Ironman Arizona - TriathlonFull Ironman

2,700 people swimming in a confined space. The stuff of my nightmares. The first ten or fifteen minutes were a brutal mix of being grabbed and dunked while trying to maintain forward progress and not panic. There wasn’t any point in stopping - there were still literally a thousand people behind me. At one point I noticed that the swimmer next to me had a very unusual action, with his left arm swinging forward very low and wide over the water. “He’s going to hit me in the eye with that if he’s not careful”, I thought, about three strokes before he did. Luckily my goggles stayed on and I veered away, laughing to myself about Mike Tyson’s quote: Everyone’s got a plan until they get punched in the face. Certainly applies to back of the pack Ironman swimmers. All the plans about picking lines and drafting off faster people’s feet and all that goes away and is replaced by simply: keep moving your arms and try to breathe when your mouth is above the water. For some part of the swim I was helped by a lady who was swimming much faster than me but who kept stopping completely every three strokes to sight. This let me catch up and meant that as long as I kept her close by I didn’t need to look into the rising sun at all and could just keep stroking along. I lost her in the pandelerium of one of the turn buoys but kept on course by sighting every six strokes. I inhaled some water, I drank some water and I continued to churn away. I had no idea of time, but it wouldn’t have made a difference if I did, I was just doing what I could. Eventually I made it to the stairs out and as I crossed the timing mat and heard the announcer call my name I did allow myself to think, for the first time, I know I will finish this. Although I still hadn’t seen a clock and didn’t know it at that moment, my swim was five minutes faster than my own best estimate and twenty minutes faster than what I would have accepted. I’m slow by anyone’s standards except my own!

Use flippers. Kidding.

I found a stripper to take off my wetsuit, jogged to where my swim-to-bike bag was sitting with its little green ribbon tied to the drawstring, sat on a patch of grass and got to work. Helmet, sunglasses and race number on, socks and shoes on, Gu flask in the back pocket, shove the wetsuit and goggles in the bag, jog to a person applying sunscreen, grab the bike and go. I went nowhere near the dark, sweaty mess of the changing tent.

Give better directions to the sunscreen volunteers perhaps. Otherwise it could hardly have gone smoother.

The weather was cool, rising from about 50 degrees, but some people were dressed as though they were expecting snow. I’ve seen deckhands wearing less on “Deadliest Catch”. Anyway, the route was crowded for the first ten miles or so, which gave me a chance to take in this collection of two-wheeled multi-coloured, multi-layered hobos as well as to settle down, take stock and spin away. My right hip was hurting for some reason, but that’s never happened before, so I ignored it. I let my heart rate fall a bit before I got started on the nutrition. 1,000 calories of perpetuum/accelerade carbohydrate powder in one bottle, water with electrolytes in another and the Gus in my pocket. There was a headwind on the Beeline which had me down to about 14 mph at one point but I kept an eye on my heart rate and used that to limit my effort. Not much point in leaving it all out on the course in the first hour. After I made the turnaround I hit 28 mph with barely any effort as the gradient and wind worked in my favour. The road surface was a dream, like riding on someone’s marble kitchen countertop. I hardly saw any flat tires and no accidents. When the first loop passed in 1:47 I was concerned. My expectation was between 6:00 and 6:30 for the whole thing and I was on track for 5:20-something. And there was still the whole marathon thing to come. But I trusted in my heart rate and hoped that if I kept within 10 or so of my training level then I’d probably be ok. The second lap brought the interesting phenomenon of a headwind in both directions. We had been warned that the prevailing winds in Tempe change direction at some point in the day and indeed they do. I also stopped to get my special needs bag at mile 60: another 1,000 calories of powdery goodness and the chance to lube up the undercarriage, mine rather than the bikes. So lap two was 1:53 and the third, happily with a headwind only in one direction, passed uneventfully in 1:52. I didn’t finish my second bottle so with the Gus I had about 2,100 calories.

Maybe push harder? It was my first Ironman though and was already an hour ahead of expectations...

11th overall - my strongest event!

Not much, went very smoothly

As I started the run I knew that it was very close to 2pm. My rough goal for the race had been 12 hours, or 7pm, but a four hour marathon now would give me a shot at 11 hours. However the plan for the whole day had been to focus on the next ten or fifteen minutes and to not get caught up in what lay further ahead. The course wasn’t going anywhere, it would wait for me, I didn’t need to send my head off by itself. So I did what I had planned to do, ran to each aid station and walked through them. I felt much better off the bike than I had feared. Riding almost an hour faster than anticipated didn’t appear to have left me crippled, at least at the start. I never looked at my watch during the run, but looking back at the splits I can see that I did the first 10k in about 8 minute pace. Around that point I passed someone who said, “You’re messing with my counting”. What? Turns out Jason was counting the people he was passing and while he kept passing me when I walked the aid stations he then had to uncount me as I passed him back while running. He was a friendly high school maths teacher from Georgia who also coached the cross-country team. For a running partner it doesn’t get much better. He’d also finished a previous Ironman in 12 hours, so he knew his business. Running and chatting with him as he performed complex calculations in base 60 and base 10 the miles ticked off easily. I passed one of my teammates, Brittany, on one of the bridges on my second lap which gave me a huge lift. She was looking strong and executing her plan and on track to an amazing finish. Jason and I continued to walk each aid station where whatever they were selling, I was buying. Coke, Gatorade, pretzels, crisps, ice sponges, water, even a chocolate-chip cookie. I probably put on weight during the run! When it was apparent that barring disaster we would come in well under 11 hours we decided to avoid any such disaster and eased back to mid-8 minute pace before finishing up the last couple of miles in mid-7s with a last quarter-mile dash to the line at 6:45 pace. The stretch to the line was a blur. The sun had set about 15 minutes earlier so the finish line area was a Las Vegas of noise and light amidst the desert darkness. I was in complete disbelief at my time and overwhelmed by reaching the end of a 12 month journey. The volunteers seemed concerned that I was literally speechless as they handed me a medal, wrapped me in a blanket and photographed me. I was totally numb. Even my feet didn’t hurt at that point. I shook hands with Jason, we got a photo together and then I went to find my friends

Perhaps I could have pushed harder, but then perhaps I could have blown up. Again, the fact that it was my first Ironman meant the no.1 priority was to get it done.

Wandered about in a daze, grinning like an idiot. Felt remarkably good, probably the endorphins, so went and collected my bike and bags. Made it back to the finish to see my team-mate come in. Then a quick nap and then back for the 17 hour Finish Line party. Amazing to see the heroes coming in just under the wire. So dramatic! Linsey, Leander and a few other pros welcoming the finishers home. What a sport!


My lack of swimming skills, my respect for the distance and for the unknown.


The volunteers were amazing. The 1970s aid station, the cops-and-robbers, the pirates, I actually looked forward to the next lap each time and having my spirits lifted. Brilliant. It all added up to make a dream day.