Ironman Regensburg

Sorry for the delay in blogging my race report, a holiday got in the way!

Ironman Regensburg was my ‘A’ race of the 2010 season, I did a few other smaller races this year but this one was always going to be my focus. In the months running up to the race, training was going well, I had some good results in the triathlons I had entered and everything was looking good for a decent Ironman race. Something had to go wrong!

We decided to drive over to Germany, the “we” being myself, my wife Sarah, Jamie and his wife Lauren. We took the ferry to Dunkerque, then drove down to Koblenz in northern Germany for an overnight stopover. The following day we drove down to Bavaria, to the lovely picturesque city of Regensburg, our hotel was 5-10 minutes outside of the city but perfectly adequate for our needs.

We had a few days chilling out, going to the pasta party (slightly disappointing), checking out the expo, doing a recce of the swim, and finally racking our bikes and putting our bags into transition. And that was that, all done, all that was left was to get our heads down and mentally prepare for the race.

I was up at 4am ready for a 4:30am breakfast. Breakfast consisted of fruit & yoghurt, a cup of tea and a pretzel. This was followed up with a carb drink, a Torq energy bar and a small meal replacement drink. We all jumped in the car at 5:15am to drive to T1 (we had split transitions at this race) where we tinkered with our bikes for a little while before we headed back to our families to get lubed up ready for the swim.

The swim start area was quite narrow, and looked narrower with nearly 2,000 neoprene clad nervous athletes all milling around trying not to look nervous! The usual euro-pop was banging out on the PA system, and I’m sure they slipped in “Chariots of Fire” too. Jamie and I managed to have a few minutes in the water as a warm up and get a “feel” for the event, by now I was getting really excited.

With nearly 2,000 competitors all starting at the same time, the swim is always going to be chaos and this was no different! I will admit I hated every minute of the swim. The "biff" you get from all the other triathletes is huge, arms and legs everywhere! I got hit in the face a few times, but this did nothing to deter me from my own swimming. The swim course was fairly simple on paper, but in reality it was quite different, the buoys were small and everyone was swimming miles off course (including me!). Add to this cramp in both calves on the return leg and the lack of good feet to follow, I was convinced my swim time would be very slow, in fact I was on a bit of a downer for the final 600m or so thinking it was so slow. I guessed it would be about 1:15 or 1:20, however on exiting the water I was very pleased to see 1:09 on the clock. Swim done, now onto the bike!

T1 went smoothly, no issues here at all. In and out of the change tent, a quick stop for a pee and out into the Bavarian countryside. As expected, the roads were nice and smooth and the pace seemed pretty quick, not too fast but fast enough to know we were zipping along. I had a pre-planned power range that I wanted to stick to and at this time I was well within these limits. As I am not a great biker I knew that loads of guys (and gals) would be passing on the bike, this was fine by me, I had my race plan and I was more than happy to stick to it. And I guessed that they were either much better than me anyway or they were going too quick too early!

The bike was a 2 lap course, quite flat in parts with 2 large hills in each lap. The bike started well, the sun had not yet come out (the forecast was for a very sunny day) and the wind hadn’t yet picked up. The first lap went quite quickly, the big hills didn’t seem too bad, I was spinning away, going on feel now (not really using my power meter too much, a change of plan here), feeling good and completed this section in 2:44.

At this point I thought I should slow down slightly as I thought a 5:30 bike split was beyond me and would not set me up well for the marathon. Also at this point the heat was increasing and the wind had become stronger, so I naturally slowed down a little bit. And the big hills on the second lap started to bite a little bit too! At this point I got into a group of guys who were all riding at the same speed, for about 40k we all rode together (legally!) each taking a turn and keeping the pace up. This certainly helped with the overall bike split, not only as it keep the pace up but also relieved a bit of boredom! I went through the second 90km in a time of approximately 2:49 (which included a quick pee stop!), I was happy with this as I felt strong and hadn't pushed it too hard, I felt like there was always a little bit more in reserve if required. Bike done in a time of 5:34, happy with that!

