Pink Triathlete

Training for a race for 2 years is a weird thing, especially when you were so mentally ready for it in July 2020. I have enjoyed it, especially the training, but I didn’t want the race to become some sort of totem and be-all-and-end-all of races I’ve ever done. I wanted to really break this distance.

I should say that my race goals were very simple: finish it and have fun. I needed to end that race with a smile on my face. 

Pre event: I

Wow, Ironman is a force of nature. The organisation is on a spectacular level. Although I’ve completed 4 70.3s (all Outlaw branded), I’ve never  been so confused and handed so many bags to put things in. I was so bewildered that in transition nothing is laid out under your bike- it’s all stowed into two bags. I really loved that- it made everything so much neater 🤣.

When I racked my bike on Saturday I couldn’t help but notice that my bike was certainly on the lower end of specialism. Almost every bike was a fancy TT Liv, Cervelo or Trek. I realised then that maybe with 2500 competitors missing from this event because of the pandemic (there’s usually 3600 and this year 1000 took part), perhaps it was the hard core racers left! 

I made the mental note that this race might not be typical of an Ironman. And that I might not look like a typical Ironman attempter! 

Swim:

Well bloody hell that’s how to start a race. Chelsea and I got up at 4am, we ate breakfast (granola, yoghurt, berries for me) and walked the 1km to transition. There, I hung my 2 pretzels from my Tri bars, put my nutrition in my top tube bag and water bottles in. 

We then realised as we put on our wetsuits that we didn’t have shoes to walk to the swim area 🤣🤣🤣, so the 1km walk to the lake front in socks was a bit torturous. 

At the swim area officials handed out Ironman flags and lots of supporters surrounded us. We went to the swim warm up area (had a cheeky wetsuit wee 🤢) and started dancing to pirates of the Caribbean and AC/DC ‘Thunder’ whilst fireworks erupted from a barge at the end of the pier. The canon sounded and the pros set off.

 A hot air balloon bobbed above us and we carried on dancing all the way to the 1hr30/40 pen (which was quite empty). It felt like ages to watch the sub 55min swimmers enter the water. We realised we were definitely going to be at the back of the pack by this point. I didn’t mind because I knew we would make cut off by our targets but I think it highlighted the restricted scale of the event. 

Before we knew it we were there under the arch walking purposefully into the turquoise waters of lake worthersee. It was stunning: fish swam beneath us- the delicate sun rippled off the clear water and we began. I felt the best I’ve ever felt in a race swim and I genuinely think that was down to the warm up and being able to really adjust my wetsuit into place. I’d put veseline under my bra straps, sleeves and neck and for the first time ever I wasn’t experiencing discomfort. Occasionally a helicopter created a few waves but I didn’t mind swallowing the odd bit of water as it’s 90 percent drinkable…apparently.

The last 900ms narrows into the canal which was a godsend because I was getting a bit bored. I felt as if I went wide on my sighting but was glad I wasn’t in the massive salmon fight at the front. The canal water was colder and murky but now you could appreciate the supporters. I saw Mike in his neon orange top on the banks and suddenly the course bent left onto the beach area. I exited quickly- there was a maggot on my face (eww). 

People cheered ‘Hopp Hopp Hopp’ and ‘Super’ as I jogged to T1. 

I was really surprised by my time- I had expected to be slower! But I’m really happy with 1.25.58 and delighted that I felt good and didn’t push hard.

T1

The plan was to wait for Chelsea so we

Could compete the rest together. I ate half a pretzel and stuffed my pockets with gels. It was a pretty long transition (20.48 mins) but I didn’t mind at all because I got an awesome buddy to share the rest with! 

Bike

The first leg of the bike was really flat- almost to the point of boredom. I found it hard to focus on pushing the number constantly because I wanted to enjoy the scenery. It was incredible: fields of sunflowers, pumpkins and corn. Mountains soared high around us: some with castles perched on top, some with great stone bridges and pine trees as tall as skyscrapers. After 30k Chelsea was concerned the Polizei motorbike was actually a marshal and thought we might be cheating, (we weren’t!) so she went ahead to confuse him and I left a large gap between us. I felt more comfortable with this because I felt more relaxed when I could see her. Every 20mins we had tried to eat part of a food item. This lasted 2 hours 🤣.

I went with the 1g of carbs per kg of body weight (ahem 75kgs) per hour and over catered because I knew I’d get bored of what I was eating. 

