the race

And the gun goes off . Into the water. The cacophony of muffled noise from the crowds on the jetties greets you with every breath . All a bit surreal at this point.a waking dream. Its still sinking in that you are doing it the race has begun. Halfway up the first straight after a few sights I’m clear and the leaders are only 30 odd metres ahead. I keep shifting and moving trying to get in anyones wake. So far the swim has been clean. That was until we reached the 2 km point. We then started to bumping into the slower swimmers from wave 1 who set off 15 mins earlier. From here on in it turns into a real bun fight, dunkings, punching and kicking all going on in the 2nd 2 k. sighting for the canal entrance is very difficult going into the sun and i’m all over the place. The swim up the canal is jam packed and i’m happily swimming people into the bank to get them out of the way. The blue caps (first wave) are now everywhere and are a real pain in the ass. Its a relief to see the exit and get out of there. Into t1 and out the door.

The bike

i’m off 112 miles of fun in the sun. as usual i’ve left my shoes clipped into the bike with elastic bands holding them upright. This didn’t go too well in IM Wales last year and today it nearly spelt disaster. I rolled out of t1 and the bike seemed to be making a weird noise . After 2 miles I stopped thought it was the rear disc with the brake pads rubbing so I slackened the brakes right off then carried on. No change. So got off again and did the front brake. Still no change , weird rubbing noise . I’m looking down at the bike searching for the source of the noise, I can’t see it and its starting to freak me out. A group of boys go by and I am,to be fair ,cycling a bit irratically . One of our amercian friends decides to put his opinion forward. I am in no mood to cement the special anglo amercian friendship at this point . So I dutifully inform him if he opens his fat burger eating amercian mouth again i’ll ram my fist straight down it. He seems a bit taken aback so in the spirit of true sportsman ship I offer to show him my bike handling skills by offering to hook him into the hedge while holding a perfect line around the next corner. Suitably chastised I leave him and his boyfriends to it. As i’m climbing up the next hill I pass some austrian guy who as I pass him he says ‘your front mech cable is rubbing on the side wall of your back tyre’ i’m not joking. Htf did he notice that? Clearly he will make detective. As I reach down and flip the cable off the tyre the noise stops and I notice the rubbing has already scored a mark in the side wall of the tyre. I thank him profusly for saving my race then hook him into a ditch for his troubles. No, I couldve hugged him. What a legend. As the elastic bands had snapped going out of t1 they had bent the excess cable on the front gear changer over so it rubbed on the tyre. Very lucky escape.

The course is far from flat. I feel like I am working far too hard for the power I am producing. The back leg of the two lap course is a struggle and the ‘tdf’ type climb is long and hard. The crowds are ecstatic though. A corridor of people up the main climb opening out just in time as you go passed. Takes a bit of getting used to. The run in on the first lap is all down hill 15 miles of it and the disc wheel really gets going. I nearly come a proper cropper on a flat section as I top up my water bottles none handed and a gust of wind takes the disc sideways how I stayed on is a mystery. At the end of the first lap and the first 10 of the second is the only time I felt good on the bike. Then a peleton of riders a good 50 strong come into view. Its like a road race . Nobody cares about drafting , the marshals can blow on their whistles all they like ,nobody is listening. What are they going to do, give all of us a 10 min penalty. There’ll be noone left for the run. This is a new experience for me. But i’ll take my luck where I find it. The group fragments on the next climb 10 miles later . Then it rains. Better than the soaring temperatures we had been expecting. The last quarter of the bike is a miserable affair and I can’t wait to get off the bloody thing.

My bike time was 5 hrs 11. not good enough. Average power was 206 watts. The same power as IM wales a year ago . Something was wrong somewhere. My power target was 230 watts. Ftp going into the event was just over 300 watts. Legs just didnt turn up on the day. I know this marathon is going to hurt from step 1 if sub 10 is on.

