Generally you can walk normally the next day too!
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if I translate to total swim time, this is what it looks like: so anyone swimming normally at 3m/100m was in trouble to complete within cut off
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It can be a balancing act between doing the races we want to do and doing the races we should be doing. Either from a performance/enjoyment factor and family/kids commitments.
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I have to use my voucher next year. Im very much in the couch to IM class now in my own mind (although maybe Im fitter than I think still aerobically, on the bike at least). I will be the IMJ’r if i actually can get there (my chest says otherwise currently)
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With fast … ish… Olympic and 70.3 times previously they don’t excite me as much as a decent full distance time especially at an older age, something to look back on ?!
Flat ish course just because of my woeful downhill speed and couldn’t give AF about branded or not.
I’d travel Anywere in the country but not abroad.
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Ok Dan!
At least you have the first two covered.
Hope the breathing improves
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As an endurance machine, the longer the race the better. I agree that 70.3 is far less punishing, however, my pace is not the much faster on a 70.3 than on an Ironman.
I see far too many people racing Ironmans, when they would get far more benefit and enjoyment racing 70.3’s.
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But you’ll actually be swim training though.
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BLOOMING WELL DONE ALL!!!
Love following these threads and sharing the achievements, and mammoth efforts of people doing all they can. Looking forward to the rest of the race reports to flow in still!
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Anyone attend the awards ceremony?
Ok, usual apologies for a bit of a ramble here. But it’s always good to use to look back at how training and racing went. So here we go. Stick with it (if you can).
TLDR
The most persistent cramps I’ve ever had to deal with (literally from about 30 mins in until the end) + not your ‘typical’ Ironman training block + me on race day = 11:50.
32/250 AG (top 13%)
173/1625 finishers (top 11%)
Weirdly exactly the same time as 10 yrs ago. I am definitely proud of what I managed in light of the issues I
dealt with on the day; but I am still disappointed and know I can go faster than that.
ETA - actually i was 55 seconds quicker this time! 
Training
I wrote a loose 24 week plan of what I’d call training i.e. knew I was 6 months out and started to think specifically about the race. It was split into 3, in a rough ‘base, build, peak’ approach. Stats for the period were:
TOTAL – 24 weeks
Swim 13 hrs total 35 mins per week average
Bike 98.5 hrs total Just over 4hr per week average
Run 59 hrs total Just under 2.5hrs per week average
PEAK – 8 weeks
Swim 7 hrs total 0.86 p/w average
Bike 41 hrs total 5.1 p/w average
Run 23 hrs total 2.8 p/w average
If you asked my loving wife if I’ve trained much for this, she’d unequivocally say a huge yes. However when speaking with learned individuals such as yourselves, I think it’s fair to say these hours are probably on the lower end of the scale. But I did what I could with the resources at my disposal – time, motivation, 2 young children, 3 allotments, job. Bla bla bla. Nothing unique about my situation, just trying to post a objective reflection.
Pre race
Got up to Bluestone at around lunchtime on Fri. Grabbed some food then went for a swim with the kids, playing on the slides etc. Would I have preferred to focus solely on what I needed to do? Sure. But this was a family trip as well. So ego and selfishness were (mostly) parked to the side.
Similar story on the Sat. Mrs GB and I wasted too much time Fri night on the plans by trying to be too nice to each other. I think we were both bending over backwards to make the other’s stay as easy as possible. Which resulted in a crap middle ground. But we got there in the end! Didn’t have a chance for any ride/run shakeouts at all in the week before.
Sat was warm. We went down to Tenby. Forgot how mental it was on race weekend. Absolutely heaving! Got a bit stressed being outside for so long trying to register and then go back to my cousin’s house to get all the bags and bike etc. But we got there. Consciously tried to stay hydrated. Did it work? Don’t’ know. Did I spend too long on my feet on the Sat? Most likely, but see note above.
