1st place at Ironman UK 2010 - I'm an Ironman winner!

 Once we worked out my season plans earlier in the year after I decided that I would really focus on three UK events, with Bolton being the final hit out after the Kent TriGrandPrix and UK Ironman 70.3 - I made it 3 from 3 on Sunday and that is something that brings a lot of satisfaction indeed.

 So … to the race. I was glad that race w/e finally rolled around and we could get in the car on Friday morning. I had pretty much reached my limit in terms of the training/tapering/thinking here in Stirling and simply wanted to get on with it all. I’m always better once I get into race mode, with things to do and focus on.

Ali and I arrived on Friday afternoon, we found the swim venue and T1, I got registered and then we collected Mum and Abbie (little sister) from the train station. We negotiated Bolton traffic in the pouring rain, got lost, asked directions from locals(?) who didn’t speak English too well before finally finding the sanctuary that is Pizza Express!

Saturday consisted of racking the bike early in the morning, which is not something I usually do, but given the logistics of the venues, it made sense to get it out of the way early. We then got a quick swim in the lake, which is something I like to do more and more now pre race, just to get a feel for the water (and how murky: rather! and cold it is: not too bad). Blue 70 came down to take some pictures too, which was good fun and nice to catch up. A quick jog, sneaky stolen breaky from the race hotel!, an interview with the Channel 4 crew and a recce of the bike course loop and dropping off my gear bag in T2 took up the rest of the day really … leaving, yup you guessed it, time for dinner at Pizza Express!

I swear that I didn’t sleep very much the night before the race, but I think thats always the way when you have to get up at 2.45am! I did my best to force more Special K, Crunchy nut and coffee down than I might normally manage, was glad to see Blair and Kerry, who arrived late the night before and we left at just after 4am to swing by and pick up Gordo and fan no.1 Matty on the way to race start. Some cold sweats started to kick in if I am honest … “did I really not sleep a wink last night?, did I bring spare tires/tubes/pump” etc etc … all last minute worries that seem to flood my mind for a minute or two, but then fade away thankfully as quickly as they appeared.

All that being said race start loomed, but I felt really relaxed getting my wetsuit on. I hung out with everyone over in a quite spot we found away from the crowds and other athletes, and that helped me a lot. I got in to the water with just a few minutes to spare as we started about 200m from the edge and I didn’t want to be treading water for too long and risk getting cold out there.  The horn went (I don’t remember hearing a national anthem a la Wimbleball) and my swim went fine; I pretty much led from the get go, which I like to do, although I realise I am giving my competitors an all too easy draft behind for 40 odd minutes … other than a slightly tight hip flexor during the last 10minutes I quite enjoyed the swim and got out feeling pretty good and not as tired as I expected.

T1 flew by and I remember deciding to leave my arm warmers in the gear bag (I soon wondered if that was a bad idea on the bike) … but Stephen was charging out fast and I wanted catch him. We headed out on the bike together, Axel joined us after 10K or so and I suddenly didn’t feel too great. The legs were doing nothing special and it looked as if there was a lot of rain about to fall! (Wishing I had taken the arm warmers at this starge) After probably an hour of riding I had begun to feel a litte more confident in my riding (I had also warmed up and the rain wasnt falling), so I made one big concerted effort to get out in front solo. I didn’t want to get sucked into riding at the tempo set by the other guys, leading to a running race, so thankfully I got a good gap really quickly. The second half of the bike loop (which we completed 3 times) was twisty and essentially one lane after another. Perfect for getting ‘out of sight, out of mind’ … this I did and built up a 7 minute advantage going into the run. Nutrition was something I was struggling with at times – just the constant nagging in the back of my mind to keep eating, keep drinking, keep eating, especially after feeling a bit too hungry aroung halfway!

midway through the marathon

I would say I was really looking forward to getting the run, mostly as I was sick to the back teeth of being on the bike (and I love my Trek Speed Concept!). T2 was nice as I was able to see mum and abbie cheering and get some good useful reminders from Ali and Gordo as I headed off for my ‘long Wednesday run’ – this was how I was going to rationalise it in order to get through the race. It worked. For an hour I ran well, enjoying the pace my watch was giving me and feeling happy I was in good shape. Blair popped up periodically on his bike along the course giving me confirmation that the gap wasn’t really changing and reminding me that they were hurting just the same. Other than struggling during the headwind section from 25 to 32ks, I kept going pretty consistently. Sure I had lows but I did my best to ’suck it up’ and as the finish started to approach the sensation that I was going to win finally hit home – I wasn’t going to be caught and I was going to be an Ironman Champion! The final mile or so was a strange mix of emotions - happy, teary, exhausted all at once. It’s a strange beast the Ironman I can safely confirm that.

