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Chasing the Kona dream and a Mai Tai cocktail
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Warning this may take longer to read than it took me to finish the race:)
Preamble
I suppose to really capture how I arrived at completing my first IronMan at the weekend I need to take it back a bit to give you the full picture. During my twenties I lived an unhealthy lifestyle. You know, too much bad food, too much beer, no exercise, generally just abusing my body and not looking after my health. It was within my early twenties (late 90s) I remember turning over to a channel and watching this thing on the TV “Kona IronMan World Championship”. I was glued to the screen as I watched these guys hammer through a swim/bike/run and I was in total awe of what these guys were doing along with the distances they covered. How was this possible? Can anyone do one? I want to do one!! I obviously had a few beers in me at the time but that thought was stored way into the back of my mind to be called over a decade later.
Fast forward to Xmas 2009 on Stephens Day and after another decade of abusing my body I am lying in hospital hooked up to an ECG with “heart irregularities”. Lying there in a mess, tipping the scales at 14st 10lbs at my heaviest and scared as hell for my health along with responsibilities of having a young family, I vowed to change my lifestyle, get fit and change my ways.
2010 was the start out year as I trained towards my first marathon which I achieved in sub 4 hours. Delighted with this achievement and buoyed by the increase in fitness levels I booked my first ever triathlon, an IronMan of all things. This is where that moment back in my young twenties came to realisation!! I am actually going to do an IronMan!!
Training
Having no prior triathlon experience I came into training a little naive and wet behind the years. I had worked out a 36 week self coached plan based loosely on the Don Fink competitive plan which seen me cover 485hours and 8800kms broken down into 233kms of swimming, 6900kms of cycling and 1670kms of running.
I adjusted well to the heavy volumes and I was learning lots along the way. The main difficulty as I seen it was to get the family/work/life/training balance right. Having a young family of 4 wonderful kids, a very supportive and understanding wife in Michelle, a busy job and on top of all that trying to train for an IronMan would be considered crazy and it felt like it at times. I wanted this so bad that I had to make it work and it did. It involved lots of early morning, lunchtime and late night sessions. Weekend 5hr turbo rides at 4/5am in the morning to get them out of the way to not affect family time. My time management had to be down to a tee and it thankfully was.
I was happy overall with how the training went in particular on both the cycle and run as I made some huge improvements along the way. The swim is still a bit of a mystery which I will work on for next year.
Pre-Race
Taper had gone well and I arrived over to Bolton on the ferry on the Friday morning. I had a great support crew with Michelle and the two eldest lads along with my parents. I would have loved to have my two young girls there as well but they are too young to understand what Daddy is doing. It would also be too much for Michelle to manage as we struggled earlier in the year when I went to do the Half IM in Barcelona. It was great to have the support but I am sure I was irritable as hell on the Friday and Saturday as race nerves started to set in.
I headed straight down to the expo at Leigh Sports Village which was very underwhelming and picked up my race number. I was late for the practice swim on the Friday but decided to head down to Pennington Flash to have a look about. The water looked calm but it was hard to make out the buoys as they were so far apart.
Next on the list was a recce of the bike course and in particular Sheep House Lane which I wanted to cycle up to see what all the fuss was about. They had not signposted the bike course yet and we got lost a few times which added time on to my day when I should have been relaxing. Finally we found Sheep House Lane and I done an over and back 3 times of Horribon Lane for a quick warm up and then headed up to the climb. I like climbing, the steeper the better!! I had done the SHL climb a number of times on the turbo but you cannot beat the real thing. I knew the climb levelled in the middle for a bit before it really kicked up towards the end so pacing it on race day would be crucial so as not to go into the red. I went up it with ease and it acted as reassurance that the hill work I put into my training would pay off on race day.
Friday evening was spent at the Pasta party which was a bit of fun and created a bit of atmosphere which was seriously lacking so far. It was truly amazing to see the True Spirit team and what these guys were trying to achieve. Some of these guys were double even treble amputees. So much respect has to go to them for the courage to compete.
Saturday morning was back down to the Flash for a quick practice swim. Visibility was murky at best but the water temperature was pretty good and there was not much duck crap floating about!! I was only in for about 20 minutes and swam half of the first loop. As soon as I dried off I then racked my bike bag and bike taking a mental note of where my bike was positioned in transition. I then headed straight down to T2 to drop off my run bag which was about 30kms away which was a pain in the arse.