Sunday was an early alarm, then picked @Adam up en route. We got to transition early, but as he said in his report we somehow still ended up WAY down in the starting pen by the time we got to the beach. Oh and of course, it wouldn’t be me without some for of bike mishap. Yep, rear tyre was a bit soft and I’d forgotten my disc wheel adaptor thingy. So I couldn’t pump it up. Managed to get to one of the mechanics in time. He had one, but couldn’t get it to fit (an issue I had last year when I think about it). We decided that actually the issue was the valve was too long on the tube, so there was not enough space in the cutout of the disc. The easiest thing was going to be to take the tyre off and replace the tube. So I lost my gainzzzz there ending up with some crappy butyl tube! Haha. £10 for the tube and £10 to fit. (pre) daylight robbery. But I would’ve paid £100 at that point! Haha. He took the bike and promised it would be on the rack for when I finished.
Race
Was really lucky with my slack Saturday registration as I ended up with number 2005. Almost at the very end. So I had a sweet bike rack spot and my pink bag was one of the last ones right at the top of the zigzag! Perfect.
As I said we ended up starting really late. Like maybe 1700/1900 odd people. But Adam and I were having a good time. Laughing at all the really serious faces.
Swim – 1:28:01
169/250 AG and 1082/1625 finishers (Bottom 33% )
Got what I deserved I guess. Was very very busy. So many terrible sighters. I knew I’d not be fast, but I’d be consistent. Even I was overtaking people, so no good feet anywhere. Felt happiest when I got some rare open water and could just plug away. Water was lush. So clear and warm. But I’ll say it loud. IM swims are too long – they’re just boring! Maybe those of you that actually swim well are busy thinking about form and stroke and keeping HR down. But I just get a bit bored.
Passed a good few people I think, despite being over the thousand mark!!! Plenty of contact, especially on the buoys. Swim has been discussed. I won’t elaborate any more. Got what I deserved I guess. Less than an hour a week isn’t really going to do you wonders for a strong swim! Swan a 1:10 last time! So I gave up a whole 20 mins on that. That’s significant!
Cramped multiple times in my calves, so had to do a weird dorsiflexed kick until it eased off. This would become the tale of my day.
T1 – 9:14
Ahh, back on solid ground. Up to the top of the zigzags. Didn’t f**k about. Shoes on. Trot across town, overtaking tonnes of people. HR not too high. Great atmosphere. Saw @Doonhamer for the first time absolutely hollering over the railings. Bloody love that bloke. He was epic all day!
T1 Uneventful. Took my time in the tent, but didn’t hang about.
Bike – 6:32.43
68/250 AG and 395/1625 finishers (Top 25% - underwhelming)
Frustrating. I’ve made reference to it in my posts, but I got completely undone by the weirdest cramping ever. Normally you get it at the end of an event, or after a while when you’re really dehydrated. But I got them from really early on, maybe an hour or so in. Had my fuelling plan. Most of that went as expected, though my Aero bottle flung itself on the descent into Freshy. I pretty much knew how much was in the bottle, and calculated what I’d need to make up. As it was warm and I was cramping I was grabbing a Gatorade (for the electrolytes) at ever aid station and putting that down my jersey as well as a bottle of water in my BTS. I think all but once I drank both of these (or near to) before each station for replenishment. Couldn’t have taken any more on. Kept up with the bars and chews and gels. Started to get sick of them towards the end, but knew I had to keep taking little and often. Felt disciplined on this front.
The cramps though. Every single hill that was over about 5% I either cramped in my hammies and quads or I had to back off so much to not engage the muscle to stop it cramping. Which os bl00dy hard to do on a 15% hill! How do you soft pedal that!? I lost count of how many times I had to stop. The steepest ones were almost the easiest as I could get out of the saddle and almost let gravity power the pedals, and put a lot of effort in through my upper body. TBH I do this a lot anyway, standing climbing but not spiking the power, by really pulling on my bars and using my arms and shoulders. Was absolutely sh!tting it at getting a full on cramp episode in the big crowds at Narberth, Wisemans or Saundersfoot. Luckliy, somehow managed to squeeze through those sections, albeit very slowly, then have to stop a few hundred metres later until the pulsing stopped!
