make a knob of myself during the race) that I forgot pretty much everything. Still, it was unlikely that I was going to be leading at any point so I figured I’d just follow whoever was in front.

The swim wasn’t exactly in a lake...more a large pond. Algae, weeds, murky, 2 and a bit laps around some marker buoys. I decided to start from the back to try and avoid the mêlée that takes place at the front of the swim (pulling goggles off, unzipping wetsuits, pulling people under etc etc). I couldn’t see a thing when my head was under the water which was pretty disorientating. Didn’t taste too great either. It was grim. Once I settled into my stroke I was ok though and ended up finishing at the back of the front group, with a time of 12:30 (24^th place). I was pleased with that as 750m had been taking me 15 mins in the pool. Seems as if the wetsuit helps me out.

I jogged up the hill from the water to transition and sorted myself out for the bike. There were still quite a few bikes in transition so that gave me a boost – I thought I’d be near the back at this point. Jumped onto the bike out of transition (with a transition split of 2:30; 50^th out of 60!)and immediately dispelled my thoughts of ironman pacing the race. I could see a guy with an aero helmet about 200m in front of me and decided he was my target. The bike was flat and only 10 miles so I knew even if I blitzed it I’d finish pretty easily. I was overtaking people on the bike, but also getting a bit of talking to from the guys on TT bikes (really light, really fast, really expensive bikes). I came off the bike in 26^th place.

Bike-to-run transition was a bit smoother than the swim-to-bike. I didn’t have to faff around with a wetsuit, but I did struggle with the double knots in my laces...I think elastic laces maybe a good investment for the longer distance stuff. The run was quite hilly which was a bit of a shock to the system. Cross country too, but I quite like that (despite all my training being on flat roads). I paced the run pretty sensibly and took a few places back. I finished in 21^st place with a time of 1:07:27. Pleased.