Back to the hotel and I tried to go for an afternoon snooze to try and rest up but ended up lying there for an hour with all thoughts focussed on the following day. A quick bite to eat and I was away to the race briefing in the Reebok Stadium at 5pm. All pretty self explanatory rules although I knew my youngest lad Ryan would not be a fan of the “DQ rule if you bring a spectator across the finish line with you”. He loves doing it, did it in the Dublin City Marathon and the Half IM in Barcelona. I had another bite to eat and went to the cinema to take my mind off things.
Hit the bed around 9:30pm, stomach churning, IM thoughts and scenarios running through my head. What if I get a puncture? What if I cannot find my runners? What if my legs don’t work….the usual crazy stuff most IMers probably think about.
Race morning
I ended up sleeping for the guts of an hour and woke up at 3am to head down for brekkie. Before that I was presented with drawings and placards that the kids and Michelle had made up. This is when the emotions started to go a bit. I just thought I was so lucky to have these great people in my life and supporting me on one of the toughest challenges I am ever likely to do. I managed two bowls of porridge, yoghurt, carb mix drink, 2 slices of toast and jam along with a croissant and a coffee for a boost (I hate coffee).
We ended up in the Flash a little late around 5:15am, first calling was the portaloo…twice as I was in bits with the nervous excitement. By the time I got numbered and suited up the athletes were already being brought into the water. I ended up at the back of the group and said my final goodbyes. More hugs, kisses and emotions running high, get a grip I told myself.
Swim
As I was heading out to the start of the loop (about 300mtrs away) I heard the national anthem being played. As I came up to about 100mtrs away the Claxton sounded and off they went, Fcuk that’s not a great start. I hit my stopwatch and off I went in pursuit.
I had no feet to draft off at the start as there were only a few stragglers around me and they were going at a slower pace. I gunned it for the first 10 minutes to try and catch feet just then my right calf muscle spasms with cramp. The cramp then goes into the ball of my foot. I am doing my best impression of Christy Brown in My Left Foot at this stage as I turn on to my back to try and stretch it out. I am not sure how much time I lost probably a few minutes.
I finally got going and only seen a handful about, **** Fran this is going pear shaped. I persevered on with the crampy feeling still there in the right foot. As I closed in on the last buoy to the first lap the cramp pain came back again but much worse this time. I lost more time and one of the canoe marshals came over and asked was I alright. I told them I would be in a minute and not to offer any assistance as I did not want to be DQ’d they then told me I would need to get moving or risk facing the cut off time. I had a quick look at the stopwatch at the end of the first loop and it read 55:xx. My heart sank to the bottom of the lake right at that very moment I knew the first lap was about 1.7kms and the second about 2.1km with the swim back in. It meant I had averaged around 3.14km pace with the two stoppages.
This was the defining moment of my race. I dug deep, got the arms working and got into a powerful stroke really giving it socks. I was sighting perfectly after every 8th stroke or so and as I made my way back out I was starting to pass the breaststrokers. I was working way too hard but knew I had to. My heart felt as if it was going to jump out of the wetsuit. As I turned for home I started to come across bigger groups and caught some feet for the last 300mtrs home to try and recover a bit knowing I was safe.
I had a projected time of 1:30 for the swim but I would have liked to be closer to 1:20 as this was the real target I wanted to hit. I came out of the water expecting to see something like a 1:40/1:45 or something after the disastrous first lap but a quick glance at the watch showed 1:32:xx which meant an average of 2.25 per km and a stunning (well for me) 1.45 per km pace on the second lap. Those 37 minutes of swimming were my best ever and it just shows that when the chips are down I can muster a decent pace although probably not sustainable!!
Swim time: 1:32:03, 1029th/1326
T1
I was flustered after the hard effort I put in for the last bit of the swim so much so in fact that I somehow managed to pick up the wrong bike bag!! Even with help I was slow and the Father has me on the video cam at my bike faffing about for two minutes. My projected time here was 5 minutes and I was over that time. Coming out of T1 I spotted my support crew and gave them kisses and high fives. I think they were more relieved than I was to be out of the lake and in one piece.
T1 time: 6:16
Bike
I felt this was my strongest area closely followed by the run. A quick glance at my HRM was telling me 174 heading out, holy **** I need to work on getting this down pronto. The first hour of the bike was easier than easy as I worked to get the heart rate down. The plan for the bike was to take it easy for the first 90km and keep the hr below 145 which is low zone 2 effort for me and then up it slightly towards 148 for the second half.
