Ironman Wales Race Report

After finishing my first Ironman in Bolton, UK this year, I was buzzing. It was a hard course and I was spent crossing that finish line, but I was on such a high. When I returned home my first thought was: I want to do that again. Where can I do another one? So I had a look at what races were still open and which ones were close and not too expensive to travel to. Wales was one of the options. Renowned as being one of the hardest races on the Ironman circuit, it was one I looked at in awe. I followedprofessional triathlete Jesse Thomas  last year as he took the win in Wales in his first ever full distance Ironman event, and I saw how tough the course was (he writes some epic race reports defo worth having a look on his page). I like a challenge, and having raced Bolton which is a similar course - hilly bike and run (not as hilly as Wales!) - I felt it would be a tough and honest race which suits me down to the ground. So once it got the okay from Grace, race entry was completed!

Race Week:

Road Trip

Myself and my partner in crime (Grace) packed the bikes into the car and headed for Rosslare on the Thursday. We thought it would be less stressful getting down their and spending the night in a hotel next to the ferry so that we wouldn't have to get up super early on the Friday.

Quick spin around Rosslare

We got the ferry on Friday morning to Pembroke, and it was only a 20 minute drive from there to Tenby - race venue. The first thing that caught my attention on the short drive were the hills!! There were hills everywhere. I knew then why the bike course had such a reputation as being hard, over 2300m of climbing!

Pre-Race:

View of the swim start from our hotel room

Tenby is a lovely coastal town, and the weather was surprisingly good while we were there. Our hotel was a 2 minute walk from the swim start, and the view in the mornings was awesome! I was feeling confident going into this race. I had a great day out at Ironman 70.3 Dubin, managing to qualify for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. But the highlight of the day for me was a 2:16:45 bikesplit. Since that race I kept my training consistent, possibly dropped off a bit with my swimming. I didn't try to cram training in. I tried to focus on quality over quantity. I listened to my body and rested when I felt I needed to, rather than training just to get a session in. So I felt quite rested and fresh leading up to the race. The Tuesday before the race I took part in the Grant Thornton 5km road race as part of a team from work -Sports Surgery Clinic. I had planned on just taking it easy, but when the race started and I ran the first few hundred metres, I felt very light and springy so I thought I would open up the legs and have a go at running a decent time. I managed to run a pb for me - 17:43 - nothing to be singing about but a great buzz for me as speedwork hasn't been a part of my training this year yet I was still able to pull this out of the bag (eager to see what I can do with a bit of speedwork in the legs!).  This gave me a major boost heading into Wales that weekend. One of the reasons I chose Wales was because there were 2 slots provisionally allocated to my age group for Kona. I wanted one of these, and I knew I was in shape to get one, all things going well. My second goal was to win my age group, to finally get on that top step of the podium. Like I always say, you need to set your goals high!

Race Morning:

crowds looking down from the street

The great thing about Wales was that the transition and swim start were only just over a kilometre from each other, which meant I could get up at 5am as opposed to 2:45am in UK. I made tea and coffee for myself and Grace, gathered my gear laid out from the night before, and headed down to transition.

My Speed Concept looking well as always !

When I got to my bike I realised I had put my bike shoes in the transition back yesterday - I always have them on my bike. I was annoyed at myself, but nothing I could do now. I would just have to remember to buy new cleats after the race! Outside transition athletes lined up according to their self seeded swim times ; Pro's, 50mins, 60mins, 70mins, etc. I slotted myself in towards the front of the 60 minute swimmers. My plan was to start at a faster pace than I usually do, and hold onto it for as long as possible. I usually come out of the water feeling I could swim another loop at that pace, so this time I wanted to try and push myself that bit more in the swim. We all walked down through the streets of Tenby together at 6:30am, towards the swim start. The crowds were starting to gather on the streets already. There is a long steep ramp with switchbacks from the street down to the beach, and along the sides there were hooks to hand our extra transition bag for our shoes (it is over a kilometre run from the beach back to transition!). The atmosphere down on the beach was electric. It felt like being in an amphitheatre, all the athletes down on the beach were the centre of attention, as the crowded streets looked down from above, music pumping. I was buzzing. Ready to race.

Swim:

My race started at 7:15am. I positioned myself towards the front of the 60minute swimmers. It was a run in start from the beach, and as planned, I went out that bit harder from the start, trying to keep on some feet when possible. The swim was a 2 loop, clockwise swim, with an Aussie exit around a giant rock (Goscar Rock). The first loop was relatively uneventful, a few slaps here and there, I managed a quick look at my watch as I rounded the rock for the first time (just under 30minutes, deadly, I could be on for a sub 60 minute swim here!).

