Ironman number seven, this time in Sherbourne, UK.
1,500 started the race.
Overall: 10 hours 18 mins, 80th outright and 55th after stripping out the Pros that finished ahead of me.
3.8km Swim: 1 hour 2 mins
180km Bike: 5 hours 29 mins
Marathon: 3 hours 36 mins
2,300m vertical ascent on the bike and 750m vertical ascent on the marathon - One of the toughest IMs there is! The day was BRUTAL given that amount of climbing and the weather conditions, COLD and V.WINDY. Looking back, two days on, it really was an EPIC day. The weekend started with a lot of rain - it is the summer after all. After formalities on Saturday and bizzare accomodation on Sat night (think The Twilight Zone, v.glad to be away from the place in the morning) it was time to get it on with a 6am start in Sherbourne Castle lake which was FREEZING although you quickly warmed up after the 200m swim to the start line. Again I jostled right up there to where the pros were and nestled in just behind Bryan Rhodes the race favourite. A guy right next to me shouted OGGY OGGY OGGY and the lake reverberated with OY, OY, OY as 1,500 water treaders responded. Pretty good call! We were left there treading water for around 20 mins as latecomers made their way into the water until finally the hooter went and we were off into the semi-darkness. Two laps of the lake - felt strong and recorded a PB 1 hour 2 mins. On exiting the water I found that my wetsuit was completely unzipped, not sure how that happened, so potentially could have gone faster. T1 was a disaster - serious FAFFING. I'd knotted my T1 bag right where I needed to open it and spent almost two minutes just trying to unknot it - you COMPLETE IDIOT!!! I remember saying to myself. 7 mins in T1 - rubbish! On to the bike and my old pal the CERVELO P3, this time with ZIPP 404s on the front and back. V. Windy throughout the three lap course - there was really no tailwind on the out southbound as that part of the course was fairly sheltered but on the way back the headwind was v.strong. The first lap was nothing special as I paced myself and started getting the nutrition in and finding my rythym. Laps two and three were where the hammer went down and I felt v.strong and passed many riders. During the third lap I was flying particularly on the tough back headwind section and passed many riders. 5 hrs 29 for the bike and 62nd fastest bike outright (40th if you strip out the pros who biked faster) - a significant stat for me, my focus on the bike this year in preparation for Lanzarote next year has worked. Coming back in to transition was a buzz with the support from the crowd, a glance over to the bike racks showed that not many bikes were back in! T2 went a little better (although still not great, need to work on these). The first 9 miles of the marathon were in the grounds of Sherbourne Castle which by this stage was a complete bog/quagmire. It felt like an XTERRA race as footing was important, there wasn't much non-mud/puddle footing! 9 miles up and relief to be onto the road. I really felt flat throughout the whole run, and even though I ran a good marathon time I just didn't feel on it, usually the run is my strength and I'm passing everybody, this time I passed some but was not flying - the end of a year of training, 2nd Ironman in 8 weeks, after a peak (for this year) performance in Roth are the reasons I think, so I was running tired. Onto the murderous, hilly, windy A35 for two out and backs, a battle of attrition, including the steep Babylon hill + other hills twice - even though this was the front end of the field everyone was in pain and each runner's face told that story. Off the A35 and back though the town, the marker said 23 miles, 3 miles to go! Thank %*^$ for that! I thought. Coming back into the race finish was again a buzz and hats off to the support that braved the conditions, 3 hours 36 for a hilly marathon and a 10 hour 18 min finish.
After food, a litre of recovery drink, three coffees and a massage it was time for Bermuda shorts and into one of the hot tubs - there were a couple of french guys in my tub and it was good to talk to them including their complaints about the mike markers! instead of the km markers that you see on every other IM course. IM Lanzarote up next. 4 weeks off the bike and run and then 8 months of training.
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