Here is my Ironman World Championship 2010 Race Report........Event - Ironman World Champs 2010
Distance - Swim 3.8km, Cycle 180km, Run 42.2km
Time - 11 hours 26 minutes (ouch!)
Well it has been quite a few years since I have been out on an Ironman course for more than 11 hours and I think it would be fair to say that out of the 7 Ironman races I have lined up for this day hurt like no other had ever before. Getting to the start line had been a bit of a mission during race week after my haemoglobin returned a result of 103 which meant that I didn't meet the 110 limit set by my haemotologist to race. I was reviewed by the race medical director early in the week and got the seal of approval to start which having spent the last 8 weeks frantically trying grow some haemoglobin was good news - I at least wanted the opportunity to give it a crack.
I was pretty nervous and I think that had shown during the race week preparations - I knew that my body could not cope with the effort of a half Ironman with a haemoglobin of 90 following the big DNF at the Capricorn Half Ironman and subsequent diagnosis of weird type of anaemia that munched up my red blood cells - so I was unsure what 103 would mean for an Ironman and I hoped that it would be enough to achieve what I wanted to.
Over the last few weeks I had found that some days I woke up and felt near human and then other days I felt nauseous and sluggish - generally the near human days resulted in a good days training and the latter generally meant a not so good day - so when I opened my eyes to a big wave of nausea on race morning I was a little apprehensive. I told myself it was just nerves and set about my usual race morning routines and made my way down to the start line.
This year I had decided to be a little bolder in the swim and get closer up the front and have a crack at swimming in the mosh pit. The cannon fired and off I went surrounded by an army of people kicking and punching - I kept my head low to avoid any full face hits and managed to catch onto the tail end of a group - the pace was hot and by the time we were approaching the turn I knew I was in trouble so as the group began to make the turn around the boat I swam straight ahead to grab onto a life surfies board which I promptly vomited over - poor guy didn't sign up for that I'm sure! I turned my back to the sea of swimmers hurtling around the boat and focused on trying to stay calm - my body had developed this irritating mechanism of vomiting whenever the intensity I was working at was too hard for it cope with so I knew that I needed to take it down a fair few notches and find a pace that it could cope with.
I rested for around 10 minutes and the surf lifesaver had called over a couple of other boardies during this time who were all giving me some serious encouragement to keep on going so I turned around to face the oncoming swimmers and waited for a pack with a decent number in that I could get on the back of. By now my watch was flashing 40 minutes at me so I knew that I would be lucky to make it out of the water in a decent time but to be honest all I wanted to do was make it out in one piece. Finally I managed to hop on the back of a pack and cruised the second half of the swim back to shore - the effort was really easy and by the time I hit the exit steps I felt as though I had done enough to recover myself enough to get on with the bike.
Once through the maze of transition I was out on my bike and could start to get some fluids and fuel in - I made short work of the dog leg around time and before I knew it I was out on the Queen K and into the winds. I steadily worked my way up the field balancing the effort and intensity around how I felt physically. The climb up to the Hawi turnaround was pretty gusty and once at the top of the climb I was beginning to feel a little cooked and my body began to resort to the afore mentioned coping strategy! Thankfully I was now taking on the descent which meant that I could cruise down the hills at a pretty decent speed without much effort - most of the effort was spent trying to stabilise my bike in the wind rather than on the pace.
Once back on the Queen K highway and inside the last 60km of the bike I focused on trying to keep down as much fluid as possible and staying as cool as possible which meant a pick up of at least 2 water bottles at each aid station - one to consume and one to throw over my head. There was tailwind for the last 15-20km so again I could keep the effort down for a decent speed. I hit transition in a total race time of 7 hours which I was pretty happy with considering I had crossed the intensity line a fair few times over the day so far - I figured with a decent run split the race was still salvageable and I knew from my experience at Ironman New Zealand this year that a decent run split can make all the difference.
I seemed to find my running legs pretty quickly which was quite surprising - Elaine and Mags my Kona support crew were about 1.5km into the run course and I gave them a wave and a smile to let them know I was doing OK - I felt good - hungry but good. Next check in was with swim coach Ally B about 750 metres later - she asked if I was feeling OK and I gave her the Big Island hang loose sign to tell her I was. I then began to make my way up Alii Drive and probably 2km after giving the hang loose sign I was beginning to feel really rather weird!!
