Robs Ironman France Race Report
I started the last lap and my head was dropping, legs were so sore, stomach was cramping, I was feeling sick, tired and couldn't believe I had to go out for another lap, my calves had the beginings of cramps snaking up them, it was so hot you couldn't believe, I was so tired.......then Ailis from the tri club shouted over at me asking if it was my last lap, yes I shouted back. "Well then enjoy it!" she shouted "This is what you came here for" and at that moment all the pain and soreness was manageable my head came back up and I realised that this is what I had wanted for years and I was doing it! I was going to enjoy the last 10k no mater what.......
The day started out very early, up at 3:30 after a surprisingly restful sleep a bowl of porridge and into Nice to get changed, it was still dark when we arrived but brightened while I was in transition doing my last minute prep. After a last minute toilet visit I headed out towards the swim start stopping along the way for a couple of minutes with the family. Standing on the beach trying to relax and stay calm as they counted us down the atmosphere was electric.
The starter gun fired and I walked into the water near the back of the group, we were divided into groups by predicted swim times. I was hoping for somewhere between 1h15 and 1h20. There was over 2300 people in a mass start and it was the expected bedlam, normally during the course of the swim it stretches out but there was so many people you rarely had any room at all. Almost as soon as I got going I relaxed and I could feel the stress of the pre race build up bleeding away, I could do this, I have trained all year for it.
I tried to stay out of trouble, not push too hard and stay calm. The swim was mostly uneventful except for the last 500mtrs when we encountered some huge jellyfish....the first time I saw one I got a bit of a fright and sprinted to get away from where it was, forgeting to breathe and having to force myself to calm down, this happened twice more in the next 5 mins and all I could think about was getting out of the water and away from them.
Finally the beach arrived and we walked up through the showers, Gretta was up on the wall about 50mtrs away and captured my relief to be out of the water perfectly.....
"I'm so happy to be out of that stupid water..."
We made our way into T1 which was pretty big, in the tent I sat down and got dried off and into full cycling kit, the helpers were fantastic helping us get out of our wetsuits, un packing clothes, applying suncream and packing up our wetsuits, as a result I spent over 10 mins in the first transition, it was very relaxing........(That is my excuse for being so slow....)
Out onto the bike and I settled in for what would be the longest part of the day, normally I do the bike without thinking but this section had me worried I didnt feel I had done enough long rides to get through comfortably....despite this I settled into a good rythym straight away and started making up places on the first climb, always being careful not to go over my set heart rate zone. I had thought the bike ride might have been boring but it was far from it, between remembering to eat, drink, watching h/r, chasing the next guy up the road and dealing with mixing drinks on the bike and refilling at the aid stations the time flew by. I only had one short period on the bike where I struggled on a climb, I think it was the last one but I ate some more and recovered quickly. Before I knew it I was on the last descent and it put a huge smile on my face, I passed loads of people here and had a ball. The last 15k or so on the flat were pretty uneventful, back into Nice and into T2 feeling great and my backside was delighted to get off the saddle.
Again we had all sorts of help in t2 and I think it was probably even longer than T1......gotta remember next time get the massage after the race not inthe transition tent.....
Straight away on the run I knew I would finish, I felt great (Well as great as could be expected after 8 hours)
Heading out for the marathon
My legs felt good apart from th expected heaviness after the bike but this passed after 30-40 mins, i tried to keep my splits as even as possible. At the start all I wanted was to run the whole marathon, at 15k I decided I would walk every 3rd aid station. The aid stations were about 20mtrs long. At 20k I reckoned I would walk every 2nd station, by 25k it was every station but only on the condition that I would not under any circumstances walk outside the aid stations. You make little deals with yourself along the way....
From 25k the race really starts and things got harder and painful, despite this there was never any doubt that I would finish, I never got into an argument with myself about stopping, it just wasn't an issue. I guess I was lucky in this respect. I passed people being taken off the run course on stretchers, men sitting on the kerb with their head in their hands, tears streaming down their faces, people vomiting, walking, stopping and the longer the day went on there were more and more people looking like they wouldnt make it. As it turned out there was over 300 people who didn't finish. It must be very hard to come this far and stop with 10 or 20k to go..........
The last lap was tough but I loved every minute of it, knowing how close I was getting. My 2 kids and my parents were waiting at about 100mtrs from the finish chute and ran with me to the entrance of the chute, it was like nothing I have ever done, there were athletes all along the finish doing high 5's all the way in, running up the ramp and under the banner, then I had the medal put over my head was the best feeling you can imagine..........
I sorta blacked out a little after that and had to lie down for a bit, I ended up in the medical tent for a while on a drip which seems to be reasonably normal as there was a good few others there. Gretta came and found me and we headed out to meet the rest of the family. We spent the next few hours getting my kit together and eating in a resturant on the Promenade opposite the finish, at 10:30 the lights went out and the fireworks began. 3 minutes later a guy jogged in to find the finish closed, he missed his medal, t shirt and was classed as DNF (Did not finish) 3 minutes late.........can you imagine after 16 hours and making the full distance only to be told you are 3 minutes too late? There was another 10 or so who arrived in to the same dark finish area while we finished up.