Heading back in for the 2nd lap

On the second lap, when I was at the farthest point away from the beach, I encountered 3 jellyfish underneath me - huge ones! Well, they looked big anyway! That got my heart rate up and as that panicky feeling set in I had a quick increase in speed to get away! I got out of the water in 61 minutes, a bug pb for me, and a good start to the race. I headed up the long ramp and got my shoe bag: shoes on, hat and goggles off and in the bag. I ran up to the street, zipped my wetsuit halfway down as I made my long journey to transition. 8 minute transition doesn't sound great, but this is a long one, and taking into account average transition times being 9-10 minutes, I was happy enough with that. Now onto my favourite part of the day - the bike!

The long way back to transition

Bike:

I have seen parts of the bike course on tv, watching highlights from previous years, but was mostly heading onto unknown roads. What I did know was that there was over 2300m of climbing to do, so it was going to be a tough, honest course. Just the way I like it. After experiencing the Ironman bike leg in the UK (a similar course, not AS hilly), I was confident that I could go that bit harder for the 180km, without affecting my run too much afterwards. So from the start I put the head down and got to work. As my swimming has room for improvement, I started picking off those in front of me one by one. I adjusted my nutrition on the bike for this race: 2 High 5 sachets per bottle as opposed to one, with 3 x 750ml bottles on the bike. This gives me the reassurance that I can get through the 180km without the need of an aid station. **Important Tip - check the calories on the nutrition labels of the products you use, and make sure you are taking on enough. One thing I learned from Ironman UK was too few calories on the bike. It's okay to make a mistake, once you learn from it and don't do it again!

Ready to take on the welsh hills!

Through the first 90km I was motoring. I felt comfortable on the bike, and my legs felt good. Really good. I think I clocked just over 2:30 for the first half of the bike. I took the hills and long drags nice and steady, putting the power down on the descents and flat (well, the not-so-hilly) sections. The course is literally up, down, up, down, all the way. From about 110-130km I had a bit of a rough patch. I remember feeling like this in UK around the same time on the bike. I think it is partly due to the lack of experience of Time Trialling for 180km at a decent effort. The legs didnt feel too bad, it was more the head feeling groggy. But I kept on top of my nutrition, and after 130km I got my second wind and settled back into a good pace.

I was having a great ride. At 160km I remember looking at my Garmin and realising I was on track for a 5:15-5:20 bike split. Considering none of the pro's even broke 5 hours on this course it would have put me right up there. I was having a close to perfect race! Then at around 170km, disaster struck. I was coming down one of the descents when all of a sudden I heard a pop and hissing sound, and as I started to round a corner I struggled to keep control of the bike. I had a blow out in my front wheel. In a split second decision, I chose to brake hard rather than head straight into the wall, and came over the handlebars smashing my head into the ground. I remember the crunching feeling in my neck on impact. It all happened so quick, the next thing I knew I was lying face first on the ground. As I gathered myself together, my first thought was can I move? Slowly but surely, I could. There was blood pumping  from my nose, but I managed to peel myself off the ground. I picked up the bike and brought it over to the side of the road to check the damage. My initial reaction on the side of the road was that's it, I'm done, my race is over. I wont be able to finish now. DNF. No medal. No finisher's t-shirt. When I finally composed myself, I checked the bike. It was still working, just a flat front tyre. I thought if I can change this I might be able to at least keep going. It was a tubeless ready tyre, so I had to change it over and get a tube in there. Between trying to do this while still in shock from the heavy hit I just took, and a volunteer at the side of the road trying to wipe the blood and muck off my face while offering me gels, and my average mechanical skills, I ended up spending 20-25 minutes getting the tyre off the rim, putting a new tube in, and getting the tyre back on. I managed to break both of the tyre levers I had in the process, and when I used a co2 canister to inflate the new tube, the air didn't stay in. Shit. Pinched tube. At that point there was nothing I could do. I had another spare tube, but now no tyre levers.

I asked the volunteer if I could use her phone to ring Grace and she gave it to me. I rang and told Grace what had happened, and that there was nothing more I could do. My race was over. I was nearly in tears as I saw my dreams being crushed. However Grace was quick to keep my spirits high and get me going. She told me I was at least 20 minutes ahead of 2nd place when I crashed, and that I had to get to the end of the bike somehow anyway. She had been talking to Rob (Wheelworx) and when she told him the situation I was in, he said the only thing left to do was to ride on the flat tyre. Okay I thought. No other choice. Battered, bloody and bruised, I got back up on the bike to face the last 10km of the bike. At this stage I had been at the side of the road for at least 40 minutes. There were still 2 climbs to do on the bike. If you have ever cycled on a flat tyre you will know it is not easy - the tyre can roll off the rim and you can easily lose control when you are turning. Going uphill was okay, I even managed to pass out some of those guys who passed me while at the side of the road, but the descent and turns were treacherous. I almost lost control on the first descent, but managed to clip one foot out and keep upright. So that was how I rode for the last 10km - cycle the uphill sections, one foot clipped out on descents and corners. It was the longest 10km on a bike I ever experienced. I could hear the crowds cheering me on as I passed them, and then the mutters of "ouch" as they saw the blood and road rash. But I did make it to transition. I racked my bike and got my run gear on. I thought now that I am off the bike, I will do whatever it takes to finish. No matter how long the run would take, there was no way I was not going to finish this race. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I had to get a DNF next to my name.

