What a welcome back to Ironman.
Overall positives;
I went sub 10 in one of the hardest Ironman events in the world (The combination of wind, heat and hills makes for one tough race)
I didn't bonk and blow up in spectacular fashion in the race.
I learnt a lot about how to race and pace an Ironman.
Negatives
I didn't qualify for Hawaii
I didn't beat Goss
I didn't execute the run how I wanted to.
Swim (55:33)
That has to go down as one of the craziest swim starts ever. 2200 age group athletes loaded into a barrel 10 people wide are shot down the sand and into the water. The poor Pros with the weaker swims are lined up right in the firing line with only about 20m of sand between them and the hoard that was about to engulf them. I thought Gossage would have been acting as the welcome mat for the masses to trample on as they started the race. As it turned out she did amazingly in a rough and tough swim.
I was about 10 back from the front line as the gun went. The first 400m I had no idea which direction I was going in I was just trying to find space to swim in. I felt like a wildebeest trying to cross the Serengeti river with the crocodiles snapping at my legs.
I finished the swim in 55:33 and was pleased; amazingly Goss came out right behind me. I think she had just been riding Scott Neyedli like a surfboard! It's the only explanation I can come up with.
The Bike (5:29:13)
I knew instantly what my game plan had to be. With Goss so close to me on the swim and with my history of blowing up like Hiroshima. I would draw on her vast experience of Ironman racing and use her as a little pacer. I sat behind her at a comfortable distance, the constant stream of motorbikes kept me racing clean, and to be honest I didn't need her draft just her race brain. We also decided that I wasn't going to ride in front at all, as it would look like I'm pulling Goss round the course massively effecting the pro race. A technique that has been used by certain female athletes in the past.
It was so hard mentally riding along at a pace that felt so slow. Guys were flying past us (Maggy Backstead came past like he was on a Ducati!) and the urge to follow them was strong, but I put my faith in my little pacer who kept just chugging along as she does. I drank as much as I could (two bottles each aid station) and I ate something substantial every 30min as well as 3 packs of ride shots in between. It worked well, as I pissed myself 8 times on the bike (Goss was delighted when I informed her) and had no cardiac drift over the 180km.
We didn't stay together for the entire 180km I broke away after about 60-70km, she caught me again at about 100km and then I broke away again off the big descent from Mirador (125km). But I now count myself as a official graduate of the 'Lucy Gossage School of Ironman Bike Pacing'.
To me Ironman racing seems to be all about trying to go slower rather than attacking and putting in big efforts. I was constantly trying hold back and ignore the other athletes, maybe I could have gone faster on the bike, but it did feel good to be riding strong back into transition passing many a struggling athlete that had already spent their beans early in the ride.
The Run (3:24:13)
Now I count myself as 'a runner' and maybe I was for the first 20km. I thought when I started the run with a 3min lead on Goss that I had the house championship belt in the bag! All I need to do is jog round in 3hrs, how hard can that be!? At about 24km it felt like Forest Gump had tracked me down and attached his leg bracers to me. I was no longer running. I had turned into an ironman zombie and was in full zombie shuffle mode! I wasn't the only one, there were hoards of iron zombies out there all shuffling along. Occasionally you would get some bastard who had just started his first lap fly past looking all happy and springy, but you smiled to yourself and thought you'll be shuffling with the rest of us soon enough! As it turns out Goss is immune to zombie bites so she came flying past. I tried to go with her but the legs just couldn't break free of their shackles. I considered jumping on her back and riding her to the finish line, but we might have seen the 'ballbuster' actually bust some balls if I had tried.
Overall
Lanzarote is an incredible event. The scenery on the bike feels like you’re on a different planet (in fact they were filming an episode of Dr Who while we were there). The wind also makes for one tough race, it didn’t bother me so much on the bike, but on the run it was horrible.
I'm happy with my swim, especially with such a tough start.
I'm happy that I managed my nutrition well and didn't blow up.
I'm happy to have paced the bike leg well
I need to improve my run endurance, don't need any more speed just durability, I haven't been running enough in the build up, just because I can run fast doesn't make me a strong runner. Once I've improved this strength endurance I can start to crank the bike pace and push the envelope again. Next Ironman is the Outlaw in 10 weeks and to go near 9 hrs I'm going to need to run strong.