I took in an energy gel which my body quickly ejected, attempted some fluids which elicited a similar response and then my vision began to get a little blurry. Thankfully I was approaching an aid station so once again I pulled off to the side to try and work out what I needed to do to get through the next 36km of the marathon - the reality was I had no idea. In training I had managed to resurrect myself with full sugar coke so I asked a volunteer for some coke, emptied out my fuel belt bottle of electrolyte and replaced them with the coke. I had begun to get the shakes and was finding it hard to catch my breath so I walked out of the aid station and tried to build the pace into a jog. After what seemed like forever my legs were moving in a slow running pace and although I wasn't managing to keep much of the coke down I felt like I was getting something in. I could only watch the fast feet of runners passing me by - I couldn't match the pace nor did I have the energy to try.
Running back into town I was beginning to get a little emotional - I still had 28kms to go and was barely running - as I turned the corner out of Alii Drive I spotted Ally B and the kiwi team manager Janette - suddenly tears were streaming down my face and it took every bit of strength not to sit down next to them and call it a day. Ally B told me I looked awesome and although I knew she was just being kind - I'm sure as a snivelling wreck I looked anything but - I told myself to keep it together. I thought back to the moment I stopped my bike in the Capricorn Half Ironman and called it a day - that initial few seconds of relief that the agony was over before the hours and days of feeling like a complete failure set in - I was not about to go through that again so however long it took my body to get through this day is was making it to the finish line. Just before hitting the Queen K I saw Elaine and Mags on the sidelines - I slowed my pace to a walk and told Elaine that I was in trouble but that I was finishing no matter how long it took - we had a quick hug and then I began to build the pace again to a slow run.
The Queen K highway was hot and humid - I hadn't eaten an energy gel for well over 90 minutes so I decided to try get one into me before hitting the solar panel lined energy lab because I knew if it was hot on the highway it was going to be even hotter in there. I was managing to hold onto most of my coke so figured my body might not notice me sneaking in an energy gel but I was wrong. So I hit the 6km stretch through the energy lab with the fuel tank empty and by the time I had got 2kms in I was beginning to weave all over the road and other runners were beginning to start asking me if I was OK - I made the decision to slow my pace even more to a walk until I was out of the energy lab - I have never walked during any event before so it was pretty soul destroying to have to resort to it but on reflection it was probably the best decision I made all day. At a walking pace I was able to get a gel in and drink both coke and electrolyte so by the time I got out of the energy lab I had managed to fuel up a little for run home.
As I began to build myself back to something that resembled a run I kept thinking of the finish line - I had been out on the marathon course for over 4 hours which felt like an eternity - running is usually what I love about an Ironman event and where I feel most at home but today i was fighting for every km and I felt like an alien in unfamiliar territory. I decided it was important to still have some kind of a goal to keep me moving so I told myself I had to try get to the finish line in under 11hours 30minutes which given the pace I was going I felt would be achievable.
Once back in town I was on track and the crowds were going mental - to them it didn't matter what time I was running down the finishers chute in - they were just happy and excited that I had made it - and so was I!! I crossed in 11 hours 26 minutes and I don't think I will be forgetting any one of those hours or minutes for quite some time.
As I came over the line I was quickly bundled into medical - I was dehydrated but also having a bit of trouble catching my breath. They pulled off some blood to test my haemoglobin and it came back at 80 which put everyone into a spin for about 30 minutes - I figured that was probably why I was struggling to slow my breathing down! I got given a couple of litres of intravenous fluid and started to feel a bit more perky. Eventually I was allowed out of the tent and into the care of Elaine and Mags who fed me full sugar coke and salted chippies along the walk back to the condo!
So BIG UP Thank You's go to Elaine & Mags for being my Kona support crew, my lovely swim coach Ally Boggs who has spent the last 3 weeks looking after me and keeping me positive, Neil Stafford who with his awesome company Direct Organics have kept me in a plentiful supply of fruit and veges for the last 3 months, Julia and Andy Flaherty for sponsoring me my swim skin - even if I did vomit on it..... My nutritionist Alison Rainbow, Physio Dene Coleman and last but by no means least Tri Coach Tony for his efforts to get the best out of me and my training programme on not very many haemoglobin cells!
Big Thanks to all of YOU sat reading this for the support and encouragement you have given me, particularly over the last 8 weeks, without you guys I wouldn't even have made it to the start line!
