A race of two halfs...

It's now 12.30am on Sunday night / Monday morning and having been up at 3am, raced the toughest 70.3 (half-Ironman) there is and driven 300 miles home it's been a long day...

As soon as we decided that H would accept her Olympic Distance World Championships slot in Vancouver we knew that today's race would be compromised. A hard training week on the other side of the 'pond' followed by a west-east transatlantic flight on Tuesday and a 300 mile drive at the end of a long day at work on Friday meant we'd arrive on the start line this morning in a somewhat fatigued state. Today was only ever a 'B' race in our schedule though and with Germany only three weeks away it would act as a great final tough training session before crossing the t's and dotting the i's over the next 21 days.

With the race scheduled to start at 6am it was an early start... alarm at 3am, dressed and ready to go before breakfast at 3.30am then pack the car and leave the b & b at 3.45am to be in transition for 4.30 and treading water by ten to six. Walking down to the lake I'd lost the feeling in my frozen feet before even getting in the water and by the time I'd 'warmed' up with a few bursts of front crawl my hands and head weren't far behind. Without warning the gun went and the beautifully serene location of Wimbleball Lake instantly transformed into a 1000 person human washing machine. Although I've been swimming better than ever in the pool I've struggled to re-create this form in open water and chatting to H before the race I'd said that I'd happily swap a good bike and run in today's race for a solid swim. I know my second two disciplines are on track for Germany but with a swim target of 57 minutes for the Ironman distance I was after 28-29 for this morning's 1900m. Although I started near the front I soon found myself stuck behind a mass of bodies and not finding clear water till about 500 metres I hadn't got off to the best start. By the first turn bouy (750m) I felt I'd found some rythm though and pushing hard toward the exit I was hopeful of a good start to the race but a quick glance at the race clock showed 31.02 and as usual I'd be playing catch-up for the rest of the day...

T1 at Wimbleball is as challenging as the rest of the race with a 200m run up a seriously steep grass bank straight from the water and all the way to the transition bags. I'd been getting pretty bad cramp in my calf muscles during the swim and by the time I hit the changing tent my quads were joining in the fun.. fortunately there was a marshal on hand, who I can only assume works for an F1 pit crew during the week, and they had my wetsuit off and socks & helmet on in record time... T2 done in 3:44 and I'd hit my first target of the day (by 16 seconds)...

For about five minutes on the bike I thought I wasn't going to be that cold and was looking foward to hammering the famously tough course. Once this short 'honeymoon period' was over though reality set firmly in and I gradually started to realise that 'winter Iron suffering' is more than happy to show its face in the middle of June... last week's exploits in Vancouver were about to be repeated! By halfway round the first lap I was the coldest I've ever been on a bicycle, although my hands and feet have been worse in the winter months I've always been wrapped up well so the rest of my body's been ok... but flying downhill at 7am this morning in a soaking wet lycra tri-suit I lost feeling in my arms and legs and was struggling not only to get any power through the pedals but even to control the bike. Finishing the first of two laps in 1.29.30, and feeling lower than I ever have in a race, my target of 2.55 for the whole ride wasn't looking good. I'm not the best in cold conditions and as the miles ticked gradually by my spirits were dropping and my normal positive attitude was losing the will to live... This probably lasted until around 15 miles from the end of the 56 mile ride when one of the spectators shouted that I was in 46th place. I'd hoped for a top 50 finish overall and suddenly I realised that perhaps I wasn't having the shocker I thought... it was time to HTFU, get to the run and see if I could at least generate some heat!

A decent T2 (1:31) and I was out on the run at a total race time of 3:33 and knew that if I could match my pre-race run goal of 1:35 I'd still go 5:08. Things cleary hadn't been as bad as I thought... time to work. The three-lap run at Wimbleball is super hilly and partly off-road, as a consequence you can typically you can expect to go somewhere around 10-20 minutes slower than your 'stand alone' half marathon pb... coming through the first lap, which is slightly longer than the next two due to the transition exit, in 29 minutes and feeling great my spirits were back to normal for the first time in over four hours. Starting the final lap at 4:31 a sub-5 time was on the cards but, thanks to all the reminders from various friends as well as Jack, I was determined not to 'leave myself' at Wimbleball and have nothing for Germany, so competitive instincts in check i held a nice solid pace to the finish line... and a final time of 5:01:42, 22nd place overall (out of about 900 starters), 1st 30-34 male, a wicked trophy (see H's pic) and £100 to spend at TriUK... a great end to a seriously challenging (both mentally and physically) race.

So, here we are.... 21 days to go and with 29 weeks of crazy hard training in the bank it's time to kick back, recover and bring some freshness to my fatigued frame. Today's result on tired legs has given me so much confidence, I really feel that I can get close to 9:20 and that elusive Kona slot on July the 6th. The London marathon gave me a glimpse of what I'm capable of if I start a race on fresh legs (a rare occurance recently) and with no more fitness gains to be had before race day the hard work is done.

Since starting this blog neither of us has missed our Sunday post... but as it's now 1:42 in the morning, we've both got to be up for work at 7 and sleep is a priority so I think I'll wrap things up right here.

Thanks to all our amazing friends who today, as always, were the best supporters ever and well done to Sam, Daz and everyone else who conquered a very tough race. Today's picture is me giving something back ;)

Night,

T :)