Ironman Wales 2013 - Race Report

These posts have become few and far between, but the occasion of completing my second Ironman race was reason enough to crack out my blog.

I raced the inaugural Ironman Wales event in 2011, the race report can be found here

After completing the race in 2011, I wasn't in a rush to do another Iron distance race, but also I hadn't written off doing another one. But my plan was to spectate at the 2012 race, which is exactly what I did.

However what I didn't bank on was how much watching the race would make me want to do the race again. My first action was to discuss the prospect with Angela, as she would have to be as committed to the training as I would. The way I remember the conversation is that she was happy (probably more like accepting) of the prospect of me training for another Ironman race.

Training

I would be using Be Iron Fit training plans by Don Fink again. Mixing up the plans in the following manner

• Swim  - Intermediate
• Bike - Competitive
• Run - Intermediate

With the knowledge of how tough the bike course was, I'd be putting extra effort into the bike training.

My training week pretty much followed the following pattern:

Monday - Off
Tuesday - Swim (am), Run (pm)
Wednesday - Gym (am), Bike (pm)
Thursday - Swim (am), Brick (pm)
Friday - Swim or Gym (am), Run (pm)
Saturday - Long Bike, followed by a brick run
Sunday - Long Run 

My training went pretty much to plan, making sure I hit all of the long runs and rides. My only hiccup was a bought of food poisoning or a stomach virus which wrote off one weekend; there were also some follow on complications writing off the following weekend (if you need further information I can share, but there will not be pictures).

I did my utmost to try to make the training interfere with family life, which is obviously quite difficult. But, I did the usual work arounds of running or riding back from family trips.

However, there was one sticking point that was very hard to work around. At the end of May I was made redundant. Thankfully I found work straight away but the downside was a start time of 7:30, which meant no more early morning sessions (coz they'd have to be REALLY early).

My revised training week looked something like this

Monday - Swim
Tuesday - Run
Wednesday - Bike
Thursday - Brick
Friday - Swim and Run
Saturday - Long Bike, followed by a brick run
Sunday - Long Run 

The major difference being that I no longer benefited from a rest day.

Tying to fit the training in around a hectic family life is tough, but thanks to the tremendous support from Ang, I managed to get most of the sessions ticked off.

Race weekend

My new job meant that I had to work on the Friday, I was hoping to be able to get out of the office as soon as possible, however this didn't happen and I had to do a full day. Meaning I wouldn't be able to make the race briefing or register until Saturday. As happenchance would have it we bumped (not literally) into my Ironbuddy Jason and his splendid family on the way to Tenby. So we continued the journey in a, somewhat truncated, convoy.

Saturday, was going to be a busy day. Up and out nice and early to register and pick up my race pack. Then back to the caravan to prep my bike and to populate my transition bags. It's at this point I start to get anxious about making sure I've got everything set up right. I ticked off what was needed and made my way to transition.

As is now becoming a bit of a tradition, the boys did Ironkids on Saturday afternoon, I’m pretty sure they would let me out of Tenby alive if they weren’t signed up. And as usual they thoroughly enjoyed it, once they’d got their breath back.

Ready to race

A quick (expensive) stroll around the expo and then off to the race briefing. I was surprised how many athletes were there as either they’d missed yesterday’s briefing or wanted to hear it all again. Having raced here in 2011 there wasn’t much new to learn, but Paul Kaye (the voice of Ironman) did confirm something I already knew, this is one of the toughest, if not THE TOUGHEST, Ironman race on the circuit.

Back to the caravan for my usual pre-race meal of chicken and asparagus pasta bake. With nothing else to do it was time to set my alarm for stupid o’clock and get off to bed. I was woken several times, during the night, by the rain which was coming down in biblical proportions.

Race day

Stupid o’clock comes around and I’m stirring before the alarm goes off. Time to get some porridge and coffee down me. Ang gets up with me too, but she’s not going to watch me start the race she’s getting up to put a ticket on the car which has been parked in the town overnight. Jason and his ever supportive Ironwife, Ange (yeah I know it’s confusing for us too) come and pick us up to take us to transition.

