Laura Trimble

I wanted to write this while the details were still fresh in my mind. Some of them I am unlikely to forget any time soon…

I decided to race Ironman St George earlier this year after narrowly missing out on a Kona slot at IM Cozumel. A reasonably new race to the circuit, it has a challenging (i.e. very hilly) bike course based in the Snow Canyon region of Southern Utah, around 100 miles north of Las Vegas. I thought the course would suit me and as my first time racing in the 30-34 age group I was expecting strong competition but thought I would be in the mix. My preparation had been good and I was really looking forward to racing. Arriving a week before meant we had the opportunity to ride the bike course which lived up to expectations with stunningly beautiful scenery and some good climbs. Based on a steady pace in training I was expecting to ride around 5.45 for the bike and expected a finish time of around 10.20-10.30 to be pretty competitive. Preparation went well and our house in Washington was perfect – away from the bustle of the town and close to the swim start. Thanks to Tim and Lindsay for sorting that out and being a (mostly!) calming influence during race week. We swam in the reservoir several times during the week which ranged from glassy flat calms to quite choppy waves the day before the race and from very cold to just mildly toe-tingling, seemingly unconnected to any noticeable change in the weather, so I was prepared for most things, though not what actually transpired…

Race day dawned nice and calm and we were soon in town and on the buses to transition. Having a split transition can be awkward but it was was all very well organised with plenty of parking and buses to take athletes and later spectators to the swim start. Preamble went smoothly and soon we were heading down to the start. I was happy to see there was very little wind and the lake was much calmer than the day before. We had a nice group of travelling Brits this time and with Tim and Brett both also going for Kona slots it was good to have some friends out on the course. I found myself with Keavy and Katy treading water at the start alongside a load of other pink (ladies) caps and we were ready for the off.

Going out hard from the start I quickly found some space. I knew Katy would swim under the hour so my plan was to stay on her feet as long as I could and aim for a swim around 65mins. The first 1km out to the turn buoy passed quickly, way too quickly I was about to realise, but at the time I felt like a swimming goddess. All the swimming training was paying off! Finally!! The course is a rectangular anticlockwise loop, so you swim 1k out, around 300m across, then 1.8k straight back past a large island and past the start, before completing the loop by swimming across and then around 600m back. As I turned around the first buoy I was hit in the face by a large wave. And then another, and another. Waves that I had been merrily surfing along a few minutes earlier but were clearly increasing in size, and fast. What had been a neat pack was scattering quickly as unable to see the next turn buoy or the land over the waves it was difficult to keep any sense of direction. With the waves coming hard and fast from the left it was also pretty obvious that at the next turn buoy we were going to have to turn again and swim 1.8k straight into them. 

The next hour or so is a bit of a blur. I’ve heard the waves were anything between 3 and 5 feet high. It went a bit like this. Get smacked in the face. Look round angrily before realising it was a wave not a person. Get smacked in the face by the next one. Stop and tread water while trying to see the island from the top of a wave. Have several more waves break in your face. Try and swim for 100m or so without swallowing too much water. Seems impossible. Waves would disappear from under you so what would have been a stroke turned into grabbing at thin air. Stop. Reset. Look again. Think it may be calmer when we get to the shelter of the island. Wonder how on earth to get to the island which looks miles away. Start to feel seasick. Must keep swimming. Remember that 560 people in the field are first timers. Begin to worry they won’t get through the swim. Begin to worry I won’t get through the swim! Find myself completely unable to see a single other swimmer. And repeat. Eventually I passed the island. It seemed like an eternity. At the far turn buoy there were swimmers treading water and looking at where to go next. Wasn’t at all clear so I followed those closest to me. I learned later the marshalls were telling people to miss the last turn buoy and head straight to the exit. The safety boats couldn’t get anywhere near the last buoy. Didn’t save any distance for me as I still swam over 4k and frankly am amazed it wasn’t more. Having already revised my expectations massively lower during the melee I was still terribly disappointed to see 1.34 on the clock. Game over. Who qualifies for Kona with a 1.34 swim. That would be insane…

My wetsuit was stripped off by a helpful volunteer and I got to my bag which was in number order with those of my age group. Still tons of bags there. Ok. At least I’m not last. I felt very sick from swallowing so much water but tried to get through transition as quickly as possible. An excited volunteer said well done for making the swim cutoff. Not exactly the target I had in mind! The volunteers were very helpful but I did get irrationally annoyed that one put my left compressport sock on my right foot. Told myself to stop being such an idiot.