T2

undid my shoes going in then unclipped anyway. Now I either have to take the shoes off and run bare foot or do them back up. One is still on the bike ,so take the other off and run in . Shambles.lol last chug of fluid ,trainers on,new gel flasks ,caffeiene tabs necked , sun camp and sunnies and out the door I go. This is going to hurt …….. a lot. Its pan flat , the first leg follows the railway track along the lake there aren’t that many runners on the course as yet .i see caroline and adams boys and anwen at mile 1. After mile 6 I am looking for the finish. This is going to hurt…. a lot more than a lot. At the top turn I briefly see mum sitting there happy as larry. She instinctively reaches both arms out to me , she’s too far away. Its a moment I shall never forget. Tears just start cascading down my face. I can’t stop them as I run on. No, I didnt stop. A moment where we saw what it all meant . My mum. What a legend. A knee jerk reaction .unconditional love. Was clear as a bell in that one split second.

Anyway i’ve things to do. As I run on passed the 6 mile mark I see a guy running with a big fuck off balloon tied to him. Even in my current frame of mind and situation this seems…..unusual. As I close on him there is something written on the balloon ‘ <10hrs'. It takes a while to figure this anomaly out.he is the sub 10 hr marker. So all I have to do is stay in front of this dip and the job is done. I have a yarn with him. I optimistically ask' is it sub 10 from the first wave or second'(as this would give me an extra 15 mins)' from the second ' he replies. No extra 15 mins for me. So in a new twist i've got to stay in front of this loon. He follows me with an air of menace. Like the booby car in a top gear challenge he is there ,hovering. The second quarter goes along the canal and at the turn (9miles) went through a nice traditional part of town where u had to ring a bell through an archway. Knowing my luck the bell would fall off and decapitate me as well as breaking a leg. But I threw caution to the wind and rang it, as it seemed the thing to do and all my mates were doing it. As I run back there he is the top gear balloon accuser . I've gained around 5 mins on him by mile 10. the half way point I see ben with his big welsh flag that heather fails to see at any part of the race . Another welsh competitor had asked ben if he knew where the last bus to treorchy left from . The next 13 go by in a blur .its hard now. The pace is consistent ,unrelenting . One painful foot in front of the other each step jarring the quads with a little stab of pain. All I can think about is when i'll see the gorm with his little fucking balloon . 17Miles was the answer i've got a mile and a bit on him. Surely now, holding it together its going to b difficult to be caught. The back 6. fuck the bell this time i'm dying here. I probably am actually dying. Its pain with pain added and pain on top. Every metre is ….did I mention pain at all. Into the middle and the crowds I can hear the announcements at the finish line, but where is it. It has to be soon. I run passed where ben was last time.(you remember these spots to the yard hoping to see them again, it means a lot to see a familiar face ) then the turn for the finish that red carpet. I run in look at the clock one guy has just finished the clock reads 9.56. either way i've done it. Turns out as I cross the line he was in wave 1 so I was 15mins ahead of him. 9 hrs 44 mins . Fuck the balloon guy .i was shattered. I needed to be helped away and just sat the hell down. Difficult to comprehend the journey had ended. 9 months in the making . I was a sub 10 IM. I grabbed myself a beer. I didn't know what to do with myself. Isat and stared and watched . There was a 44 gallon drum full of iced water that some competitors were climbing into. There was no one I could get my leg high enough to get in there. I almost thought this would be the only time I would be happy for a bigger man to pick me up and drop me in it. But they are all fucked as well. I cant remember anything about the next hour. I was showered and changed had found ben and was waiting to cheer heather and adam on at the finish line. They came in together and both finished in the same time. Heather was in tears ,seems something had gone wrong at the finish. We left and went to do the post mortem. After heather was all sorted we went back to the finish line and cheered the others in . As usual for the boys and girls who had been out there the longest they were rewarded with heavy rain. We watched them all come in . All shapes all sizes. Chapeau to every man jack of them. The last competitor home made it in 16 hours 54 mins . Love your work . IM Austria 2014.