Nowhere else is the Ironman experience so down to earth and inspiring at
the same time. It's one of the most spectecular if not the most spectacular course of the circiut with it's rather rough ocean swim, the undulating bike course
and a run course to match both. On the other hand nowhere are the local people
as excited about the race and friendly to the crazy persons coming in to
compete in the race. It's plain amazing. That is if you like bacon buns! ;)
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| IM Wales - Carbo Loading and Awards Banquet the other way! |
All these elements brought me back to Tenby this year after my first
race in Pembrokeshire back in 2012. Back then I had been super fit and won my
age group by a lagre margin to secure a slot for the Ironman World
Championships in Hawaii. This year could not have been more different. Due to
work committments I only got three decent months of training in and my total
training hours were less than half of those in 2012. In addition I had
virtually taken a hiatus from triathlon or rather sports in general in the
second half of 2014 and thus was rather unsure how I would do in the race. On
top of the rather limited preparation I somehow hurt my left thigh muscle and had developed a real issue only 10 days out from race day. A
quick visit to the physio therapist brought little improvement at first and I
skipped the last two runs in race week. Bummer for my confidenct that!
It was with these thoughts I left Frankfurt - by car - Thursday before the
race together with my sherpa, fellow Tim ex Multisport team
mate Ann Parthemore . It was a tiring
drive over these 1.200km - total driving: 14 hours. In the end we made it to
our little hotel room in Saundersfoot some five kilometers from Tenby.
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| By little hotel room I mean little! |
Dinner
at a small restaurant in Saundersfoot brought us the information that
apparently the locals were crazy about the weather forecast for Sunday:
Thunderstorms and high winds were expected. Little had the BBC forecast I had
consulted beforehand spoken of this. Well, we would see.
Friday,
saw the 2012 routine: Practice swim in the morning, scout the
bike course by car with a 60min bike ride in the middle.
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| The Rock! |
Winds were acceptable
and so I did go for the 80mm fromt wheel and the disc for race day. Also, I took
the opportunity to have the guys from Pembrokeshire Bikes look at my shfiting.
I myself had not been able to set up the RD so that its cage would not rub against the
disc. After some longer work on the machine they got the job done - I thought.
Friday also saw the race briefing and carbo loading dinner. The usual stuff
and no special occurences. At the race briefing we were told
there that we would have a rolling start on Sunday. Good for the safety during
the swim but bad if you tried to race any direct competitor. That's because he could
have started 5min behind you and finish 3min behind you but still would be in
front of you due to the net time scheme the rolling start thing applies. We
would see how this would play out on race day.
Saturday,
same thing: morning swim, 70min bike ride, skip run, check-in
bike. A last rear brake crisis was dealt with just before check-in but it
should work - I told myself.
Then it was time for the regular pre race dinner:
pasta. With my parents also having made their way to Tenby on their 2015 UK trip
this meal was consumed in their condo. Before I could tell, it was time to
go to bed. Well, not without the usual two pints of Strongbow Cider! So Ann and I
toasted to a great race and the cider gave us the necessary sleepyness to find
sleep around 11pm.
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| Sherpa, the Rock and athlete. In this order. |
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| Great stuff! |
Race day
The alarm clock rang at the unfair time of 3:30am and we were down for
breakfast at 3:45am. That hurt! A lot! It's always a pain to get the 1.500kcl
breakfast in that early in the morning. But this time I managed with some German/Belgian
Waffles, Toast, jam and yoghourt. Transition 1 saw us arrive at 4:45am but they
only opened at 5am so we had to wait. And hide from the rain in front of a house
in a street nearby.
Things were done in transition in no time. Tires checked, bike bottles into
the cages and a last walk to memorize the way to my bike. Then the drop off of
the special needs bags for both the bike and the run. Good! I was ready. And it
was only 5:20. So I bought some coffee for my sherpa and me. This was the one
time where I could sherpa Ann. Otherwise she took very good care of me.
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| It was dark, it rained and the flash didn't work. Otherwise you'D see me here sitting on a staircase. |
I gave a last High5 to Mario when we walked down to the swim start at
about 6am. I remembered from last time that it was a loooong run from the swim
exit to T1 but did not remember it that long. Little did I know that once the
race was on I would not really notice the distance thanks to the thousands of
spectators on the side of the roads.
