IronMan UK Race Report - 11 September 2007

IronMan UK Race Report
The swim was the best I have ever had in that I was relaxed and actually enjoyed it which is rare for me. By some fluke I managed to find 2 of my girlfriends at the start line which was great so we hung out treading water together. The gun went off and it was a little pushy but people were not being too aggressive, everyone knows they are out there for a while so didn't try and swim over the top of each other. I breathe on my left side and ended up stroke for stroke with this guy who was breathing on his right side and it was pretty funny when after about 8-10 strokes he gave me a little wave. It was comforting to have someone who wasn't taking it super seriously. We ended up losing each other but found each other again on one of the turnarounds and had a bit of a chat whilst getting around the buoy. Don't get that in Olympic distance racing!

I felt great the entire swim and pushed it a bit on the last 500m and was so pleased with myself to come out of the water in 1:14:40 which was over 5 minutes faster than my estimate. I was in 734th position out of 1575, 12th in my age group and 20 minutes behind the leader in my age group. It was also the first time I had swum the distance in open water :)

I was definitely on a high after coming out of the water in a great time for me and that spurred me on. I got into transition and started shouting for someone to help me get my wetsuit off. This lovely guy helped me out and got me into my cycling kit and picked up the mess afterwards taking my bag away. It was a bit of a free for all and modesty gets thrown out the window :) I did at one point have someone's rather hairy naked bottom pointing at me which gave me the hurry up to get out of the changing tent! I ran out into the transition area where some more of my mates were on the fence so was great to see them.

Got out on the bike and against all good advice just went for it knowing I had to catch the girls ahead of me who would probably be taking things easy for the first part of the bike. I hooked up with this Scottish bloke who was riding slightly faster than me so we rode side by side for about 30 mins and I was quietly checking off the girls we were passing and also ignoring the voice of reason telling me to slow down. I dropped the Scottish bloke when I think he realised he was going to hard which spurred me on even more. I got round to the first turn around after 60km and the crowd was really quiet as just before me a bloke had misjudged the corner and come off. I heard my mate Leanne before I could see her so we were shouting at each other like loons which got the whole crowd going. It was an incredible feeling having all those people shouting for me and it put me on a really high and I powered on that for about 40kms, still ignoring that irritating voice of reason telling me to slow down. By this stage I had passed around 20 women but knew that there were a couple from my age group still ahead of me. The weather was pretty good in that it was overcast, no rain as yet but the clouds were threatening.

The third lap the wind really started to pick up and lots of people were slowing down. We also had a couple of patches of rain which doesn't make for happy cycling. I had broken the ride down into 20km chunks and knew I had to average 40 mins per block to hit my 6 hour target. I was really pleased because I was only 2-3 minutes off each lap and given the wind it was tougher than I had anticipated. I did the fastest bike split in my age group by over 3 minutes and was now quite concerned that I had gone too hard on the bike and was going to be hurt on the run.

I was loving all the banter that goes back and forward when you are out there. I kept seeing the Scottish bloke every now and again and that was cool, we would have a chat and encourage each other. There was this other bloke who I kept catching and over taking so then he would chase me back down and get in front again. After this happening at least 2 or 3 times each lap he said to me that I reminded him of an ex girlfriend who used to stalk him. I couldn't help it and told him that this wasn't the case with us because he would now be following me and took off before he had a chance to respond. Knowing that I had been a complete smarty pants to him meant I had to pick up the pace so he couldn't catch me which got me out of there and refocused me on finishing the last 30km of the bike strong.

It was really exciting riding back towards the castle with everyone lining the road, I got to see Rich and Sam who were screaming for me which was brilliant. I came off the bike in 6:10:35 bike and had moved down to 329th position and 4th place in my age group. I was happy with transition and got going. First few steps, 2 things happened. I could feel a cramp starting under my rib cage, something that has bothered me all season coming off the bike, and a felt a twinge under my left kneecap, an old injury that hadn't come up at all this season.

Back at "HQ" Corinna's Mum, Marilyn, was tracking me online and phoning back the information to the support crew who were then passing the information out to whoever was near me on the course. As I was coming up the hill through the campsite on the first lap I could see this spectacle near the stone gates you pass through and my friends had set up a tent and decorated it with flowers. They were also dressed up in grass skirts, shell and coconut bras complete with Wellingtons because of all the mud. Corinna had me and everyone around us laughing at her when she started trying to run in her Wellingtons totallydecked out in her costume, grass skirt, shell bra, flowers all over her, yelling at me to run faster that I needed to win so she could have a holiday to Hawaii. :)

I was so happy to have them around because it took a good 5 miles for the cramp to pass and they were all over that first lap and screaming that I had almost caught one of the girls in my age group. That first 5 miles was a pretty dark place for me because I really didn't think it was going to be able to run any faster and the niggling feeling that I had smacked the bike too hard was back. Not really sure what happened but it went suddenly and I was able to pick up the pace which really lifted me mentally. I know knew it was going to have to be a PB run to catch and beat the 3 girls ahead of me and I was actually really excited about seeing what I could do. I caught 2 of the girls on the first half of the course...1 to go!