Crossing the line was such a good feeling, I promise that. I wanted to be able to really enjoy the finish – as after all you can only win your first Ironman once! As I have said, lots of and lots of hard work has gone into this result – and I can happily say I am very proud of myself.  However I absolutely couldn’t have done it without the help of ‘my team’ - Ali, Gordo, Blair especially (you all drive me on so much more than I can explain at times) but to see mum there too was lovely (especially when I found out afterwards that she, abbie and matty almost missed the finish due to the logistics of getting there without a bike or being able to run into town centre from 5 miles out!) … having them all there at the finish to share in the experience meant so much and I am still thinking fondly of it all today.

Next stop Kona! Yeeha

Gav and I pre race - we would've had a good tussle I am sure

The weekend away was a success and I am of course very pleased to have a win under my belt. It would’ve been better to have had a race with Gavin, as I think we certainly both hoped was going to happen. – Not to detract from Bryan and James who were chasing me, and chasing me hard, but Gav and I were at the front of the race and around 90secs in front of the rest of the race in the early stages of the bike.  When his front tyre exploded at 5K I was left with nothing but my shadow for company.

I continued to ride my Felt DA as quickly as I could, and due to the out and back design of the course I was able to keep an eye on those behind. Onto the run I had a time split given to me at around 2 minutes. Given the way my running has been going over the last few months I am still in no way confident with my form and I figured I was going to need most, if not all of those one hundred and twenty-odd seconds to fend off the guys hot-tailing it behind. Thankfully I felt reasonably strong throughout the 2 lap affair (and not like someone wearing lead-lined boots as in my previous runs off the bike recently in the US) and crossed the line with just over a minute of my buffer remaining.

We spent the remainder of the weekend in the company of Bobby Behan, who is a good good friend of Gav’s – I first met Bobby whilst I was staying in Stellenbosch during the winter, which is where Boddy now lives, but he is very much Irish. Indeed his family live less than an hour drive from Athy, and so after the race we packed up all our gear into his car and drove back to stay with him last night.

We had a barrel of laughs (or rather I certainly did listening to all the ‘craic’) over a nice meal and a few ciders, which was a great way to finish off the day.

However, without question the best part of staying at Bobbys was the family dog, Ali. As Gavin very aptly described him; “just think of a small black bear”. Brilliant! - Here he is wondering what on earth is happening whilst we packed up our bikes this morning.

Prowling around and deciding what all the fuss was about……

….. and deciding that my bike bag was a good place to hang out!!

Finally – he and Gav doing making their ode to the Specialized brand in the Irish sunshine (Gav suggests I am the ‘brownest man in Scotland’, so is it fair for me to suggest he is in the running for the ‘whitest man in Ireland’ award?):

Full results for the TriAthy event can be found here.

The race was a superb event; with somewhere in the region of 2500 entrants over the course of the day, (in both the Sprint and Olympic distance races) with closed roads on the bike and a stunning run along the banks of the river, and in a town where it seems almost everyone gets involved. Many thanks go to Brian Crinion and his team for taking such good care of me, and of course for ensuring that their race is going from strength to strength. - Racing in Ireland is something I would unquestionably advocate - the enthusiasm and atmosphere are fantastic!

Lovely weather”

More info will follow…

I was looking forward to moving another step towards full fitness, and had hoped to get myself a top 10 or better, which would’ve been a respectable placing given the field quality. My leg hasn’t bothered me since before Wildflower, it’s fine now, BUT, typically I have started to have some soreness in my foot of the same leg this week. I told myself if it was at all painful during the run I would pull the pin and stop, as I am simply not willing to dig another hole. So that’s what happened – the foot twinged and I dropped out after the first of 3 run loops whilst in that top ten I was hoping for.

Not a happy bunny.

The view out the rear window as we left...

My race didn’t really go fantastically at any point during the day either to tell the truth. The swim was very much non wetsuit in a warm lake, and I have come to realise that I do rather depend on my wetsuit in order to swim fast. Otherwise I am just a middle packer it seems - I lost the feet of the lead guys mid way through and ended up 8th or something, but was quite happy as I knew Luke Bell was running out with me, and after the long run into transition I could see that it was less than a minute to the leaders, as they were running out as we ran in (it was a LONG run)… Luke is a strong rider and I reckoned we could bridge the gap quick enough.