I started to play the counting game on the bike as it amuses me and its one of the rare bonuses of not being a fast swimmer. I joined up on the loop after about 25kms into the ride. My first attempt at the SHL climb went well and I passed 33 people here as I just danced on the pedals as people mashed there way up in great difficulty. I really enjoyed this and the support going up here was very good. Back down the descent and I was picking up a nice bit of pace, I near came a cropper at a sharp left as you hit 60/65km/hr downhill so I took note of that for next time around.
Hydration and nutritional plan was working a treat. I was taking a gel every 20 minutes and half an energy bar or a nutrigrain every hour. For fluids I planned on taking 3 carb mix drinks and rotating the drinks between water/water with nuun tabs and gaterade. I was pissing regularly which was good to, it was hard to push the first one out but after that it just became second nature as you pedal on.
I hit SHL for the second time around the 75km mark and came across my support crew again. This was a great boost as I was not expecting to see them out on the bike course as I told them it would not be worth their while. I was still playing my counting game as I passed people and there was another 35 victims to be taken on the climb which brought me up to over 250 people passed on the bike.
I had noticed my pace was about 2km p/h off as I passed the halfway mark. I knew I had cycled well within myself so I pushed on a little more and brought the pace up closer to target pace. I did have some demons visit me when I glanced at the stopwatch to see 6 hours had passed and about 4.5 on the bike. The thoughts of going for another 6 hours near had me in tears. I soon used thoughts of all those early morning turbo sessions and the support of my family to get through this and the demons passed soon after.
Up SHL for a third time and this time I showed off a bit too much and near coughed up a lung at the top having passed about 50 more victims. I took it easy on the last descent coming down as there was a serious crash with one lad being attended by medical crew, ouch!!! With about 40km it was make your mind up time, I could have pushed and got under my projected bike time of 6:30 or bring it home around 6:40 and keep the run legs fresh and give it a right go at the marathon. Overall happy enough with the bike and passing over 400 people was fun. I do think I slightly undercooked the bike but it’s a difficult course and you can pay dearly on those rolling hills if you are pushing to big a gear.
Bike time: 6:40:13 and up to 612th/1326
T2
Better than T1 and just changed my socks to compression gear and put on my secondary race belt with gels. Got rid of the cycle top and put on my hat and out door I went for a little run!!
T2 time: 4:35
Run
I knew if I wanted to get the sub 12 I would need to pick up 10 minutes on my projected run time of 3:45. I felt great as we headed along to the outward road of 8 mile to join up to the 6 mile loop which we needed to do 3 times. The 8 mile run out was pretty uninspiring but as soon as we hit the loop the support was great. I was running hard but was holding my form very well. I was passing bunches of people at a time and making up more places. The loop was more or less 3 mile downhill and then back up so I was literally canning it on the downhill bits. The battery in the garmin started to go so I just switched it off and ran off the stopwatch. .
Up until halfway through the run I was running through the aid stations and just taking on water along with a gel every 20 minutes. The run through the aid stations became a quick walk for about 10 seconds in the second half of the marathon and there was a short sharp hill of 200mtrs which was quicker to walk than run.
With about 7 mile left to go I had an idea on what needed to be done. My legs had gone at this stage, the hams and quads were screaming please stop. As I came back down to the square for the 2nd last time before the finishing chute I knew I needed to get up and back in under 56 minutes or so which sounds easier than it really was. The demons attacked me hard here and I really wanted to stop and walk but I would not let myself. I passed Michelle and the boys along with my Mother/Father and they shouted the loudest support ever. This was it this was the time to enter the pain cave. I told them to move to the finish line as I was coming home next time around.
As I turned to run back up the 3 mile uphill and collect my last band I heard a shout from El Director offering courage and support. You do not know how much I needed that at the time dude!! I ran strong up that hill for the last time weaving in and out of people who clearly ****ed up their race execution. The crowds were roaring people on. As I reached the top and collected my last band I hugged one of the volunteers out of pure ecstasy having not to do that again.
Running back down for the last 3 mile and with my 3 bands on all the supporters knew I was heading for home. The shouts of go go go and great running 212, will stay with me forever. The pain was there the legs were exploding, keep it going Fran nearly there nearly there. With a mile to go I knew sub 12 would be close although my mind was frazzled at this stage. I could hear the crowds draw me closer to the finish line. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I entered the square I flashed my 3 bands at the marshals to allow me enter the finishing chute. Hat off and tucked into the tri suit, number straightened. This is what I had dreamt it would be like, I enter the finishing chute to huge roars and the announcer in his cheesy American voice that we all love….”Fran you are an IronMan” I am 20 metres from the line the emotions get me when I see my family bawling/shouting/willing me on. I cross the line in 11:58:04, I did it.
