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 Swim
Comments: The start was weird as they told us to shift back and then off goes the horn. But I chose a good spot in the middle (alot of folks on the bouy, and lot of folks at the shoreline) so I had a fairly clean swim. There was a little contact early but I was able to get into a nice easy rhythm and navigated off the folks inside me. I basically diamonded the lengths but was ending up right on the buoy in a good arch each time and made good progress. The water was cold but once we were moving I was fine. Coming back towards the start on loop one I noticed that noone was heading to shore as we had be instructed so I went with the crowd towards the middle and headed to my second loop. I actually got somewhat isolated during the second loop as I swung a bit wide on the way back and found a rather shallow spot (hitting ground) so i turned back to the middle and found folks again. Felt nice and smooth but the time was really slow, so I tend to believe that the swim was long, but I wasn't exactly burng up the course either. I did have some cramping issues with my calves on the second loop and did have to roll onto my back and massage my calves at one point. Not a good sign. What would you do differently?: Make the pre race swims and the pre race meeting so I knew what was going on and knew how cold the water really was.  Transition 1
Comments: A long trail from the Resevior to T1 and only part of it was covered so most of us chose to walk. Got a nice layer of mud on my feet. Grabbed my bag and headed to the changing tent (unisex) with both sexes of volunteers, which was not what i was expecting, but they helped pull off my suit and collected and tied my bag on the way out. Took my time, tried to get as dry as possible and found I didn;t have any Body Glide. Then shuffled to the bike racks picked out my bike and walked it across the muddy mess to the exit. What would you do differently?: Move with a slight bit of urgency, but given the conditions it wasn't to wrong choice.  Bike
Comments: Well right off the bat I had issues. My front tire was rubbing the brakes and the mud on my bike shoes didn't help. I could only adjust my jury rigged skewer so much so I had to live with the rub. It was much more noticable on the climbs but it obviously had an impact the whole ride. Lap 1 The first lap you come downhill out of transition and then start the first climb. There were a ton of people lining the climb from bottom to top which was really cool, but I ran out of gear early and found myself standing way too early. Then it flatten out for a short bit and then the trees fell away and up we went again. The two steepest sections again had me out of the staddle and working way too hard this early, but everyone around my was struggling as well. The crowds were great/ cowbells, flaggs, signs, cheering it was really cool. Finally I got to the top of the steep section and took the last few hills to the top, but just before the "top" comes the first aid station, on the hill. I tried to get a power bar and had issues grabbing and working up the hill and was fortunate not to crash. But I survived and ate my powerbar and then braved the decent. This was scarry especially considering my skewer, but it held up fine and by the bottom (and the very rough road and sharp turn and the bottom), I actually had some confidence. Then rest of the loop I just tried to ride relatively easy. I had a drink whenever i felt the need and took a Gu every so often. After the third aid station, I got a shock as the leader was already lapping me. I didn't think I was going that slow. Lap 2. The second lap I mentally did a great job on the hill as Stephen Bayless lapped me at the bottom and I downshifted early and stood early and just focused and powered up the hills. Already there were people walking up the hill and that was before the two really steep parts. I passed a good number of people as I plugged along. I felt pretty good at the top and took the decent well. I got into a good groove the second lap, but then looked down and found I was still in the small ring for most of the first 1/3 of the loop. A bit later the issues began. Going up a climb I shift down to the small ring and dropped the chain. Freewheeling, I actually managed to clip out and not fall, and recover the chain (although it was stuck for a bit). Then the more significant issues reared their ugly head. On the middle of the hill I really had issues clipping in and getting going enough to stay up and eventually over I went with both feet clipped in. I got up with a bloddy knee and bruised ego, but then i saw my seat was twisted the wrong direction as was the headset. Fortunately I had my tools and knew what I needed to