That’s a pretty incredible time. Did you get a Kona slot?
Don’t think allocations have been released yet. Although 4th 40-44 is likely guaranteed, there were 5 slots last year.
Good luch Chris and Mr-me… Having done a load of HIMs I forgot that IM slot allocation is Monday
Thanks, I was made up with my day. There’s horrible irony that (as I mentioned in my first post) that I only entered Bolton because I didn’t think I could justify/afford the expense of a race abroad. Gonna have to do some soul searching this morning but I think it’ll be pretty tough to turn down.
Good luck Chriswim - hope you get a slot.
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Yeah when hadn’t even considered it it’s suddenly a very big decision to part with I guess somewhere £4k?! Think I’ve made the decision I’m not going to go back to Bolton as I have a September holiday booked, and even if I could somehow arrange for unpaid time off from the NHS (even more unlikely as I’m in a training programme) I can’t quite justify it at the moment. Think if it was something I’d targeted and dreamed of for months then I could consider withdrawing from the house deposit savings, but not when it’s not something I’d actually wanted.
And sorry if that comes across as incredibly ungrateful to others who are trying to KQ, it’s not, I’m well aware this might be a one off opportunity and these circumstances might not come back round, but it’s not right this year.
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Chriswim, IMO, ungrateful would be taking it and then evaluating you don’t want it afterwards.
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First race report, turned into a long one. For context, did Outlaw 2017 in 10:24 (49-5:5x-3:30) having never really ridden a bike before more for the experience (+ an element of typical ticking off a bucket list challenge). 2018 just staying fit for enjoyment with a couple of very small local tri’s with friends doing their first tri’s. Missed that sense of purpose that training for Outlaw had given me so wanted to go back long and see if I could do better. Entered IMUK ~Sept time mostly for convenience as had just moved to the NW, and ironically was inspired by peoples tales of old bike course such as the Mexicans up Sheephouse etc.
Few months of getting back used to idea of regular training to end 2018, then big step up into 6 months dedicated training. Averaged 11.1 hours per week for the 23 weeks leading into race week, and very happy with the overall quality. Went into the race target <11, with 10:45 as a perfectly executed A-goal from ~:50, 6:30, 3:20. Assumed that would be somewhere around top 100, with maybe top 10 in M25-29.
Pre-race: Everyone seems to hype M-dot events but finished Saturday not understanding why. Thought most things were lacking behind Outlaw, such as information, expo, briefing and atmosphere around the place on Saturday. Still all very good and split-transitions wasn’t too bad but still not worthy of their reputation.
Swim: Did a 3.8k tune up event last weekend in Lake District and swam 49:15, feeling too hard to be IM pace so was looking for ~51. 3 people had made themselves known on the start line that they would be going <50 trying to organise a pack. Set off fairly steady and found myself comfortably sitting on their feet knowing it was a lot easier than the week before. Nice calm water, 20.3C, clean and I’m enjoying heading round and finishing first lap. Never done an Aussie exit and got caught out by how hard those boys were racing, see them sprinting through and I’ve lost 5-10m before I realise. Enter the second lap and within few hundred metres we’re lapping people just setting off and I couldn’t quite close the gap in the melee. Kept the leaders at 10m ahead for half the second lap, but once I decided I wasn’t going to close the gap and have that pride of coming out with them I eased right down and just calmly plodded through the masses of arms and legs, finished in 49:43.
Nice calm walk through the long T1, debating on whether I needed a jersey over tri-suit as Saturday hadn’t felt that warm, but trusted 14C at 7am would be fine so just dried off well. Slow and steady yet still out in 4th.
Every other tri I’ve been out first/with leaders and had had the constant sound of race wheels flying past me, so couldn’t understand where people were especially having seen a few people in T1 by time I left. Kept waiting for the ~100+ people to pass but end of lap 1 and I’m 16th average 29.8kph - 2kph quicker than target having recce’d the course a few times. HR was ok (about 3/4bpm higher than planned), but very soon legs were getting heavy, I was no longer cheering and wooping back to all the support and the hills were becoming grinds. Reined it in to give myself a chance at the marathon, span up the hills and biked second lap 1.8kph slower. Took a good couple hours of spinning and eating, but finally I’m started to talk back with supporters again and feeling a bit brighter through T2. Bike 6:16.