I don’t remember the next few minutes as my legs went and the medical staff tried to get me into a wheelchair although I was having none of it. I stand up proud to have the medal around my neck and its right up there as one of my proudest moments. I meet Michelle and the kids and we embrace for a few minutes. My Dad who I have never seen cry has tears in his eyes saying so proud of you son. I sit down with my head in my hands and weep with joy shortly followed by some dry heaving in a nearby hedge.
Run time: 3:34:54 and up to 386th overall out of 1326. Top 30% of the field
Total time: 11:58:04
Post race
It took me a while to fully come around to myself but I headed back up to see the finishers come across the line as its something I had always intended on doing. Met up with ElDirector, it was good to meet you chief and put a face to the name after all our tri discussions during the year. I am near thinking of pacing a 16:59 next year to get the final finishers greeting, epic so it was.
Ok so whilst my body is in bits and I have a new pair of legs ordered I cannot take this grin off my face. I am really chuffed with how I executed my A goal race for the year. The target was originally to finish this was then revised down to sub 13hr and then finally down to sub 12hr so I was chuffed to bits to hit the target and I really had to bury myself to get it. I know I left everything out on the course and I have learnt so much about myself, not only in the race but throughout the IM journey.
The only downside I have since heard the run was slightly short but that’s out of my control as I can only race the course put in front of me. It just means to not put so much emphasis on my marathon time of 3:34 as it was more like a 3:4x:xx if the distance was right.
The UKIM course is tough, I would rate the bike course as tough if not tougher than the Wicklow200 and the run was tough as well. On a faster course like Roth or Austria the same effort would probably see me close to sub 11hr. My projections were not so far off.
Swim: 1:30 projected / 1:32:03 actual
T1/2: 10mins projected / 10:51 actual
Bike: 6:30 projected / 6:40:13 actual
Run: 3:45 projected / 3:34:54 actual
Sub 12 projected / 11:58:04 actual
Thanks to
I have a load of people to thank. You know who you all are and each of you have given me valuable advice over the year to help me achieve what I set out to do. The biggest thanks however have to go to Michelle as she deserves the medal much more than I do. I will be eternally grateful to her and the kids for their support over the year. It shows how much of a legend she is when she already got talking about plans for Roth!!
What next
I had intended to have a craic at a sub 3:10 marathon in mid September although I will probably knock it on the head as I doubt I would do myself justice. I aim to do one or two more tris and a few 5/10k races to see out the season. The more immediate plan is a 2 week family holiday in our place in Turkey starting on Thursday. I am looking forward to the downtime and chilling with the family.
The plan for next year will be Roth and who knows we could be looking at a sub 10 attempt depending on how training goes over winter. I know one thing is for certain I will work darn hard to get there0 -
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Great account of what was always going to be a memorable day. Never mind more tri's, 5 or 10k's, get thee to the pool. With the amount of time and effort you managed to squeeze in and physical distance in the pool Ill personally take the time to ensure you get the time you deserve the next time you swim a competitive 3.8k. Having to catch up with the breastrokers ??? Fran ? the shame ? Congrats on getting yourself out of the water - theres 30 mins right there for you next time.
I liked this ....
"I started to play the counting game on the bike as it amuses me and its one of the rare bonuses of not being a fast swimmer."
My version is slightly different (most of the time
)
"I like to play the counting game on the bike as it amuses me and its even more entertaining on the run watching people go past."0 -
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Fair flippin' play to you Fran thats a great account of a super race. I agree with interested, get thee to a pool this summer. Sweet another sub10 Roth Blog next year, it could become a tradition (Step up Abhainn for 2013)! Really enjoyed your log and it offered support and motivation to me also on this journey. I agree wholeheartedly with what the support means to you. You are a lucky guy to have one of those placards for you. You are an inspiration kid' and no doubt stirred up some desires to go the distance for others. Enjoy Turkey, massively well deserved, do some swimming there and give the legs a complete break. Thanks again for the log and the report
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Great report and result Fran. I spent all day Sunday tracking you on the phone. Having done the bike course I can tell you that 6.40 is a great time and definitely suggests at least an hour quicker in Roth. That along with a quicker run and learning how to swim
will certainly send you close to sub 10hrs. Enjoy the well deserved rest. 0 -
Congrats on a great race Fran. That's a long time coming - late 90s.