The first part of the bike is around 23 miles from Washington to St George where you join the loop where the main hills are (which you do twice). Within seconds I was hit by massive head / cross winds even on the access road to the lake. Not good. Shouldn’t have been surprised given the conditions in the swim but hadn’t really figured out what the hell was going on yet. My stomach was cramping from the lake water and I couldn’t put any pressure down. I was regretting each of the disc, 404 front wheel and 25 cassette at this point. And worried about Tim with his 808 front wheel. I was reminded that another racer said the wind would be northerly (and 5-6mph!!!) which meant a headwind all the way up the canyon and tailwind on the downhill stretch home. I realised any time goals for the days have been left crashing around in the lake. But I pressed on, trying desperately not to be blown into the path of any faster bikers who have managed to swim even slower than me. I still felt sick and could drink only water. Looked at my bottle containing 1500 cals of chocolate flavoured goo. Felt even more sick. I was overtaken by a girl in SOAS kit. This never happens. Attempted to chase but cannot push without stomach cramping. Resolve to see her again later when I feel better.

The first glimmer of sunshine came when I caught Katy around 1h30 in who told me she swam a 1.22. As she is capable of swimming well under the hour this put my swim in a bit of context. Felt a little less depressed and decided I maybe only had say 20-30mins to make up on the fast girls instead of more like 45. I randomly decided I was 10th in my age group to give myself a target and starting counting through positions as I passed people. Still a long way to go.

The loop is around 20 miles undulating but basically uphill finishing with “the Wall” which is a not particularly scary climb with a switchback, followed by a flattish section before a 15 mile descent back into St George. The headwind was basically full on in your face on the climbs, with occasional cross sections where you wound your way up the canyon, such as the one where men’s winner Ben Hoffman got blown off his bike. Winds were 40-45mph at times I’m told. I was going at about 5mph. In my smallest gear. Going downhill. The only respite was when we finally made it to the switchback on the Wall the tailwind blew you straight over the steepest section! I got to halfway in around 3hrs 30. While the second half would be quicker as I would do the descent twice, for someone who usually bikes in the low 5′s these were scary numbers. I had also only drunk water for the first two hours and eaten very little since, which I thought likely to come back to bite me later. But… I was sticking to the plan which was to get to the start of the second loop feeling fresh. Average power just shy of 200w after lap 1 which was close to target. I told myself not to worry about the time. On a fast course that power would be equivalent to low 5hrs. There can’t be many girls going quicker than that. On the descent I was passed by a fast girl in some very flash black and green kit. Time to go. I chased her down and we had a great ride down the descent, riding legally and switching places a few times. This doesn’t often happen to me in races as I rarely ride with girls and I enjoyed it. A nod of recognition for some good biking at the end of the loop as we hit the flat section and I was off. 

The second loop was better, in the sense that I had got used to the wind a little. I stayed in my aerobars more. I ate more. I saw lots of marshalls who seemed to be being sensible by keeping the gaps but leaving some leniency on the climbs where with a lot of people going 5mph steeply uphill on tri bikes it is not feasible to keep a 7m gap. Later I had an idiot on my wheel who said to me “there are so many marshalls… Why can’t they give us a break… It’s really windy…!” I ignored him. Didn’t have the energy. The hilly section was from 70 to 90 miles so I counted them down, one mile at a time. An amusing aside was that my and a few other people’s numbers had “Professional Athlete” written on them due to some sort of printing error. I had forgotten this until when passing someone I was asked “how was the swim for the pros?” to which I irritably replied I had no idea. He must have been very confused (and thinking as a pro I was having a terrible day). I had passed quite a lot of people and from my random starting point of 10th I thought I had counted my way to 4th in my age group. I decided 10th was clearly too optimistic as a starting point so mentally added a few places on. Hoped I was in the top 10 at least. Laughed at myself for thinking I could possibly finish top 20 or even top 15 in the overall women’s race. What an idiot.

I turned up the wall into the blessed tailwind but was immediately hit by shooting cramps in my quads. Drinking only lake water and real water for the first few hours of the day not going down so well. Anticipating something not exactly like this I had some salt tablets in my pocket so I scoffed two which seemed to do the job. Finally I made  it over the wall and had only the descent to go. Reminded again of some good advice from Tim I planned to take the descent as easy as possible and eat as much as I could. At least I had plenty of food left. I had been sensible with the power and still reading low to mid 190s which was fine. Legs felt good. Stomach did not. The last few miles ticked by quickly and I noticed my bike time was going to be around 6.5hrs. I realised with a shock I would have to run well to even break 12 hours. A far cry from the sub-10 I have been talking up. Still a long way to go. A fairly quick transition (for me) of around 2.5mins with a loo stop and I was on my way. I see the girl in SOAS kit leaving transition. Aha! Not so far ahead after all. 