Despite the atrocious overnight rain, the weather gods appear to be on our side, it is a beautifully still, mild, dry morning. After setting my bike up with the requisite nutrition, we hang around for the procession to North Beach. However, the timings for this were woefully wrong and this meant there was very little time to get in the sea to acclimatise and to warm up my wetsuit (you know what I mean).

For an event that has so many entrants, at this point when you’re looking out to the sea, thinking about the challenges ahead, this is a very solitary sport. This is it now, nobody is going to help you, you’re on your own.

A rousing rendition of the Welsh national anthem is played across the PA, just to make sure that nobody in Tenby was still sleeping and then… BOOM! We’re off!

Swim

One of the least controllable aspects of triathlon is the condition of the open water swim. Thankfully, the sea appeared to behaving itself and was reasonably flat. I only noticed any significant swell at the first turn buoy, which is the most exposed point of the course.

And they're off

It took me a while to settle into my swim as my goggles were steaming up and the low morning sun meant it was very difficult to sight. So for the first 20 minutes or so I just followed feet, and hoped that they were going in the right direction. It seemed to take and age to get to the first turn buoy, I can only assume that we were battling with some currents.

The first loop of the swim is pretty uneventful and I’m out of the water in a time of… I check my watch and it gives me a time of 0:00. Bugger! I’m sure that I started my watch and checked that I had started it. Never mind I can do a bit of addition to work out my race time for the rest of the day.

Back in the water for a second uneventful loop. I felt comfortable in the water and the training I had done meant that I didn’t suffer with any fatigue. I kept my effort levels in check and made sure I was physically in a good place for the rest of the day

I’m out of the water in a time of 1:26:22, (giving me a pace of 2:16/100m) initially I was disappointed with this time. But I have it on good authority that the swim was long (over 4km), which would give me a more acceptable pace of 2:08.

Swim done

Transition 1

Ironman Wales is renown for having the longest transition in the Ironman circuit. After running up the beach, you have to navigate yourself up a very steep ramp, find your shoes, and run through the town to transition. I decided that I would take my wetsuit off before the run into transition.

Come On!

With over 1,400 people racing the fact that I sit down next to Wayne, the guy I swim with in the mornings is a hell of a coincidence. And knowing he’s a bit faster swimmer than me and he’s only just ahead of me gives me confidence that my swim wasn’t that bad after all. There’s never going to be any records broken here, so I make sure that I’m well set up for the ride ahead.

It’s very warm in the tent, which leads me to decide that compression top with a trisuit on top will be adequate clothing for the ride. T1 time was 15:47

Bike

The bike segment of Ironman Wales quite magnificent; it is a testing ride, through some quite breath-taking scenery.

I have warned all that care to listen that this ride is going to sap you. If you’re not going uphill, you’re going downhill – and if you’re doing neither of these you’re going round a bend. There is very little opportunity to get yourself settled. Having said that the first segment out to Angle is fairly straightforward. I was ticking along at a reasonable pace (for me), happy that the infamous Pembrokeshire winds were behaving themselves.

The first testing climb of the day is Freshwater West – after a descent to the bay and riding through the sand dunes, this climb certainly gets the heart rate up. I’m pleased to say that I smashed it up this climb leaving several riders in my wake.

In your face Freshwater West

One thing I noticed during this part of the ride was the lack of bike handling skills by lots of riders. The roads were still quite wet, with quite a bit of detritus, from the overnight rain. I lost count of the number of riders I saw on the side of the road.

Riding back into Pembroke I was pleased to see that the roads were finally drying out, and thought to myself that it was going to be a good day. However I looked to the west and saw a horrible black cloud in the middle distance. Now this cloud looked like something you see in the movies, it’s the sort of cloud that is full of evil. I just hoped that this weather front was travelling in a north westerly direction and that we would avoid it.

As I approached The Ridgeway I received my answer, big, cold, heavy drops of rain started to fall. Thankfully it was just a smattering of drops <today is going to be a good day>. Next thing the skies opened it was hammering down, the rain was bouncing off the road. I was soaked through in an instant and started to feel cold.

At this point I was on the technical decent off The Ridgeway and my back brake took a hell of a beating. Despite my holier than thou attitude to the guys with their shit bike handling, I managed to overshoot one corner, I was glad that I kept my bike upright. Even more of a bonus, I didn’t hit the car coming straight towards me.