It’s paid off as the run legs are there and I’m cruising around 4:33 average pace for the first 21km including regular walks and drinking/gels much better than ever have done on run. Only previous marathon was Outlaw and made the mistake there of speeding up at 14km because felt easy, so here I just waited for the pain to come to me. Sure enough 3rd lap legs starting to feel something, but I maintain at 4:36 and not working too hard. Then BANG who the ??!? put this wall here? Think my legs saw the finish line after lap 3 and thought they were done. 32km I struggled to walk up the hill through the park when hadn’t noticed running up it before. Is everything I can do to stay calm and positive and settle into a steady rhythm and averaged 5:10 for this 5km. Through that storm to the last turn around and it’s all downhill, no more walk breaks and I managed 4:45 pace to the finish.
10:33:57, 19th overall, 4th M25-29. As said, Bolton is Bolton, but the amount of people that came to support made it an incredible race.
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YEAH YEAH BOI!!!
Great report and good racing by you both there 
Don’t beat yourself up.
A friend of mine who subsequently did Kona 3 (or maybe 4) times and came 4th in his AG with 9 hours turned down his first kona slot at Zurich because he didn’t think he swam well enough to deserve it !!
Just scanning the results in my AG and noticed TC - 6:48 bike. He used to knock Wales bike out under 6 hours.
Meanwhile at the other (blunt-ish) end of the field I managed a 13:58, 1:08, 7:19, 5:15 and whilst last night was a bit disappointed how the wheels fell off particularly during the last lap of the run, this morning am really pleased with everything. As has been said the support is fantastic which I am sure the good weather helped and as also said, so glad it was dry, even the cobbled section with the turns would have been lethal. A proper little Solarer Berg climb going past the Black Dog in Belmont and Queens Park was really busy and great support for the run, as was so much else of the course. God at the swim, the wrestlers at the top of sheephouse and ironman on the run course with music everywhere it was a great ‘fun’ day throughout. The day was topped off when my clubmate won the 65-69 and this was his last ever IM, or is it ! For us mere mortals doing this course, riding hills as much as you possibly can and reccying the course a few times is the best preparation IMO. Well done to the other TriTalkers who all look to have had a great time out there and on the plus side I’m now half a stone lighter that 24 hours ago (I know it will all be going back on).
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Great work. That’s some swim.
I inadvertently was tracking you a lot of the day. A guy from my club was in your AG, and he was second behind you at 60k on the bike, only to then be sent off course (I have no idea how that happened) and that apparently cost him 10-15mins. He ended up 2mins behind you in 5th. I had no idea he was chasing down a tritalker!
Any word on number of KQ slots? From the website there were 3 in M25 last year (a different guy from my club got one of them). If you are sure you’re not going to take it, that would at least give him a slightly better chance than I think he probably thinks he has.
Huge shame for him to have it potentially be decided by odd circumstances.
I’m definitely not taking, I’m still sat in Preston after half considering going to ceremony just to experience it. Still nothing posted about slots which I find odd, thought they would have annouced qualifers last night/this morning online first, but I’m assuming 3 or 4 slots so he’ll only need one roll down.
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It’s one think to do this stuff without training but another to do it whilst unwell too…therefor in brief about this race:
Pre race admin as per IM standard although they could do with a few more road signs around town (they may not be allowed of course)…
Race day parking and access excellent.
Trying to get into the start pens not so good unless you want to line up 15 or 20 mins before
Helpers and marshalls etc…all outstanding.
The Flash a little grubby but warm…locals declared it cleaner than last year…
T1 all good
Bike course…very rough surface for much of the time. A little dull getting out onto the loops, but the loops themselves, once out of town, make great riding with the hills coming thick and fast later on in the loop. Still lots of opportunity to use a TT bike with only a couple of 90 degree corners to think about. It would be the road surface (or potential weather) that would put you off I suppose. Aid stations excellent.