do and took my time and fixed the seat and head set . Then I just bit the bullet and walked my bike the rest of the way up the hill in order to avoid a repeat performance. Once there I found I could clip in. I rode on top of the peddles for a bi before finally getting my left foot clipped in, but it took a good 10 miles until my right finally clicked in (the mud on the road caked on my cleat). Fortunately I got it before the end of the loop and the third climb. Loop 3 Finally the last loop, but now was the toughest challenge of the day, the Col de Riverington ascent number 3. The crowds were clearing out for the most part, so i was just me , my fellow cyclists and the hill. I worked up the fisrt section and knew this was going to be a challenge but I vowed not to get off the bike. So the last two steep sections I put my head down and chugged along. One guy asked me "we are doing this for fun right?" and I replied, "I hope so, cause I'm surely not in it for the money" We had a laugh on the steepest part as we passed4-5 folks walking their bikes, but we worked our way to the top, and even though I was having a rotten bike I felt proud of my effort. I had started cramping in the 2nd loop so i did a lot more standing during the 2nd and third loops and that helped a lot. The first(of 3) aid stations was out of fluids, which was not good since i was on my 4th of 4 bottles. I survived to the next aid station but it was close. Others weren't quite as fortunate. My legs felt good and I cruised the last lap and I'm fairly sure it was my fastest but the extra rub appartently was keeping my speed way down. But I persevered and actually felt good about the effort and the pacing even if the time wasn't my best. Coming into T2 and seeing the time at 9:39 was a bit deflating but I had survived what seemed destined to be disaster, and that had to be worth something. What would you do differently?: Have a well tuned bike. I actually wore a grove into the rim, a ton of extra resistance and a potential safety issue. Don't try this at home kids! Falling was good either. Transition 2
Comments: Couldn't wait to get off the bike, handed it to the volunteer and listened to the announcer tell me this really was an English Summer. I visited the Porta Potty, then took my time getting changed, dummping my trash, lubbing my feet with body glide and changing socks. Sprayed on the sunscreen, grabbed my hat and walked to the exit. No hurry. What would you do differently?: Not much. I really needed to take the time to gather my self mentally.  Run
Comments: Well at least I can say I did one part of this race right. I trotted along early going up the hills by the Resevior and then into town and let my legs come in. They came to me by the first aid station and I conservatively opened up my stride and found a nice tempo. I wasn't burning up the road but I seemed to be passing more than were passing me. Again we we in the road in open traffic which was dicey at times, but the was traffic control at each intersection. There were 4 aid stations on each leg so about 2-3 miles between. I walked the aid stations and took water, coke, and a banana at each. That worked very well for me. Then I would get going again. I spent the majority of the race running around a guy had his wife/girlfriend run the whole marathon with him (minor violation but didn't see an official the whole race). They would pass me and they i would pass them back on their walk breaks and the hills. I felt good the whole way and never really struggled. Once we reached the park and finally got to turn around which was a big mental boost. Then run back I visted the one porta potty, (a nice break) and then struggled to figure out just how much was left. (Apparently they don't believe in miles markers, so I was a mystery how far you had gone. The map online and in the guide book also didn't help with those details). Turning for home I was really feeling pretty good and no longer had any doubts about finishing, only about whether or not I could break my IM marathon PR of 4:50:50. I was also racing the sunlight, as I had a shot at finishing in the daylight for the first time ever. The section on the canal was a bit rough but I finally reached the end of that and working up the hill to the last major road was actually alot easier. I passed my buddy with his wife/girlfriend, and was energized. Finally we hit the last aid station and i knew it was now just a vicotry lap around the park and then a trip to the backroads to the Bolton City hall. I took the last hill, shuffling up yet passing 4 people and then up to the turn and back down. Then it was out of the park through the backstreets. The noise was getting louder and finally that excitment began to grow inside. Finally it was