After the 2 laps around the castle and campsite you head through the town and out to the duel carriage way which is basically 3 big rolling hills that you go over 4 times. My knee was definitely letting me know there was a problem at this stage. As I was heading out for my first lap I saw Daz coming back in off his last lap and he was looking brilliant. I hooked up with this guy who again was going faster than me and I had to push to keep up with him but I knew I had to make up some time and still had 1 girl to hunt down. With him I got her on lap 1.

I got to the turnaround and Rich was waiting for me, there is a great photo of him running next to me shouting at me that I had to run faster that I was in first place and had 12 minutes on them but had to push it. Sam was also there and I stopped to give him a big sweaty kiss much to the delight of thecrowd! So now I knew I was in 1st, my knee was really hurting and I still had around 10kms to cover I decided to change strategy and just wind it up and try and put as much time between 2nd and 3rd so that if it did go wrong I could try and walk it home and still win. I had run almost 2 hours on the first half and was overtaking so many people who were now walking I couldn't really judge how fast I was going. I just kept telling myself I hadn't trained for 8 months to walk and that I was going to Hawaii. The wind was so bad! Climbing one of the hills the wind was pushing me back, I got gusted so badly at one point I took a step backwards!

Rich was waiting for me on the turnaround point about 1.5 miles from the end and told me I was in 12th overall, including pros. He also told me again to run faster or he would schedule more mile reps :) That was all the incentive I needed! After having so many people on the duel carriageway it was strange running parts of the course on my own back through the town. There weren't many spectators on this part either. Competitive as always I set myself the target of catching whoever was in front of me in order to take my mind off my now screaming knee. Lots of the towns people were around and I was getting lots of encouragement back towards the castle and that picked me up. I also knew exactly where I was so knew it wasn't far to get home.

All of my friends were there lining the finish chute and put a lei around my neck as I went past. When I crossed the line I burst into tears, after 8 long hard months I had achieved what I set out to do. I was handed a bottle of vintage champagne and proceeded to fall off the wagon! IMUK is definitely one of the biggest achievements in my sporting career and I have never worked as hard for anything. I wouldn't change a thing and now I am focusing on getting ready for the World Championships in Kona on 13th October.

The numbers + video of me finishing IMUK!

The numbers + video of me finishing IMUK!
So some of my regular readers have asked me what the actual numbers were around IMUK and where I sat amongst those...so here they are...
1575 entrants all starting at once for a 3.8km swim. The fastest swimmer came out of the water in 44:39 (Brian Rhodes who was the favourite to win). Fastest woman was Hiliary Biscay in 49:03. I came out some time after that in 1:14:40 and in 734th position.
The bike is 180km with 2300m of climbing. 3 laps of a hilly, windy course, with a bit of rain thrown in for good measure. Fastest man was again Brian with 4:47:41. The fastest woman was Nicole Klinger with 5:29:49. I managed a 6:10:35 which put me in 13th place out of all the women, including pros. My overall place was now down to 329th.
The run is a marathon. 42.2km of hills with 770m of climbing if you do Ironman UK. Bella Commerford smacked the run in 3:10:01, taking 1st place for the women overall. Fastest man was Scott Neyedli who flew into 1st place with a 2:48:32. I did my best ever marathon time with a 3:30:04 which was the 8th fastest of the women and 88th overall.
Scott Neyedli won in 8:35:53, Bella Commerford for the women in 9:36:09. I managed a 11:04:57, putting me in 12th place for the women, 184th overall and 1st in my age group. I also broke the course record by 21 minutes and my nearest rival in my age group was 22 mins behind me. Bring on the world championships!

