Pink Triathlete

Wow wow wow. What an event. What a day.

I entered this race off the back of Lakesman, 3 months previously. I felt as though I had another iron distance in me this year and Portugal just happened to be at the right time.

I underestimated it.

Cascais is one of the most beautiful, welcoming and vibrant places I’ve been to. I will definitely be back and I highly recommend this event to everyone interested in Ironman or half Ironman.

Taper

The two weeks leading up to the race were an absolute disaster. I had a funeral, a horrific migraine, hosted a hen party, had to complete my race simulation during the week alongside work and then my period was almost three weeks late (probably from stress) and you can imagine how great that felt when it turned up just before my race. My Heart rate variation gave me amber readings for three weeks so my confidence for this event was low. I knew I’d put in the training but I understood that it may be survival by this point.

Pre race

I stayed at the Ironman hotel which, although located 4kms from the start,

actually meant I had a very generous breakfast at 5am. I feasted on granola, yogurt, cake and coffee, then took the bus down to transition. Of course I did what has now become traditional since Lakesman and forgot my water bottles. Fortunately, Mike saved the day by cycling them down. I tried to eat a pitta bread with cashew butter but the nerves were getting to me so I stuck to water.

Walking down to the start was amazing- this event provided you with booties to protect your feet from the trip down to the harbour. There were people everywhere because both races set off one after the other.

If you ever get to do an Ironman event, the pre race hype is on another level. Zoe and I waited in our swim pen listening to the commentator deliver an incredible and moving speech about how we’d arrived at this moment, whilst the theme to Gladiator and other Hans Zimmer favourites blasted in the background. We were so worked up by the time Thunderstruck came on the atmosphere was buzzing.

Swim

Before we knew it we were on the beach, running into the 16° water (I won’t say it was cold but anyone not from the UK would probably disagree). The course was excellently laid out- the easiest to follow of all the races I’ve completed. Giant lemon Tic-Tacs on the way out, orange flavour on the way back. I saw the most humungous jellyfish beneath me in the water.

The bay was calm, only the slightest waves at the top of the course, and the conditions perfect. I was aware of people around me and struggled at one point to get around someone with poor sighting. However, I am slightly mortified at having given someone a full accidental crotch grope as they kicked their legs wide on a breast stroke. I hope they decided it was a thrill rather than an assault! I always suffer from the worst chafing so this time I used a neck protector under my wetsuit- it’s basically a black haribo collar that sticks to your neck. In training I found it squeezed my throat but I was either so distracted I had no issues at all, or I positioned it correctly. I’ll be using this forever now.

The swim overall was good- only a minute longer than Lakesman and this was my longest sea swim so I’m pleased with that.

Time: 1hr 19mins 38secs

T1

Run up the harbour slip and down the cobble road to the hippodrome where transition was. It’s a fair distance but not having to wrestle a wet body into arm warmers made up my time nicely. I shoved a few mouthfuls of that pitta in my mouth and trekked up the incredibly steep exit with the lovely Sarah of the STP Collective.

Time: 9mins 41secs

Bike

Well well well wasn’t this a joy! This course had something for everyone. The first quarter we went straight into climbing towards Sintra. Breathtaking scenery of traditional terracotta-topped houses nestled amongst woodland and mountainous drops. The road surfaces are excellent which made the fist 500m of climbing a breeze. I wanted to laugh it felt so easy sailing up those hills.

Suddenly we were on the downhill through Estoril and into the Formula 1 race track. What an absolute treat. For a moment I forgot myself and I blasted out the watts, zooming around the track and totally forgetting to stay away from everyone else (rules about drafting were very hard to follow as there were so many of us). A whistle was blown in my direction so I held back and decided to be sensible from then on.

After the track we picked up the coast road and riding somewhat bizarrely on the left side of the road made our way to Belem in Lisbon. There were two pointy out and backs heading north on the way out just to make up distance. I had an opportunity to use my personal needs bag but decided I had enough food with me.

I saw Ian from Oxygenaddict frequently (we actually came into T2 at exactly the same time) and it was great to call out to each other as well as the Stompettes on the switchbacks.