After about 30 minutes the rain did stop and I managed to start getting my body temperature up. Helped by  the fact that I was now in the section with the hateful climbs, first off the list was Narbeth with the usual fantastic support that is waiting for you when you get to the town.

Next up was Wiseman’s Bridge, since Ironman Wales has been running it has become infamous, the climb can’t be more than ½ mile long but at 16% it is a proper tester. I’m pretty sure I invented some new swear words during the climb.

No sooner are you up and over and you’re into Saundersfoot with another of the marquee climbs, St Bride’s. This is a great climb as the supporters are on the road in your face, very reminiscent of the climbs in the Tour de France.

70 miles done

And that is the first loop done. It takes a special kind of sadist to make you do that second loop and just as a unique masochist to bloody do it. But, that’s what makes this race so damn special.

I was very pleased that, as opposed to last time, I didn’t get lapped on the bike. It seems that my hard work on the bike has paid off somewhat

I managed to catch a glimpse of my mum as I went through Tenby, but didn’t see anyone else from my support crew (which was a bit disappointing). The Celtic Tri crew had set up just outside Kiln Park and I assume I hurled some friendly abuse as I went past.

The toll of the ride really starts to pinch on the second loop, certainly not helped by the fact that the wind was picking up a bit.

One of the (many) great things about this race is the support of the locals. Most of which don’t have any links to triathlon, apart from the fact that this great big stupid race comes through their town or village once a year. I am deeply indebted to these guys popping up in the most unusual places, to help us through our day. I’m not so sure the smell of their barbeques helps though.

40 miles later including Narbeth, Wiseman’s and St Brides – and it’s all done in a time of 7:12:19.

Transition 2

I was very buoyant in transition, talking to Lucy from the gym (who was helping out in transition), how I was going to smash out a 4 hour marathon to get under 13 hours.

In, bike racked, helmet off, shoes off, shoes on, compression top off – get out all done in 5:20

Run

As difficult as the bike ride is, the hidden kicker for this race is the run, the climb up to New Hedges, 4 times, can and will break you.

The first emotion you get on the run is band envy, I’m pretty sure you expel far too much energy just checking out how many bands people have. The second emotion that hits you almost straight away is dread, as you look at the pain the guys that have way more bands are you are in. These guys are far better athletes than you, they are your future, you will feel this pain.

I start the run full of optimism and I am running at a reasonable pace, but keeping myself in check not to overcook it.  If I can run at a average km pace of 5:45 for the marathon then I’ll break my target of 13 hours. I intend to run at 5:30/kms on the flat and downhill and 6:00/kms on the climbs. This is a sensible plan and is more than achievable.

Digging in on lap one

I made good progress on the first lap and was ticking off places very nicely. I can’t express the excitement I was feeling as I approached the Five Arches. We supported here last year and created a cacophony of noise. I turn the corner and shout “Come on Five Arches, make some noise!” and to be fair they didn’t disappoint. After 10 hours of racing it was great to see friendly faces and to interact with my friends and family.

High 5s for Tommy Harris

I also ran well on the second lap, running alongside my Twitter buddy John for a while, until he let me go on my way as he couldn’t keep up the pace. Everything was good, hurting, but ticking along nicely.

But, once again, the third lap just took everything out of me. My knees were in a lot of pain and my quads were seizing. As was the situation in 2011, from hereon in, I was in survival mode. My mantra was to put one foot in front of the other and get this damn race finished.

Turning the corner into the fourth lap, knowing I only had 10km to go, gave me enough of a boost to kick on as the end was almost in sight.  However, my legs weren’t completely listening to my train of thought and had got to the point where I couldn’t stop at the feed stations as my I couldn’t get going again afterwards. Up to New Hedges for the fourth and final time, I take that final red band with an immense amount of joy and exhilaration.

All I need to do now, is get down the hill one more time. As I run down the hill I look at the guys coming the other way with one or two bands and feel their pain as a long night was ahead of them.

As I get to Tenby I'm barely moving more than a shuffle, and I'm losing ground to the other four-banders. Running through the walled town for the last time, John passes me with less than 1km to go. But at last, it's no right turn for me, it’s time for me to hang a left and run along the Espenalde.

