This particular journey has come to an end. Ironman Barcelona is complete. The decision to do this event back on October 2017 was a “let’s see if I can do this” kind of entry. Sitting here now writing this blog I am quite surprised I did! Anything that mother nature could throw at me on Sunday….she did. But here I am…..an Ironman!
In the days leading up to the event the nerves started to jangle a bit, I was vacant (more than usual before anyone says it!) when people spoke to me and I was almost in my own little bubble most of the time and trying to draw an genuine conversation from me was pretty much impossible. Eating & sleeping were no different in the week. My training sessions were shorter but just as intense, the run was only 10km and I was popping 5-minute k’s like it was easy. I even tried slowing down but I was still going quick – fresh legs and all that. The bike sessions were the same – hitting the power numbers quite easily and feeling almost refreshed at the end. The swim was the same as always – just putting my arms forward, metronome-like, and remembering to keep the technique as best I can. In fairness all the training sessions were just going through the motions instead of seizing up entirely before Sunday’s race.
We travelled to Luton on the Thursday night, having booked a hotel there for the 7am flight the next day. Experience shows this is the best option or else we’d be up at 1:30/2am to get to the Airport on time. Instead we were up at a reasonable 4:30am!
Just about to book in the bike and I’d left my mobile phone in the car – I ran back to the multi-storey to find the car had already been taken to the long-stay so the driver had to search the car and bring it back to me. All this took 30 minutes whilst Suzy was waiting in the terminal with my bike, I had her phone and the passports so she was stranded wondering where the hell I was! Mobile phone now in-hand we checked in and went through security quickly to then sit in the departure lounge for about 30 minutes before moving to the gate where we got on the plane. Flight was fine – we were sitting next to a guy who was just about to do his 8th Ironman, swearing he wouldn’t do another one – admittedly he had said this to himself the last 7 times! This conversation replaced my usual routine of falling asleep and waking up with 10 minutes to go on the flight. His anecdotes of mishaps and training/racing mistakes were making me feel alot more at ease with what was about to come.
Out of the plane, into Barcelona airport and now looking for the shuttle bus we had booked for 10:30….no sign. We were in Terminal 2C and apparently the kiosk was in 2B so we walked 10 minutes to get there only to be told we had to wait 25 minutes for the others. Eventually (45 minutes) we boarded the bus which was next to 2C! and started our journey. About 25 minutes in the coach broke down on the motorway leaving us stranded and a clearly irate driver shouting at someone on his phone as he needed help. The coach had overheated so the driver (he’d done this before) got some water out of the back of the coach , filled up the radiator and continued another 2k until he stopped again, this time in a local neighbourhood who wondered what the hell a coachload of tourists were doing. The telephone conversations continued and it seemed the mechanics, who we were promised to turn up some 20 minutes later couldn’t find us. So…..we drived a bit more to them, another 2k. I’ve never heard of a broken down vehicle driving to the mechanic! The mechanic did the same thing – fill up the bus with water and we survived another 5k! This time they admitted defeat and said another bus was coming to pick us up….some 45-minutes later a bus arrived, not a replacement one, but just the next one with a coachload of people on it so we squeezed in and got to the resort of Callela some 5hrs later! Oh, did I mention there was no air-conditioning on either bus?!!!!
Anyway…..!
We checked into the hotel and we walked over to the registration tent which was a couple of minutes walk from us. It was all getting a bit real now. The expo was there, selling all sorts of Triathlon equipment which people may have forgotten to bring, any nutrition you could think of, new bikes, new wetsuits, new helmets, new tri-suits, spare tubes, new wheels! We got into the tent and I collected my ID bracelet and Ironman bag and numbers etc. We then checked Suzy in for her 3k “Irongirl” run which she planned to do whilst I was out on my bike in the Ironman. I turned around and was greeted by her mother and partner Roger! This choked me up a bit, which I think I hid quite well but it was obvious the nerves were kicking in. Apparently they had been there since Tuesday as Roger’s sister had a place in Callela. After registration we bought a few pieces of Ironman merchandise and met Cheryl & Roger (and Mary) outside the regisatration tent. It was all a bit of a blur after that on Friday as I was just trying to take it all in. The venue was huge and Ironman (as a brand) definitely knew how to put on a show.
