Registration
Team RNLI 2011, grr!!
Late change to the swim course at the race briefing
Starting kit - done
All the clothing I would require!!
Bike kit laid out....
Food, food, compeed and gloves - special needs bag, ready!!
Run kit laid out..
Walking my steed into transition
All manner of plastic bagging was attempted before we were told to remove them - the wind was threatening to blow the bikes away!!
Transition at 6am, as my race number was 100 my bike was racked at the front, near the pros - helped to boost my PMA
Getting ready for race start
Stretching before the swim, feeling calm as ever!!
The ever patient support of Mrs H, who I think secretly loved seeing lots of very fit men in semi naked conditions and tight lycra on the day!!
The sun coming up as we swam
And ran
Then swam some more
Exiting the swim in 1hr12mins - smashing my PB by 39mins
The run up the zig zag slope to trainers (again, near the bottom with the pros!) then through town to transition.
Out on the bike at Freshwater west - a lovely, but very windy ride through the sand dunes
Coming up into Narberth and halfway - feeling really strong still and getting a real buzz from the crowds!
Wiseman's bridge the first time round - not that hard yet and still buzzing.....
Coming back through Tenby to head out to Narberth again, starting to feel the hills a bit now, but plenty of time to complete the second lap - about 42 miles left to go..Wiseman's bridge take 2 - I actually stopped and had a little cry this time because I was starting to get a bit overwhelmed - realisation had sunk in that I had plenty of time and would make it well within cut off time!
Tenby take 2, coming in to Transition - with over an hour left to finish the ride, tears over and ready to run
Out on the first run lap...
Nearly finished lap 1 and starting to feel it - I had some very dark moments after this on lap 2....then the sun set and the whole thing brightened up...
Filling my face before starting lap 3
Feeling much more chipper now with only 1 lap left to go..
Out of town on the last leg - very dark now, but with James' company I have something to keep me going..
A very soggy feed station at the farthest point, these marshals had the hardest job keeping us all going through the dark, wind and rain - excellent morale boost!!
How appropriate!!
Heading towards the finish at last!
Crossing the line of my first ever Ironman
Absolutely stoked, and soaked!!Up at 5am is never a good thing, especially when you've had hardly any sleep due to nerves and even more so when you're about to spend your entire waking hours exercising! The alarm went off to break the drift between sleep and awake and the noise of the wind and waves outside.
Reluctantly I got up and got dressed, then ate my porridge lovingly prepared by Jimbo. Last minute checks and extra lube applied before jumping in the car with James and Lynora and setting off for Tenby.
I was dropped by transition and was on my own - checking over the bike etc and wondering what I would do if there was anything wrong. The silence was broken every so often by the bang of an over-inflated tyre. I was feeling very lucky that my bike hadn't blown too far along the racking in the storm overnight, I wasn't 100% sure, but all would have to be okay!
I met James outside transition to walk down to the swim start - eek!! All kinds of thoughts going round and round in my head, what if the jellyfish had come into the harbour? What if the waves were huge? What if I didn't make the swim in time? The sea didn't look too choppy, but there was certainly a strong wave at the swim get in and out. James came with me right up to the start line, I nearly cried with anticipation of the day ahead - pain, pain, cut off times and more pain!
I grabbed James' arm and said "I am ready" - I needed to do this mentally to convince myself!
The hooter went off and I made my way to the water, pulled down my goggles, put on my nose clip, made it past the wave and started swimming.
It's a very weird sensation, to get into the sea with 1300 other people and start swimming to the same point - sooner or later even with different speeds, you're going to meet a lot of people at a bottle neck - I knew this was to come so I just settled in and swam. Lots of people had run to the far end of the beach nearer to the buoy to swim straight out - but I figured that this is meant to be a 3.8km swim, so that is what I would do - I wouldn't need my arm strength too much for the rest of the day, so I thought I'd conserve my legs and make my swim as pure as possible.
I have the most ridiculous sense of humour that strikes at all the wrong times - for some reason I found it highly amusing swimming alongside all these very serious looking athletes, and from time to time they were sticking to my feet, which I took as a compliment - I also managed to do the same when I caught some other people up for a bit. At the first buoy the obligatory bun fight had commenced - everyone wanting to take the shortest line and trying to sight for the next buoy. I'm not sure why everyone feels the need to suddenly breaststroke at this point as it really leads to a bit of a mosh - I got someone's heel to my chest as I ploughed through, someone pushed me down, so I returned the favour - I figured that no-one's very bothered and knows what they're in for, but I hope I didn't upset anyone!!