The way back from Belem had a spicy headwind but it was more manageable than Lakesman had been and I kept my watts at 180 (it ranged between 160-190). Nutritionally, I was having the most success on a race so far. I had two sachets of tailwind in my large bottle (100g carbs) which I polished off after one lap, about 4 nakd bars (not as many as I’d hoped), one raw velo bar (felt a bit rich), a few sips of Active root as a pallet cleanser, 1 bar of Kendal mint cake, 1 fancy vegan mars bar thing, 1 pack of veloforte cubes and later another 2 sachets of tailwind. It wasn’t the 80g carbs an hour I was hoping for but it is by far my best effort. I also had another 500ml of water. I’m glad I don’t use gels but I think there’s still room to improve here. The heat really made me drink more than usual which probably made the tailwind an excellent saver.

Lap 2 and those hills I was laughing at at first suddenly became a little spicier. Still totally manageable but I began to notice a pressure pain in my right foot beneath my middle toe. I’ve had this before and sometimes it just needs to be pointing down or out of the cleats. I ignored it at the race track (absolute joy again), but on the turn back from Belem it because excruciating. It hurt so much I didn’t know what to do so I decided to tell it to shut up. And to my surprise it did for the next 30 km. Headwinds picked up stronger but I kept grinding out the watts using landmarks for distraction. The last 10k however, was a teeth gritting push and the foot pain climaxed to a point I was sure I’d somehow broken it.

I am so happy with this split and even happier I managed to stay in aero position for almost all of the flat sections. I spent a lot of time in the drops as well which gave me a nice range of comfortable positions. Absolutely stunning views past monuments and art galleries, iron bridges and beaches. Wonderful.

T2

Chatted to Ian as I tried to not fall down the steps into transition. I was a little worried about my foot but as soon as I was out of the cleats and into my trainers all of that feeling had been forgotten.

Time: 6mins 32secs

Run

Now I feel like this run made me. I think I learnt more about myself on this run then any other before. The first 3kms were tough as they usually are when your body is adjusting (whilst also being totally relieved to not be in a saddle anymore). This course is very much undulating. The hills go on for a while, but they go down for a while too, which leaves you unable to justify walking uphill. I just had to get over that.

My strategy was to stick rigidly to 9 minutes run, 1 minute walk like the good Jeffer I am! However, I allowed myself to walk through the aid stops.

My new strategy formed from the success at Lakesman was to drink Coca Cola at every aid station. Now, on reflection, this could mean that I consumed somewhere between 3-4litres of coke on my run.

I didn’t pee once…

And the coke wasn’t exactly flat…

And I absolutely hate burps…

So this combo concerned me at first. After a while I got used to the bubbles coming up: I guess running is a little like self burping? I was very lucky it didn’t cause me pain but I am so grateful this plan worked.

The first lap was fine, my pace was higher than I expected. Turning that corner into the marina and seeing the sea of crowds screaming made my heart soar. There’s no feeling like it. People shout your name in a hundred different accents, all willing you on till you don’t feel how tired you are at all. The pink hair was a big hit! Especially with the brits and Irish in the crowd. When I passed Stompettes, Oxygenaddicts and people I’d met in the hotel I gave them a whoop and cheer and they returned the calls. It was fantastic. Several times a lovely Spanish man ran with me and when I stopped to walk he gave me encouraging gestures and a smile. The second lap I kept steady and the sun started to descend.

The course thinned out and then the darkness came. Strangely, this meant I couldn’t see if I was on a hill anymore and therefore I stopped worrying about them and just plodded on. The legs were very tired at 36 Kms but I kept Jeffing in the hope I could match my Lakesman time. Two lads stood on the cobbled bridge and cheered me every time I passed: they said I looked strong and it made me feel it.

And then I was charging down the marina road towards the M-dot with people screaming and waving cow bells. There really is nothing like an Ironman finish- I flew down that carpet as if I had another marathon in me.

I am so over the moon with my run result : 4hrs 30mins on the dot. Totally smashing 23minutes off of Lakesman and my all time personal best for a marathon. And I felt good after! I managed to dance around to collect my medal and into the recovery tent.

Total time: 12hrs 48mins 31secs.

Another hour off my time at Lakesman.

When I saw the result I couldn’t believe it- I was hoping for a 14hr something but this was beyond my wildest dreams.

All I can say is that the training consistency has paid off big time and dialling in my nutrition has taken me to another level.

Absolutely epic race. Really well organised, beautiful course: I highly recommend it!

The taxi man said this was apparently one of the hardest ones – I don’t know if he was trying to scare me or if the run puts the fear in people! But what I can say is that being one of only 132 women out there, with a smile on my face, makes me hope others want to give it a shot too.