This thing saved my life

Run:

I didnt feel too bad starting out on the run. I was probably pumping with adrenalin, masking the pain and soreness. My mindset for the run was forced to change. While I was on the bike, I reckoned a 3:20-3:30 marathon was doable, and would secure a 1st place in my age group and a slot for Kona, with a finishing time just over 10 hours. Now that plan was out the window. I had to make sure that I just got to the finish line in the best way I could manage.

The run course in Wales in, surprisingly, hilly! It is literally 5km up out of town (with the odd dip down) and 5km back down to town (with the odd drag). When you got back to town it was twisting and turning and up and down side streets. It is a four lap run course. I passed Grace at the end of my 1st lap and I was glad to see her, show her I was still alive and moving! She told me I was in 2nd place. No way!! I'm still in with a chance here. That gave me more motivation to keep going. I tried to keep a steady pace throughout the run. I didn't have it in me to push on the downhill like I had planned on doing before the crash, so I tried to maintain a consistent pace. By the end of the 2nd lap , that's when the pain from the crash started to show itself. My shoulder must have taken a hard knock as it was hurting with every footstep now, more so on the descents. I could feel my neck was quite sore and stiff, but if I just kept looking straight and didn't try to turn it, it was manageable.

I've had better days!

There were two points during the run where I was forced to walk, as I felt faint and as if I was about to pass out. But as soon as I came back around I would try to get shuffling again. Grace met me at the end of each lap keeping me updated on how I was doing and encouraging me. And finally after the last lap I could enter the red carpet, get my high five offJoanne Murphy, and put an end to the suffering. Time to collect that medal!

Post Race and Awards Ceremony:

Happy to be there

I ended up coming 3rd again, 1 minute off 2nd place. It was frustrating for me initially because I was on track to finally getting on the top step of the podium. But you have to deal with whatever happened on race day, and get to the finish line in whatever shape you can.

The Awards Ceremony was on the following morning in the Town Hall, literally right outside our hotel. The room was packed. These ceremonies are always very exciting. Once the Pro awards were given out, the AG'ers were next, and 18-24 is always first. I was proud to step up on stage and collect a hard fought M dot trophy. Definitely the hardest one I have worked for so far. After the awards is the main show - the Kona Slot allocation. I knew there were 2 slots provisionally allocated to my age group, so there was still a chance. The slot allocation always starts with the oldest age group. So the next hour felt like it would never end! Although I think Grace was more nervous sitting next to me! It finally came down to the last 2 out of the 40 slots. 1st place took his slot - congrats. 2nd place was called - no answer. OH.My.GOD. His name was called again, still no answer. THIS IS HAPPENING. 3rd time, no answer. THATS IT! WE ARE GOING TO KONA BABY! My name was called out next and I couldn't believe it, walking up on stage to collect my Kona Qualifier Medallion, a bottle of Liquid Aloha, a Hawaiin Lei and a big high five from Paul Kaye!

The Irish trio

Goals leading into this race:

My main goal was to qualify for Kona. And although I was hit with disaster, this is definitely one of the most proud moments of my athletic career. It is not easy to qualify for Kona, particularly nowadays with the huge growth of Ironman worldwide. I am honoured and privileged to have earned this qualification in my first year doing Ironman. It has given me the confidence and belief that there is potential for me in this sport, and I want to pursue that potential. I want to get to the top. I am 24, in a sport where the top guys are in their mid to late 30's. If I can get this far in 1 year, how far can I get in the next few years? I am eager to work hard and find out.

Just rewards after a hard day!

Thanks:

As always, there are people who without their support I would not be able to do what I love doing. First of all, if it wasnt for Grace being calm and logical, motivating me to get to the end of the bike course, and contacting Rob in the process, not only would I not have qualified for Kona, I would not have finished the race. I am so grateful and delighted to be able to bring you with me to Kona, Hawaii in 2017!

The Dynamic Duo!

To my parent's and my brother and sister, their ongoing support has made me who I am today, and they have always stood behind me in everything I do. I look forward to our family holiday in Kona next year. To Rob and Aisling fromWheelworx. I am never stuck for advice, equipment, nutrition and encouragement. You guys got me into this sport, and I am proud to represent Wheelworx when I race.