onto man street and i could see the merry go round and the crownds were beginning to grow. My buddy caught me there and his wife/girlfriend broke off and he pulled ahead, but I was starting to get into the moment and just let him go. Around the Merry go Round and then onto the Red Carpet and into the bright lights. Suddenly the crowd is 4-5 deep and there is the big screen, and then annoucer in talking about me, commenting on the crazy American in the very Green Trakkers Uniform, shorts, and hat. But most important I easily broke my IM marathon PR by over a 100 seconds. I had something to be proud of and i felt really good still. What would you do differently?: Probably could have gone a bit harder as I had alot in the tank. Post race
Warm down: Got my shirt and medal. Took my picture, then got a Gatorade and headed upstairs to find my dry clothes. They found my bag and I got changed. I went next door to get some food but it just wasn't appitizing to me. So I headed out to wait 30 min for the next shuttle to Reebok to get my car, then back to Riverington, where there was a traffic jam to get my bike and stuff out of Transition. So I parked at the Millstone Pub and walked a half mile and then rolled my stuff back a half mile. Then drove home and had no luck finding a place to eat. Got to the room at 12:15am, took a shower and order so room service. Long day. What limited your ability to perform faster: Poor bike condition and upkeep and a stripped nut. Event comments: Compared to the other 3 Ironman races I have done this was a really poor job. Logistics was a frigin nightmare. Holding the IM village, transition, and athlete parking in a cow pasture and being surprised when it turned into a mud puddle when it rained, is just amazing. I'm just glad I wasn't the guy who had the Mercedes sunk into to the fenders in the mud on Saturday. Transition was a mud puddle, the "shuttles" were unsafe, ran late and force you to walk way to much on the morning of the race, you were forced to scrammble, then race started late cause they couldn't figure out hurding 1400 people down to the start and dropping off the dry clothes bags and then getting every one in the water would take more than double the 15 minute allotted, the course not having miles markers on the bike or run, then bike only have 1 porta potty on the course and having an aid station on the ascent of a hill, having an aid run out of fluids (closest one to transitions too), the traffic jams before, during ,and after, and not having any level of tech support at the expo was baffling. I don't think the course we ran match the one on the maps in the guide book or on line and they were illegible anyway. No fruit on the bike, no special needs bags or safety pins provided, and the mud pit which served as transition I just have to mention again. However, the volunteers and crowd support was good, but this was not a very good race for family and friends to support you, unless they knew the area. The course was really fun and scenic, but the roads were not in the best shape and riding on narrow roads in traffic really sucks. I hate to be negative but, I was very disappointed. Last updated: 2008-12-12 12:00 AM
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United Kingdom
WTC
68F / 20C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 1031/1381
Age Group = M 35-39
Age Group Rank = 205/254
My first international race of any sort let alone an ironman. We had planned this at the invitiation of my wife's cousin Nigel who had done Ironman Austria last year and said come out and visit and we would do Ironman UK. Everything seemed pretty good. Despite this being and earlier Ironman than the previous 3, my training seemed to be good, I got an airline box for my bike and then found the British Airways totally rocks. No only do you get 2 bags per person for free, you can also get a piece of sports equipment (including a bike) as long as the item is less than 51 pounds. Well my bike box was 23 pounds so it was free. So now I just had to rent a large enough van to carry my family our luggage and carry ons, and my bike for 2 weeks. (Let's just say that was not cheap). We flew to London on the Monday before the race arriving on Tuesday morning, and did the tourist thing around London and found out how fun it was to drive a monster van around extremely narrow streets driving on the opposite side of the road. Very stressful. Then we went to Wales to meet up and stay with my wife's family. There we found that Nigel was not doing the Ironman (despite the fact he was signed up and was in the official program), so one goal was already accomplished. Friday before the race we drove up to Blackpool and I finally pulled my bike out of the car and put it together that night.