A quick explanation of the run course to give the next part some context – it’s 3 loops each of which have 4 out and back sections. The first 3 are basically an M shape (main, 200 and 400 streets) where you run downhill down the arms and uphill back. Each out and back section is about 3k. Then you have a longer out and back up Diagonal Street (it is actually diagonal) which is around 4k, with the remaining 1k coming from the joining sections. While it looks boring on paper it was actually a great course for knowing where your opposition is and for easy access to aid stations. The only flat sections are between the arms and at the end of each lap you have to run around 4k continuously uphill (back up 400 then up diagonal) before then running the same amount downhill (back down diagonal and then down Main street for the start of the next loop). 

Within the first mile I was in trouble. Stomach cramps were back. I kept passing people and then having to double over and stop. After the second time a nice girl in pink calf guards asked if I was ok. I grimaced and said I hope so. Straight onto the water and coke at the first aid station. Things can only get better. And to my surprise… they did. Coming back up the first out and back section I started to feel good. My legs were fresh, I was running around mid 8min mile pace up the hill and I felt mentally focused and ready to run the marathon. Enough negativity. I didn’t come this far to just be miserable. Brett passed me around this point with some kind words. He was only a lap ahead of me. Interesting. Then I saw Tim just under a lap ahead of me. Also interesting. Around the gap I would have expected. I started catching more people. I passed two girls in my age group quite quickly including SOAS. Saw Lindsay who tells me I was 5th in my age group off the bike, which means I’m now 3rd with around 20 miles to go. I’m still in this. Game on. 

I followed the same routine for the next few miles. Aid station every mile, water, coke, ice down top. Gel every half hour. Keep some ice in mouth between stations. Good move to try the orange segments. Definitely avoiding the cookies! Lots of kids helping at aid stations which was great. I passed another girl in my age group, and then another. Am I leading? Brain not able to process this. Randomly decide I have miscounted and must be second. Maybe 2 slots, maybe not. Been burned before. Keep pushing. Still holding mid 7 min miles downhill, slipping slightly to high 8′s uphill. On the second lap I notice I have gained a minute or two on Tim and hope he is ok. At some point Tim tells me it’s a slow day and not to worry about the time. Chat to Jack who is injured and planning to DNF at 15 miles. Forget to hit him for the 5-6mph wind forecast. See Katy who also looks miserable and says she may DNF. Don’t blame anyone who does that today. Next turnaround, gap to chasing girls extended to around 90-120secs. Keep pushing it out. Waiting for the bad patch to come. It doesn’t. Nod to Brett and Tim as I pass them. See the leaders again. Seem to have made up a bit of time on Meredith Kessler that lap. Think I must be imagining it.

Last lap and I have around a 4 minute lead to the girls behind. Feel if I can hold this until 4 miles to go I’m not going to lose a minute per mile. Then I see another girl in my age group around two minutes ahead. Newton kit. Where did she come from? No idea if we are even on the same lap but she looks good. Really good. I knew I couldn’t be leading. I firmly decide there is one Kona slot and that is it up the road. Here we go again. Think I can maybe go a little harder. Feet and ankles struggling now, arms hurting from the swim. Onto 200 street and I’ve gained about 30 seconds. Then 400 street, maybe another 20 seconds. No longer worried about the girls behind. I had 4k left uphill to bridge the gap and then it was 2k downhill to the finish. I noticed the pace has slipped from low 3.30s marathon pace to more like 3.40 but I don’t really care. One foot in front of the other. Managed to get pace into the 8-minute range on the uphill which felt like a small victory. I turned onto the uphill leg of diagonal street and I’m into the last few kms. About 15 metres from the turnaround I see Newton girl in front walking. I shoot past, eyes forward. Don’t look back. Too much effort, hamstrings go into spasm. Hobble around the turnaround. Fingers crossed she didn’t notice. Look up and she’s running again. Great. 

Only one thing for it. I sprint the last 2k as fast as I can. Ignore the last aid station. Try and lean forward and let gravity do the work. If I’m running 6 min miles nobody is going to catch me. Other athletes are commenting on how fast I am finishing. I don’t acknowledge. Can’t acknowledge. The roundabout at the bottom of the diagonal is my first chance to see behind. Not a single girl in sight. Just keep running. Look behind as I enter the finishing chute and still no-one. Made it. Stop the clock on 11.55. 1st in 30-34. 15th female.

