Its not a nice experience having to write a race report after not finishing one of the most important races of the year but unfortunately my first Ironman was not to be, circumstances were somewhat out of my control but other aspects of it were not and all I can say is ive learnt a hell of a lot from the experience and there is a lot I would change for my next one and yes there will be a next one! Here is what happened.
I knew with the swim it would be solid and as my coach Steve puts it "its just the warm up". The swim has had the least of my attention this year purely for the fact that there are far more time gains to be had on the bike and the run therefore I think ive averaged about 2/3 1 hour sessions per week this year.
As it was my first Ironman I decided to race as an Age Grouper with an eye on a Hawaii slot. The age groupers started on mass about 100m behind the pro start. I was expecting a real fight at the start but it remained calm and was somewhat of an anti climax and found I didn't have to fight much for position. At about half way I had started to catch some of the 50+ pros as they were wearing different coloured caps so easy spot. I exited the water in 52 something and crossed the line with 53:04, that will do nicely! Transition was uneventful and swift thanks to great assistance in the tent from the race staff! (thanks Phil). As I was running through transition I was toe to toe with race number 6 Sergio Marques of Portugal. We left on our bikes together and rode at a similar pace for the first half of the first lap along with Canadian number 22. As we caught more riders the road started to get more and more crowded and I couldn't believe the company I was keeping on the bike and was trying not to get too excited!
I went through the first lap of the bike in 2:23:45 and remember thinking that all I have to do is keep it together and I will be on for a bike split of well under 5 hours. Not far into the second lap my lower back started to get a little uncomfortable so I stretched it out like I have done many times before and thought I can deal with a little discomfort no big deal, it started to get tighter when aero the eased on the climbs. I lost concentration for a little and rode over a pot hole or man hole cover and it sent a jolt through my back as I wasn't prepared for it. It felt ok at first then after a few minutes my back tightened up really badly particularly my right side. Even if I could have ignored the pain to finish the bike there would be no way I was walking anywhere let alone ruining a marathon. It got so bad I couldn't even pedal up the next climb to roll back to the finish. I had to dismount in agony and broken. I tried to flag some of the motor bikes down to help me out and they told me a car would be along soon, well I had to wait 2 hours before I was picked up. I was taken back to the medic tent examined and put on a drip. Lying back on the bed in the medic tent I looked to my left and who was laying next to me, Mr Kit himself Chris Morris!!. There were 3 athletes in the huge medic tent and two of them were tri force!
So my race ended prematurely. Riding over the bump and jolting my back was unfortunate but also unlikely to happen again and perhaps a freak incident. What I have learnt is that I need to work on strengthening my back and core in general and I think next time maybe I would use my other bike for anything over half ironman distance which has a more comfortable position. I have been to see my physio who has given me a clean bill of health although said i may have a slight weakness there so has given me some exercises to do to help my position on the bike. With a better core it should help me even if there are any un expected bumps!
So its onward on upward, I have taken some positives from the race and know there is a good Ironman in me in the not too distant future. Steve and Myself have made the decsion to race an Ironman Distance race in the UK on the 1st September. It was a hard decision because it means missing the British Champs but we felt it was important to get an Ironman Distance race under my belt this year because that is what we have trained for. So the focus now turns to The Big Woody and then the One O One series final in November.
I did thoroughly enjoy the trip and Chris, Simon, Phil and Jonathon were great company and I wouldn't hesitate on doing it again. It kind of puts it into perspective when only 50% of us finished! Chris you obviously went down fighting, nothing more you could have done you will have better days ahead, Jon and Simon you are stars! and Phil what can I say, you looked after us like super stars.