First 120km was a case of going past quite a few people generally, but then ending up in a yo yo with another 10 or so riders that I started recognising. They’d cruise past on pretty much every hill as I was having to go so softly, then I’d catch them on the descents and pull away on the rollers. On the 2nd lap, on the section from Tenby to about Carew I was cruising. The hills weren’t big enough to trigger the cramping, but I did have to back off the power a tad. But I was cruising past so, so many riders. Didn’t get overtaken once on a descent. Again, covered in some other threads over the past few days, but there are some really crap descenders! And my ‘on your right’ shouts were largely falling on deaf ears. Same story then once we hit the sharper hills. Me going super slow and swearing a lot at my legs up hills. Then back up to speed.
Great support. Almost too much for me at times. When I went up Wisemans the 2nd time it was empty on the bottom half. Trees were shading the road. Bikes had thinned out. It was really serene and peaceful. I liked that.
160w AP / 190w NP I guess mainly to stretching crampy legs on descents and not pedalling plus the many stops. Only 16 mins spent in Z5 power (over 268w) and 40 mins at Z4 (230-267) which I think is pretty disciplined/was totally forced upon me! Didn’t look at time or avg speed the whole way. Just plugged away and let the time be what it would be. Had no idea of overall time.
Overall thoughts. A frustrating day in the saddle, but at the same time kind of gratifying. I rode my TT bike twice outside in the build. Once for 3 hours and once for 45 mins. Despite that, had no major issues with position. Obvs the hilly course helps to be out of aero plenty of times. Bike last time was 6:29, so 3 mins slower but I felt like (I know you’re bored of hearing this), cramps aside, I rode it much easier. Last time I was ready to throw my bike in a hedge half way through the 2nd lap. This time I had no energy induced mood lows, was just getting pi$$ed off with the legs. It all felt in control, and I actually found the hills pretty easy. I just wanted to be able to ride them a bit harder.
T2 – 4:10
Didn’t much about. Was VERY worried how on earth I was going to run 26 miles with the issues I was currently dealing with. But put that to the back of my mind. Laced up the Next 2s, popped my now customary pink headband on and off I went.
Run – 3:36:49
9/250 AG and 41/1625 finishers (Top 2.5% - better)
As with the bike – frustrating. Got into my rhythm, but was living in constant fear of the old cramp. I had my effort dialled in from all my training runs. Barely looked at my watch the entire run other than to see the km alerts coming through. A bit like the bike, felt like the legs were suffering, but I had plenty of energy. Was able to converse with my supporters etc, but was just living in fear of completely pulling up. Calves were twitching for most of the run, but they didn’t properly stop me in my tracks until laps 3 and 4. Hamstrings were a bit more random. They’d just go suddenly. Then I’d stop, wait a few seconds and generally the muscle would ease off and I’d crack on. I know I’m a sweater and run hot even on a normal day, so religiously walked each aid station. Water on the head and the femoral arteries, iso or coke sips, bit of water. Stuck with tried and tested Maurten gel every 7km. Again, nailed my nutrition, as energy wasn’t even close to being a problem.
Could tell I was slowing on the 2nd half though, as the legs weren’t happy at all. Became really painful to run downhill, but there was no way I was giving up that advantage so just grit my teeth and sucked it up. Tapped out a steady rhythm on the ups, though the stride got shorter and shorter. I think I can count on one hadn the number of times I was overtaken, and they were all by 4 banders when I was on lap 2 I think; so the proper flyers. I went into a totally focussed mode between smiling and chatting to my support crew. I know it’s not great, but I didn’t engage with hardly any other athletes/random supporters/kids. I was suffering and I had to shut everything else out and keep plugging away. Cramps seemed to be exacerbated by the downhill running so on that dog leg section after the big hill they stopped me in my tracks every time. That kind of cramp I’d have expected (if it was only that) as the micro trauma in the muscles builds up. Other than that I only had one walk (aid stations aside) on the early part of the hill on lap 2 or 3. Typically where my sister had moved to! Haah.