Unfortunately at this buoy despite my best efforts I did get carried along with a huge bunch who were taking a much wider line to the next buoy - the swell was really big, so when I looked up to sight I was either on top of the wave (with feet and hands in the air and body in the sea!?) or way down in the trough looking at the feet sticking out of the wave in front as it bore down on me. When I could sight I realised I had ended up between the line heading way out to the left, and the people taking the tight line straight to the buoy - so I had plenty of space, tried to curb the seasickness from setting in, got my head down and swam. I was finding this swim really quite okay. I passed lots of people breastroking as they started to tire, smiled at everyone I passed and was laughing to myself in my head at the hilarity of the waves, everyone in neoprene, my fearlessness - it was really happening and I was loving it.
I have a pretty short but strong swim stroke and have been trying to practise extending as much as possible for months now, but I actually found that the shorter approach was much more beneficial for this swim, as the extend was wasted with your arm sticking out of the waves! I got to the turn around buoy, headed for shore, somehow managed to avoid the wave bowling me out of the water and ran up the beach for round 2. I saw Maz and waved, I think she was surprised to see me, over the timing mat, waved to James and Lynora who were equally surprised to see me so soon, jumped back in and smash - the wave caught me and tumbled me over - thank God for nose clips!! I had looked at my watch crossing the timing mat and seen 33mins - I was on fire! Undeterred by the pesky wave I headed out on lap 2.
The sea had changed now and made for a much choppier second lap - the swell was still as big, but the wind had picked up, so for most of the swim I was at the top of the swell where the waves rebounded and there were plenty of white peaks appearing. Being on top of the swell made it much clearer to sight - I stuck to the straighter, more direct line, however, this line was somewhat more precarious - threading our way between the buoy, a rib and a fishing boat, all rocking from side to side and changing direction every so often. I took a deep breath - stuck to the middle line and made it through - from here it was straight ahead to the last buoy and back to shore. I started kicking my legs after turning round the buoy as I remembered we'd have the run up the slope to T1, and passed a handful of people - nice! Got to shore, again, avoided the wave - over the timing mat - 1hr 12 on my watch - a whole 39mins faster than my previous PB and in much more epic conditions. As I started up the slope I spotted Mike, Dave, Ruby and Lauren in their flouro 'Team Ironcat' tees - got a massive cheer from them - got to my trainer bag (again, close to the pros!) put them on and ran up the slope past all the people struggling to find their shoes. I saw James and Lynora again as I got to the top of the slope and threw my goggles and cap to them - I think they were still surprised to see me so soon - and carried on running through town. As we ran along the outside of the old castle walls I saw Remy, then saw Maz and Leo just before getting into T1.
Now I have to say, normally in my transition experience, I am pretty speedy, wasting as little time as possible in T1 and T2, but for some reason I managed to spend 14mins here, the adrenaline had really kicked in and I was shaking alot trying to work out in my head how long I had to do the ride, all the things I shouldn't have been worrying about!!! I saw Rose, said hello, then my competitive streak got the better of me so I headed out while she was still drying her feet or something! Time for a quick wee then wheel the bike out and off onto the ride.
The start to the bike leg is pretty flat, and about the only flat bit of the entire course - on the road to Pembroke castle, past Lydstep, Manorbier, Lamphey etc, before turning at Pembroke out to Freshwater west - as far west as you can go. The start to the ride was cracking, passing slower people pacing themselves and being passed by speedy looking riders with deep rims or disc wheels. The support through the villages was just amazing, all generations of families were outside their houses ringing cow bells and cheering us all on, fabulous, and exactly what I had been hoping for. Turning West at Pembroke we were now into the headwind and it became a little bit tougher, but the sun had come out and the day was shaping up to be spectacular. Just before Fresh West I heard a familiar voice, Rose had caught up with me, damn it, but nice to have a chat. The waves at Fresh West were huge and I found myself thinking about bellyboarding the perfect turquoise blue Atlantic waves. All the way to Handle I was with Rose, leap frogging and chatting away, then a quick short climb out of the valley up to the top where I knew we'd have a tailwind. At this point I figured this would be the best place to bash out some fast miles, so I put my head down, cranked it up and flew along back into Pembroke. I was doing a really cracking pace now and felt really strong, I felt like I could go faster, but having done this ride before I knew what lay ahead and didn't want to smash it too much just yet.