High fives along the finishing chute so much noise from the fantastic support. I’m there I’ve done it, with a run time of 4:51:18.

This gives me a race time of 13:51:06, unfortunately not within my (arbitrary) target time of 13 hours, but still 40 minutes quicker than my 2011 time. My position was 777^th out of 1,430 starters and 106^th out of 179 in my age group. To have finished in the top half of the age group I would have need to have been 15 minutes quicker (so, close enough).

Keeping to my promise, after the race I went to the Five Arches for a pink pint. I also felt the need for a sweaty burger, but our attempts to get one of these failed.

As difficult as racing an Ironman race is, the training to get you to the start line takes an immense amount of dedication and sacrifice. Not just from the athlete but those around you too. I could not have done this race without the fantastic support of my Ironwidow, Angela. She has been a rock, coping with my bad moods, training commitments and generally disappearing for most of the weekend. To which I am eternally grateful to her.

So, what next? 

I tell you what it won’t be, it won’t be Ironman Wales. This race is brutal and the run has broken me both times. As it stands, I’m not making any plans to race long distance. But never say never, if (and that’s a very big if) I race long again, it’ll be somewhere warm and flat.

Reflecting on the race, it struck me that I’ve never run a stand-alone marathon. So that box needs to be ticked in 2014, and then we’ll see where we go from there….

The Road to Tenby - mk II

It seems inevitable that I will be racing at Ironman Wales for the second time this September. I've not quite made the financial commitment, but I've certainly made the emotional commitment.

I've got unfinished business in Pembroke, as I had a slight hamstring tear the last time I did this race. This obviously had a detrimental effect on my bike time.

Once again I'll be using the Fink book, Be Iron Fit. But this time I'll be going with the intermediate plan for swimming and running and the competitive plan for the bike.

If I took nothing else from the last time I raced in Pembrokeshire, is that the bike is brutal and the better you are on the bike, the more you'll have left for that tough hilly run. This means I'll be focusing on getting my bike legs up to speed.

So, lets see what the next 30 weeks has in store, one thing is for certain the weather is going to get better.

Ironman Wales - at long last

Put the kettle on, make yourself a cuppa and grab some biscuits this is gonna be a long one

Preamble

I decided in 2010 that I would like to do an Ironman race and looked into doing Ironman Switzerland, but a combination of cost and date meant that I decided that it wasn’t for me. I didn’t like the sound of doing Bolton, so I decided that my Ironman adventure would have to wait a couple of years as I was insistent that as I would probably only do one Ironman distance race that I wanted to do an Ironman branded race.

I came back from holiday in September 2009 to be told that there was going to be an Ironman race in Tenby the following year. Well, my Welshness came to the fore, and I decided it had to be done. I got agreement from Ang that she would support the obscene amounts of training I’d have to do and whipped out my credit card.

I followed the Fink intermediate plan, but found it difficult to hit all of the training sessions in the peak phase due to family commitments or injuries. On the whole my training went well and I made sure I got the key sessions of long bike and run done every week. I did the 70 mile loop on the Long Course Weekend and got round in 4:35, which gave me an idea of what my bike split should be.

Friday/Saturday

Got to Tenby at about 11:30 on Friday, and was pleased to be told that we could go to our caravan straight away (as opposed to the quoted time of 2pm). Unpacked the car and strolled off to registration, this took about 30 minutes from Kiln Park.

Found the registration to be well organised, had the usual bit of banter with the volunteer about my famous namesake and walked off with my A3 sheet of stickers, poster and rucksack.

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The boys had decorated the caravan

Race briefing was informative and there was plenty of talk about the swim and the forecasted weather conditions. I didn’t fancy hanging about for the pasta party, so I walked back to the caravan. However, once back at the caravan, I found I just couldn't get settled; so decided the best thing to do was to walk back to the pasta party and spend some time with some of the Celtic Tri guys.

Saturday morning was a mix of settling my bike up, preparing my transition bags and watching the England rugby game. I decided to give the organised swim a miss, as I felt it would serve no benefit.