August 2008 + London Triathlon Race Report

August: I was starting to get really nervous, but had confidence in both my ability and training I had put in. When I started this back on the 29th January, I made a promise to myself that I would not be on the start line thinking I could have done more. I really do feel that I couldn't have trained or given up anything else and that I was in the best possible shape to have a crack at winning.
I did the London Olympic race which is the largest triathlon in the world. It is really well organised and run and really encourages people to give triathlon a go. The distance I completed was 1500m swim, 38km bike and 10km run. I came 4th in my age group and 12th woman. I was so pleased with this result because I was using it as training and doing the things I would do for Ironman. Despite all of this I managed to do my fastest swim ever and get the fastest first lap in my age group on the bike. It gave me a massive boost for IMUK. I went into the race with wanting to do under 2:30 and to get under 42 min for 10km run. I managed a 2:22 and a 41:59 run! Just made it there!
I am going to do a separate race report blog for IMUK, it deserves it ;)
Here is my London Olympic race report:
I had such a fun day, I think I must be one of the few people who doesn't mind racing in the heat, reminds me of home! I was using the race as a training session for IMUK and to double check race kit, nutrition and practise transition. I had a good swim (the water was lovely!) but forgot how brutal women can be to each other in open water! At around the 500m mark I had one on either side bashing me, but a few strong kicks to either one of them and they backed off a bit! The chicks seemed to be swimming in formation because every few hundred metres everyone would start funnelling in towards the centre and then there would be another scuffle and everyone would fan out again. It actually worked for me because I swam a little harder to get out of the way. Came out of the water in the middle of the pack, and as always, grateful that the least favourite part of the day was over. Onto the bike and went out strong, at the first turnaround I was in 55th position in my wave which was of mixed ages. I loved that they had a couple of short hills in there toget over the bridges, I had this one girl who kept catching me on the flats but thankfully not even her full disk wheels could get her up the hills to enable her to overtake me. I could hear her coming for me in the tunnels, it sounded like a massive bird flying up behind me and I kept thinking I was going to be picked up and swept away! I have her to thank for pushing me along on the bike, it became a pride thing that I wouldn't give in to her in the last few KM's after fighting her all race. I was trying to hold back slightly because I was determined to run a sub 42 but that went out the window.Quick transition and out into the run, I was lucky to be in the first wave so I could easily count how many were ahead of me. Lots of people were suffering in the heat, but still everyone was giving encouragement to each other. I started the run in 15th place and worked with a couple of the girls to pick off some of the top 10. I started the 2nd lap of the run in 11th and worked my way down to finish 6th in my wave. My overall time was 2:20:59 which I am thrilled about because I went in secretly hoping to go under 2:30. According to the age group results, I got 4th (thats the 24-29 age group Graham!) and posted the fastest 1st lap on the bike (Thanks disk wheel girl!). It was a PB for me across the race, with a 30.09 swim, 1.02 bike and I managed 41.59 on the run, just made it in! I had Sam and 2 close friends waiting for me at the end, who all got wet sweaty hugs and kisses from me. I thought the race was really well organised and I love that there are plenty of people out there giving triathlon a go who had never raced before. There is loads of support from the crowd, lots of drink stations and people throwing water at you to cool you off. Everyone looks like they are having fun, especially when they have that medal hanging around their neck. Well almost everyone, not sure how happy the guy in the full penguin suit was, I am sure he would have been half roasted by the end, he certainly earnt his medal!

July 2007

July: This is where the races started to ramp up. I did an Olympic distance race at Eastnor Castle. Olympic distance is 1500m swim, 43km bike and a 10km run. I came 4th out of the women and 1st in my age group. It was again the longest distance I had raced in Triathlon. It was so tough because it was hilly, really muddy and it rained for most of the bike.
My 2nd race in July was a half Ironman at Belvoir Castle. The distance was 2km swim, 82km bike and 21km run. Again it was a really hilly course and I had a few problems during the race. I had a panic attack in the water, I think because I didn't warm up properly. I then got a flat on the bike and had an awful cramp on the run. I came 5th out of the women and 2nd in my age group. I was really pleased with my time and despite the problems, really enjoyed the race. I also learnt that I am really good at being able to pick up the pace on the run in the 2nd half and not 'blow up'.
At the end of July I went out to Sherborne for the official Ironman UK training weekend and got to swim in the lake, run part of the course and do a lap of the bike course. It really helped to know what I was going to be up against. Both the run and bike are hilly which suits me, especially on the run. Swimming isn't my strong point and doing one of the training swims was the first time all season I thought I might actually enjoythe swim.

June 2007

June - Started working with Rich and he cut me back to 1 quality session a day rather than the 2 or 3 I was doing. I also gave up the booze and really got into doing some longer quality sessions. A typical week would be around12-13 hours, ramping up to 15 some weeks:
Monday: 90 min swim
Tuesday: 2 hour run
Wednesday: 2.5 hour bike ride
Thursday: 90 min bike ride, 1 hour run
Friday: 4 x 1 mile repetitions at 90% effort with 2 min rest between each
Saturday: 90 min swim, usually open water in a lake + 2 hour bike ride
Sunday: 5-6 hour bike ride, 30 min run
In June I competed in a 135km bike race through the Brecon Beacons, such a fantastic race! It was really tough but I did it and came 5th out of the women. It was the most I had ever riden and I was feeling pretty good afterwards which gave me confidence.

May 2007

May - Went to Rome and Florence with Mum and Dad, again only got in 1 decent run where I ended up in some dodgy part of Rome which was an experience! What a way to keep the pace up running for your life!! Did my 2nd race of the year, another Thames Turbo sprint and slowed down! I wasn't too worried because I was faster on the bike and stayed the same on the run. Finished in 1:22:24.
2 things happened in May, I got together with my boyfriend Sam and I hired a coach.
I came back from holidays and had a complete panic and started to doubt that I could do this. I know that my training wasn't up to scratch in that I was doing too much quantity and not enough quality. I decided to get a coach...enter Rich.

April 2007

April - Worked really hard on my bike because Mum and Dad were coming over from Australia at the end of the month and we would be doing some travelling which means nutrition goes out the window, booze consumption goes up and limited access to my bike and to swimming. Did my first sprint race, Thames Turbo - 426m swim (heated pool), 21km bike (flat course) and 5km run (flat and in a park). My transitions were slow and I hate to say it but I didn't enjoy it that much! Finished in 1:20:55
Had a wicked time in Turkey and went to see the Anzac memorial service which was amazing, really moving. We walked everywhere! I didn't get to do any running.