I went to BCN with no pressure to perform as I had
encountered a few obstacles along the way in my previous weeks:
-
This year I based my training regime on the middle
distance and every time I raced outside that distance I underperformed.
-
My average training time this year has been of 8h21m
which it´s a bit challenging when it comes to Ironman. Basically, on race day, I
would cover more time and distance than I would have done in a whole week of
training.
-
I had also only received the invitation to race 7
weeks before the event (long story).
-
Unfortunately, a few weeks ago I had a terrible bike
crash that left me without my racing bike and a sore hip.
-
The result was obvious: I got a bit scared of the road
and the longest I´ve ridden in the past 2 months has only been 3 sessions of 90kms
and 1 of 100kms. The rest of my longest sessions have been considerably below
the 60k mark.
Said all the above, I still wanted to get the most out
of this event and I was prepared to go as hard as I could.
During those two months I focused my training on my
running and I maintained my swim levels by swimming twice a week.
Race
Day:
I was pretty nervous. I didn’t understand why as I
really thought the fact of not having any clear competitive target in my mind would
make it easy to deal with.
Stupidly, I mostly worried about things that were
outside my control at that point: Racing with a training bike, not enough distance
on my back, my wheel had a hole on the tyre, there was forecast of winds and
rain for the afternoon, fear of the heat, my hip was sore, etc.
I knew I was very fit but I had real question marks around
completing the full distance at a decent speed due to my recent lack of
training on the bike.
I kept telling myself that I sould definitely try to
go for my PB (10h27m) as my run gains should outweigh the bike loss. (I
expected my swim to be pretty similar to my last IM.)
Swim:
The sea was in a very reasonable condition and my swim
felt quite smooth from the very start.
Most of the time I swam on a straight line and I
didn´t think I wasted much extra energy or space by swimming in zigzags.
My goggles fogged-up after 150mts aprox but I managed
to see enough to keep going. Overall I had to stop 3 times to clear them off
but nothing out of this world. (Note to self: buy a freaking new pair of goggles!).
As I said, I felt pretty comfortable and I was at the
top of the group throughout the swim. Mostly, I swam on my own avoiding the
masses.
I checked my time at the 3rd km and I
realized that I had clocked 47mins. This meant that I was still on target for
my 3.8K swim in about 1hr… quickly I
found out that the last buoy wasn´t really the last one as there was another
one at distance.
I pushed slightly harder but when I came out the water and saw my time (1h09m42s), I got really disappointed.
I didn´t quite understand what had gone wrong as my
pace seemed fine and I strongly believe I had swam on a very straight line
(with the odd small usual turns).
Later on - after the race - everyone pointed out that
their swim had been around 8-10mins slower which made sense as everyone’s GPS
watches would suggest that the actual distance had been increased by a good
500m (4.3k swim).
Usually, I don’t mind this sort of differences as they
are the same for everyone but when you’re racing against a specific time, it
really changes your plans and mindset.
Anyway, the true fact was that I was 8mins behind my
target of Sub 10h27m. Not a pleasant feeling but such is life and this is part
of racing!
Bike:
I rode the first 3kms quite easy (that´s where I had 2
punctures last May) before I got to the main road.
Unfortunately, the little sticker that covers the
valve of my disc covers came off and left a big hole on one of the sides of my
back wheel. This was bad news as it meant the air would get into my back-wheel
not having a way out so it could only increase the drag. Nothing I could do, so
I smiled before I cursed a wee bit and carried on.
As soon as I got out of town I made the decision that
my race really started there.
I couldn´t allow to lose any more time vs. my 2011 IM,
so I aimed to get a similar average (roughly 34.5km/h).
On the first lap I felt extremely comfortable with an
average of 36km/h. My legs could even still throw-in more power to those pedals
but I was aware of the challenge ahead (distance-wise) so I kept holding myself
back.
After 3hrs on the bike the wind kicked in and started
to hit us a bit hard on the side. This meant really bad news for me as not only
I was riding a disc with a hole on the side but also it was gonna hit me at the
distance that I hadn´t really trained for.
More “good news” on the way: around the 120th
km, a massive storm covered the road where we were and I panicked. Bad thoughts
of coming off the bike again crossed my head and I got scared at every turn or
downhill … Not a pleasant feeling but everyone seemed to slow down too so I
guessed the wind was also affecting everyone else and not only Catalan donkeys
like me afraid of water!
My average went down to 35.7, then 35.5 and 35.0… I
lost an entire 1k/h in just 20kms.
I wasn´t happy with it!
As we entered the last lap I got a bit of a boost:
“Yes man! You did it!!, you´re on the very freaking last lap and still feeling
great”.
On the last 15kms we got another big shower and my
average dropped even further to 34.7 but safety and the will to finish with
“fresher legs” came first at all times.
As I got back to Calella town and hit the last 3kms of
the bike course we were told to slow down considerably as the pavements were very
wet (sometimes floated) and full of turns with slippery tiles.