Only problems were cars and riders on the course. A lad two bikes in front of me was wiped out by a car trying to drive through a controlled crossing point. There were a small handful of other cars at other times with various numbers of marshals trying to stop them. There were also a number of club riders out and about on the course. Some were really supportive, but, in narrow sections they were a nuisance and on the hills they were pacing club mates. It made no odds, because anyone behind me wasn’t going to make the cut, although that doesn’t mean that they weren’t further up the field too.
So, to my ‘race’. I have been ill for quite a while - or I keep falling ill. Nothing serious, just sickly ill catching every bug. This is a new phenomena for me as i usually have to break something to feel off colour. Thus i can’t either train on consecutive days due to a lack of recovery or hold a pace for any length of time. Old age, I suppose, or at least pay back for all those carefree years.
Thus, i planned to swim conservatively and just do enough on the bike to ride both laps. if I got to the run, then I could consider a modest run/walk strategy or just to walk it if necessary…but hopefully not so fatigued that it would look like the retreat from moscow.
I couldn’t get in the 1:30 pen and so joined somewhere at the back of the 1:40s and it took 15 mins to get to the timing mat and another couple of mins to get into the water. One thing about being here…it seems no one can swim straight. Most of the next 20 minutes was spent meandering around swimmers and trying to get into some sort of breathing pattern. it made no odds as I couldn’t hold any pace and struggled with cramp after about 30 mins in alternating calf muscle. I would rather just start in the water (the military wave did).
I enjoyed the bike but really didn’t have anything in the tank and treated it like a sportive, chatting to everyone I passed or who passed me. I was keeping an eye on the pace and knew I needed an eight hour bike (with 30 more mins contingency). I held this pace for 60k which is when the hills kicked in. Of all those around me, only 1 guy was interested in the pace and as it dropped away, only he understood the need to push on.
I decided to cal it a day at the end of the first loop ( a little over 100k) and saw Mrs eJC at Rivington. it seemed a nice spot to stop for a chat and arranged to be picked up at T2. I pulled out at T2 but wasn’t allowed to pick up my T1 and T2 bags so had to sit on the road side for a couple of hours waiting for Mrs eJC with no food or drink. i had to ask a security guy to get a jacket and running shoes from my bags and a family took pity on me and shared their picnic with me. (I should point out that within a minute of me being turned away, an athlete came walking out with both bags and i just got a shrug from security)
I watched them let at least another 100 bikes onto the second lap without any chance of them finishing the race before they then closed the bike course. About a dozen or so were not let out and, like me, had to wait around to be allowed to collect their kit. I then had a couple more hours once Mrs eJC had brought me some clothes to go and cheer on the runners.
At the bike:run cut off, there were a lot of disappointed people finishing the second bike lap.
I should quickly add that at least 8 leaders lapped me on the bike…all very humbling…
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Am I right in remembering from your blog it’s Clapham Chasers? If so I remember him, think I overtook him fairly early in the run but never really got any gap on him.
If your head says no to Kona, I’d avoid the Ceremony, because I know people who’ve thought the same, then said 'ah fcuk it!’ and taken the slot in the heat of the ceremony hype…only then to have regrets entering a few months later.
Yep - looking at the tracker, you were 32s apart out of T2. You started the swim 1s ahead of him in real time
Oh, and a couple of missed points after reading other posts - well done guys…
The support on the course was immense…a couple of areas were like Zofingen in its heyday…
There were a couple of points on the course where it was possible to go wrong on the bike…
None of the climbs were steep, just numerous, and none of the descents were that technical…
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Well done to everyone who finished, it does indeed sound like a brute on the bike.
So - is it actually a harder bike than Tenby now? I guess Tenby still has the slower swim & run.
T_C had a pretty big crash at Lakesman a few weeks back…And did Bastion last weekend.
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