The Outlaw Half Ironman

Why oh why didn't I position myself on the front row? This thought occurred to me 20 metres into the swim after being punched in my eye, kicked in the face and legs pulled under. Actually, I do know why.  Fear.  Unsure of my fitness and swim pace after 'limited' swim training in 2014 (14 hours since 1^st January!), worried going too hard would come back to hurt me, I had mistakenly started from the 2nd row of swimmers.

Lesson #1 from this race: always get to the front row of a mass swim start - whatever swim fitness is like.

Water wasn't as warm as it looks!

Once through the melee I was swimming pretty well.  A controlled stroke, steady 4-beat kick, breathing every two strokes.  I think getting into the water a few minutes before the start and doing a bit of a warm up helped.  Who knew warm ups were useful eh?  

After passing a few of the people who I briefly drafted off, I looked up and couldn't see many people ahead.  Two swimmers.  That can't be right.  I looked up again, with my head up for a bit longer this time.  One guy was miles ahead, whilst the other was 10 yards in front.  I went after the guy in 2nd, hoping to latch onto his feet and swim in his wake.  After 100m I hadn't made much ground, yet my breathing was much more laboured.  I decided, again with my worry about race fitness lurking in my head, to let him go and returned back to my previous pace and effort level.  By this time, we'd reached the turn buoy and it was time to swim 950m back to the swim exit.  I looked behind me for the first time to see how close others were to me.  A couple of other swimmers 10m or so behind me then quite a gap to a bunch of others.  Go on dude!  The return trip to shore was pretty uneventful, aside from swimming through the reeds for much of the journey home.

I pulled myself up and onto the boardwalk, getting some blood back into my legs as I ran into transition, all the while struggling to take my wetsuit off.  It’s particularly tight around those wrists!  I seemed to spend an age in transition (2 minutes and 43 seconds). Finally I was off and onto the bike.

Swim time was 27:43 – 3^rd in my wave, 2^nd overall in my age group and 22^ndoverall including the relays.  Not bad for 14 hours of swim training in 2014.

Transition

Now onto the bike and my first task was to avoid the many geese that lined the initial section around the lake. Successfully negotiated, it was onto the main roads and time to get serious!

I didn't really have a plan though.  Earlier in the week I nearly didn't start the race as I just felt rubbish.  No energy for the first half of the week then a migraine which knocked me sideways for a day.  Fair to say I wasn't in racing mood.  A couple of decent sessions at the end of the week and I was feeling more positive.  With this backdrop, developing a race plan wasn't in my thinking.  Also, I don't really know how to pace these 'shorter' events. 90k on the bike - as opposed to 180k - must mean I can ride a bit harder though right? 

The morning of the race, in the hotel bathroom eating my breakfast, I developed a bit of a plan.  I had a power number in mind (80% of FTP) but wasn't completely convinced this was right.  I also had a heart rate in mind (low 150's) and an average speed 'target' (34kph) which should produce a time of 2:40 for the 90k.  So I had a few methods of pacing - not knowing if I could actually hold any of these for any length of time!  So the plan was in place, but it’s fair to say that the plan was 'fluid'.

There was no wind to hinder progress on this relatively flat course either.  It was a beautiful, cloudless summers day.  Bike performance is summarised in the graph below.  In summary, heart rate was pretty stable and went more or less to plan, averaging 154.  My average (normalised) power was probably a bit lower than I wanted (averaging 179), with the last 30k averaging only 169.  Average speed turned out to be 33.2kph, again a bit lower than I thought I was capable of, and again a drop off in the last 30k (32.2kph average).

I think the drop off for the last 30k was due to a couple of factors.  Firstly, and the main factor, I really didn’t eat and drink enough.  Three gels and three bottles of water was my total.  Nervousness about previous stomach issues whilst racing led me to take the ‘less is more’ approach to nutrition.  I was wrong.  By the time I reached the run transition, after 3 hours and 15 minutes of racing, I had only had three gels.  No wonder I didn’t have much energy at the start of the run!  Secondly, I wasn’t as fit on the bike as I thought I was.  Although I raced relatively conservatively and paced within myself, I faded during the last hour.  I had only been outside on my race bike during race week – the rest of the training was 60 and 90 minute sessions in the garage on the turbo.  There is no replacement for getting out there and riding!

Lesson #2: eat more on the bike!

Lesson #3: train outside!

Finished the bike leg with a split of 2.46.06 – which was only the 299^th fastest of the day, and 74^th in my age group.  Not a marvellous performance!

The best supporters!

After a little over 2 minutes in transition, I was off onto the run.  I had no energy.  My legs were sore.  I had a lot of negative thoughts.  After a quick toilet stop, I was off and running.  My spirits were lifted when I saw Lynn and the girls for the first time, dressed in their “team dad” t-shirts.  They were noisy and smiley.  Brilliant!

Given my 2014 run history, only being able to run in the past couple of weeks following a six week lay off due to (another) calf injury, I was a little apprehensive about the run.  However, I was fairly confident that there would be no risk of injury if I kept to my steady run pace as any injection of pace seems to be when my calf just gives up!

I decided to use my Ironman run strategy, taking it ‘easy’ for the first part of the run, with the aim of increasing the pace later on in the race.  I also decided that I would walk through the aid stations, as per my Ironman routine, picking up coke and water each time. 

Negative split running

On my way to a negative split run!

Lesson #4: bad patches in a race don't last long.  Drop pace, eat and drink and get back in the game!

This seemed to work as I was able to pick up the pace after the first 7k, not running particularly fast, but I was moving better.  I was also moving through the field a little bit now too, which was the first time in the race since the first 100m of the swim!

I averaged 5.04 minutes per kilometre pace for the run, which included two toilet stops and walking through all of the aid stations.  It was a negative split run too, with my 2^nd10k more than 2 minutes quicker than my first.  I felt pretty good at the end too!

The half marathon took me 1.47 to complete, which was the 257^th fastest of the day and 56^th in my age group.  I had been hoping for a 1.40 run split (would have been 130^th fastest run of the day), but given the running issues in the build up to this race, I was quite pleased with my performance.

I ran along the red carpet high fiving as many people as I could.  Lynn and the girls had positioned themselves about 50m from the finish line, just behind the rails.  I wanted to pick the girls up and run across the finish line with them, but as I hadn’t been to the race briefing I wasn’t sure if I’d be disqualified for this!  Instead, a big kiss and a cuddle from them before smiling my way to the finish line had to do.

I finished the race in a time of 5.05, 186th overall (from 1108 starters), 43rd out of 218 in my age group (40-44).

Tired!

Taking fitness levels and injury history into account, I was pleased with how the race unfolded.  The swim was a real surprise, the second half of the run was pleasing and finishing strong was exactly how I wanted to complete the race.  

It was great to be racing again too - my last race was at Ironman UK in July last year!  

I learned some lessons which I can implement in my two big races this year and, if nothing else, it was a super 5 hour training session!