When I took my bike into transition I found out that as mentioned in the briefing the swim had been moved to North Beach, which would involve a 1,000m run to transition. However, this now meant that I would need an additional pair of shoes. Due to a lack of foresight, these would have to be a pair of fashion Adidas classics.

Saturday was our wedding anniversary, so Angela and I decided we’d have some time together and go for a meal whilst the grandparents looked after the boys. I was recommended a restaurant which was great. I had decided to eat light and have chicken whilst drinking soft drinks and Ang had steak and lager (something wrong with this picture), we ate nice and early so we were back in the caravan and I was in bed by 9:30, I think I fell asleep at about 11ish.

Race Day

I woke at 4:30 and managed to get half a bowl of porridge and a cup of coffee down me, and left for transition at about 5:15.

Once I was at transition that I realised that my preparation was not quite as planned as I thought; as I’d forgotten a pre-race drink and I wasn’t really sure how to get to North Beach. But Tenby isn't that big so I just followed the crowd and was soon at the beach.

From above the water didn’t look too bad, but once I was at sea level you could see that it was a little bit more than rolling. Had a quick warm up and found the water temperature to be quite pleasant.

I had a chat to some fella with a camera, and found out later on he was from ITV Wales News

As we were waiting in the starting pen the sun broke through the clouds and the view was spectacular. Then they played the Welsh national anthem, which of course I sang. Then BANG! We were off

Swim

Yes, I ran along the beach. That was the direction the people around me were going, in fact I didn’t see the ones that went straight in. The swell was certainly challenging and once passed the first buoy you were really exposed to the might of the sea, with some severe rising and falling. Once passed the second buoy, it settled down a hell of a lot. And by the time you were heading back to the beach there was plenty of benefit from the current heading to shore.

The second loop went pretty much as the first (all be it with less running) I did however seem to go a little off course after the first buoy.

Swim Time: 1 hour 10minutes 35 seconds

T1

Shit! I couldn’t get my wetsuit off, the zip was stuck, and try as I might I could not get it undone. So I employed the help of a couple of marshals to help me, even they had difficulty and ultimately I had to have it ripped off.

As I was running through the streets I noticed that my heart rate monitor felt loose, so I undid my top to connect it back together, only to find out the connector was damaged and would not stay in place. This meant that was going to have to race on feel as opposed to heart rate zone.

To add to my zip agony, when I zipped up my cycle top, the zip unravelled from the bottom, with a little coaxing and brute force I got it in place.

T1 Time: 18 minutes 42 seconds

Bike

With the reported 2,400m of climbing this was always going to be a tough day, but with the added problem of high winds produced by Hurricane Katia this was going to be very tough indeed. This became apparent when the relatively easy first section was into a constant headwind.

After about 30 minutes on the bike I started to feel a sharp pain behind my knee, and whilst I was expecting the usual dull ache of muscle fatigue this was something I'd not encountered before (I found out a couple of days later that this was a slight hamstring tear).

I'm glad I had previously ridden the route in the long course weekend, as it meant that there were no surprises. But I suppose on the other hand the downside is I knew what was coming up. I am definitely not a climber and the climbs at Freshwater West, Narbeth, Wiseman's Bridge and Saundersfoot are testers to say the least.

My nutritional plan was to use the products supplied by the race, which meant Gatorade and Power Bar gels. To ensure that my body would be able to digest the carbs I used Gatorade and Power Gel bars exclusively during my training. I found that I liked the taste of both and they didn't give me any gastric problems. This meant that I could go light on nutrition and pick them up at the various feed stations.

The support at the various towns and villages on the route was superb. Particular points that stand out for me were Narbeth (where I found out Wales had lost in the rugby by 1 point), Saundersfoot and of course Tenby itself.

The leaders passed me on the hill out of Saundersfoot, and felt envious of the lucky buggers as they didn't have to do it all again.

I completed the first loop in about 4 hours and 45 minutes, which was a little slow than on the Long Course Weekend, but with the wind this was to be expected. I'd arranged for my support crew to be outside Kiln Park, and I cannot begin to express the wave of emotion I felt at seeing them. But no sooner had I seen them then I was off again.

