of running and stuff

ok so here we are over a week after the event and time i put fingertip to keyboard for some form of race write up… starting as these triathlon things do (mostly) with the swim.

it’s 20 past 4 am on sunday morning, its dark save for the occasional generator powered floodlighting and we join the steady trickle of bodies heading toward the transition area.

this is Ironman UK for my second time and my second Ironman attempt.

i spy a quiet looking row of portaloos and make a bee line, grateful at this point i popped my headtorch in my pocket.

into transition and marked up with my number, to the bike to check tyres, add bottles and double check food.
surprisingly quickly i seem to be ready but its 3/4 of an hour before i want to think about putting my wetsuit on.

i managed some rice pud before leaving the hotel, and then promptly left my coffee inside when i left.
i’d managed a banana while checking my bike and made the effort to drink and have a cereal bar.

i put my mp3 player on and find some suitable tracks to gee me up a bit and wander to peer at the racks of red & blue bags deposited yesterday (blue for bike kit, red for run kit).

at half 5 i make a final loo trip and put my wetsuit on and over the next 30minutes more and more wetsuited people appear to stand ready. it’s approaching 6am, when the race is supposed to start, we’re not even in the water yet, let alone 300m away at the start line.

its still dark, the thought of getting in the water now isn’t at all appealing. delayed by parking woes (again) or a forgetful pro having no wetsuit (alledgedly) things finally start moving.

my nerves have had plenty of time to build up, i havent spotted anyone i know, i should feel raring to go but for some reason i’m about ready to cry.
approaching the funnel to enter the lake, its surprisingly packed with supporters and i know lisa will be here somewhere by now. i can hear some of the plastic football rattles we picked up spectating Ironman Switzerland, as I approach i’m willing it to be lisa, it’s not, i try to focus and move on.

just at the right moment, out of 1300 people i find myself next to martin (wiganer) and andy (rhb), a friendly face, some physical contact and shared trepidation was just what i needed. we part ways and enter the water, no way we’d be able to stay in touch all the way to the start.

the water is cold, as expected, as it trickles in a familiarly uncomfortable way down my back. i swim out to the start, nice and easy.

as last year i position myself cautiously toward the back of the back. there’s some amusement as the sneaky pros at the front are moved back, the chap next to me has found a rock to stand on but then he admits to being 6′4. i double check my wetsuit, swim cap and goggles. all systems go. i can see spectators behind the reeds all round the shore and there’s a spine tingling moment of chanting from the competitors, 1300 people calling out over the surface of the water.

[coming soon.. the swim...]

all that time and effort over the last year and for what ?

17minutes (2.5%) slower isn’t the full story (if it was i’d be even more disappointed) as that corresponds to a 9 place improvement in the overall ranking (about 2% up on last year) or somewhere between 3 and 5% improvement by gender or age category.

at the moment i’m feeling either i should start taking this a bit more seriously in future to avoid what feels like a waste of effort…. or just not bother.

ho hum.

well back and recovering from the ironman now.
always bound to be an emotional experience and this time round didn’t disappoint in that respect.

a little disappointed with my time (slower than last year) admittedly on a course i’m coming to accept was a heck of alot tougher.

alot more to digest throughout the week i fear.

it’s friday and i have the day off work as this evening we’ll be trapsing down to wiltshire and then on to dorset saturday morning for the various faffing involved before an ironman event; of registration, packing transition bags, bike check & racking, race briefing and other things that will serve to make the fact of the race more real and do nothing to dispel the pre reace nerves i’ve spent all week dismissing.

so on sunday at 6am the truth will be known, or will start to reveal itself, it won’t be known until around 5pm or later depending on the nature of the truth! (speaking in riddles it seems).

but anyway my training this week has been almost entirely positive for me and just the confidence boost required.

mondays run was done in pretty much continuous torrential rain (which anyway looks a possibility for sunday) but the effort was steady, the feeling was light footed and the overall speed was surprising.

likewise tuesdays cycle was short but wet and required much gritting of teeth, hail that stung my arms even through my waterproof. but again thoroughly enjoyed.

wednesday nights swim aonly called for 45mins in which 1700m passed without complaint from my arms, reassuring given i have to swim over twice that distance on sunday.

i missed my run last night but not too worried. strangely yesterday i spent carrying a banana and a nectarine around with me to eat, i never did, but often found myself taking a good long sniff of the nectarine which was amazingly fragrant.

anyway i’ll sign off now until probably monday or tuesday.

www.ironman.com/ironmanlive is the place to be on sunday and #1436 is the number.