Down at the beach we noticed that we were really early. With the AG
start only at 7am we still had to wait from 40min before the gun would go off.
So I lined up in the starting corral and waited. Waited for a long time.
Once we hit 6:50am it was time for the national anthem and there you
noticed that even though Wales is part of the UK they would not play "God
save the king" here. We heard what sounded like a football crowd singing
the Welsh anthem. Great for the atmosphere I have to admit! Then at 6:55 the
pros were off and at 7:00am sharp we went. I had seeded myself in the sub 1h
area rather to the front of the field. I had not swum more than 40k in my 2015
preparation but according to the last benchmark 2k TT I knew that under normal
circumstances I'd be in between 59-61min.
The Swim
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| The three sided water boarding thingy. |
When the gun went off I headed out towards the first bouy and had the feeling that the waves,
even though we had a wind that pushed the waters into the bay, were not all too
bad. At the first bouy I knew that I was wrong. The longest side of the
triangle we had to swim was a roller coaster ride of a swim. But as I seem to
have inherited the open water swim skills from my dad I was fine even though I
swollowed A LOT of that salt water. I finished the first of two laps in 31min
and already there knew this would be a slow swim.
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| The guy in the middle with the "Right Swinger", that's me! |
I took it a little easier in
the first part of the 2nd loop and stayed on the outside of the group. Still I
got a kick in the right eye and still today, four days after the race have a
black eye to prove it. After that the swim went rather uneventful and I exited
the water after 1:04h. If I was right in assuming that the conditions were hard
then I'd be ok. After the swim exit the most unique feature of IM Wales starts:
The 1k run from the swim exit to T1. First it's up the switchbacks from the
beach to town, then some zig-zagging through towm.
You are allowed to put on shoes (and socks for that matter) for this run and I did. I also put arm warmers and gloves into this bag but really had a hard time putting both on while still soakingly wet and running. Still I managed to hand my basic watch to my dad who was cheering me on like a madman from the side of the road. On the way into T1 I noticed not too many athletes exiting and so felt confirmed that I was in the position I waned to be.
You are allowed to put on shoes (and socks for that matter) for this run and I did. I also put arm warmers and gloves into this bag but really had a hard time putting both on while still soakingly wet and running. Still I managed to hand my basic watch to my dad who was cheering me on like a madman from the side of the road. On the way into T1 I noticed not too many athletes exiting and so felt confirmed that I was in the position I waned to be.
T1
I went through here without any troubles - not too many others in yet.
So I took my time to put on my
*Commercial Break*: Tim ex ONE+ GPS *End of Commercial Break*
*Commercial Break*: Thank you Blueseventy for the awesome Helix wetsuit
*End of Commercial Break*
OK, now it is time to play catch-up! As Always. So off we go on
*Commercial Break* my incredibly fast Trek Speed Concept *End of
Commercial Break*
 |
| Da BAM! Machine! |
Just like 2012 I started to reel in competitors. But it did
not go as fast. Well I am 3 years older and not getting faster.
It was raining a bit still but road conditions were managable. When we hit Pembroke and thus the Angle loop with the first hill of the day one guy passed me like the madman. And I was already pushing more than 350 Watts. Who was this guy? Well, I saw him again in the nect flat section where that heavier athlete that I am has his advantage. We played this game a few more times until after 10 more kilometers we had past a number of other athletes and reached the Coastal Park descent where I was a little better prepared for the side winds and went by. It's a steep uphill after this high speed descent and just when I shifted to the SCR I dropped my chain between the SCR and the frame. Had I not had the shifting adjusted by the bike shop people? Well, nothing else to do but stop and pull the chain back onto the SCR. I would never see that madman again other than the next day at the awards. Well, he posted the fastest AG bike time of the day AND the fastest AG marathon of the day and finished 5th overall. Cudos to AnyGreenleaf.
It was raining a bit still but road conditions were managable. When we hit Pembroke and thus the Angle loop with the first hill of the day one guy passed me like the madman. And I was already pushing more than 350 Watts. Who was this guy? Well, I saw him again in the nect flat section where that heavier athlete that I am has his advantage. We played this game a few more times until after 10 more kilometers we had past a number of other athletes and reached the Coastal Park descent where I was a little better prepared for the side winds and went by. It's a steep uphill after this high speed descent and just when I shifted to the SCR I dropped my chain between the SCR and the frame. Had I not had the shifting adjusted by the bike shop people? Well, nothing else to do but stop and pull the chain back onto the SCR. I would never see that madman again other than the next day at the awards. Well, he posted the fastest AG bike time of the day AND the fastest AG marathon of the day and finished 5th overall. Cudos to AnyGreenleaf.
