Geordieman Full Iron-Distance Triathlon
It’s a long one so get the kettle on…
This was the first time in my life I’d ever enlisted the help of a coach for anything. I didn’t receive coaching as such, but I paid a small fee for training sessions to be structured for me. I wouldn’t say I gained a great deal of knowledge from it, but felt much better for someone who knows what they’re talking about giving me peace of mind that I was roughly on the right track and could complete this thing. Also, the small amount of feedback gave me some accountability, because I’m the world’s worst for thinking ‘well I’ve done marathons before, I know I can cycle upwards of 200 miles in one go, and I’ve swam 100 lengths in training and used to be a decent swimmer as a kid – I’ll be sound! Let me tell you, an Ironman distance is a whole different beast and I now have total respect for it or anyone that even gives it a go.
This said, life does tend to get in the way- I hit the main sessions, but would say I only managed 65% or so of the sessions. I could have taken training more seriously but I didn’t. I was 14st10 when I started training in March and wanted to be 13st7 when I raced. I weighed myself Friday morning and I was 14st10. Let me also tell you, weight doesn’t help, and it’s no coincidence the top 5 at any event are all racing snakes. I could make sacrifices, stop drinking, clean up the diet and train twice a day, but at the moment I don’t really want to! It’ll always be a case of ‘what could have been’ – maybe one day I’ll clean up my act and find out 
The prep the day before consisted in over half a gallon of Guinness and a curry – say no more.
Swim
This was the leg I feared most. At my warm up race (Ullswater Middle Distance) about 6 weeks ago, I had a right flap on at the start of the swim, had a real panic during the start and ending up doing breaststroke out the back for half of it.
This time, I just chilled it all out, focused on getting some good quality strokes in, breathing well and picking a good route through the field. I executed my plan perfectly, felt even stronger through the second lap, wasn’t phased by the reeds (which were quite thick) and I came out feeling a million dollars. 4th man out of the swim. Not bad for 1 or 2 daft 40 minute sessions in the pool a week.
1:07:03
Bike
Usually my strongest suit, and I felt good with getting out of the swim well. Picked off a few 70.3 lads and lasses which probably gave me confidence I didn’t need – because I shot off on my first lap. That was around 19.4mph, but things got tougher on the 2nd lap. Anyone who was there will attest the sun started really beating down at around lunch time, and the wind seemed to get really strong at the north of the course. It was far from enjoyable after a good start, and I finished my 112(ish) miles with an 18.1mph average). One stand out point was when I was already cursing myself and just wishing that the left turn into Druridge Bay would appear, I was bombing downhill into Warkworth looking to take the roundabout fast, and on the approach a little head appeared out of a campervan about 3 inches from my face and said ‘HELLLOOO JAMIEEEE’. It was Ali. She nearly ended my race there and then as I swerved into the road, my heart rate went even more through the roof than it already was. Jesus.
6:13:33
Run
I was in 7th place after the ride which my Dad told me after counting the others in. ‘Go and smash it son, get a top 5’ he said. To which I replied ‘no chance’. I lazily got through transition and had a change of socks after I treat myself to a few p*sses in my tri suit which did leak down my leg (glamorous, I know). A marathon in blazing heat was absolutely not what I wanted and needed, but my little lesson to myself and piece of advice is ‘one foot in front of the other, every step done is a step closer, no matter how slow it is’. The tactic I employed was to run a little, walk a little. To keep discipline with this, I set myself times to run, so I’d say in my head to do 45 seconds of running followed by 30 seconds of walking. This was the only way I was going to get to the finish. Once I finished my first of the 4 laps, I saw Nige and Paul and thought I’d run with them. They both left me for a good while and that’s when I knew I was up against it and if this was my fatigue after 1 lap, what was i going to be like after my 3rd?!
One thing I did in the race which I’d never given any respect to before, was how much salt and electrolytes are important in long endurance events – especially in the heat where you’re taking on and getting rid of lots of water (through sweat and other means , that needs putting back in. My plan came off amazingly until around half way through my second loop when my calf and hamstring cramp hit me like a train. I was taking water from the stations without any powder or tablets in, and this caught up with me. A very kind man from Bedale saw me stretching out against a bench and offered me a salt tablet which was a life saver, and a lap later Nige gave me one of his salt chews when I started to struggle again. There’s not many sports where competitors actually help each other to finish, which is what I like about this kind of event. I ran with the fella until the last lap where he stopped to chat with his wife, and I walked/ran as best as I could to see it home.
4:38:37
Points of summary and to take away
– I have a new found respect for the distance and anyone who undertakes it. It really isn’t just 2×70.3 back to back. This is literally going balls out with no rest for over half of a full day of your life. And you can’t just turn up, some element of commitment is required from your life for months before hand (the more you put in the more you get out of course).
– Being affiliated with a club helps you know end. An Ironman course is a very lonely place and takes you to some really crap places. Even if they put the shits up you (Alison), seeing those familiar faces, getting nutrition when you really need it off your teammates, seeing other guys looking as shit as you do really breaks up that low time in your life and just gets you through that next mile.
And one more thing, my inspirational moment of the day.
At the finish, I was sat eating my free burger and chips when a young foreign lad crossed the line. I since found out his name is Costa. Anyone who was there will recognise him as the only competitor about to enter the lake at 6am wearing just a pair of speedos, no wetsuit. He came up to me and congratulated me as I tucked into my food, and said ‘did you do the full course’ and I replied ‘yes, did you?’ He said in broken English ‘Well, sort of… I got lost after 70 miles in the bike and didn’t know where to go or what to do, so I just found my way back here and started the run’. Knowing fine well he would get a DNF, he went and cracked out a marathon during the hottest part of the day with a smile on his face. On top of being the hardest MF in the lake swimming 2.4 mile in next to nothing. Some boy.
12:06:51 my finish time, 10th place out of 45 overall at my first (and probably last) iron distance.
Well done RTC, we gave a class account of ourselves yesterday 