Saturday was simply a bike ride with Roly Shaw from Beccles Tri Club, he was also doing it along with Jane Hannah fro Tri Anglia and Aaron Jackson from Bungay Black Dog. The ride was organised by Raceforce, a company who take your bike and take the competitors out on a recce in all the disciplines before the raceday. We only rode out to the first roundabout at around 6km from transition but I was glad I rode through the town just to know where to go, speedbumps and roundabouts etc before getting out onto the big two laps the next day. Afterwards it was the Athlete’s briefing where we were told the usual rules and regulations. I had my picture taken with the guy doing the commentary – it didn’t really sink in at the time but this was the guy who was going to tell me that I was an Ironman the next day.
A quick swim an a fairly rough sea wasn’t what I had expected, it is the mediteraean after all. So after 400m i’d had enough but it at least helped me know what the sea was going to be like……so I thought.
Bike & bags check in soon after and before I knew it this was 7pm and time to go back to the hotel and eat and sleep.
RACE DAY…..
I was woken by the sound of Thunder & Lightning from about 2am. Some people have said they don’t get anyt sleep at all so I was happy with the 4-5hrs I did get. We got down into the hotel restaurant for 6am – they were good enough to open it up from 5am knowing alot of the people staying were in the event. I didn’t feel hungry but knew I had to as I needed the calories later in the day. We walked the mile to the transition area/swim start and the heavens opened. I was soaked through in no time at all and all I kept thinking was “these are my dry clothes at the end of the event”! We approached transition and I knew Suzy couldn’t go any further and the emotions got the better of me and I did have a tear or two before we said our goodbyes. I went in, put the nutrition on the bike and in the Bike/Run bags and slowly moved to the swim start. “10 minutes to go” said the commentator and I got to my swim pen – I chose 1:25hrs because of the waves that hadn’t settled from yesterday – in fact they looked worse…..
SWIM….
The swimmers moved slowly towards the start, each pen one-by-one emptied and it was time for mine. I shed a tear again, and again, it was clear others were having the same emotions too and we gave each other that look to say “I know”. I saw Suzy at the left-hand side of the swim start and waved, cried again before putting on my goggles and we were away…. First big wave nearly knocked me over and I had to dive through the next wave. It took all my strength to get to the first buoy at 350m before turning right to swim the 1750m parrallel to the shore. The waves were 20 feet at times and coming from beind me over my left shoulder. I hadn’t prepared myself for these conditions and within 10 minutes I was sick….twice. I simply couldn’t swim freestyle so I resorted to side-swimming as I had learnt as a lifeguard and did the remainder of the swim with this stroke, swapping from one side to the other to give me shoulders a rest – sitting here writing this blog they are still sore from the effort. Lifeguards on jetskis and paddle boards on more than one occasion asked me if I was ok to which I responded with a thumbs-up. It was clear they had good reason as I heard after the event there were several swimmers pulled out & rescued not to continue the event because of the sea conditions. I tried to body-surf my way out but fell foul of the conditions and got wiped out before a lifeguard on the shore got me on my feet and through to T1 I stomped, and I mean that…..I did stomp. 1hr 47 minutes something, 30 minutes slower than anticipated I had finished the swim.
T1….
Listening to Suzy & Danny’s advice I took my time, I wiped myself down, got my bike kit on, removed my ear plugs (eventually), had some nutrition (Boost Bar & a Flapjack) and made my way to the bike. Suzy was there at the side of transition cheering me on. I later found out she had removed herself from the water’s edge because she didn’t want to see me being brought out by the lifeguards.
Bike….
The first 3km through the town was a technical zone so no tri-bars were allowed, once past the roundabout south of the town we were on the open roads and I started to pick riders off – just as I had done in most of my Triathlons this year. I was so far back after that swim I had my work cut out to catch people but I stuck to the plan and numbers and trawled in others one-by-one. At first it was one rider every 200 metres, after a while it was every 100 metres and towards the end it was every 5 metres. The added climb up the motorway to mix things up a bit was quite steep and I had to take the power up a bit just to get to the top, the descent was fun too, others were freewheeling and refuelling whereas I was still hitting the power numbers and doing 35mph+. The 1st lap was around 22mph average so I was happy with that. The weather was quite bad all through the 1st lap too – more thunder storms and torrential rain to deal with. If anyone knows what spanish roads are like in the wet you’ll know what I mean….”Ice rink”. People were falling on roundabouts quite alot and i saw several punctures along the way. The riders I was catching were now starting to slow down a bit, I was now in the realms of riders that were of a similar speed to me, or they would at least make it difficult for me to pass. A russian rider made it so difficult in-fact that when I tried to pass him he sped up and I had to drop back – this is considered an incomplete pass and just my luck to have a motorbike “draftbuster” behind me at the time – a blue card (5-minute penalty) was issued and I knew I had to serve it before getting to T2. I asked the motorbike guys where the next penalty tent but they were as useful as a chocolate fireguard and simply drove off happy with their penalty.