Without this small battle going on I setteled into a good rhythm and looking
at my comparison to the 2012 race. I had taped some splits from that race to
the aerobars and kept comparing. The intention had been to aim for a total bike
time of about 10min slower than 2012. Still, the splits went by and I kept up
with the 2012 speed. Somewhere near Carew I spotted Ann by the side of the
road and got a giant cheer. Thanks!
Speaking of cheers: There was no limit to the enthusiasm of the
spectators alongside the bike course. Every little village, even every little
farm had people sitting in front of their houses to cheer us on. Unbelieveable
and even more there than at Challenge Roth. Unbelieveable!
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| They even got the couches out. On traktors! ;) |
It was then up north towards Narberth and I still kept the 2012 speed.
But I explained this with the stiff S-E wind that literally blew me north. In no
time I was over in Wiseman's bridge and after that to Saundersfoot. The hill
there was full of crazy spectators. Goosbumps³! You can see what I mean at
1:40min here:
After the steep part of the climb there was Ann's cheer again:
"You're the second AGer 2min to the first." I knew how that first one was BTW. Still: Cool! A little further up my dad shouted
"You are in 16th place overall". I was not doing too bad.
One little hickup was that the race briefing had not really specified
the location of the special needs aid station on the bike. Just like in 2012.
So I had to stop another time to ask/check. Still the first lap was done in
only 2min slower then 2012 and I was pleased. The second - shorter - lap went
by without me catching my catching anyone. Still I was overtaking or rather
lapping athletes from early on in my second lap. There I already had 125km in
and they were only at km 45. Their day would be loooong!
The second pass of the Wiseman's Bridge saw me almost blown off the road by a gust from the sea. The wind had really picked up. At least no more rain at this time. The climb there had me witnessing a few
athletes pushing their bikes up that hill. On their frist lap. IM Wales is a
tough nut after all.
A few minutes later I hit T2. Bike time: 5:25h. Only 4min slower than
2012. Good enough for me.
T2
Even though I had scouted my way through transition twice I still went to
the wrong line at first. For this one I am to blame. What I was not to blame
for was the fact that the very rough pavement of the parking lot had not been
covered with carpets. All through transition. My feet were crying out loud.
Ironfeet I do not have, I guess.
Run
The big unknown. Would the thigh hold up? Would my general run fitmess on
only 500 run-km since December 2013(!) be sufficient? All questions I would
soon find answers for. The only thing I could do was to take on the course more
conservatively than ever before. I thus went out strictly adhering to my plan.
And that was 5min/km in the flats and let's see how much slower on the uphill.
I kept 5min/km for the first 2km and then the first hill came. Km 3 and 5 were
at around 5:20min, still ok. And the left thigh also held up. From the second
turn around it's a continuous downhill for 3km. And other than last time when I
just rolled down the hill I intentionally kept the speed at around 5min/km. The plan was not to put more stress on the thigh. Still, when I hit Tenby town for the
first time I noticed an itch there. No good! Really no good, that! For the next
2k through town center I didn't notice this as there were literally thousands
of spectators all along the city streets. The only bummer: they were (already)
allowed to have fish & chips and a cider/ale. And they made good use of
this! One could smell it.
But back to the race: I was able to make the second "climb" up
to New Hodges in high spirits and was very confident. Also the pain in the
thigh subsided a bit and everything was fine - so I thought. As a big surprise for me I hit
the wall no 500m later. I was in a total hole! Had stomach pains like hell and
no energy at all. What the hell had happened? I was already about 7:45h into
the race and my mind was really struggeling to figure things out. In hindsight
I then made the right choice: I grabbed two energy gels with caffeine and got
them in. Even though these gels get to your
system quite fast the way down the first part of the hill was just a
deathmarch.