My end average was of 34.6 which was simply 1 minute
and a half faster than my previous IM experience. (5hrs11min).
Run:
I started the run feeling extremely strong and fresh.
I ran the first 3kms below 4m30s but I knew I would
never be able to sustain that pace. I kept telling myself to slow down but it
took me right up to the 8th km to start racing at the desired pace I
had planned for the first half of the marathon.
Every time I drank coke (redbull coke – which has a
disgusting flavor) my stomach cramped very badly.
It took me a few fuel stations to realize that so I stopped
drinking that coke. Unfortunately, I also realized that I couldn´t eat anything
else either as I had the same symptoms straight away.
I decided to only drink water and keep going as I still felt ok (just a bit tired) after all. I kept the pace up to the 16th km but running only on water it´s definitely not enough (especially at this stage of the race) and I quickly paid the price.
I hit the 21km mark severely dehydrated and in
desperate need of calories but my stomach wasn´t tolerating anything but water.
The REAL Ironman race just started!
Macca always says: EMBRACE THE SUCK! - Well, not sure
I embraced it but I surely shared a few long moments with it on the day and I
didn’t like it.
I struggled for practically the rest of the race and I
had to battle for every single meter left on the course.
Fortunately around the 24th km I realized
that for whatever reason my stomach tolerated isotonic drinks and very small
bits of bananas, so I immediately started nibbling those at every fuel station
right up to the end.
After crossing the midpoint of the marathon I tried to
stay positive thinking I was already on my way home but my hip started to give
out.
Sadly, this pain (caused by the accident that I had a few weeks ago) would not
go away for the rest of the race but to be honest it was the lesser of my problems.
My weakest moment of the race came around the 28th
km mark where my body suddenly ran out of fuel and my system started giving me
cruel signs of shutting down.
I made a complete stop and I put my head down leaning forward
while keeping the balance with my hands on both my knees.
No one was around and all I saw was a long straight
road in front of me. I felt very dizzy and I couldn´t find any clear reason why
I should keep running.
Every effort to stay above the pain line seemed wasted
and I thought of sitting down for a moment (which thank God I didn´t). I was
desperate for a sugar boost but my body didn´t tolerate anything so I thought I
had to call it a day.
The finish line was still very far away (14kms to go)
and I knew I had practically run with my eyes closed for the last 8kms (since I
pretty much started the 3rd lap).
I still don´t understand what made me go ahead as I
was on a state of extreme confusion and disorder … but I do remember myself
thinking that I would try to get to the next fuel station (about 2.5kms away) and
drink there.
I strongly believe God was by my side there as I still
can´t figure out what made me put one foot in front of the other, then jog and
a few meters later run again.
It was a hot day for Irish standards probably around
24ºC but thank God it was cloudy most of the time.
I finally made it to the 30km fuel station and I stopped
to drink as much ISO as I could, I also gave the bananas and oranges a shot and
kept running.
Eventually I made it to the last 4th lap
and my body started to rebuild enough energy to keep a pace between 5:30 and
5:45 which at that stage I was delighted with.
Finally, the 41st km sign came into sight
and the last fuel station with it. Normally in all races I never bother
stopping at the last fuel station (specially being so close to the finish line)
but this time I did another full stop and drank 3 full glasses of ISO and ate
an orange.
Obviously, at that point I had no clue that I was so
close to the 10hrs. (I had stopped my watch during the race by mistake and I didn´t
know my overall time.)
I thought I must have been around the 10hrs and 15 to 18mins
so running or stopping at that stage would´ve made no difference. I had already
beaten my previous time and I was very with that!
Then it hit me that my watch also had the time of the
day on it, so I checked it and I realized it was 18:39.
I knew I had started the race at 8:41 on the dot, so
that could only mean that I was 2 minutes short of a 10hrs race! CRAP!!!
I immediately looked up and tried to figure out how
much left there was in the race.
By the position of the 41km mark and the finish line I
must have been around 750mts away from the finish line.
I sprinted at full speed hoping the last sign was
placed wrongly and I ran my last few hundred yards at a 4min pace (the maximum
I could sustain at that moment).
I kept looking at my watch and the finish line every
10secs but unfortunately the sign was placed correctly and the 750mts proved to
be too far for a sub 10h race.
I slowed down in the last 150mts, relaxed and enjoyed the
very final stretch soaking up the amazing finish atmosphere.
I´m very happy to have finished a 10hr (01m05s)
Ironman and I don´t regret having done anything on the day that could´ve
shortened that time by those 65secs.
Few
Facts & figures:
- Air Temperature: 21-23º C- Humidity: 65-83%
- Water Temperature: 20º C.
- Mostly overcastted with a few spread heavy showers and cross winds.
- 11.200 calories burned
- Finishing Position: 123rd out of 1162 AG Athletes.
