Yay… finished… top snacking… I mean Ironman(ing)
Nicely timed for the end of Casualty as well.
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Good Jawb @Paul
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Well done, Paul 
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top effort Paul 
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Cheers guys. Can’t believe I did it. And you laugh, but as I pulled into the personal needs station on the third lap or the bike to restock my fuel I was met with a lady eating a full chicken mayonnaise baguette and two guys sitting sharing a flask of coffee. I also passed a guy who had an open Tupperware cable tied to his handle bars filled with cold pizza (no it was not me seeing my own reflection thanks).
I’ll do a very short summary tomorrow just in case anyone is interested in Tallinn, but I am so chuffed - I was genuinely hoping to do it in 15 hours and anticipating closer to 16 and can’t believe how the day went.
And sorry to be soppy, but huge thanks to all of the TriTalk gang. I don’t post a lot because I am slow and have nothing meaningful to contribute, but this place gave me the inspiration and confidence to take a silly little dream I had and making it happen. I’ll be forever grateful.
And now, I am never exercising again.
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What a great post. Enjoy!
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Well done great result.
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Congratulations @Paul, well done 
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Congratulations @Paul, top job!
Look forward to seeing which one you choose next 
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Well done @Paul
Looking forward to the full write up
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Half a mushroom omelette says you’ll have entered next year’s race by Tuesday 
Congratulations on a great result, & something a gastronomic triumph too by the sounds of it.
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That’s great to hear. And please don’t feel that not being super fast means you don’t have anything to contribute. Everyone has perspective and experiences and we’re all here for it.
Well done again. Hope the legs don’t hate you too much!
P.s. If eating and exercise is your thing then get your sore arse over to the trail and ultra thread. It’s what we do best! 
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Congratulations Paul! Excellent work.
Goodness, if being fast and having something meaningful to contribute was a requirement to post this place would be much quieter! 
so don’t hold back.
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Well done Paul
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Small splurge of events entered to celebrate payday 
10M TT - Saturday 30th
Boro 10K - Sunday 31st - decided not to do the Geordieman 70.3 as I’d need to get up at 3:45am 
and Boro 10K goes past where I was born 3 times! Not sure if sub 42 will happen though, might get close.
Sundowner 70.3 - 13th Sept - this was always on my list until it stopped for a few years, possible sub 5 course
Peterborough half - October, can’t see sub 90 happening but I’ll give it a go
Also applied for the medical cert for the trail race in Italy
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Tallinn - great city, Old Town is pretty and compact, plenty to do or just have a wander in the days before and after. We’ve found meals out to be really reasonable, as are hotels, but shops are expensive if you need to buy a new outfit because your bag didn’t arrive. Public Transport (free for competitors with a QR code) or Bolt is really easy.
Event Set-up - registration is at the finish at Unibet Arena, was super straightforward and well organised. Tiny Expo. Arena is next to a very large and nice shopping centre - handy for spectators to get food, not have to use portaloos, kill time between bike loops etc…
Start is about 3k away at Stroomi beach. I picked up my bike from Velo Yelo at Unibet on Friday and had a short cycle along the cycle/walk path that runs by the beach (missus nearly took out a rollerblader on her Bolt scooter) to check-in. Again all really well organised, and they had free shuttles back into the town centre (supporters could by a pass for 5eur).
Swim - Baltic Sea is really lovely. Clean, not very salty. We had a calm morning so all straightforward. 17.6 degrees was perfect temp. Loads of the tiny non-stinging jellyfish. It’s very shallow, so you walk about 150m out to a platform which is where the swim actually starts, and I’d say it’s probably waist deep for the first 50m before it gets deep at the first turn. Can pretty much see the bottom the entire way. 2 loops, easy to navigate and sight - you climb back onto the pontoon and cross the timing mat to start the second lap. Last 150m out to the exit you can wade and then trot out the water. Somehow did it 10mins quicker than my best expectations.
T1 - it’s quite a long trek from the beach and obviously your feet are covered in sand which is a bit of a pain. Plenty of toilets, benches and tents for changing or sitting down to have brunch.