A few comments to wrap up. This was the 3rd and last running of Ironman St George as from next year it will be a 70.3. Personally I think this is a great loss to the calendar. These races are not meant to be easy and in other conditions this would be a challenging but fair and honest course. In these conditions for any first timer or inexperienced athlete it was near impassable. The fact that only 5 pro men went under 10 hours shows that even the best athletes there were going around 90 mins slower that usual and this would be extended the further you went down the field. I don’t know yet the percentage dropout rate but I know 100s of people failed to complete the swim and at least 100 more were unable to finish the bike. Thrilled for my compadres Brett and Tim who also both qualified for Kona. We earned every inch of it.

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Just to close the circle on IM South Africa, I thought I’d add a few observations from the sidelines. This was the first time I’d spectated at an Ironman since 2006, and whilst I’m a great deal more knowledgable about the sport now (at the time I was 4 years away from my first IM and could barely swim) the sense of excitement and trepidation surrounding this type of event remains with me and it was great to have the opportunity to head out to the “friendly”/”windy” city of Port Elizabeth and enjoy the South African hospitality once again. Having raced IMSA myself a couple of years ago I felt I had a good idea of what to expect from the course and the conditions. Not this time. I have never attempted an Ironman in any of extremely cold conditions, gale force winds or torrential rain (aside from an epic downpour or two in Cozumel), let alone the combination of all three, and I hope I never have to. So big respect to all those who even started the race, let alone those who made it to the end.

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Rather than leave the last couple of posts hanging (which is tempting) here’s my last entry before handing the blog back to Laura.

Short version: conditions bad, swim good, bike horrendous, run cut short by cold plus sudden downpour leaving me blue and shaking. DNF.

Longer version: This is a great race that I can’t recommend enough, and I’d still come back and do it again next year even if I knew the conditions would be the same (although I might pack more wet weather gear).

The conditions were mental. We had hammering rain in the run up to the start and the winds were high enough that all the advertising banners on the fences and gantries needed to be removed to avoid the structures blowing away.

My day went a bit like this:

Nervous about combination of mass start (first for over a year) plus choppy salt water so seed far back on beach.
Cannon goes.
Why am I so far back? Run forward, run forward!
Swim over wall of slow moving neoprene in front.
Arrive at first buoy, alongside several hundred burly south Africans who all want to pack in with me. Trade elbows.
Far turn buoy: getting a bit choppy.
Back to shore, feel good.
Bloody hell, I’m a bit further up the field than usual.
Run round beach loop, overtake as many people as possible.
Spot Andy, keep running, must look good for photo.
Not seen Laura yet, keep running, same reason.
God, this sand’s a bit deep. Legs tired now, still no Laura with camera. Must keep running…
Hurray water’s edge! Lie down again. Lovely.

Getting a bit choppier now.
Really quite choppy now.
Wtf?!

Water’s a lot colder today.

Keep swimming.

Are these jellyfish? Can’t be. Don’t be paranoid. Just keep swimming.

That non-jellyfish just stung me.

Keep swimming.

Need gills. Happy with face in water, don’t want to turn head to breathe, getting smashed by white horses from each side.

Can’t see buoys from 20 feet away due to chop.

Just keep swimming.

Too much breaststroke trying to navigate. Swim more. Stop losing places. Pratt.

Make it to beach along with a score of other rather wild eyed and battered swimmers.

1:33

Feck. That’s 20 minutes behind where I would normally want to be. (later learn average men’s swim time was 1:39)

Into transition. Can’t get wetsuit off for several minutes due to uncontrollable shivering.

Finally into cycling kit. Looks like being a long day so opt for full change into bibs, gilet, arm warmers etc. So glad of that later.

Hop on bike. Back hurts . Bloody hell that’s a bit early.

Cycle off. Slowly. Headwind is unlike anything I have ever ridden in. Periodically do involuntary track stands on hill as gusts stop all forward motion.

Get to top of hill. Suffer to turnaround. Start to ride tailwind back. Quite worried about back now.

Get caught by sidewind turning onto coast and nearly lose it. Passing Saffer suggests I stop off in MacDonalds on next lap to get some weight on me.

Back interfering with pedalling. Can’t get get into aero position.

First lap done. Finally stop to stretch back. Consider asking volunteer to count vertebrae as at least one is clearly trying to escape. Push on.

Having stopped once, now needing to stop regularly just to let back unseize. This is not the ride I envisaged.

Make it to turnaround, head back.

Crosswind here, careful now, don’t get blown off bike.

Feck.

Get back on bike.

Having to stop every ten minutes for back now. Decide that best bet is to pull out at end of lap 2.

End of lap 2.

Why am I going round again?

End of bike.

8 hours. 8 whole hours. Terrible, terrible ride even allowing for conditions.

Long transition, partly due to need for full change, but mostly due to taping ankle which if I’d had enough tape I would have wanted to practice before race day.

