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 Swim
Comments: To misquote Laozhi, the journey of 140.6 miles begins with a single step. Carpe diem. Got a great start. Straight out behind the guy in front of me and then a gap opened up between him and the guy on his left. So after about 30 yards I was in clear water. Kept my distance from people on the left all the way to the first turn buoy, did a few right sided breaths to see if anyone was close - no. I took the first turn really wide (at least 30 yards wide). But this was great - I've had worse contact in a Sprint. Got into a small pack on the way back in on the first lap - again no real contact, everyone seemed to be behaving themselves. And I think the benefit of swimming with faster peoople is that people tend to hold their line more and avoid contact anyway. Got out on the first loop and saw that the clock read 40:00 exactly. What ? Then I realised that it must have been the pro time - so the first lap was 30mins. At least I think that was the case. But it gave me a brief - oh dear - moment. Made the diagonal track across to the first buoy and then got a closer line around the second lap. All very uneventfull until I passed a guy in speedos near the end of my second lap. Just as I was passing him my right calf cramped. I had to pull up and wiggle my foot until it went away. Then I put it to the back of my mind and carried on the last 200 yards to shore. This was a fuly controlled swim. I could have gone faster but there was no point. My race plan had me exiting the water between 1:05 - 1:10 so I was in a good place as I came through past the clock. What would you do differently?: Line up closer to the inside ... perhaps. I probably swam a good 100 yards further on the first lap than I needed to. But at the cost of a far more pleasant swim.  Transition 1
Comments: Got my wetsuit stripped. Then headed for T1 at a jog. Again the advantage of being a faster swimmer was that it was only half full inside and I had a volunteer all to myself. Uneventful T1 really. Again I had mentally rehearsed what I needed to do and I did it. Helmet on, arm warmers on, gloves on, garmin on and switched on, socks on, shoes on. Sunglasses in the hand, bye bye and thank you. Exited the building (missing a huge cheer from the family), got sunscreened up and headed for the bike. What would you do differently?: If I were splitting hairs I would probably go a bit faster throughout - for about a minutes worth of time saving. Don't know how the pros do this in 3 mins or less.  Bike
Comments: Didn't go for a flying mount as I didn't want to pull a muscle .... so a leisurely mount and then off down Thomas. I had broken up the ride into 4 sections. To the Rte 79/Rte20 intersection, then to special needs, then back to the 79/20 intersection and then home. I only concentrated on each section in my mind - feeding on Infinit every 20 minutes. An hour before special needs I opened my treat - a Honey Stinger Waffle. I knew that the first two sections would be tough and thought that an average of about 19mph would be about right given the winds. They were nothing like the Seagull Century and so I just used the 20 min feed to tick off mini-sections. Didn't care about everyone zooming past me, or the peltons (some of which got penalised but certainly not all), and took the opportunity to check out their bikes. Oh there's a Shiv. Oh there's a P4. By the turnaround I was feeling fine. I stopped at SN to pee and swap Infinit bottles. Really enjoyed the ride back down Route 20 - kept up a good pace and again just kept ticking off the 20min periods for feeds. Peed a couple of times on the bike. The other mental trick I used was to tick off the 10 mile markers. I was 3 mins down on a 20mph pace after 20 miles and that stretched to 6 minutes down by mile 50. Then I started to claw things back on the return section which was mentally good. A couple of sights on the ride. On the way back down Rte 20 a group of about five people caught up to me. I was in the inside lane on the road, they were in the bike lane. But because of the rumble strip none of them wanted to pass the person in front so they were sitting in drafting off him. I was going around 22-23mph and kept pace with them for a few miles. Boy did I feel pure after that ! And then just before the turn back onto Beach Front Road I got behind a car who panicked at the intersection. I had to slam on the brakes so much that I put my hand on her bumper (fender). And no I wasn't moto-pacing in case you were wondering ... The final few miles into the wind were a pain but given we were so close to T2 I wasn't that bothered. I knew I had had a good bike and I was ready for the run. Nutrition (for what it's worth) : About 1300 cal Infinit and 160 cal waffle. 4 x 20oz water. Easy enough. What would you do differently?: I'm sure a power meter would help me pace even better. Transition 2
Comments: Very, very uneventful. Gave my bike to a volunteer (that was nice), ran into T2 tent and had another volunteer put my Infinit bottle into my Fuel Belt. Shoes off, shoes on and away I went. What would you do differently?: Nothing  Run
Comments: And into the unknown. Like 99% of the field I suspect, I headed out way too fast (about 08:00 pace for the first half mile). I then forced myself to slow down to a 8:45 pace and kept it for the next few miles. It felt very comfortable although my right knee was a little painful as was one of my heels (but I can't remember which now). I missed the clock on exit but thought that I needed to run about a 4:10 Mary to break 11 hours which was my stretch goal. I also missed Caroline, Ellie and James shouting for me. Again. Really enjoyed the crowds in the first few miles and the messages of support for everyone. Rob - Heidi's boyfriend - passed me at mile 2 and was looking really strong. We congratulated each other on what a great race we were having. In the State Park I had a pee at a portapotty. Got an inspirational message from Tracy in the Tri Club which was great. Return to town was fine. I was just concentrating on keeping the HR at high Z2. Saw Caroline, Ellie and James and gave them high 5s. I was aiming for a two hour 13 mile section and hit it perfectly. On the second loop I saw everyone again and gave Ellie the package I'd been carrying with the 'Gift Certificates' I had made up with IMFL logos. James got a lego certificate, Ellie got one for a new DS game, and Caroline got a certificate for a new watch. By mile 15 I had my first negative thought which was 'I wonder at what mile I will walk an aid station'. Darn it. As it happened by mile 17 I needed to do it. So I walked through