So now I have 5 days to relax with Mags and Elaine in Honolulu before returning home and catching up with my Haemotologist to figure out the best way of growing back my haemoglobin!
Well it has been quite a few years since I have been out on an Ironman course for more than 11 hours and I think it would be fair to say that out of the 7 Ironman races I have lined up for this day hurt like no other had ever before. Getting to the start line had been a bit of a mission during race week after my haemoglobin returned a result of 103 which meant that I didn't meet the 110 limit set by my haemotologist to race. I was reviewed by the race medical director early in the week and got the seal of approval to start which having spent the last 8 weeks frantically trying grow some haemoglobin was good news - I at least wanted the opportunity to give it a crack.
I was pretty nervous and I think that had shown during the race week preparations - I knew that my body could not cope with the effort of a half Ironman with a haemoglobin of 90 following the big DNF at the Capricorn Half Ironman and subsequent diagnosis of weird type of anaemia that munched up my red blood cells - so I was unsure what 103 would mean for an Ironman and I hoped that it would be enough to achieve what I wanted to.
Over the last few weeks I had found that some days I woke up and felt near human and then other days I felt nauseous and sluggish - generally the near human days resulted in a good days training and the latter generally meant a not so good day - so when I opened my eyes to a big wave of nausea on race morning I was a little apprehensive. I told myself it was just nerves and set about my usual race morning routines and made my way down to the start line.
This year I had decided to be a little bolder in the swim and get closer up the front and have a crack at swimming in the mosh pit. The cannon fired and off I went surrounded by an army of people kicking and punching - I kept my head low to avoid any full face hits and managed to catch onto the tail end of a group - the pace was hot and by the time we were approaching the turn I knew I was in trouble so as the group began to make the turn around the boat I swam straight ahead to grab onto a life surfies board which I promptly vomited over - poor guy didn't sign up for that I'm sure! I turned my back to the sea of swimmers hurtling around the boat and focused on trying to stay calm - my body had developed this irritating mechanism of vomiting whenever the intensity I was working at was too hard for it cope with so I knew that I needed to take it down a fair few notches and find a pace that it could cope with.
I rested for around 10 minutes and the surf lifesaver had called over a couple of other boardies during this time who were all giving me some serious encouragement to keep on going so I turned around to face the oncoming swimmers and waited for a pack with a decent number in that I could get on the back of. By now my watch was flashing 40 minutes at me so I knew that I would be lucky to make it out of the water in a decent time but to be honest all I wanted to do was make it out in one piece. Finally I managed to hop on the back of a pack and cruised the second half of the swim back to shore - the effort was really easy and by the time I hit the exit steps I felt as though I had done enough to recover myself enough to get on with the bike.
Once through the maze of transition I was out on my bike and could start to get some fluids and fuel in - I made short work of the dog leg around time and before I knew it I was out on the Queen K and into the winds. I steadily worked my way up the field balancing the effort and intensity around how I felt physically. The climb up to the Hawi turnaround was pretty gusty and once at the top of the climb I was beginning to feel a little cooked and my body began to resort to the afore mentioned coping strategy! Thankfully I was now taking on the descent which meant that I could cruise down the hills at a pretty decent speed without much effort - most of the effort was spent trying to stabilise my bike in the wind rather than on the pace.
Once back on the Queen K highway and inside the last 60km of the bike I focused on trying to keep down as much fluid as possible and staying as cool as possible which meant a pick up of at least 2 water bottles at each aid station - one to consume and one to throw over my head. There was tailwind for the last 15-20km so again I could keep the effort down for a decent speed. I hit transition in a total race time of 7 hours which I was pretty happy with considering I had crossed the intensity line a fair few times over the day so far - I figured with a decent run split the race was still salvageable and I knew from my experience at Ironman New Zealand this year that a decent run split can make all the difference.
I seemed to find my running legs pretty quickly which was quite surprising - Elaine and Mags my Kona support crew were about 1.5km into the run course and I gave them a wave and a smile to let them know I was doing OK - I felt good - hungry but good. Next check in was with swim coach Ally B about 750 metres later - she asked if I was feeling OK and I gave her the Big Island hang loose sign to tell her I was. I then began to make my way up Alii Drive and probably 2km after giving the hang loose sign I was beginning to feel really rather weird!!