I even succumbed to the urge to sit down. In order not to embarras myself I did this in a port-a-potty. After some 30sec though I decided that I could not hide from the hard truth and left. I went down the second part of the hill and started to feel better soon after. Stil and even with temperatures around 15C I felt hot. Therefore I kept on pouring water over my head by grabbing 3-5 cups at each aid station. Two boys had to have noticed me grabbing 4 cups from "their" table for this purpose on lap one. And so when I did the same on lap 2 one of them said to the other:"See, there was THAT crazy guy again!" Deep inside I laughed but had no energy to do this on the outside.
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| No more look or feel good! |
I even succumbed to the urge to sit down. In order not to embarras myself I did this in a port-a-potty. After some 30sec though I decided that I could not hide from the hard truth and left. I went down the second part of the hill and started to feel better soon after. Stil and even with temperatures around 15C I felt hot. Therefore I kept on pouring water over my head by grabbing 3-5 cups at each aid station. Two boys had to have noticed me grabbing 4 cups from "their" table for this purpose on lap one. And so when I did the same on lap 2 one of them said to the other:"See, there was THAT crazy guy again!" Deep inside I laughed but had no energy to do this on the outside.
I saw Ann at the third "rabbit ear" of the course but showed
no reaction to her cheers at all. Still they were very much appreciated just
like my dad's screams a little further up the hill. I just had to keep my
focus. The only thing that I went out of my focus was to get energy from the
little ones alongside the course. There were so many kids asking for a high5 I
just had to. And I got a lot of energy back.
With the near bonk on the second
lap I did not notice immediately that my left thigh slowly detoriated and was
getting worde and worse. While I feld exhaustion but no pain in the right leg,
the left one was in a world of the same from the beginning of lap 3. So the
uphill portion of this lap was the slowest of all 4 and it felt like crawling
up the hill. Still I managed to reach the top without any competitor in my area passing me. Down for third time I went and this time the left leg was
almost killing me. Still, the setup of the 4 loop course with one big climb
played to my advantage now. In my mind it was only one more uphill, one more
real effort and then I would not have to care about my legs any more. I was
just not allowed to cramp up! And for this last lap I had deposited a certain
Austrian energy drink in my special food bag which I gulped down with disgust.
Never will I have liquid gummy bears outside of an Ironman, I swear. Going out
of town the last time I finally thought about what posision I might be in. I had
noticed a few guys passing me but from recollection and what I was able to read
on their bibs I was not aware that a fellow 40-44 guy had passed me. Well, at
this time they all looked at least 45 years old but I myself must have looked
much older that this. Turning around and picking up my last lap band I began
the last downhill of the day. By now both lags were no legs any more but just a place of hurt. Still I
thought that now would be the time to just cruise down the hill with no respect
for the left thigh. It felt like the speed of light but only was something
around 4:30min/km. So I was passed right there and then by 5 more competitors
within a stretch of only 500m. No chance to fight back.
Then it was only one last ime through town and I really put the pedal to
the metal. Fellow Ironmen/women will know that even if it might feel like
100mph you barely make the speed you set out on for the run. Still it hurt a
lot but finally I was able to take that fames left turn towards "The Esplanade"
and the finish line.
I did have the whole finish chute for myself here and did
my best RAF impersonation. I crossed the finish line afer some 10:23min and at
least according to the announcer as 2nd in my AG. I was stoked! With this
little preparation 2nd? Great! But wait, we would still have to wait and find
out later due to the rolling start I thought. These thoughts were put to a halt
when the announcer realized that it was me qirthday on race day. When happened
then you can see & hear at 2:56h int othe finish line (re) live here.
I had
a blast! I got a picture with the current mayor of Tenby right on the spot and
after thanking Ann for the awesome support, I went to get my first non-sweet
food of the day: A soup that tasted like gold!
A little later we received confirmation that I had indeed finished 2nd
in my AG. Great! So did get to go to the awards after all.
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| Rather contemplative at the awards, was I? |
And yes, I was not able to say no when I was asked whether I would to go
to Kona in 2016. I don't yet know what I really want there as my four previous outings
there showed that racing in the Hawaiian heat is just not what I am made for.
But whatever I'll do in 2016 I do have some time to figure that out, do I not?
Aloha!
Stats:
Swim 1:04
T1: 8:20min
Bike: 5:25h
T2: 3:00min
Run: 3:42h
.JPG)