It was at this point that the pain behind my knee was becoming more severe and it had now come to the point where I could not get aero. This wasn't really and issue as there aren't that many opportunities on the final loop. It wasn't much later that I couldn't get to the drops without being in quite a bit of pain.

The problem with being on the bike for such a long time, is that you get inside your own head. Unfortunately I was now of the opinion that despite spending all of this time and effort getting to where I was, I had convinced myself that I was not going to be able to run.

My cycling efficiency was really poor now, and I was coasting as often as I could and just trying to get back to Tenby in one piece. I made the decision before I got to Wiseman's Bridge that I would have to push my bike up the hill. Despite the mental anguish that I had not been able to ride the whole route, I was buoyed by the fact that walking was causing absolutely no pain whatsoever (perhaps I would be able to run after all).

Seeing the crowds at Tenby, gave me the mental (and physical) strength to power up the short climb to the town. I just had to find out if I could run

Bike Time: 8 hours 2 minutes 21 seconds

T2

I had packed enough kit in my transition bag for me to make various decisions regarding the weather. But this now left me with having to make a decision on what I'd take. In the end I left my jacket and long sleeve top in transition and went out in just my tri top and shorts but with a cap to protect me from the sun and/or rain

T2 Time: 8 minutes 16 seconds

Run

Well here we go, am I able to run? And the answer is, well, yes. All be it the sort of running you can do after being on the bike for over 8 hours, but it was definitely a run; not a walk and not a shuffle.

The great thing about the run in Ironman Wales is that it's four loops of about 10km, and lets be honest after all the training that been done a 10km is a bit of a breeze. So that is how I mentally dealt with the run, just a series of 10km runs

Now not having run a marathon previously, this was venturing into the unknown. Especially as I'd just ridden 112 tough, windy miles with a torn hamstring.

My nutrition strategy was to grab a Coke and some Ritz biscuits at each feed station, and this worked really well for me and would do this again. Seeing my support team and club mates on a regular basis kept my spirits high.

The first two loops was going to plan and I was completing each loop bang on to my planned time of 60 minutes. However the 3rd loop took the running out of my legs and I was starting to shuffle along and this was the point when I had to be mentally strong and keep on pushing.

On completing the 3rd loop, I punched the air in elation as I collected my band. I knew that I had only 10km to go and I was going to complete this damn race. Whilst the fourth loop was mentally a relief, physically it was extremely hard. This was the only loop where I had to walk some of the hillier segments (apart from the bandstand section, coz that was just mental)

However once I'd reached the turn around point for the last time, I knew it was just a matter of 4km of downhill running. By this point the weather had now become quite awful, and my thanks go out to all the spectators who endured this on our behalf.

I was beaming ear to ear at the band collection point where I was turning left towards the Esplanade as opposed to doing another lap. But this was short lived when I hit the seafront and the wind almost pushed me backwards.

As I turned the corner I could see the finish gantry; man alive! I'd done it, I'd only gone and fucking done it. I high fived my two boys as I ran through the chute and crossed the line.

Richard Harris, you are an Ironman!

Run Time: 4 hours 49 minutes 11 seconds

Total Race Time: 14 hours 29 minutes 6 seconds

Post Race

So I gave my kisses and hugs to those who deserved (and wanted them). My first problem was actually trying to get my tracksuit trousers on, I was just physically unable to sit, bend and get my legs in. Eventually I prevailed

The next problem was getting my bike and kit down the hill to the caravan park in gale force winds, this was taken care of with a mixture of hobbling and moaning.

So at the end of a very long day, I was grateful for the supporters that lined the streets. But special thanks must go to the people who were there to support me. So a big thank you goes to my mum, Dave and Denise, Steve, Deb & Elijah, Mark & Rhian, John and all the guys from Celtic Tri. Plus a special thanks to my boys Thomas & James. But most of all, my heartfelt thanks goes to my wife Angela, without her support I wouldn't have got to the start line let alone the finish.

So what next?

This year I will be going back to Tenby, but I'll be on the other side of the barriers, supporting for all I'm worth, preferably with plenty of liquid refreshment. Following that I may complete my mid-life crisis and getting my Ironman tattoo done.

Was it worth it?

Hell, yes!

Will I do it again?

....mmmm maybe