I come into T2 and rack my bike. IM Regensburg has a slightly different racking system where you simply rack your bike in the next available slot, i.e. in bike time order. This worked really well when collecting your bike after the race......anyway, back to the race. I go straight into the transition tent, don my visor, put my trainers and socks on, nutrition goes into my pockets and I was ready to go. Another quick pee stop and now I was ready to go! As I left transition I was already doing the math in my head regarding possible finish times. This was a little stupid of me, so I put it to the back of my mind and got on with the matter of a 26.2 mile run!

I headed out and instantly felt good, but there was something else I could feel. Oh yes, that would be the heat! It was going to be a hot day! It was a 4 lap course through the city of Regensburg encompassing one or two of the local parks. Lap 1 felt soooooo easy! But even now people were walking. I was running on feel rather than pace, I tried to slow down to a 8:00-8:15 min/mile pace but it just felt like I almost walking, it was just too easy at this point. And the amazing crowd didn’t help you to slow down either.

Lap 2 went smoothly. The heat was really getting up now, but I was taking on plenty of water and nutrition and I felt good. It was during the start of this lap that I spotted Sarah (my wife) and Lauren (my mates wife), this really gave me a boost but I’m not too sure they were pleased to see me; as I passed them I threw one my sponges at them! It’s amazing what simple things make you smile during an Ironman run!

I went through the half marathon in approximately 1:44. I knew I wouldn't be able to hold this pace to the end of the race, but was pleased with the way it was going so far. Lap 3 started well. I spotted Sarah and Lauren again and called them over, they instantly thought something was wrong and started to worry. As I approached I cleaned myself up (with a pre-planned sponge), then leaned in, kissed my wife and told her I loved her. Soppy I know, but it was great having her support out there and the family is usually the last people to get thanked, she now knew how much I appreciated her encouragement.

Now lap 3 was beginning to get tough! Very tough! I was feeling fatigued and was walking through every aid station, taking on lots of calories and drenching myself in water to cool down. My stomach started to complain too. It was telling me to stop and have a toilet break, which I duly did but nothing was happening! I guess I lost a minute or two here (not too important at this stage of the race) but I knew I was on for a new PB as long as I didn't explode on the final lap, easier said than done!

The final lap was a killer! I was now simply running from aid station to aid station, just trying to keep moving, just trying to get to the next aid station. I was almost dead on my feet. So many people were walking and I just wanted to join them, the devil on one shoulder was telling me to have a little break, whilst the angel on the other shoulder was telling me hang on in there and just keep moving! From the final splits on the Ironman.com website somehow my times from lap 4 were the same as lap 3, but my effort level was through the roof, at this point I had decided to never do another Ironman ever again!

With about 5km to go I really had to dig deep, but still wanted to push on a little. I was really tired now but with only a few km’s to go I could see (and feel) the end in sight. As I approached the finish area I had a huge smile on my face. You enter the finish chute and the noise is almost deafening! The sheer elation you now start to feel is unbelievable.

As I am running down the finishing carpet I hear a shout from Sarah and Lauren in the crowd, I look across and my smile gets even bigger (if that’s possible). I high five the guy on the microphone and cross the line in a time of 10hr33. The feeling when you cross that line is simply amazing, all the hard work somehow seems worthwhile. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to a little emotion after crossing the line, the Ironman journey is a long hard road with many twists and turns, and crossing the finishing line is such a huge release.

Overall, IM Regensburg is a great race. The support of the people of Regensburg was amazing, couple that with some great (German) organisation and amazing scenery; and you have a great race. The organisers need to tweak one or two minor things before next year, but as this was the inaugural race I guess it can be excused.

I was very pleased overall with my Ironman race. My goal was to go sub 11 hours and secretly I thought sub 10:45 was a possibility if everything went well (which it rarely does in Ironman!), so am well happy with my time of 10:33. I guess it would have been nice to dip under 10:30 but in the bigger scheme of things, it’s not important. The race went well and I finished in one piece (just!).

And of course a huge special thanks goes out to my family and friends for supporting me throughout the whole Ironman process, it really does take over your life and my wonderful wife, Sarah, has been so supportive during the past 6 months. I couldn’t have done it without her; it was a great team effort!

Will I do another Ironman? After the race I said never again and had already decided to give Ironman a miss next year. Next year will be sprints and Olympic distance triathlons I think, or perhaps the World or European Long Course Champs (if selected). But who knows, maybe another Ironman to celebrate my 40th birthday in a few years time? Watch this space.