1st Half Iron Man - Part 3 - The Run

1st Half Iron Man - Part 3 - The Run

I got through T2 pretty well as well, in fact considering I hadn't really practiced them my transitions were pretty good on the whole. When I got out onto the run course, in my head I was telling myself that a sub 5:30 time was on and for the first 2 and a half miles, it was. I felt strong…..

And then the course took a gravelly turn into the full sun. It was about 29 degrees and considering I had trained mostly in temperatures of around 10 degrees, that was a problem. Not only that but boy did my feet start to hurt, something I don't think I have ever experienced before. The time started to slow. I tried to take one of the gels they had on course but couldn't get it down and was struggling to run and get water out of the little cups… I was in a hole. Genuinely, half way though lap 1 I was seriously considering if I could complete the course. I had to switch it up mentally…

They had aid stations every 1.5km so I made the decision to break it up aid station by aid station and when I got to each, take a moment to walk, drink, throw ice down my back and then carry on to the next one. And then we got to the Stairway to heaven… my lord these 52 odd steps were a struggle. Honestly at this point it felt like it was simple a struggle to get to each of the aid stations. The pace slowed but I was able keep going and keep to that plan… I was running seriously low on energy though, oranges slices helped but by that point it was probably too late. Lap to was simply a slog and became all about finishing rather than finishing under a specific time. I got a bit of a boost at the 10 mile mark, but even that didn't last long.

The feeling when you get to the red carpet though was unlike any other finish line I have been on, the atmosphere, the feeling of accomplishment, everything! It took me a good 30 minutes to feel myself again afterwards and after a cool shower and some refuelling I felt at least human again (a very sunburnt and very tired human!).

This was an awesome experience, an incredible event and left me hungry for more and yes you guessed it, despite saying I would never do one, the full distance is on the cards….

I have learnt a huge amount of lessons over the years and given the life plans that are rolling out I could be in a bit of a now or never situation…

The key lessons I have learnt from both this and the events of my past that I am going to implement without question….

1. Run longer, sooner and build that Z2 running base

2. Learn to fuel whilst riding fast on the bike

3. Get a bike fit, you are going to spend a lot of time on that bike and in the full Iron man being fast and comfortable here is one of the big keys to success.

4. Swim with a team, my god swimming on your own can be tough. The last time I trained with a tri club my swimming with the coaching came on a huge amount. If I can take another step here then that would be great.

5. Take part in some open water swimming events to gain more experience

6. Make sure the event isn't the be all and end all. Have different events along the way to build up to it. My rough plan at the moment is to train for Hyrox Pro, complete another 70.3 early next season and then hit the ironman at the end of the summer! It's a rough plan for now but let's see how it goes!