In light of the day I had, I’m pretty proud of the run. By 5km in I was wondering how the hell I was going to finish. But I took Doony’s words at that point to heart ‘Don’t be a pussy, just get it done’. I thought he’s absolutely right. Suck it up and get it done. I’m not a very self-congratulatory person – I’m more prone to self-deprecation – but I know that I do have some physical and mental toughness in me. So I relied on that and just gritted it out.
41st overall run at a big event like that is pretty decent I guess. But of course all I can think about is how I ‘know’ I can go sub-3.30 on that course without the early cramps (the later ones I’d expect as par for the course). A bit egotistical, but i would love to see how many people i overtook on the run!
Ran 3:55 last time, so almost 20 mins quicker.
As I write this it seems like many, many words of complete BS excuses. Everyone has demons and difficulties in an Ironman, that’s why they’re so tough. I think I’d forgotten how hard they are; so very different to the long ultras etc that I’ve been playing with over the last decade. I finished the race thinking ‘F that’, I’m done with IM. But even a couple of days later, still unable to walk properly, the pain memories are subsiding and I’m straying into ‘what if’ territory!
Post race
Worst DOMS I’ve ever had. 10k steps yesterday making the most of our Bluestone stay didn’t help! Wondering around the forest trails etc. DOMS are pretty bad today still and I’m hobbling about, struggling to get going or change directions when walking. But they’re starting to separate into easing DOMS – calves, quads neck and shoulders – and what I think is probably muscle trauma/injury territory – left foot is f**ked, something properly wrong with that and bottom of right hamstring may have a small tear I think. Will keep an eye on these two in the next few days.
From an overall reflection, my general body/energy systems are absolutely fine. Bit tired from lack of sleep, but I think that tells me that I performed well within my limits. Maybe my biggest problem was not training enough, and the crampy nonsense was inevitable? I don’t think it was just due to the heat, as I was so so careful on my nutrition and hydration. Guess I’ll never know.
Being honest, i’m disappointed to be outside the top 10%. Though i’m probably just inside if you count the DNFs!
Well done on this epic IronRead if you made it this far.
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Fantastic report and an epic day mate, you didn’t get the day really wanted but you dealt with the one you had really well.
I know that feeling, I had it straight after the awful weather in 2017 and thinking ‘I know I can go better than that’ hence the race in 2018. The only issue these days is the expense and doing a race you’ve already done a couple of times.
If you do another, do a different one and get a new experience.
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35 mins swim a week !
Lol
Lol
All that obvious talent!
Seriously … “ I’ve rode my tt bike twice outside “
Talk about winging it and very near the top 10% overall too.
You have a very busy life and must know you could go soooo much faster, but plenty of time too.
A great report, cramps were weird but MADE you back off on the hills I wonder if that’s a sort of blessing?! I know it won’t have felt that way at the time !
Your a great runner we all knew that already.
An Ironman marathon is more mental than physical or so they say.
Great run … you caught the dentist
And all done in a supercar!
Great read and well done again
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Will get back to this later when I amend my training plan for 24 wks of “Reading GB’s race review”
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Amazing mate - you’re some athlete. The fact you’re able to put in a performance like that with everything you have on in life plus the weird race niggles is immense. The kids must think you’re a total hero.
‘Don’t be a pussy, just get it done’ - absolutely love this 
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Haha, cheers fellas. No hero by any stretch of the imagination, i just love a bit of a suffer.
It’s hard to not come across like a self absorbed w 
when speaking with people that aren’t ‘into’ tri. So i tend to just smile and nod and say i’m really happy. But then when chatting with mates (inc you guys) i can be a bit honest about how disappointed i am in certain aspects etc.
If i’d have waited until next year to do this race (when i age up to 40) then i’d have gained 7 AG places!
Little vid that sums up my day though. 
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Great race report. Shame we didn’t meet up after the race (I went straight for the massage queue)
Did you check saddle height? sounds like the saddle was too low or pointing up a little and causing cramp
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Whereas I averaged 10hrs per week of well structured training for 26 weeks, had no cramps and yet still 2hrs slower than you on a flatter course! 
#nojustice
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It was great to see you out there, you always seemed in great spirits. Did your sister tell you that I spoke to her & we both agreed that you were a bit shit 
.
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