Somewhere in T1 I had knocked the bike computer, so it was showing in km/hr instead of mph - I think it was showing about 30km/hr - my watch had also got knocked, so had stopped timing me - I had realised heading out of Tenby, but only after spending ??? in T1 and about 2miles on the bike..... Luckily James had set the countdown to cut off time, so at least I knew how long I had to finish the bike!
As we reached the turn off towards the second part of the figure of eight at Lamphey there was a feed station - I refilled, topped up, had some banana and headed out - I now wasn't sure if Rose had passed me, but I didn't care any more, I was having fun! This section of road is probably the most rewarding - you pass a stunning castle at Carew where there were big crowds again. There are some big climbs on this section, but you get the pay off with some cracking fast descents, I reached up to 60km/hr on a couple and was grinning with the thrill! I had been riding with a chap for a long time and had been leap frogging again, every time I overtook him he would say "Is someone pushing you along?" and " Are you sure this is your first Ironman?" I replied that determination and 30weeks of hard training was pushing me on and racing for a charity meant that there was no way I wasn't finishing! I am sure it was just a bit of banter, but several people were commenting on my strong riding, so I was chuffed to bits and on such a high it was unreal - I was amazed at how good I felt. I was sticking to my fuelling intervals with the odd extra banana and seemed to have plenty in the tank. At Templeton (the bit that had been shut on sportive day meaning we had a detour) there was another climb, then a fast downhill before another climb up to Narberth. As I climbed into Templeton a couple of girls sat on a wall started cheering for me - number 100, as I drew closer they said that my husband had said to say hello - this was great - infact, all up the hill people were cheering for me, James had come through the village on his way to see me at Narberth and had told them to cheer for me. One final climb to halfway point, up into Narberth, which I didn't find as hard today - towards the top I spotted James and again took him by surprise - he ran alongside me for a bit to chat and said I was doing amazingly - which again spurred me on more. He was going to try to get down to Wiseman's bridge to see me there, I had a quick refuel again, then started out the second half. I had made the first 57miles in 3hrs 38mins, this would normally take me 4.5 - 5hrs I think, in an average speed of 15.63 mph!
The second leg is the hardest as you start to get a bit tired now - I had lost my commerades when I stopped for some water and was now with a new bunch - still quite a good bunch all the same. From Narberth you have an undulating ride towards the coast, drop down to Wiseman's bridge, climb out of there, drop down to the next beach, with a climb out, drop down to Saundersfoot and, you guessed it, another climb! I really enjoyed all the descents on this bit, to start with, out in the stix with the odd family picnicking at their gate to cheer us on, I was really pushing hard on the downhills. At Wiseman's bridge there was no sign of James - I figured it had taken him much longer to get there as, off the main course it's a pretty convoluted route, so I started the climb..........On Helen's bike I didn't have a granny ring, so this was just a little harder on the 16% climb, but it wasn't going to beat me - I made it eventually and carried on. At Saundersfoot I heard my name over the loudspeakers as I began the climb and suddenly people were screaming in my face, it was a little intimidating, but they were just being enthusiastic. I wasn't going to stop with this huge crowd cheering, so I dug deep and made it to the top, somehow! Now, just a fast drop down the dual carriageway into Tenby left to go. At this point the race leader passed me heading onto their second lap - it had taken them a while to catch up!! At the roundabout in Tenby I saw my amazing support crew in their flouro tees again, making alot of noise and jumping about excitedly (that was just Lynora!) I uttered some words whilst shaking my head, something like "f*$k me, that was hard"! then headed back out on the second lap and towards the special needs station.