Head out on run. Back feels awful. Running like Quasimodo.

Still hitting 8 min miles, but real doubts as to how long I’ll be running for. Plan is to run a mile walk 30s plus aid stations.

Catch up with Emily who is already well on her way to power-walking the entire marathon to a strong finish. Decide to walk with Emily as then at least it will be a sociable few hours rather than running the risk of blowing up further down the road and walking the whole thing alone with Emily a few minutes back down the road.

Temperature dropping.

Heavens open, instantly soaked to the skin as if I’d just jumped in the ocean. Immediately start shaking, not just a shiver but whole body convulsions.

Game over.

PE got me in the end – I survived the wind (albeit not with any élan) but was totally blindsided by the rain and cold. I confess I just hadn’t seen that coming.

So now need to get myself up for Roth. Amount of improvement needed is daunting. At least I don’t have to worry about recovery time from SA. And my Physio will be very relieved I did so little running!

Obviously unhappy to have DNF’d but at least the cold took the the decision out of my hands- I’m disappointed but at least not having to do the soul searching over whether I could have pushed on if I’d been mentally a bit tougher- the body just shut down.

I hadn’t planned to race any more IMs after Roth in the summer, but given the IMSA team have scheduled next year’s race for my birthday it seems like a sign I shouldn’t ignore! I really do want to come and race it again next year. I don’t want to come back because of a burning desire to right wrongs or lay ghosts to rest (although that would be welcome) but because the race is simply a hugely enjoyable event to be part of. The way the local community engages with the race is simply fantastic and I’ve enjoyed myself immensely both times I’ve come to PE.

So, until next time…

In contrast to my own dismal performance, massive respect to two people who turned in fantastic performances.

Firstly Emily (who signed up to this when drunk) who succeeded in her first IM in horrendous conditions. A storming bike stands out.

Secondly Craig Twigg, UK pro who was staying in our guesthouse who nailed a top ten finish. And a nicer chap you couldn’t hope to meet. Sickening really

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So, a number of things up front:

1) I’m not Laura. She hasn’t suddenly decided to race IM South Africa.
2) I am in fact Laura’s husband, Andrew. I’m borrowing the blog for a couple of days in the run up to the race this weekend.
3) I am not as fast as Laura, so these reports will have a slightly different flavour to those posted by Laura.
4) If you’re my mother, stop reading now. Everything is fine.

I hadn’t planned to write anything about this race, and I’ve been keeping my entry fairly quiet as I’ve been worrying since entering that it probably wasn’t going to go terribly well. There’s been a bit of an illness issue over the last month or so that’s got in the way of training, and undone a lot of good work that’s gone before. I reckon people don’t need to hear someone getting their excuses in early!

But as race week has come around there’s a kind of excitement that’s hard to ignore, and putting pen to paper has been kind of helpful in keeping the panic at bay.

As we sat in the race briefing tonight with the tent rattling gently in the wind I was reminded of why I signed up for this race. I knew I was never going to be ready for an April ironman as my deeply ingrained laziness reacts badly to cycling in the wet and cold. Or even the warm if I’m honest, it’s just harder to find an excuse.

So part of the plan in entering was to make me do some training over the winter so as not to thoroughly embarrass myself at Roth in the Summer. Huffing and puffing and crying for your mother on the Solarberg is hardly showing the proper respect for a course where so many records have been set. Also while I accept that getting chicked by Laura is probably inevitable, there is a question of degree!

Plan: rediscover the fear and excitement of that first ironman when I really didn’t know whether I’d be able to complete it or not.

This was a foolish plan in which I have succeeded beyond all expectation.

People have been reminding me since I got here that Port Elizabeth is also known as the windy city. I have smiled smugly to myself in the knowledge that Chicago is in fact the windy city and I therefore have nothing to fear. Then I checked the weather forecast for Sunday.

Sweet Jesus.

The race briefing tonight dispelled the last of my hopes that the BBC were being unduly pessimistic. My favourite part was when the race director explained that the tents were only rated safe in up to 70kmh of wind and that if (as forecast) the gusts on Sunday hit 90kmh the finisher and medical tents would have to be closed. Of course as he pointed out wind doesn’t stop you riding or running (he clearly isn’t aware of my specialised approach to training) and the race would run come what may. Even if the competitors have to play a game of giant dodgeball as the advertising hoardings blow away and barrel across the course.

In my head Sunday’s race is already playing out as a cross between a bad acid trip and a scene from Mary Poppins. Only with more Lycra.

I think I was calmer before my first ironman than this one. And we should remember that my first IM was only my second Tri (Eton Supersprints first FTW). And I couldn’t swim.