Bike - 3 loops out of town through the Estonian countryside. Would say it’s scenic but not spectacular. Roads very good condition overall and a lot of it you are on highways. I don’t think any of the people I saw with mechanical issues had punctures. No steep climbs (there’s an “it’s just a hill, get over it" sign at one point that made me laugh first time) but a lot of long, steady inclines where I overtook a bunch of people with huge calves and gorgeous bikes who immediately reovertook me when it flattened out.
Only issue is it is very exposed so the wind causes havoc even on comparatively calm days like we had. Big gusts and swirling winds that changed direction constantly, so you’d have a section on one loop with a juicy tailwind and next time round you’d arrive at the same bit and feel like you’ve hit a brick wall. At one point I found myself behind and downwind of a gentleman who had learnt the art of peeing on his bike which was a treat.
If you are a good bike person and happy sitting in aero all day and don’t need/like stops you could be VERY fast. I was a good 30mins quicker than my best expectations and still one of the slowest on the course.
3 loops good for me ticking it off and good for supporters, but appreciate not for everyone.
T2 - easy to navigate. I did a full change. Well almost, I actually ran out of T2 in just my compression shorts and fortunately realised and quickly ran back to the bag drop to get my bag and get my run shorts on. Not sure doing a marathon in my pants would have been a good idea 
Was clearly too excited to get going.
Run - four loops, heading the opposite direction from the finish to the bike back along to the swim start on the walking path. I know some people would hate that but mentally it was great for me and as I got tired meant I could pick in advance what sections I would walk/shuffle. Plus it’s nice seeing the next set of km markers and saying to yourself “next time" round”. There’s some awkward little loops and out and backs to add on the distance including a little hill up to one of the aid stations but again I reckon someone who can actually run could tear this one up. Because we had the late start it got very dark and cold towards the end, must have been brutal for those out after midnight, but it was the right call to ensure we got the full distance.
I managed to jog the first two laps, mix up the third, and purposefully stride most of the fourth to not take any risks. Having only ran one marathon before and wrecking my hip in April I had pencilled in 6 hours at best for this, so couldn’t believe how it went. Felt far better than I did doing London or the half I did at Lakesman last year. Must have been all those calories…
Support - being out of town and a small event, the course support is fairly sparse. But the volunteers are great, and on the run the crowd tend to congregate in a couple of points each of which you pass twice each loop, so it feels ok. Finish line was amazing with all the screens, music, smoke and fire. Definitely felt epic ringing the bell at the top of the red carpet and hearing those words!
Other stuff - The blue Mdot is symbolic of the half-step removed Tallinn is from Ironman. I’m not entirely sure what the arrangement is, but the race doesn’t carry the same nutrition (one of the reasons for my picnic you bunch of twats), has different sponsors (so the expo is different and there was no Ironman-only branded gear other than a few Mdot keyrings, only Tallinn specific stuff), and the Ironman social accounts don’t really promote the race in they way they do Kalmar/Copenhagen. Wondering if it’s licensed rather than owned or something? So if you’ve done others need to prepare for some of these differences.
Tallinn airport is small and the planes that land there are small. All airlines had issues with getting bikes and gear and while it happens everywhere it seemed particularly bad. Everyone’s arrived eventually but would definitely recommend coming a day earlier or getting your bike transported. I’ve had a great experience with VeloYelo.
Won’t repeat what I’ve already said about you lovely horrible people, but if anyone is looking for an end of summer city race with cooler weather that is either an opportunity for a fast time or one that is maybe a little less strenuous than your Lanzas/Wales - would highly recommend.
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Sundowner is back ?
How ?
When ?
Same course
Loved that race
Yes, think it’s the same course, just outside York, Saturday 13th starting about 1pm, a new organiser and I think I know a couple involved. Also running sprint and standard I think.
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Not in 70.3 shape
Too soon to get there
And .. I’ll be in Thailand
2026 A race right there
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LOL
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