At special needs I shoved as much food in my face as possible, salty cashews and chocolate and nuts all crammed in, refilled my pockets with gels and bars and carried on. I was starting to feel a little weary now, but just had to keep my head down and not think about the gravity of the race - I had bashed out a cracking ride so far and had made up so much time, so that kept me going. Back round to Lamphey, then onto the roads back to Narberth. This section still was pretty fast, but the hills were starting to get to me. Templeton was not as easy, nor was Narberth, and then I saw no James and started to get a bit blue. I was busting for a wee, but had told myself it could wait for T2, jumping over a hedge would waste too much valuable time, but at Narberth I afforded myself a toilet stop as I figured by now I was probably carrying an extra few kgs in fluid! I had a bit of a stretch as my back was starting to ache a bit, then wheeled out the bike and carried on again. I was starting to slow, and had completed that 41mile loop in 3hr 12mins, with wee stop, special needs and stretching. Final 14 miles to go back into Tenby, but the second attack of the bitch climbs also lay ahead. I was still pushing hard on the descents, but felt a little touch of dizziness coming on, which is the tale tale sign of dehydration - I had been drinking plenty and having electrolytes, but the sun was actually really hot, so I must have sweated alot.
At Wiseman's bridge this time I heard James cheering me on, he was outside the pub and I called him over and pulled up to a stop and promptly burst into tears. I just kept saying "it's so hard, oh my god, it's too hard" to which James replied "well of course it is hun, what did you expect, it's not easy otherwise everyone would be doing it"!! I don't know what it was, I think I had been getting blue because I hadn't seen James for ages and the picnickers had started clearing away, so I was getting a little lonely and tired, I was also a bit overwhelmed by how well I had done so far and still on come down after the most epic swim ever - my emotions caught me up and got the better of me when I started slowing up.
James completely put me back in the real world by pointing out that I had had an amazing race so far and still had an hour and a half to do a 15minute ride - which had the desired effect and perked me up no end. Unfortunately because I had all this time I let myself down somewhat - I got as far a I wanted up the hill out of Wiseman's bridge, then defiantly dismounted and walked up until it levelled off again. Some others had started to do so now too, so I wasn't the only one, but looking back I wish I hadn't, as I promptly did the same at the first part of Saundersfoot. Luckily no-one I knew was out there or I think I would die of embarrassment! All I had to do now was get back into Tenby, transition, then run a marathon! I got to the roundabout and the small climb to T2 to see again Mrs H jumping and screaming wildly, telling me I was amazing (which is nice to hear!) Mike, Dave Ruby and Lauren were cheering me on too! I spun up the climb, made it into T2 and grabbed my bag for my first sit down of the day! A lovely lady came over and tipped out my bag for me to find all the bits I needed - fresh socks, my trainers, jacket, gels etc - this transition was much quicker and I was up and out, panting for breath and running.....!
Running has never been my strongest sport - to be honest, the reason I prefer off road running is because there are obstacles that mean you often have to walk or hop around them, adjusting your speed and rhythm all the time, plus there's more to look at - rivers to cross and watch for fish, amazing sunsets and views etc. Running up and down the road out of Tenby therefore was always going to be bloody hard. My legs felt better than ever heading on to the run and I got more cheers from the IronCat support crew as I headed out of town. The trouble with this run was that it was flipping boring! 4 laps up and down the dual carriageway passing everyone else and high hedges most of the way so nothing to distract your mind. It was uphill all the way to New Hedges, then up another little section to the timing mat, then back down into town. To be fair, the loop around and up and down all the streets was okay, around the old ramparts and past the lifeboat station where the lifeguards were cheering and drinking tea (I should have asked for a cuppa!) As the sun was setting there was a great view from by the band stand, with a short sharp climb that the wind was blowing me up every time. It was just really long, I had finished the bike with over an hour left till cut off, so had 7hrs to do the marathon in, but I think mentally after the first lap I realised it would take a long time and I was starting to feel it already. I had smashed the swim and bike and left nothing in the tank - didn't seem much point as you don't want to know you could have gone harder if you don't make the cut off!
With the constant impact from the road running my knees had started to seize up and were really painful - I had hoped they would ease, but they just stayed the same. At the end of the first lap James couldn't find any paracetamol in the special needs bag - I had already taken my full quota of Ibuprofen on the ride to ease my shoulder, so wasn't allowed any more of that! He promised to get me some for the end of lap 2, but that made for a very painful second lap. Mentally as well as physically - I had realised how hard this would be, and was starting to get blue again and was missing the banter and James! Rose overtook me on this lap - she was trying to spur me on, but frankly, I didn't care - I had achieved all I wanted to so far and had never done a marathon before, so had nothing to beat except for the cut off - I was going to walk to preserve my knackered knees! I was also really dizzy, so started taking on as many tuc biscuits and pepsi as I could to boost my salt and sugar levels - I think my energy drink had helped on the ride, but I hadn't thought about this on the run, doh! I very slowly ran some of the downhill with tears rolling down my cheeks - damn this was an emotional as well as physical rollercoaster! I think I told one marshal that I was fine, but wanted my Mum, which earned me a quick reassuring hug!! I was seriously considering throwing the towel in, I just couldn't be bothered. I had kept myself 'up' for most of the day and was beyond caring!
