I remember the day even now, it was a sunny afternoon and I was sitting in the garden with my wife when I made the decision to do it…… an Ironman Triathlon! My wife responded by saying “but you haven’t ever done a triathlon before, are you mad?”. I didn’t let this put me off having had experience running marathons, the odd ultra and plenty of experience on long bike rides. I quickly got to work researching training plans and discovered it was somewhat of a mine field. Purely by chance, I stumbled across Mike at ZigZag Alive and we agreed to meet to chat things through.
Shortly after our meeting a training plan had been agreed and I was focussed and eager to get things underway. Mike made me aware of the huge commitment of 8 months training 6 days per week but this didn’t deter me. That was until I got in the pool a few days later, swam 10 length’s and thought I was about to die! This was clearly my weakest discipline and one that would need to improve quickly, which to be fair it did. Training went well and was injury free with a gradual build up to 6 hour Saturday bike rides, 2 mile swims and 2.5 hour Sunday runs. I was feeling fit, strong and confident as Ironman Bolton approached.
The organisation of the event was first class and I opted to drive to Bolton early Friday morning, therefore giving me plenty of time to get there, register and have a look around the expo. On the Saturday I checked out the transition areas and took a final look at the lake and finish line with every expectation I would be running down the red carpet on Sunday. My nutrition was good and surprisingly I got a half decent night sleep on the Saturday night.
Event day had arrived. My alarm went off at 345am and I tucked into my tried and tested breakfast. Arriving at the start at 5am I was in good time. The buzz was amazing with loud music, 1600 fellow athletes and a similar number of supporters. It was quite windy and the nice calm lake I had seen the day before was now quite choppy. This was a little worrying. A self seeded start meant we entered the lake in an orderly fashion based on your expected swim finish time. The gun sounded and off I went. Almost immediately I discovered my first mistake….. not taking a practice swim the day before. I got tangled in weed and the waves took me by surprise. All of a sudden I was in panic mode with other athletes battering down on me from all angles. Having calmed a little I got into my rhythm and completed the swim in 1h30m, quite a bit slower than expected. Off I trot to transition and hop on the bike still feeling strong and now buzzing. The swim had felt like a nice warm up in the end.
Next problem, the wind was now gusting 35mph and the bike route was exposed being three countryside loops before heading back into town. Having completed the first loop 30 minutes slower than my previous practice loops a few weeks earlier, my nerves were beginning to rise again as fellow riders around me were mooting missing the cut off time of 10 hours 30 minutes. Head down, soldier on and think of the positive mantras. The support was first class and as I entered transition 2 the time keeper approached with an apologetic look on his face, “you are 2 minutes outside the cut off and can’t continue”.
I sat down, made a cup of tea and felt gutted. A fellow athlete who was 39 seconds outside the cut off was screaming at the race director and she was promptly removed to keep the peace. Another athlete who came in moments after me broke down and was crying in the corner. All rather depressing and extremely disappointing. In my mind I had failed, simple as that. My family and friends were supportive and congratulated me on the swim and ride which was deemed an achievement, however, I wasn’t an Ironman. I was a failure and this hit me hard.
Yeah! Finally on the run!
Being that I don’t fail at things likely, as soon as I got home I was looking to discuss the next step with Mike. We talked it all through - try again next year? We decided that as my fitness was peaking, perhaps I should look to undertake another event in the near future. Not needing much encouragement, I got to work online and discovered Outlaw Nottingham which is also an iron length triathlon and a more low key event on an easier and less hilly course. Mike prescribed a mix of recovery and maintaining fitness. Race number 469 was allocated and I was booked to take part.
To cut a long story short, I loved every minute of Outlaw Nottingham and completed the course comfortably inside the cut off times. I would highly recommend this course to any first timers.
It has been a most enjoyable journey with many ups and downs which I couldn’t have done without the support of my family and Mike’s guidance. Never give up and as Ironman say, “anything is possible”.