I was so incensed by this russian I sprinted past him making it impossible for him to resist the move and then proceeded to take 4 minutes out of hime before my stop at the next penalty tent at around 98 miles. I knew I had because when the official said I had 1 minute left to serve I saw him go past. During the penalty I took a drink and ate whatever I had left on the bike ready for the run in 15 miles’ time. I took off like a rocket, hunting down this russian and I caught him soon after ever to see him again. Looking back it wasn’t the best thing to do as I was pushing higher watts in the run-in as opposed to easing off as many people had told me to do. 5hrs 20 something I think – not quite the 5hrs I wanted.
T2….
It started to kick in now, I had to do a marathon in a few moments time. I changed quite quickly (in comparison to my T1 time of 13 minutes!) and set off on the run. I couldn’t stomach the goodies I had in my T2 bag and decided to try & feed o the run course.
Run….
The balls of my feet were sore and this occupied my mind for the first few k’s. Suzy was there at the beginning cheering me as well as Roger & Cheryl. I felt so bad for them as the weather had been hideous so far for them but they didn’t seem to mind. The first little loop of 1.6k got me to the finish line, from this I had 3 loops of 14km to do so I just had to break it down into parkruns or kilometres or 10k runs or training runs that I had done previously….anything to occupy my mind what I was about to do. The first loop was actually in the sunshine, not too warm but the weather you’d expect in Spain. My decision to run between feedstations every 2.5km was going well. By decision to take in cola each feedstation wasn’t and I then stopped twice to be sick in portaloos along the way. Suzy was near transition at 12km and cheered me on, I told her I’d been sick and she told me to keep going as I had nearly 7 hrs to do the next 2 laps before cut-off. I told her I was going to finish it but my time would be crap.
Lap 2 was just gels & water and this helped, the run between feedstations was still ok but I was slowing down in the feedstations and this affected my run time overall. This was now dusk so the sun had set and it was quite chilly. The crowd were amazing, although my “slapped arse” face didn’t quite tell them I was thankful for the support.
Lap 3 was going to be unchartered territory as I hadn’t run beyond 28k in training. The heavens opened yet again and I was running in the dark soaked through. One part of the course was not lit at all so I was very careful not to step in potholes or uneven road that I had somehow remembered from the previous two laps. With 5k to go I convinced myself to run the whole way – it was just a ParkRun after all. With this I promised to catch at least 10 people – I caught 55 before the final straight! 4hrs 50 somthing….
Finish….
I turned into the final straight on the “magic carpet” after stopping to thank Cheryl for her support just outside the finishing area. I jeered on the crowd who were all clapping – it’s like they were there just for me. They clearly weren’t but you get the principle. I stopped just before the finish to give Suzy a kiss as she was waiting for me just to the left of the finish line. I remembered what she said about getting a good finish photo and making sure no-one was in your way so I waited until it was all clear and gave it my Usain Bolt pose! lol
The commentator said “Nick – you are an Ironman”!
Once through the finish I was given the Ironman medal, the lady who gave it to me said congratulations and I think she meant it. I walked though to the finishers tent and just sat down for what seemed like 5 minutes but it turned out to me about 45 minutes! No tears this time, not like Geraardsbergen, I don’t think I had the energy to cry. I had that 1000 yard stare where you’re not actually looking at anything. I eventually got up and went to get some food & beer, I left most of that as I couldn’t stomach anything really, i think i had a couple of pieces of pineapple and some slices of salami. I went to collect my bags and my wet “dry clothes” and decided to have a shower – they were cold too so that wasn’t my best experience of Ironman. Shivering I asked for a foil blanket and then met Suzy outside the athlete’s tent.
In the rain we walked the 1.6k back to transition to collect the bike & bags before coming back to the hotel. I had a bath whilst Suzy went to McDonalds as all I wanted was some salty chips – this was 1 o’clock in the morning by now! I had about 10 chips and fell asleep – end of 🙂
I’m going to leave this here for now as there’s so many people I want to thank but need a few more days to compose something heartfelt. I know people wanted to know what the race was like so there you have it – 20ft waves, cold, windy, rain, crashes, penalties, drafting, cola, gels, water, more rain and the finish!