As I came back in I saw James, Maz, Rem, Leo and Benjie - Leo was fab, cheering me on and they were all really encouraging and perked me up heaps - Mike, Lauren, Dave and Ruby were at the special needs bit now and handed me some paracetamol, followed by a huge handful of salty cashews etc - I also sat down for a few seconds to compeed my now blistered toe, then carried on.
Lap 3 was much better - James had made his way out to the run and locked up his bike so that he could run with me - it was now getting dark and starting to drizzle. We chatted with some other lovely people all the way up the hill alternating between running and walking, then back down again, it seemed much easier now as the pain in my knees was starting to ease and it was nicer to have some company. I was actually very thankful to have trained all summer in Devon - it has a very similar climate to Wales and the muggy summer with rainy showers meant that I didn't mind the weather one bit, I felt sorry for all the people seasoned to fast hot Ironman races who were getting beaten by the cold. I left James at the t junction again and popped back down to do the bit around the town, before heading out on my last lap. Dave and Rubes had found a great little spot where we'd pass several times. Lynora ran with me for a bit too thanking me for allowing her the opportunity to spend time oggling fit men!
Out on the last lap at long last and finally I felt good again - I ran heaps and kept going with James chatting to me along the route - it was really peeing it down now and I actually enjoyed the rain and the dark - there were lots of other people on their 2nd or 3rd laps who looked really drained and weary and I clapped for them and said "well done, keep going" I was on the homeward straight and really looking forward to finishing. As I ran through the town we were joined by Maz - the others had gone to the finish - we all ran along together and finally I rounded the last few corners (not before being buffeted back by the wind) and into the finishing chute. It was really horrible weather now, so there wasn't quite the crowd I had been expecting, but it was still great, some people had stuck it out and held out their hands for a long chain of high fives. As I crossed the line I heard the race Director say that special line - "well done, you are an Ironman" I didn't want to correct him - I am a woman after all - sexist, ha ha!!
All in I finished in 15hrs 43mins and found myself wondering what all the fuss was about - a bit of an instant comedown, but once the dark moments had passed I really had expected it to be harder - the pain of the day instantly forgotten! I was awarded my medal and ushered through to the massage area (where there was a long queue) and into the finishers tent. I had been expecting some huge area with hot tubs and an all you can eat buffet with everything you could ever imagine eating - but the reality was that it was a windy tent full of exhausted and drenched looking people shivering in space blankets! The food was being served from a mobile unit outside, fish and chips or soup. I went with fish and chips and instantly regretted it - but couldn't be bothered going back for soup. A kindly chap called Clifford who I got chatting to offered to share his tea with me as we shared stories of the day. I got my finisher's tee shirt and some crisps and headed out to join my fan club in the next tent.
My original target finishing time all along that I would have been happy with was to finish in 16hours - during training and pre-race sessions (olympic and 70.3) it was looking like I may be able to get closer to 15hrs - so I finished somewhere in the middle. Without the emotional factor I could have gone much faster, but I am more than happy with my result. My swim time was always predicted to be about 1hr 40 - so I am most pleased with that. I knew that if I really applied myself I could knock a fair whack off the bike, and I did, so I am very happy with that. I think it would have been good to set myself a target for the marathon, but not wishing to risk injury I hadn't even attempted this distance before. If I were at school still on my report card it would say 'could have done better', but I think I'll let me off this time!
This was THE single hardest race I have ever done, though I have made more of a fuss about much shorter races in the past and been in more pain afterwards. My training totally paid off as did my mental state of mind on the day - I had been through nerves, anxiety etc plus all my fears before race day, so come the morning I just wanted to jump straight in, feet first! I never thought I'd enjoy such a hard swim - but it was my toughest, but most rewarding ever, I actually think I like sea swimming now!
Would I do it again? Without a shadow of a doubt - yes!! Now where can I get me that tattoo?!!
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