So looking ahead to Sunday I can’t help but feel that my lack of run fitness isn’t going to matter as I’m going to detonate my legs on the bike in any event. It’s no longer a question of how fast I can get round, just how do I get round. No more worries about comfort versus quick transitions- just make sure there’s enough kit on to stay warm.

In short, for me at least, it’s shaping up to be a sufferfest rather than a race. A simple test of how long can I keep battering away for. To see which comes first – exhaustion or the finish line.

Awesome.

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A little later than planned, a few thoughts on my race in Abu Dhabi. The short version: decent swim, good start to the bike derailed by 2x punctures, held on for 1st in 25-29 age group and 4th age grouper overall. Now for the long version….

Since the Abu Dhabi Triathlon joined the race calendar in 2010 I had been determined to do this race – with its long bike and shorter run it seemed like a course that would suit me and an ideal way to start the season. So I was delighted my schedule worked out this year so I could do the race and it provided great early season motivation in what can otherwise be quite a flat time of year with the dark mornings and poor weather in the UK. I also managed to time this to coincide with a work trip to Dubai the week before which gave me a few extra days to acclimatise and do some training in the heat. The race location was great and whilst it wasn’t really possible to head out onto the more remote parts of the bike course due to traffic there was a long pedestrian area along the Corniche which saw a steady stream of cyclists and runners in the build up to the race.

In terms of my goals for the race, I had earmarked this race as an opportunity to test a slightly quicker pace on the bike – with a longer 200k bike leg and only a 20k run it seemed like the perfect course to take a few risks without risking a major blow-up on a full marathon. It was also a first test of the swim focus I have had since Christmas and I was keen to see if I could replicate the improvements in a race that I have been seeing in training over the last few weeks. I was hopeful of being in the mix at the front of the age group race and thought top 3 was a realistic objective.

Race day dawned bright and relatively cool, for once we were staying within walking distance of transition so it was a relaxed start to the day and I was in transition and ready in plenty of time. Not long before the start we heard there would be a 30 min delay, fortunately I was racked near a couple of friends in my wave so the time passed quickly and soon we were heading to the beach for the pro start and my wave which would be next.

A decent start saw me settle into a good rhythm early on in the swim; whilst not a huge fan of wave starts it does mean a much smaller group and even starting at the front there was very little biff to contend with. I’m certainly not quick enough to keep with the faster packs but I found a decent little rhythm somewhere in the middle of the pack and tried to stick with the groups around me. After a short beach run at 1.5k it was into the water for the second lap, most of which was spent avoiding slower age groupers from the wave behind who were on their first lap. The field had thinned out quite a bit by this stage so I was mostly on my own but at least it was very stress-free and a very relaxed swim. I was hoping for under 55mins and to avoid being caught by the fast age groupers in the next wave 15mins behind (that’s you Mr Molloy) and I managed to achieve this just with a 54.57. Much more work to do but some progress at least and certainly far less effort than (slower) IM swims I’ve had in the past.

The first lap of the bike course was brilliant fun. The long course is two loops out to the Yas Marina circuit and back, with a loop of the circuit thrown in each time. Each loop is about 47 miles with a shorter loop of around 20 miles to take the distance up to 200km. I felt great in the early stages and unlike in most Ironmans where you have to really hold back I allowed myself to push the pace. I didn’t see many girls out on the course and wasn’t passed by any until Rebecca Slack motored past me on the way out to Yas Marina, I knew better than to push the pace that hard so I kept her in (distant) sight for a while but mostly focused on doing my own thing. I reached the Yas Marina circuit in around 58 mins which meant an average page of over 40km/h and rather ahead of my target time, but with the benefit of a tailwind the effort seemed about right and it was clear that the conditions would make it a fast day. Cycling round the Formula 1 circuit is great fun and worth the entrance fee of the race in itself, although it was a bit more twisty and with tighter turns than I expected which definitely put my “triathlete” bike handling skills to the test! Back into town into a slight but increasing headwind (more on that later) and I hit the turnaround at 47 miles in 2.05, having passed Matt a few minutes before the turn which meant he was around 5mins ahead of me. I was starting to feel a little less like a cycling goddess at this point and with my power to that point around 30W higher than for my 5.15-5.20 IM bike legs in Cozumel and Austria I was pretty certain that this wouldn’t be sustainable for the next 3 hours. But hey, who dares wins, and I was ready to suffer on the second half of the bike. I was also very aware that at least one of my competitors in the age group race was further up the road so I needed to keep pushing the pace to keep in touch.