Yeah, well, Luke did, I didn’t.  By ten miles I was 4th and in a no-mans-land but could see at the turn around a huge group forming behind. I just wasn’t ever getting ‘on top’ of my gears today and I knew that the group would catch me sooner of later.

They did at about 30 miles.

It was hot today. Hot and humid. The run course was nice though – a mixture of hard packed grass and road; I liked it, pity I only did the one loop. Never mind, I just hope that I haven’t developed anything sinister inside of my foot …. I have had sore spots on my feet before, so I hope this goes away just the same. I’ll be back in Stirling on Wednesday morning, so I hope to be in physiofocus that afternoon! Best get on the ‘dog and bone’ tomorrow morning to get an appointment.

I’m really pleased for Toby though – he hung tough and got round (despite having the odd thought about stopping too!) in order to pick up a slot for Clearwater in November, which was his whole aim for his month in America. Well done to everyone else on our new and expanding team who raced this w/e. Good work guys.

The swim was VERY choppy – in fact so choppy that the entire age group swim was cancelled with the race becoming a straight draft fest, i mean bike run. Poor folks, I mean having to do a duathlon?!

I got smashed around (i am making a habit of that lately unfortunately) and ended up in a big group of guys who were at least a minute down on the leaders by the time we got into T1.

Onto the bike and I got going really well to begin with. By 10 miles I had started to drop off that pace and ended up watching Terenzo ride off (he did end up with the fastest bike split however) and I settled with a few others til around the 18 mile mark, when well, I did a stupid thing – I cut the course. Its difficult to explain but essentially I got confused as to exactly WHERE I was supposed to do a dead turn. I did it too soon! The race ref was right there on his motorbike ready to dish out a red card! Thankfully I did the right thing and re-did the turn! Idiot.

The run was fine, in that it was pain free. I got passed by a few guys and ended up outside the top 10… but I am confident I am finally, after 9 frustrating – and expensive - weeks of physio getting back to where i need to be.

Next stop Wildflower  – looking forward to it!

the 'Brit's' chat - Rich Allen, myself and Toby Jameson

So the racing has begun – 2009 is well under way and I’m delighted to have kicked it off with a 2nd place on Sunday in Buffalo City, East London. I started to get a little ahead of myself around 30k on the bike – got a tad excited shall I say, as I reckoned I could win it right there and then. I was riding super well, I thought I was flying, I had jumped away from the 2 others I was with and all I had in front was the lead car/clock. I should know better by now shoudn’t I? However 70.3 miles is a long way and it’s obviously not over till it’s over.

I had a really good fun lead up to the event; training had finished up nicely here in Stellenbosch early last week and then I just had a couple easy days Wed/Thursday coupled with travel to give the legs a little reprieve. Myself and Blair travelled up with Tim Don and his folks, who are in Africa for a holiday just now, so we had a nice and relaxed time leading into race day. Tim was in excitable spirits in anticipation of his debut half ironman, and that easy going atmosphere made the time fly by. We had a good laugh and were pretty much horizontal in terms of our relaxed state I thought.

Back to old school for the sunnies!

We had a beach start and there were a couple of rolling waves to porpoise through to get into our strokes. I didn’t really mind about leading the swim on this occasion, indeed we were pretty sure one of the three Storm brothers would take up that position, and by half way Anton Storm had pushed on a few meters in front of me.

We had a bit of a choppy swim, but at least it was a lot more like the appropiate distance this year, and not closer to 1500m! As we got to the beach we stopped to wait a few seconds to ensre we caught the one wave breaking in – another Storm brother (Brad) caught it much better than me, and I ran up under the showers in 3rd. I was however aware of a sizeable pack forming behind, and it actually included all of the guys gunning for top positions – something like 8 or so.

I had a pretty smooth transition and was out in the lead on the bike by 3ks. Blair had run out onto the bike course to give us a time check on Raynard – we reckoned we could get up to 90secs relative to previous swims against him. However Blair was shaking his head after receiving a call from Tims dad at T1, telling me it was less than 30secs; ‘get ready for the train to come by’ he told me! Which is just what I did.

From 10 to 30k Raynard really pushed the pace, especially on the ups. We were riding as a 3 along with Brad Storm. Just shy of the turn point we were joined by the German, Bachor. ‘Mike the Mike’, who does the commentry at many many 70.3 and Ironman events round the world (and is also German) had tipped me to watch out for Konstantine Bachor, since he was apparently in great bike shape. I did my homework anyway, and found that he had jumped off the bike at the Roth Ironman last year in 3rd spot; which in simple terms means he can ride a bike!!