All in all sporting wise the best day of my life. After a good race you are on a high for a day or 2, I am still on a massive high 2 weeks later and no sign of coming down yet. I almost entered another Ironman race in September but I think common sense will prevail.....maybe.......
Last word, go do one it will be the best experience of your life
The day started out very early, up at 3:30 after a surprisingly restful sleep a bowl of porridge and into Nice to get changed, it was still dark when we arrived but brightened while I was in transition doing my last minute prep. After a last minute toilet visit I headed out towards the swim start stopping along the way for a couple of minutes with the family. Standing on the beach trying to relax and stay calm as they counted us down the atmosphere was electric.
The starter gun fired and I walked into the water near the back of the group, we were divided into groups by predicted swim times. I was hoping for somewhere between 1h15 and 1h20. There was over 2300 people in a mass start and it was the expected bedlam, normally during the course of the swim it stretches out but there was so many people you rarely had any room at all. Almost as soon as I got going I relaxed and I could feel the stress of the pre race build up bleeding away, I could do this, I have trained all year for it.
I tried to stay out of trouble, not push too hard and stay calm. The swim was mostly uneventful except for the last 500mtrs when we encountered some huge jellyfish....the first time I saw one I got a bit of a fright and sprinted to get away from where it was, forgeting to breathe and having to force myself to calm down, this happened twice more in the next 5 mins and all I could think about was getting out of the water and away from them.
Finally the beach arrived and we walked up through the showers, Gretta was up on the wall about 50mtrs away and captured my relief to be out of the water perfectly.....
"I'm so happy to be out of that stupid water..."We made our way into T1 which was pretty big, in the tent I sat down and got dried off and into full cycling kit, the helpers were fantastic helping us get out of our wetsuits, un packing clothes, applying suncream and packing up our wetsuits, as a result I spent over 10 mins in the first transition, it was very relaxing........(That is my excuse for being so slow....)
Out onto the bike and I settled in for what would be the longest part of the day, normally I do the bike without thinking but this section had me worried I didnt feel I had done enough long rides to get through comfortably....despite this I settled into a good rythym straight away and started making up places on the first climb, always being careful not to go over my set heart rate zone. I had thought the bike ride might have been boring but it was far from it, between remembering to eat, drink, watching h/r, chasing the next guy up the road and dealing with mixing drinks on the bike and refilling at the aid stations the time flew by. I only had one short period on the bike where I struggled on a climb, I think it was the last one but I ate some more and recovered quickly. Before I knew it I was on the last descent and it put a huge smile on my face, I passed loads of people here and had a ball. The last 15k or so on the flat were pretty uneventful, back into Nice and into T2 feeling great and my backside was delighted to get off the saddle.Again we had all sorts of help in t2 and I think it was probably even longer than T1......gotta remember next time get the massage after the race not inthe transition tent.....
Straight away on the run I knew I would finish, I felt great (Well as great as could be expected after 8 hours)
Heading out for the marathonMy legs felt good apart from th expected heaviness after the bike but this passed after 30-40 mins, i tried to keep my splits as even as possible. At the start all I wanted was to run the whole marathon, at 15k I decided I would walk every 3rd aid station. The aid stations were about 20mtrs long. At 20k I reckoned I would walk every 2nd station, by 25k it was every station but only on the condition that I would not under any circumstances walk outside the aid stations. You make little deals with yourself along the way....
From 25k the race really starts and things got harder and painful, despite this there was never any doubt that I would finish, I never got into an argument with myself about stopping, it just wasn't an issue. I guess I was lucky in this respect. I passed people being taken off the run course on stretchers, men sitting on the kerb with their head in their hands, tears streaming down their faces, people vomiting, walking, stopping and the longer the day went on there were more and more people looking like they wouldnt make it. As it turned out there was over 300 people who didn't finish. It must be very hard to come this far and stop with 10 or 20k to go..........
The last lap was tough but I loved every minute of it, knowing how close I was getting. My 2 kids and my parents were waiting at about 100mtrs from the finish chute and ran with me to the entrance of the chute, it was like nothing I have ever done, there were athletes all along the finish doing high 5's all the way in, running up the ramp and under the banner, then I had the medal put over my head was the best feeling you can imagine..........
I sorta blacked out a little after that and had to lie down for a bit, I ended up in the medical tent for a while on a drip which seems to be reasonably normal as there was a good few others there. Gretta came and found me and we headed out to meet the rest of the family. We spent the next few hours getting my kit together and eating in a resturant on the Promenade opposite the finish, at 10:30 the lights went out and the fireworks began. 3 minutes later a guy jogged in to find the finish closed, he missed his medal, t shirt and was classed as DNF (Did not finish) 3 minutes late.........can you imagine after 16 hours and making the full distance only to be told you are 3 minutes too late? There was another 10 or so who arrived in to the same dark finish area while we finished up.
All in all sporting wise the best day of my life. After a good race you are on a high for a day or 2, I am still on a massive high 2 weeks later and no sign of coming down yet. I almost entered another Ironman race in September but I think common sense will prevail.....maybe.......
Last word, go do one it will be the best experience of your life