each aid station collecting water, coke and a sponge. But I made sure that by the garbage bin I was running again. Saw fellow MMTC-ers Heidi, Rob and then Tracy on this loop of the course - all of us gave a shout out to each other with was great. By mile 22 I had been waiting for the wall and it seemed that it wasn't going to come. So I started to pick it up. First by not walking the aid stations and then by mile 24 I was hitting a 9:00 pace. Then turning back into the final mile I was hitting 08:30. This was amazing - I felt like I was flying given my relative speed to everyone else. No one passed me and I went past a number of people. I got a lot of 'Looking strong Adrian' and 'Go 2037' ... And then that magical turn into the finishing chute. I let one person go in front of me and then milked it for the final couple of hundred yards. I heard Mike Reilly say 'Adrian Matthews - you are an Ironman' and then I was over the line. All too fast. Too, too fast. I want that moment again. And the clock ? Yes - it read 10:57. I executed to the minute. What would you do differently?: Be bolder in my pacing. I had energy to spare. Sorry. Post race
Warm down: I had a great catcher who steered me through to get my medal, T-shirt, cap and then finisher's picture. Saw Caroline and the kids and got a bit emotional for a few seconds. All their sacrifices, all that training. And a great race as well. It was a bit much. What limited your ability to perform faster: Confidence, willingness to push into the unknown. Taking more risks. Event comments: The British poet Robert Browning wrote : 'Oh that a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for ?' WTC put on quite a spectacle. I was hugely impressed with the organisation, the numbers of volunteers, the police at the intersections, the attention to detail. This is truly a great experience from the start of the week to the end of the race. For me and the family it was also an endurance event in so many different ways. From the drive down from Maryland, to the financial endurance you need in the Ironman store, to the race itself, to then the queuing the next day for more kit, SN bags, photos and everything else. And so my first Ironman is completed. It was absolutely everything I thought it would be ... apart from an examination of my soul in the last hour of the marathon. I trained well, I trained smartly, I executed my race plan perfectly. I didn't go into dark spaces, I didn't need my coping mechanisms (reciting Kings and Queens of Britain, Prime Ministers, and if really bad ... the lyrics to Miley Cyrus's 'The Climb' ;-) This has been an incredible journey. Giamatti once wrote that 'our free time tells us something important about who we are'. I came to the US without any background in triathlon, without having swum or run for 20 years, and without owning a road or tri bike. Too many people have given me advice and support over the past 3 years to name them. But there has been one special person. Caroline has been my rock. Too many times she has been left to sort out the kids, too many times she has had to pick things up while I've been out training. She is a remarkable woman and I love her to bits. Adrian Matthews - you are an Ironman. It won't be the last time Mike Reilly says that to me. Last updated: 2010-11-08 12:00 AM
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United States
Ironman North America
68F / 20C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 374/2439
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 78/419
With hindsight I guess I have had a standard progression to Ironman. A few local sprints (without too much training, or investment in kit) - a couple of podiums - and then a move up to Olympic and Half Iron distance in my second season. Did OK in these events and decided that if I were to do an Ironman it would have to be late 2011 or early 2012 as we are heading back to the UK in Summer 2012. The stars were really aligning for a late 2011 event as that would give me the Maryland summer to train. So Ironman Florida it was - with the added benefit of a holiday (sort of) for Caroline, Ellie and James.
I had a good summer of training while racing relatively lightly (Columbia Olympic, Eagleman, Nation's Tri). I had a really good Nation's Tri (although swim cancelled so it might have been even better) and then I settled into the classic Mid-Atlantic Ironman build of ChesapeakeMan Aquavelo and Seagull Century.
The aquavelo gave me a huge boost as I realised that I could swim the 2.4 miles at a good pace but without too much effort and then bike well afterwards. The Seagull Century was great practice of mentally getting through a long period into a headwind. With a few more 90/100 mile - 6/7 mile bricks I was ready. The only unknown was the marathon as my longest run was 18 miles. But that had felt pretty good.
Roll on to race week ...
Arrived in PCB on Tuesday evening and then had a practice swim on Wednesday with a few other BT-ers. Good to meet up and put faces to names. The water was superb. I added a bike ride out to the bridge to get a feel for that part of the course and a light run as well on that Wednesday.
On Thursday I just had a swim with the larger BT gathering and a quick spin on the bike to test the MyAthleteLive tracker. All good. I had a great sleep on Thursday night - nearly 9 hours - and that put me in a great mood as I understand that the N-2 sleep is the one to nail.
Friday I had a very short swim of 7 minutes and that was it. Racked the bike and did very little else. Caroline and the kids went on a snorkling trip to see dolphins - no dolphins but they had a great time in the choppy water getting out there (well Ellie and James did at least !).
In bed by 9pm on Friday. One last read of the Endurance Nation 4 keys to Ironman execution and that was it. Tomorrow was going to be a celebration of a year long journey whatever happened.
4am wake up - coffee, PB bagel. Banana.
Got to transition about 0510 to find my front tire was flat. Oh well better now than in the race. So I wandered over the to bike support guy and he changed it in about 2 minutes.
Met up with Caroline and the kids around 0600 for a last minute chat and then headed to the beach. Sat down on the sand for about a couple of minutes once I had gone through the timing mat and mentally went through the entire race picturing each leg and filling my mind with positive thoughts. The race clock said 10:57 as I crossed the finish line.
Then went into the water for a very quick swim before taking my place in the second row near the outside. There was an eerie silence before the cannon went off. It was electrifying. I was ready.