I packed: 2 pretzels, 5 sleeves of Veloforte ginger blocks, 3 cliff bars, 1 All real bar, 2 veloforte bars, 3 high five gels. 

3 sachets of PH 1000 between 2 bottles

My special needs bag contained 1 pretzel roll with almond butter and some Pom bears.

During a ropey downhill at 40k in I lost my left pretzel!!! Such a shame! I must have squished it being in aero during the flat motorway section. I decided to eat the right pretzel quickly. 

I drank well, finishing off both bottles of PH and refilling to drink another 2 of water. This is honestly a miracle for me because I really struggle to remember to drink. The weather was warm, perfect conditions I’d say! Wafts of fresh cut wood enveloped us through each town. Spectators having garden and driveway parties waved and screamed ‘Bravo’ and ‘Hopp Hopp Hopp’. Some had cow bells and some were really small kids . It was a delight. Some teenagers even had a couple of shishas on the roadside, living their best life. 

The fuel stations were incredible- they tried to stuff bananas in your hands or water. I took a half banana and a water refill. And a nice Ironman staff member gave us both a push! 

The second half of the course was quite lonely and very hilly compared to the first 90k. We saw a man walking up one hill- but we were determined not to do that! My cross border sportive race sim really helped here because the hills felt a little relentless and the watts cap went out the window. From best bike split we had worked out that 131watts normalised power would get us a 7hr 4min bike (and for Chelsea 7hrs so about the same). Well that was a big fat lie because we came out with 140 NP and a 7.51.06 time. Not sure why there was such a discrepancy. The difference in TSS for me was huge (364 and an IF of .68) but I felt reallly good off the bike so I guess maybe I can look into that another race. 

We became a little concerned about cut off but I trusted our watts and reminded ourselves the field was usually quiet. 

Towards the 100km mark it felt very lonely indeed and my right butt cheek was fed up. Legs felt good though- and I managed to eat more than I have on other long rides but probably nowhere near what I was supposed to: 

1 pretzel, 2 cliff bars, 2 and a half trays of veloforte blocks, half a banana and 2/3rds of my special need pretzel sandwich. 😬

I drank 4 bottles of liquid (3 sachets of PH1000)

Despite that not sounding like a lot I felt really good. 

T2 

I actually managed a wee (genuinely a miracle!) and it was the most disgusting portaloo I’ve ever been in. 

Run

I was worried that I might have underfuelled for the run because I felt a bit of hunger but I had a cup of water and the feeling went away. We stuck to our 9/1 strategy really well and only walked extra when there was an aid station we wanted to stop at, or a hill (there aren’t many but ramps under bridges along the canal etc). It worked excellently and we were having a great time. I had a bit of chafe which distracted me occasionally but it was minor. 

After 11k the sun went down and the course thinned. And then the rain began and it bucketed it down. It was torrential and we knew we were going to be soaked for the next 31kms. Fortunately, we had a similar situation for the virtual London marathon last year so we knew we would be okay. I had a half cup of Gatorade because I felt the urge to walk more than run and I suspected this was me reacting to being under fuelled. I drank at almost every stop (I didn’t pee) but oh my lord we both farted so much. If she wasn’t already married to me as my Triwife I think she would have abandoned me. Fortunately she was just as bad 🤣. I got over my desire to walk more at 13miles and pushed on. That was hard because I genuinely couldn’t feel my legs anymore from the cold and my arches felt sore (I’m really flat footed, like a duck). I had 1 gel (high five aqua with caffeine).

We danced a couple of times when students had music on the streets. I suspected the supporters were a fraction to normal- and even more so with the rain. One lady told us to ‘do it for the queen’ but I didn’t have the heart to say I was a republican 🤣.

We were offered ponchos, foil blankets, and head torches; but we only accepted the latter.  We noticed mainly packs of female triathletes were left wearing foil blankets on the course. Chelsea packed Percy pigs in her special needs bag and I ate 4.

And then the beer came out at 10pm and I regretted not liking the stuff!  

Finally the second lap was completed and the stiff legs disappeared as we ran down that finish in 15hours 11minutes. 

It may not have been as I’d dreamed it for 2 years (a handful of people in the pouring rain) but I was beside my friend and I was so honoured to share it with her. And if that’s not the spirit of the whole thing: encouraging each other to achieve the impossible then I’d rather have it this way a thousand times instead.