We had a solid headwind on the way out (and up) to the turn – and it took me 1hour 19mins. The return leg took approximately 62mins.- We were hooking! I must say I was feeling great. I am not much of a power rider; I struggle with big gear work in training (as Darren always dispaired at) but on Sunday I was riding the 53*11 gear (my biggest) with relative ease.

Between me and Konstantine we surged and pushed Raynard, sensing he was hurting. At times he seemed to drop quite far off the pace, but always managing to claw his way back to contact. Then, being the classy athlete that he is, just when we ourselves we starting to suffer, during the last 5-8ks into town, BANG! He dropped the hammer on the last ramp into East London. And as he powered past I saw his chain was still in the big blade,I thought ‘oh dear’. I had already dropped into the small ring in anticipation of the looming hill! And just like that he has 45 seconds into transition – a healthty buffer.

just after I'd run into 2nd plce

Once onto the promenade and into my stride I realised the sun was HOT, and I didn’t feel so fantastic anymore…. I was in 3rd, the German was literally a surge away – something like 100m and Raynard that bit further again. But they might as well have been a mile up the road. It took me till 12ks to get going – much to the disgust of Blair on the sidelines; and in true talking to myself fashion (we all do it right??) I got going step by step into a decent clip. The lad on the mountain bike sensed it, and started to encourage, and within a couple Ks I had caught and dropped Bachor. 2nd was secure but Raynard was long gone. I crossed the finish line a couple minutes back, but a step further up the podium than last year.

Raynard was impressive on Sunday, and he deserved his win. I know what it is like to win at home, and it’s great fun – the crowd were cracking support for me, so I can only imagine how much of a lift it provided for him, and with his smart tactical racing he ensured his win comfortably in the end. Next year though!

A BIG thanks to all at the Triangle team for a fantastic race, and for looking after me and Blair so well. I look forward to returning next year to an even bigger event.  (photos courtesy of Triangle)

Well, i didn’t finish. Just to clear that one out of the way. Unhappy? Of course. Stiff and sore today? Aye. But not really much worse than if i had emptied the tank racing a 70.3. My point being? Simply that i was never going to ruin the end of my season by simply finishing an Ironman, and thats what i would have done if i had pushed on past mile 15 yesterday during the run. I was there to race and i knew that the race would only really begin at roughly 18 miles. Anyway, the details …..

We arrived in Sherbourne on Friday and the rain was pretty heavy! On Saturday the rain was even heavier!! I wasn’t exactly pleased about the notion of 112 miles in the lashing rain but i knew it was the same for everyone and the cold had never been an issue for me before. I trusted everyones positive belief that ‘it would be fine’. They were right, more or less, if you discounted the wind, but it felt mild enough to me whilst walking to the race site at dark o clock to know i wouldnt need much extra clothing on the bike.

I treated the race exactly the same as any other and hit the swim start reasonably hard, getting to the front instantly, more so i was in control than anything. I knew there were a few lads there who could easily swim with me, and i had a look at the 800m mark going round the first bouy to see 4 strung out behind in a line. From then on in i barely kicked and threw in a few surges to break up the boredom (and the tight hip flexors!). Longest race swim ever complete. Check. Out of the water and i could only see Stephen Bayliss as i ran up to the change tent and into the transition area. We both picked up our bikes together and ran out side by side, at which point Blair said the gap was a minute!! I cannot get my head around how slow guys in long distance racing are at going through transition. I really can’t, i mean what do they do??

Out onto the bike and i felt fine, which was no bad thing given the undulating profile and dead road surface. Not to mention the wind…. it was Gale Force Nine up there on the back end of the loop. I settled into the sort of pace i hoped was suitable for this distance, but i wasn’t sure, this being IM No.1 and all. In fact at about mid way in the lap the tv cameraman (who would become a buddy over the next 6 hours!) asked me what i thought about Stephen being behind me. I honestly said that i was quite happy to have him about given his experience at the distance. I figured if he thought the pace was ok then i was happy enough to set the tempo. And it would be boring on my own. 112 miles is a long way. I kept eating and drinking. There is one serious descent on the course, i guess at 23miles and that is where Stephen came by, as he can drop like a stone, and i go downhill like a granny. Catching him back up was my only ‘oppertunity’ to get to ride as i like to in a 70.3, but i knew i had to throttle back everytime i felt myself picking it up. I knew we were riding well enough (nobody was catching us, and Spencer, in 3rd, had drifted out of view by now) so i had to save energy as much as possible. – It was all about the last 6-8 miles of the run after all.