Back out towards the circuit on lap 2 took me through 100k which was a relief as my legs were starting to feel pretty tired and despite feeling like I was pushing harder all the time I was watching my power numbers drift gradually downwards towards IM pace. The field had thinned out dramatically by this stage with most of the short course athletes off the bike, which was a little lonely at times and on occasion I did wonder if I was on the right road as there wasn’t another cyclist in sight. Having anticipated a flat bike course I was a little surprised to find it is actually deceptively rolling as you have to climb up over a number of bridges which offered some respite from the flatter stretches but were also a little harder on the legs. I spent a lot of time focusing on nutrition and was glad that they were handing out Nuun (water + electrolytes) on the course which seemed to keep off the cramps I had suffered from in Coz.

Riding round Yas Marina Circuit

In the second half of the bike leg I have to admit I began to feel a bit down, my power was dropping off as my legs were cooked, it was hot, there were very few cyclists around me, the headwind back into town was clearly getting up and it was a bit difficult to imagine cycling another 50 miles hard and then running a half marathon. I have never really felt like this in a race before and it was a good reminder that 1) pacing on a bike leg is critical and it is a long old way if you overdo it in the first couple of hours, and 2) if you are feeling rubbish during the bike, usually a good solution is to eat something! Around halfway back to town at the 80 mile point and just as I was telling myself this was the crucial moment where the race gets tough and you have to push on, I heard the dreaded hiss of a puncture and pretty quickly I was bumping along on a flat rear tyre. As the first mechanical I have ever had in a race I had been half expecting this to happen eventually – and after the initial disappointment I felt a little relieved that it had happened here rather than a race where there are Kona slots on the line and you are more conscious that every second counts. A second puncture followed not long after and for the last part of the ride I have to admit I felt fairly glum about how the day was panning out, I found myself surrounded by all the people I had ridden away from earlier and most of all I felt indignant that the extra time had allowed the wind to increase further and I had to slog the last 10 miles or so back into town into a fairly stiff headwind. The headwind was also causing some bunching on the course which made overtaking more difficult and the wind had blown over a number of signs and traffic cones which you had to be careful avoiding.

I retook a couple of places later in the bike which I later found out moved me from around 7th in the age group race back into 4th, having spent most of the earlier part of the bike running in 3rd. I eventually finished the bike leg in around 6 hours, although I should point out the course was definitely short and much closer to 190k than 200k, I assume due to roadworks around the race hotel area. Excluding puncture stops I faded by around 15mins on the second leg and a further 10mins on the shorter loop which was less bad than it felt at the time but still more than I would expect in an Ironman bike leg. I ended up averaging around 30W above IM pace on lap 1, around 10W above on lap 2 and below IM pace on the last shorter loop, although in pretty strong winds by that point. Excluding stops I rode around 4.40 for 100 miles and 5.15 for the IM distance which is comparable to previous races although with a very different power profile. I still think a sub 5-hour IM leg is on the cards with more work and better pacing but this certainly wasn’t the day to achieve that.

After a reasonably quick T2 it was onto the run. From the start I was fairly dubious as to how this was going to go, partly as I’d ridden much harder than usual on the bike and mostly as I’ve had a foot injury since the start of the year which has really restricted running over the last couple of months. But actually I felt pretty good, it wasn’t too warm, the aid stations were frequent and well stocked and around the first turnaround I could see there were no girls anywhere near me behind and I relaxed, thought less about the girls up the road who were some distance ahead and figured I could hold position and not have wasted the entire day. My legs were less heavy than I feared and having done a lot of biomechanical / technique work recently with my physio Brad at PureSports Medicine and James at Kinetic Revolution I had plenty of things to think about in terms of keeping my form. I picked up the pace on the second lap to low 7min-mile pace to ensure I went under 1.30 for the 20k loop and was happy with a 1.29, albeit again on a short course. Given what I would describe as fairly poor execution and a number of issues I was surprised to find out later I’d won my age group and was 4th female age grouper across the line. This race is also special in the prizes on offer to age groupers and I should give a big shout out to race sponsors Oakley, Polar and Shimano for the great age group prizes on offer, as well as to the organisers IMG for the flights and accommodation for next year’s race!

Run and done

I would certainly recommend this race to any strong bikers or anyone who wants to experience a very different and challenging course; the high quality pro field makes it a fun race to be part of and it is certainly unlike any other race I’ve ever had the opportunity to take part in. I should also say well done to Emily (@emilyjtrant) who raced the short course as her first triathlon and had a good day on a tough course, and especially to our chief supporter and triathlon convert my twin sister Helen who learned a huge amount of new vocabulary (“transition”, “Faris Al-Sultan”, “Freak of Nature”) and provided a lot of fun on the day and in the run-up to the race. And finally thanks to my sponsors Aurelie and the team at TheTriTouch for keeping me in great shape and niggle-free in the run up to the race.