I took in an energy gel which my body quickly ejected, attempted some fluids which elicited a similar response and then my vision began to get a little blurry. Thankfully I was approaching an aid station so once again I pulled off to the side to try and work out what I needed to do to get through the next 36km of the marathon - the reality was I had no idea. In training I had managed to resurrect myself with full sugar coke so I asked a volunteer for some coke, emptied out my fuel belt bottle of electrolyte and replaced them with the coke. I had begun to get the shakes and was finding it hard to catch my breath so I walked out of the aid station and tried to build the pace into a jog. After what seemed like forever my legs were moving in a slow running pace and although I wasn't managing to keep much of the coke down I felt like I was getting something in. I could only watch the fast feet of runners passing me by - I couldn't match the pace nor did I have the energy to try.
Running back into town I was beginning to get a little emotional - I still had 28kms to go and was barely running - as I turned the corner out of Alii Drive I spotted Ally B and the kiwi team manager Janette - suddenly tears were streaming down my face and it took every bit of strength not to sit down next to them and call it a day. Ally B told me I looked awesome and although I knew she was just being kind - I'm sure as a snivelling wreck I looked anything but - I told myself to keep it together. I thought back to the moment I stopped my bike in the Capricorn Half Ironman and called it a day - that initial few seconds of relief that the agony was over before the hours and days of feeling like a complete failure set in - I was not about to go through that again so however long it took my body to get through this day is was making it to the finish line. Just before hitting the Queen K I saw Elaine and Mags on the sidelines - I slowed my pace to a walk and told Elaine that I was in trouble but that I was finishing no matter how long it took - we had a quick hug and then I began to build the pace again to a slow run.
The Queen K highway was hot and humid - I hadn't eaten an energy gel for well over 90 minutes so I decided to try get one into me before hitting the solar panel lined energy lab because I knew if it was hot on the highway it was going to be even hotter in there. I was managing to hold onto most of my coke so figured my body might not notice me sneaking in an energy gel but I was wrong. So I hit the 6km stretch through the energy lab with the fuel tank empty and by the time I had got 2kms in I was beginning to weave all over the road and other runners were beginning to start asking me if I was OK - I made the decision to slow my pace even more to a walk until I was out of the energy lab - I have never walked during any event before so it was pretty soul destroying to have to resort to it but on reflection it was probably the best decision I made all day. At a walking pace I was able to get a gel in and drink both coke and electrolyte so by the time I got out of the energy lab I had managed to fuel up a little for run home.
As I began to build myself back to something that resembled a run I kept thinking of the finish line - I had been out on the marathon course for over 4 hours which felt like an eternity - running is usually what I love about an Ironman event and where I feel most at home but today i was fighting for every km and I felt like an alien in unfamiliar territory. I decided it was important to still have some kind of a goal to keep me moving so I told myself I had to try get to the finish line in under 11hours 30minutes which given the pace I was going I felt would be achievable.
Once back in town I was on track and the crowds were going mental - to them it didn't matter what time I was running down the finishers chute in - they were just happy and excited that I had made it - and so was I!! I crossed in 11 hours 26 minutes and I don't think I will be forgetting any one of those hours or minutes for quite some time.
As I came over the line I was quickly bundled into medical - I was dehydrated but also having a bit of trouble catching my breath. They pulled off some blood to test my haemoglobin and it came back at 80 which put everyone into a spin for about 30 minutes - I figured that was probably why I was struggling to slow my breathing down! I got given a couple of litres of intravenous fluid and started to feel a bit more perky. Eventually I was allowed out of the tent and into the care of Elaine and Mags who fed me full sugar coke and salted chippies along the walk back to the condo!
So BIG UP Thank You's go to Elaine & Mags for being my Kona support crew, my lovely swim coach Ally Boggs who has spent the last 3 weeks looking after me and keeping me positive, Neil Stafford who with his awesome company Direct Organics have kept me in a plentiful supply of fruit and veges for the last 3 months, Julia and Andy Flaherty for sponsoring me my swim skin - even if I did vomit on it..... My nutritionist Alison Rainbow, Physio Dene Coleman and last but by no means least Tri Coach Tony for his efforts to get the best out of me and my training programme on not very many haemoglobin cells!
Big Thanks to all of YOU sat reading this for the support and encouragement you have given me, particularly over the last 8 weeks, without you guys I wouldn't even have made it to the start line!
So now I have 5 days to relax with Mags and Elaine in Honolulu before returning home and catching up with my Haemotologist to figure out the best way of growing back my haemoglobin!
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