Overall positives;
I went sub 10 in one of the hardest Ironman events in the world (The combination of wind, heat and hills makes for one tough race)
I didn't bonk and blow up in spectacular fashion in the race.
I learnt a lot about how to race and pace an Ironman.
Negatives
I didn't qualify for Hawaii
I didn't beat Goss
I didn't execute the run how I wanted to.
Swim (55:33)
That has to go down as one of the craziest swim starts ever. 2200 age group athletes loaded into a barrel 10 people wide are shot down the sand and into the water. The poor Pros with the weaker swims are lined up right in the firing line with only about 20m of sand between them and the hoard that was about to engulf them. I thought Gossage would have been acting as the welcome mat for the masses to trample on as they started the race. As it turned out she did amazingly in a rough and tough swim.
I was about 10 back from the front line as the gun went. The first 400m I had no idea which direction I was going in I was just trying to find space to swim in. I felt like a wildebeest trying to cross the Serengeti river with the crocodiles snapping at my legs.
I finished the swim in 55:33 and was pleased; amazingly Goss came out right behind me. I think she had just been riding Scott Neyedli like a surfboard! It's the only explanation I can come up with.
The Bike (5:29:13)
I knew instantly what my game plan had to be. With Goss so close to me on the swim and with my history of blowing up like Hiroshima. I would draw on her vast experience of Ironman racing and use her as a little pacer. I sat behind her at a comfortable distance, the constant stream of motorbikes kept me racing clean, and to be honest I didn't need her draft just her race brain. We also decided that I wasn't going to ride in front at all, as it would look like I'm pulling Goss round the course massively effecting the pro race. A technique that has been used by certain female athletes in the past.
It was so hard mentally riding along at a pace that felt so slow. Guys were flying past us (Maggy Backstead came past like he was on a Ducati!) and the urge to follow them was strong, but I put my faith in my little pacer who kept just chugging along as she does. I drank as much as I could (two bottles each aid station) and I ate something substantial every 30min as well as 3 packs of ride shots in between. It worked well, as I pissed myself 8 times on the bike (Goss was delighted when I informed her) and had no cardiac drift over the 180km.
We didn't stay together for the entire 180km I broke away after about 60-70km, she caught me again at about 100km and then I broke away again off the big descent from Mirador (125km). But I now count myself as a official graduate of the 'Lucy Gossage School of Ironman Bike Pacing'.
To me Ironman racing seems to be all about trying to go slower rather than attacking and putting in big efforts. I was constantly trying hold back and ignore the other athletes, maybe I could have gone faster on the bike, but it did feel good to be riding strong back into transition passing many a struggling athlete that had already spent their beans early in the ride.
The Run (3:24:13)
Now I count myself as 'a runner' and maybe I was for the first 20km. I thought when I started the run with a 3min lead on Goss that I had the house championship belt in the bag! All I need to do is jog round in 3hrs, how hard can that be!? At about 24km it felt like Forest Gump had tracked me down and attached his leg bracers to me. I was no longer running. I had turned into an ironman zombie and was in full zombie shuffle mode! I wasn't the only one, there were hoards of iron zombies out there all shuffling along. Occasionally you would get some bastard who had just started his first lap fly past looking all happy and springy, but you smiled to yourself and thought you'll be shuffling with the rest of us soon enough! As it turns out Goss is immune to zombie bites so she came flying past. I tried to go with her but the legs just couldn't break free of their shackles. I considered jumping on her back and riding her to the finish line, but we might have seen the 'ballbuster' actually bust some balls if I had tried.
Overall
Lanzarote is an incredible event. The scenery on the bike feels like you’re on a different planet (in fact they were filming an episode of Dr Who while we were there). The wind also makes for one tough race, it didn’t bother me so much on the bike, but on the run it was horrible.
I'm happy with my swim, especially with such a tough start.
I'm happy that I managed my nutrition well and didn't blow up.
I'm happy to have paced the bike leg well
I need to improve my run endurance, don't need any more speed just durability, I haven't been running enough in the build up, just because I can run fast doesn't make me a strong runner. Once I've improved this strength endurance I can start to crank the bike pace and push the envelope again. Next Ironman is the Outlaw in 10 weeks and to go near 9 hrs I'm going to need to run strong.