Mike’s IM UK Race Report

I had arrived to England on Thursday evening before my first Ironman, rented a car with a steering wheel on the wrong side, and got lost driving in the black of night to Dorset, a small town two hours from the airport. At about 2 am as local bars emptied out, I finally found my way to a local family’s home which would be my base of operations for the next several days. The Ironman UK Homestay program which provides lodging for athletes with local families is a great way to do it and I can’t say enough about the family I stayed with or thank them enough for their generous hospitality

. I awoke on Friday morning and went to get in a swim at the lake and register. The race venue took place at the sight of historic Sherborne Castle which provided a grandeur backdrop to the event. The morning was very cool and overcast; a condition which would generally be status quo for my entire stay in England except, of course, when it was rainy and windy. Sticking my face in the water for the first time caused me to immediately hyperventilate from the cold. My wet suit was little protection in the 15 degree C water temperatures (60 deg F for us Yankees). I forced myself to move forward (after first trying to find a reason to quit gracefully) and after a few minutes my body adjusted to the cold temps and the calm water allowed for a good one lap swim of the two lap course. This practice swim boosted my confidence as the water temps had always been a concern for me. Following my swim, I registered and wandered around the expo buying some of the mandatory Ironman merchandise. Realizing my Mediterranean clothing attire might not be enough protection, I purchased some arms warmers, a decision which proved to be wise throughout the race. That evening I attended the pasta party which allowed me to listen to some of the pros talk as well as meet some fellow athletes. One fellow athlete was on Ironman number 27; can you say obsessed! I sat next to an Irish tri club who must’ve thought this event included a fourth leg involving drinking beer based on their raucous behavior.

Saturday began the same way, cool and overcast but luckily that ended by late morning and turned to cold and rainy. I finished putting my bike together and took it out for a short spin to make sure everything worked and then took a short run in the rain. After packing, unpacking, and repacking my transition bags several times and trying to wait out the rain, I finally gave up and drove to the transition area to drop off my bike and bags. Here I spent a little extra time asking questions of volunteers as to how exactly T1 and T2 worked since this was my first IM. Once I felt comfortable that I knew the flow, I left. I got to bed by 8:00 pm and actually slept a good seven hours (alternating between dreams of IM glory and nightmares of IM defeat) .

Wake up time on race morning was 3:15 am. My guest family had left a full breakfast spread so I and the other athlete staying at the house enjoyed a good solid breakfast. I arrived at the race by the 4:15 am transition opening and checked my bike, added bottles of water to my bike, and got in line early at the porta potties (smart move as lines soon became longer than amusement park ride lines). While I squeezed into my wetsuit, I heard others mention that many athletes were still trying to park as a result of the rain turning the grass parking lots into muddy messes and resulting in long delays. I was thankful this was not my problem. I applied (and reapplied) body glide to every body part before taking the advice of a veteran to just sit down and relax. Twenty minutes before the 6 am start, athletes were called from transition to the lake. I downed my lucky gel given to me as a gift by Andrea and Margaret (better know as my training wives according to my real wife) and headed out a little nervous. Waiting to begin my first Ironman, I stood in line to enter Lake Sherborne with 1500 other competitors on a cool overcast British morning and I thought to myself what in the hell was I thinking signing up for this event, a comment I had already repeated in my head several times over the past few days. It all started on a whim in April when a friend suggested I try an Ironman. Over the course of the following sixteen weeks, training had been long, difficult, and at times boring. But now here I was, at the start line. (Please, somebody, show me the finish line! Preferably in under 17 hours.)

Ironman UK requires the athletes to enter the lake and swim out about 200 meters to a buoy for the start. On the advice of my coach Gavin (one of many invaluable bits of advice Gavin told me and that I actually followed), I let others jump into the cold water and waited until near the end of the stream of 1500 athletes to enter and make my way to the start buoy. Again the initial shock of the water literally took my breath away but I used the swim out to get my body acclimated. I positioned myself in the first half of swimmers, just slightly off to the side somewhat, and proceeded to freeze with the rest of the crazy athletes waiting for what seemed to be an eternity. I couldn’t pee enough to stay warm. The horn sounded and I began the two lap course. Despite the washing machine effect and quite a bit of congestion for about the first quarter of the swim, I kept a good solid pace and never let the crowd panic me or take me out of my rhythm. Exiting the lake I saw I was slightly ahead of my target time. Swim time 1:18:06.

T1 was a good 150 yard jog/walk away from the lake. I took my time in T1 (some might even say I took a short nap). In hindsight, I could have been much faster, but I was focused on pacing myself, relaxing, and not letting the excitement take me out of my race. After much internal debate up to the date I had left for England, I had decided to wear a two piece tri suit under the wet suit and leave that on for the duration of the event. I only added my recently purchased arm warmers to my ensemble. T1 time 9:59. (Yep, definitely a short nap.)