So overall an interesting race and a good learning experience for me, plenty of food for thought and lots more work to do as I press on to Ironman St George on 5 May.

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I have never liked swimming. When I was younger I mostly avoided it - it was cold, usually outdoors, they swam miles just to warm up and besides, I loved the track. Moving on to rowing in my late teens didn’t give me any reason to change this view… and so I came to triathlon years later with no swimming background. None. Zero. I don’t think I had ever swum a length of front crawl. I was one of those people who really are slower than a 7 year old.

So not surprisingly this showed up in my results. A 1.24 in my IM debut at South Africa in 2010 was a fairly terrible start. Yes it was in the sea, it was rough, I felt seasick and couldn’t see where I was going, and I was knocked over by a massive wave as I finished, but still, not fast.

I'm in there somewhere floundering

A 1.20 in Kona put me squarely at the back of the field. In fact I even started at the back as feeling terribly unconfident I’m ashamed to say I wimped out of starting in the mix. Lots more swimming and some lessons with Andrew Potter (t3performance) later, confidence improving I reached the giddy heights of a 1.07 at IM Cozumel. Yes the current helped by maybe a minute or two, but it was still my quickest to date and non-wetsuit to boot.

However… I was 2nd in my age group at Cozumel and 19th overall. I biked one of the fastest splits in the field. I ran ok. But I missed the age group win by around 4 minutes to a girl who swam 15 minutes faster. 15 minutes! I’m all for having fun overtaking lots of people on the bike but this was ridiculous - I was out of the race before I even got going. It was time for things to change…

Some helpful pointers from Stephen Lord (@lord_lordy) and Tamsin Lewis (@Sportiedoc) confirmed what I really knew already – I needed to swim more. Way more. It is easy to blame swimming slowly on never having learned good technique but the message was clear: “there is no silver bullet”, “in order to swim better you need to swim hard (often)”, “swimmers are always in the pool smacking out the 100s”.

So I made a plan. I don’t have time to swim during the day and I already run two mornings a week, so the other three mornings were set aside for swimming. The plan was as follows: swim three mornings a week for 4.6km each session (my pool is 23m so this is 200 lengths which seemed a nice round number). Plus a shorter technical swim one evening. For each long swim I would do a 4km main set which I would alternate through a two-week cycle of 40 x 100, 20 x 200, 10 x 400, 8 x 500, 4 x 1k, 2 x 2k (mixing up the order). I also decided to spend at least 50% of this time using paddles / pull buoy as some simple tests confirmed that I was massively lacking in strength. I am waaaaay slower with a pull buoy than without and apparently generate most of my (limited) power from kicking. Joining a swim session once with Paul Newsome and the Swimsmooth crew in Perth, Adam Young (@younggun) asked Andrew if I always got tired on the bike as I kicked so much in the swim. The answer which still makes me chuckle: “No, she’s a monster”. The idea is to follow this schedule for at least the 8 weeks from the start of Jan until Abu Dhabi long course which adds up to four two-week cycles and 15k per week.

Just to emphasise how much of a change this is, it is probably worth pointing out that until 3 weeks ago I had never swum 4.6km in a session ever. My longest swim was the Ironman distance and I had only done this a few times in training. In 2010 and 2011 respectively I swam approximately 120km and 70km in total. Over the last 3 weeks I have swum 45k and plan to reach 120k by Abu Dhabi on 3 March, so a bit different!

The second part of the plan was a Christmas present from Andrew who was quickly christened Paul (in honour of the aforementioned Mr Newsome) who loves swimming and gets me out of bed and heading to the pool each morning….

I love swimming!

And so for a progress update: I’m 3 weeks into the plan. The first week I was slower with the paddles than without, I didn’t have the strength to even work particularly hard with the paddles and my arms ached for a week. The second week was better, I was enjoying having a plan, the motions became more familiar, I had plenty of time to think about the technical adjustments I was trying to make as well as feeling more able to focus on swimming hard. I have even experienced short stretches where it all comes together and I feel like I am flying, for a few strokes at least!

It’s too early to draw conclusions. But already I am swimming faster and enjoying swimming more. I feel like I can go for longer: finishing 20 x 200m on Friday morning I actually considered doing another 10. (Before remembering I had to be at my desk at 8am.) My average pace across the sets is around 3 secs / 100m faster than 3 weeks ago. There are easy gains to be had here. And while I know the rate of improvement will slow, as it would in any sport where you start from a low base, the confidence I am getting from improving in one sport is already having a knock-on effect in terms of motivation to train harder across the board, which in the winter can be in short supply. It’s going to be an interesting few months!

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