The remainder of the bike went along those same lines. Me on the front for the first 60% of the lap and then Steven hit the front at the steep slope. I frantically charged after him, and we both tackled the hurricane on the top end of the loop. I kept eating and drinking, or trying to, but i realised at about 80miles that i was feeling a little sluggish, and thankfully an aid station wasnt too far away with bars and Pepsi, which i gobbled down. And chased after Stephen again, as he had sneaked off down the winding lanes once more! ‘Cheeky’ i thought. At the end of the 2nd loop i had got the time check that Spencer was at 5 minutes and Scott and Nick were at 11 minutes, so i was starting to only think about the run and trying to race Stephen, as to be honest, those gaps were pretty substantial. Oh, too early Fraser …. too early! To finish the bike course at Sherbourne we took a right down off the loop for the couple miles back into transition, at which point the lead car came back in front – and i saw the total elapsed time for the first time. Gulp. It read 5.53 which meant i was already over 5 hours for the bike course – at least 15 minutes longer on the saddle than i assumed the course would take – oh how time flies when you’re having fun? And so back into T2; longest ever bike ride complete. Check.

The run started well. I felt much better than i thought i would. And that lasted for, oh, lets see now, 2 miles? The run was a tough mother of a course. Split into 2 halfs – one through the castle grounds – like a cross country course – muddy, hilly and plain hard. The second half was through town, and although not muddy, was still hilly and twisty and well, hard. I bade Stephen farwell at just under 3 miles and settled into trying to feel positive and maintain my 2nd place. Seeing everybody who was out to support me helped loads, and i clikced through 6,7 and 8 miles well. Then at the start of the 2nd lap i started to feel like i didnt want to feel. I knew, despite the many ‘you’re doing great’ cheers, that i was heading down a slippery slope (quite literally on that course actually) and by half way i was shuffling rather than running, in my opinion. My gap over Scott and Spencer behind me was still at 5 minutes, but that to me was irrelevant. I knew it was over then and there, but you carry on don’t you? I got to 14 miles and mum was there, so of course i still ran. But walked for the first time aroun the next bend. Q camera in you’re face! Action. Blockbuster stuff!! Not. I ran again for a half mile, then walked some more. Had a talk to myself. Watched as a girl ran past me much faster than i was going. Still in 2nd place! I couldn’t pull out in 2nd could i? And then finally Scott came past, and then Blair found me and pulled me off the course – funny how the best laid plans go to pot under pressure. Gordon and i had talked at length about exactly this situation, and the course of action was to pull the plug, kick it, stop, quit, however you want to label it – but not to dig a hole that i couldnt get out of for weeks. And so we had a chat about it for a few minutes, by which point i was now down in 6th. More by necessity than anything, i jogged back to transition to complete my second lap so as to hand in my chip at 18 miles. – Exactly where i should have been getting stuck into the racing for proper! Never mind.

I can’t say thanks enough to everyone who was there to cheer me on – especially mum, Blair, Phil – and all the messages of good luck beforehand too. It was fantastic. The crowd support was awesome also - just the reason i knew doing my first IM at home would be best. And i really did enjoy the experience for much of the way – as big a learning day as it was.

It’s Thursday morning and we’ll head off down the road in the general South West direction a bit after lunchtime. Blair and i are thumbing a lift with our great friends/second family/often-helpers-in-a-bind/supporters and most recently providers of transport (alas, the Clio died a death and we had to scrap it…. but thankfully there was a Punto going spare for a little while!), GC and Gillian.

So how do i feel? Excited? Nervous? Worried? Anxious or plain simply same old same old? Perhaps a mixture of the lot. I am trying to just approach the race as ‘just another’ and yet i fully appreciate that it is far from similar to anything i’ve done so far. All the comments you read and hear suggest that the leap from ‘long distance’ up to Ironman is massive. Well, i’ve gone and skipped that long distance ‘bit’ and gone straight to the deep end, ready to jump on in there and give Ironman a crack. Here goes!

It will be fun to race at home again, given i don’t actually get to do that so often anymore, especially with plenty of friends and family on the course as well. Mum hasn’t seen me race in ages so its lovely to have her be able to come and watch live – I know as well as any how frustrating trying to find updates and results online can be!

I have doen my research …spoken to many a wise owl …. and yet, it’s utterly individual, and i won’t know for real till the get-go. All i know for sure is that when i do a 4k swim set in the mornings i come home and have a big bowl of cereal …… hmmm, energy gels in crunchy nut flavour anyone????

Good luck to everyone else giving it a go, esp those other newbies. See you at 6am Sunday.