I sometimes get a cramp in the bottom of my foot during a swim - disaster for that to happen so early - but you fairly made up for that in the second lap. And what a run, super stuff.
Enjoy the holiday with the family and the rest time. You have earned it.
A quicker bike and swim next year will see you pull off a super time no doubt.
Yeah the calf and foot cramp was strange and could have easily ended the race before it really started. I know i am a slow swimmer but i really thought i could pull a 1:20 out of the bag. Without the issues i would have easily broke 1:25 but more importantly i would not have needed to kill myself on the 2nd lap and impact my bike for the first hour or so. At least i know there is 25/30 minutes there for the taking.
So where are you targeting for you're IM next year, i could do with some company/competition in Roth;)
Cheers M, darn nearly got you to cry....must try harder:) Yeah emotional stuff all round as all sense of manliness leaves you when you cross that line and you turn into a jibbering wreck. The pic coming up the finish straight tells it all really!!RacoonQueen wrote: »Well done chief, great report. Those pics of your finish almost brought a tear to my eye, almost, not quite. :pac:
Great racing, great report. Thrilled for you. You'll do better than sub 3:10 in your next marathon.Never got a chance to wish you luck as i was away but knew you didnt need it anyway, you created your own with the training.
Quality performance and congrats on the sub 12. Delighted to see that bike pacing and it totally shows in the marathon time. I think that shows sub 3.10 is well within you.
Enjoy the down time now and thanks for a good read.
Cheers B for the advice through the year. I undercooked the bike, i had to early on to recover from the hard effort on the swim. In terms of time there was probably nothing lost or gained from undecooking it as it had me very fresh for the run.interested wrote: »Great account of what was always going to be a memorable day. Never mind more tri's, 5 or 10k's, get thee to the pool. With the amount of time and effort you managed to squeeze in and physical distance in the pool Ill personally take the time to ensure you get the time you deserve the next time you swim a competitive 3.8k. Having to catch up with the breastrokers ??? Fran ? the shame ? Congrats on getting yourself out of the water - theres 30 mins right there for you next time.
I liked this ....
"I started to play the counting game on the bike as it amuses me and its one of the rare bonuses of not being a fast swimmer."
My version is slightly different (most of the time)
"I like to play the counting game on the bike as it amuses me and its even more entertaining on the run watching people go past."
Cheers M. I will be doing plenty of swimming, probably an hour a day between pool and ow as we have our own pool and the beach is a 10 min walk away. I think when i get back i need to start back at the swim basics as i have allowed a lot of bad habits to creep in and my technique is woeful. It was shameful swimming through the breaststrokers alright, i tell you one thing that 2nd lap flew by though and i felt like i was flying along. As you say there is 30 minutes there for the taking or in the case of UKIM just gone another 150 placings:eek:
Cheers J, i look forward to hopefully reading your IM exploits next year.Inspiring stuff Fran, 100% deserved. Delighted for yourself and your family.shotgunmcos wrote: »Fair flippin' play to you Fran thats a great account of a super race. I agree with interested, get thee to a pool this summer. Sweet another sub10 Roth Blog next year, it could become a tradition (Step up Abhainn for 2013)! Really enjoyed your log and it offered support and motivation to me also on this journey. I agree wholeheartedly with what the support means to you. You are a lucky guy to have one of those placards for you. You are an inspiration kid' and no doubt stirred up some desires to go the distance for others. Enjoy Turkey, massively well deserved, do some swimming there and give the legs a complete break. Thanks again for the log and the report
Cheers M, i probably took the most from your advice/log through the last 8 months and i found it a huge help. I think it was the fact that both of our IM's were only a few weeks apart and it is easier to relate to and get another perspective from someone else going through the same as you are.
I will be picking your brain re Roth when that rolls around:)griffin100 wrote: »Great report and result Fran. I spent all day Sunday tracking you on the phone. Having done the bike course I can tell you that 6.40 is a great time and definitely suggests at least an hour quicker in Roth. That along with a quicker run and learning how to swim will certainly send you close to sub 10hrs. Enjoy the well deserved rest.
Cheers P it was good to be able to pick your brain having completed the course the year previous. I will try and learn how to swim for next time although i cringe when i look back to the start of the log when i was even contemplating doing breastroke for the full swim:P
Better go pack some bags!!0 -
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