Now the fun begins, I get everything together and find out the front wheel's skewer has a stripped/cross threaded nut so I can't get the nut engaged and thus can't get the front wheel on. No problem, every IM I've been to has had a ton of bike/tech support at the expo, so a new skewer shouldn't be an issue. (Mistake #1)
We get up at a decent time and head out only to find the directions really suck because there is nothing I can enter into our GPS and England doesn't seems to believe in street signs. So the short litle 32 mile ride turns into a nightmare with wrong turns, missed turned, etc etc until I fnally saw someone with two tri bike on their car and followed them. Well we get there and find the parking area turned into a mud pit thanks to the rains (imagine that it rains in England) and the roads around the Riverinton Resevrior just weren't meant to handle this level of traffic. SO after having to make an impossible three point turn with our van and park about a mile a away and then carry my bike since the wheel wouldn't stay on without the skewer. Ok then we get to the "expo" Well it was in a cow pasture and it was raining so it had turned into a mud pit. The wife and boys were really not thrilled. Well I check in then, look around an minimal tech support or bike supplies. But I get my stuff into my bags and wait in line for the bike support tent hearing that the pre race meeting which was supposed to be in the IM village at 2:30pm was now at Reebok Studium at 3:00pm and we had to get a shuttle. I got my bike to the tent and they tuned it and I got an earful from the tech on how rusty my fitting were and why hadn't I had the bike serviced. Then I find he can help me with the skewer. So I head to the shop tent and find they had recently sold there last (and only skewer) and now I was told I had to go to the mandatory meeting. My wife was really worked up so she watched my stuff and I told her the bike saga, gave her the skewer and asked her to talk to the Bike Tech at the advice of the Shop tent lady. So off I go the grab the shuttle, which meant a half mile walk/trot to the main road and then our shuttle showed up and about 16 of us were loaded into the back of a windowless/ AC less van with no seats. So of course we hit a friggin traffic jam, and the 5 mile trip take foreever. In fact we eventually just figured out that we were already 20 min late and we turned back, so i missed the "mandatory" pre race meeting.
I get back to the bike tent and Tammy had some good news, supposedly the bike tech had sent someone out to get us our skewer, hurray!. So I got everything else together check in my run and bike bags, got my helmet checked and then waited. About and hour later, I ask them if they have an ETA on the part, and he looks at my like I had two heads. Noone was getting my part, the store tent didn't have any and it was about 5:00 pm so everything was closing. Now I'm paniced,not getting to race due to a skewer nut. I check the bike in, then we high tail to the car and try to find a local bike shop (which wouldn't have been open as it turned out) with no luck. We found a sporting goods store but then were basically a clothing store. Then everything started closing. We hustled to a hardware store and fortunutale found it was still open and bught some nuts and washers that fit the skewer screw. Then it was a meal of McDonald's on the ride back to Blackpool. Then it was figuring out how to put the jury rigged skewer together and filling my bottles and some very hasty bag packing and off to bed.
They also moved the parking from Riverington to Reebok Stadium but now they didn't have a shuttle for specatators so my family decided they would let me go solo. Can't say I blamed them.
After a poor nights sleep, I was up an out by 3:30am, for the ride to Reebok, then a lon, long line to get on the bus and then we got dropped off over a half mile away. I get to the transition at 5:15am and they are already telling us to get ready to clear transition. Long line for body marking, a walk thru the mud pit to the bike then,, I McGivered together my skewer using 3 nuts a locking washer and the nut on in reverse to get an tight secure fit, then put on the water bottles, bento box, and into my wetsuit. Not time to pump my tires or teat the alignment or hit the porta potties.
They had us al stand at the gate to head down to the water until 5:45am, then we slowly shuffled down to drop our dry clothes bags and special needs bags (not provided - bags or numbers) which created a huge logjam. Then as we approached the water, there was a log jam again as none wanted to get in. I noticed I was the only one in a sleeveless wetsuit suit. The water was cold and floating around for an additional 15 minutes to get everyone in was not fun. But I guess that swimming trading, etc counted as my warmup. Pros and age groupers all strarted together at around 6:15am