Departing the castle grounds on the bike I eased into a good comfortable pace and saw a most bizarre sight. Two bikes had gotten tangled together and both athletes and a volunteer were trying unsuccessfully to remedy the problem. I still have no idea how this calamity happened. The bike course had equal segments of long flats and hills, many on very narrow English country roads lined with hedges. The course was three loops. What I soon noticed was the unusual amount of flat tires. It seemed every 500 meters, there was another biker along the side changing a tire. It appeared the rain had washed a lot of debris into the roads and was wreaking havoc on tires. I kept thinking to myself all through the first loop, “Please don’t get a flat.” Sure enough near the end of the first loop my back tire blew just as I passed a group of spectators. The tire change went well despite having a crowd of onlookers watching and an elderly gentleman wanting to assist. I kind of felt like a member of a Formula One pit crew. I kept thinking about the pre race briefing where organizers emphasized no outside assistance was allowed. I politely explained this fact to the gentleman a few times before he got the picture. Back on the bike for a short period, my rear tire began making a strange noise. I again hopped off hoping the tire was not flat again. It wasn’t, but I could not find out the source of the noise. I stopped for a third time but never figured out why my rear tire made a strange noise when the brakes where applied. I had equipped myself to handle two flats and placed a third tube and CO2 in my special needs bag. To be on the safe side, I stopped for a fourth time at the special needs drop and retrieved the tube and CO2 just in case. Never needed them but they made me feel much better. Another rookie IM mistake; placing my electrolyte caps inside a baggie in my bento box.

The first time I tried to retrieve the caps, they all fell out so in the words of the Seinfeld Soup Nazi, “No electrolytes for me!” I guess I should also mention “The Giant”; the back part of the loop took us through a long uphill climb known locally as “The Giant.” That day, I came to refer to it as the “F*****g Giant!” The climb would not have been so bad except there were no natural wind breaks. At times, I could feel a gust of wind almost knock me off the bike. Not a comfortable feeling (and no longer a need to pee). I continued through the remainder of the bike at a good conservative pace thinking to myself I still have a marathon to do. It began to rain (yeah!) and with the wind I began to worry briefly about hypothermia – a condition discussed during the pre-race briefing. I’m sure there are not too many other IMs where the medical brief is not heat related but on the effects of the cold! Bike time 6:29:39.

I also took my time in T2 changing socks and preparing for the run. Because it did not seem to be warming, I left my arm warmers on and put a long sleeve technical tee on overtop. The volunteers were amazing, constantly helping and asking if I needed anything. T2 time 7:42. (A slightly shorter nap.)

Off on the start, I again remembered and heeded Gavin’s advice to start off slowly. IM UK organizers were nice enough to start the run with a slight uphill grade. I had begun having stomach cramps on the bike and this condition continued at the run start. At the Kinnert HIM in April (my previous long race), I had very bad stomach cramps which ruined my run. My race strategy was to work through the cramps with a slow run and small sips of water. By about two miles, this strategy worked and I began to feel much better. I picked up the pace through the next 5 miles. I continued to follow a strict hydration regime of small sips of fluid (water, coke, Gatorade) every 1 ½ mile aid station (despite a strong desire to gulp down an entire cup, bottle, jug…). Every other station, I also took a power gel (wanted a pizza). The back half of the run course was affectionately termed “Babylon Hill.” As you would imagine this long 2 mile uphill climb was no fun with cold cross winds especially since we had to do it twice. There were several times on the hill I had to resist the urge to stop or walk. It seemed that by pushing it to the next aid station, the gels and fluid gave me the energy to make it to the next aid station.

That strategy is how I took the second half of the marathon, one aid station at a time. Throughout the run, I kept checking my pace. I needed a slightly faster than 4 hour run to make my IM goal of under 12 hours. Despite a strong second half run, I realized I would fall just shy of that goal. As I reentered the Castle grounds there were large crowds cheering us on. My British hosts had also come out and provided me with my own personal cheering section. The last 300 meters (of course uphill – British humor) were filled with lots of high fives to cheering kids. Into the shoot, I heard my name announced and it was over. Run time 3:58:45. First Ironman time 12:04:08.

What an amazing feeling to have completed an IM; its hard to describe. I can say the entire experience was phenomenal and that IM UK was exceptionally well organized. Except for the weather, it was a perfect setting to hold the race. Gavin and Ron proved to be excellent coaches preparing me for my first Ironman and I owe a note of thanks to them and the rest of Endure for the partnership the past five months. Next crazy thought: Ironman Louisville 2008. Hope to see you there