Ironman UK 70.3

It was just before 6:00 in the morning, I was in a lake with a water temperature of about 17oC and an air temperature slightly lower. The sun was trying to break through, but an eerie mist had descended through which a 'sea' of brightly colored swim hats could be seen bobbing in the water against a backdrop of the hills of Exmoor. I was no longer feeling nervous, I had done the training and the day was finally here- bring it on.
The starting horn rang out across the lake and we were off. I had chosen a position near the front of the swim but at a point that meant you had the longest swim out to the first turning buoy. There was a theory behind this, a) I didn't want to get caught up in ' the washing machine' of mass swim starts and b) I didn't want to get boxed in behind slower swimmers. It was also about 700m to the first turn so a quick mathematical calculation (Pythagoras hasn't let me down yet) showed that I would actually only be swimming an extra 20-30 m. All went to plan, I had a relaxed enjoyable, easy swim, I therefore couldn't believe it as I looked at my watch as I was running up the beach and saw that I had completed the 1.2 miles in 31:38. It was then to the first tent, to pick up the T1 bag before heading out to find the bike. Whilst I had thought this was going to be a bit intimidating, not only did you have to remember where you had racked your bike but also 2 bag rack spots- it all went very smoothly, with marshalls directing you to the right row.

Ironman UK 70.3 is widely recognised as one of the toughest bike courses on the 70.3 circuit. The boasts of '52 hills in 56 miles' may strike fear into the heart (or legs) of triathletes but the biggest concern for me was negotiating the twisty descents, on wet, narrow roads. It was definitely a course for a conventional road bike and cautious riding (thanks again Anne for the txt advising 'slow and steady' the night before the race). There were several rain showers during the bike course, and I saw the remnants of one very painful crash, which I had avoided thanks to Anne's warning ringing in my ears. As it was still very early in the morning it was pretty cold, at one point I couldn't shift my chain onto the big ring as my hands had frozen.The showers didn't help much, it actually got to the point where I was looking forward to the climbs so that I could get warmed up again. As I approached the lake again at the end of the second lap, I was just delighted that I had made it around in one piece. A nice marshall grabbed my bike as I crossed the dismount line and the American commentator roared something about Kay Hack, I sort of got the idea that I was doing OK in my age group- or was it just general American enthusiasm ?? Then it was onto the run course, my triathlon nemesis.
The off-road run comprised of three laps which included grass, trails and a nice concrete hill. The route was surrounded with supporters and it was great to hear cheers of 'Come on Triangle'. By my second and third lap the course was starting to fill up and it was a great feeling to be running past people - something I have not experienced very often in my running career. My 'Best Outcome' goal run time was around 1:52, with a fall back of 1:59. The distance markers were at 1,5 and 9 miles, so I was shocked to see that I was covering 4 miles at about 8 min/mile pace . More mental arithmetic and I realised that I could get home in around 1:45- sorry doesn't everyone do mental arithmetic when they are running/cycling long endurance events - or is that just me ?
The run course included a long drag up a grass field, not dissimilar to the one on the University Cross Country Course that Anne has been pacing me around for the last month. Anne was recovering from her 2 Oceans run, and was pacing me at MY half marathon pace- I think Anne was slightly misguided in what she thought my pace was. My thoughts drifted back to those sessions and Anne exhorting me to keep the pace up, and drive up the hill, so her voice was ringing in my ears again with a constant ' up up up'.
At a couple of points on the course you could see back up the field to the runners behind you, I was constantly scanning the groups for women of a certain age, then trying to work out whether they were running fast enough to be catching me or whether they were a lap behind. Down to the last turn, and the poor marshall who must have spent about 4 hours saying ' 3 big laps then up to the finish'- I wonder how many times he must have said that during the course of the day .....more sums.
Up then to the finish, and our American friend roaring that I had won my age group, and broken the previous course record for that age group by 20 minutes - Job Done - World Champs Florida here we come.
One final embarrassing saga...at the prize presentation and allocation of slots for the World Championships. I heard my name called out, and as I approached the podium, the commentator was calling me Dr Catherine Hack - my brain was a bit addled- how did he know my full name, surely it is only Peter Jack that gives me my full title. He asked me if I wanted to go to Florida, "err yes", I replied,
" well I think you might need this" he said as he produced my wallet. I had left it in the phone box when I was trying to call home. Thanks to the very honest athlete who had handed it in - if he hadn't not only would I not have been able to sign up for the world champs, but I would also have had trouble getting back home.
Finally thanks to two people without whom I don't think I would have achieved this. Anne has already had a couple of mentions in this blog, she gave me some great advice when I was putting my plan together, not to mention the ' red pen' and the ' why' against certain sessions. She also gave invaluable advice on the taper, something I certainly didn't feel confident about.
The last person to thank is of course Gary, his support, his sense of perspective and his humour ( as well as his efforts with the hacksaw on my tribars) were critical in getting me to the start line.