Race ReportPre Race
This is my second season of Triathlon and my first attempt at a half iron race distance. I wanted to do an Mdot event, so the close to home choice was either Wimbleball or Antwerp. I chose Antwerp because my fiance is from a town just outside of Antwerp, so it was handy for tying in both a trip home with handy accommodation.
We drove from Lincoln to Dover on the Wednesday, and took the Norfolk Line ferry to Dunkirk, happily on this occasion we turned up on the right day and avoided having to pay again as we had done in January. From Dunkirk, Antwerp is about 2 hours away, and once we passed into Belgium, I was pleased to see that at least some attempt had been made to repair the pot holed roads that I had seen back in January.
Once we arrived all I had to do was try and relax , and avoid blobbing out as there was a very real danger of being fed to death by my in laws !!
Anyway, I didn’t turn into a massive fatty, managed to gracefully decline the 24hr food offerings, kept away from the gorgeous belgian beer, and even managed to get out for a spin and a bit of a jog to keep things ticking over.
Pre- race Pasta Party and registration
Registration is at the RYCB hall, and once inside and registered you get your event T shirt and sports bag, which I thought were great ! I then went on the hunt for more Ironman branded gear which I though was totally overpriced so didn’t bother. There was a 10 euro Ironman jumble with some fetching early 90’s style two piece crop top and pant specials in there, but I dodged those bad boys and decided to go back and join the family and let other bargain hunters bag those babies!
I was really looking forward to the pasta party from what I’d read and heard from other Ironman events and even invited the in laws to come along, ‘’it’ll be great’’ I said, and then we turned up..and..oh....its not really a party and theres not a lot of pasta !!!!! Honestly, it was spag bol and that was it. How I yearned for my usual homepride tuna bake right there, but beggars can’t be choosers and I made do with what I was given. Another competitor offered around his pasta ticket and not surprisingly there were no takers.......
Raceday
11am start.....nice !!!! Not the 7.44am starts my slow swim times afforded me in the past !
Plenty of time to get the bike in the back of the car and check that I had everything I needed about a gazillion times....Triathlon does nothing to ease my OCD ! We drove the short distance into Antwerp and parked the car in the cobbled car park next to Transition 2. I dropped my run gear into T2 which saved a bit of time as I was supposed to drop it off back at Race HQ, but T2 was open, so it made sense. We then had to get the bike and swim gear over to T1 and the start, whic meant we had to walk through the Sint Anna pedestrian tunnel which is very long and very boring, and it was weird taking my bike up and down escalators.
To those people who do Ironman all the time – T1 was alright.
To those of us who have only ever done the smaller regional sprints – oh my god, T1 had carpets everywhere, individual racking, a box for your gear- it was brrrrrrilliant !!
However there were not many toilets(about 3 or 4) and about 1300 triathletes who all wanted to go through their pre race ‘routine’. We were placed in age group pens for a staggered start after the pro’s had been sent on their merry way. Eventually my wave made it into the Galgenweel and I had time to turn on my back to get some water down my suit and we were off too.....
Swim
I was looking forward to a bit of biff but didn’t really get any as I started towards the back of the pack and really didn’t advance much due to my lack of speed. I had to swim around a couple of breaststrokers having a nice day out, but all was quiet until the next wave caught up and tried to swim over me, pull me under, kick me etc. I was worried that the timing chip was going to come off at one point but that was the height of any real panic. In fact I quite liked the tussle and held my line the best I could. After the turnaround I felt better as I myself started to catch some of the earlier wave. It was hard to see exactly where to aim for so just went with the majority of the swimmers that I could see. It was cool to have a helicopter overhead, you don’t get that at Woodhall Spa !
Eventually we climbed out of the water and up the stairs where I managed a run into T1, I still don’t know where that came from. My time was 41.37 where I was expecting around 45 mins so was pleased with the start.
T1
Went to plan, other than I had to go for a pee detour on the way to the bike. Pretty smooth, made sure I had everything I needed, decided not to top up the sun cream as it was still dark with cloud which turned out to be the right choice.
Bike
Straight out of T1 and within 2km you are in the tunnel going back under the Schelde. I was looking forward to the descent and not looking forward to the climb out at the other end. It was a bit underwhelming to be honest as I though it would be greasy fast, and although I went past people on the way down, it just didn’t feel that quick. The climb the other end was nothing to worry about and it was great to pass more people on the way up.
Now, Antwerp really is a beautiful city, with historic buildings and a great atmosphere. Antwerp Docks however is not, smells really bad in places and is really boring ! This is where we spent the majority of the bike course, and as it was windy and long and flat, I stayed down in the aero bars for longer periods than I ever had before. I managed to pass some people on cervelos and the like which boosted me no end. Being at the arse end of the field drafting was never really going to be much of an issue for me and I was passed many times by draftbusters on motorcycles who seemed to be doing a good job of stamping on anything that they saw, however, I nearly fell of my bike when I saw what can only be described as a peleton of 15 or so riders coming back the other way !!!
I kept to my gel/powerbar every 30 mins routine and filled my aero bottle at every aid station. Whenever my legs felt tired, I dropped a gear or two and span them back into life. When it got hard, I tried to pick out targets in the distance to aim for and started overtaking stronger swimmers on the leg back into Antwerp. I completely misjudged my distance from T2 and as a result rode the last kilometre and a half with my feet out of my shoes as I got ready for the dismount a tad too early !!!!! Overall time was 2.57 which again was much better than the 3.15 I was hoping for.
T2
– ouch, ouch, ouch, cobbles, ouch, cobbles, ouch ! I hobbled around to my parking space, broke into my double bagged run gear, got ready and was off ! I still don’t know how it took me 5 mins in total!
Run
I couldn’t slow down for the first kilometre, I really tried, but could not get my run pace on my garmin to slow to where I wanted it to be and I started to worry about burning out. I got to the first aid station at 2km and made myself walk it, I took my first powerbar gel and made sure I drank all of the water in the cup. When I started running again, I had calmed down and managed to maintain a more sensible pace. It was the longest run without an ipod I had done in my life I i was liking it. I kept myself busy by weighing up wether or not compression socks really worked and should I buy some or not ! The first lap ended with a run through the finish area, and past the pile of medals I could see on the table which encouraged me. All around the run course there was great support, and anything you needed at the aid stations was catered for. The second lap was a more sedate lap , which livened up when it started raining for a short while. By the time I entered the last lap, the course had really thinned out and I spent a lot of it dodging old people who had started to walk on the course. I spent a good couple of kilometres talking to a nice young lady doing well on her first HIM as well, as well as passing some people having their own bad days. Halfway round I knew I was going to finish as it would have further to quit and from then on in, it was the best run of my life. My team of supporters were on hand to cheer me on and give me a lift on each circuit - they were amazing staying out there for all those hours !
I finished in 6.00.24 , which was nearly an hour faster than I had anticipated, I was over the moon and happy that I had finished while there were still medals left !
Thats my first middle distance effort and it appears that my ‘one pace racing’ is suited to longer distances. I have signed up for Ironman Austria next year to have a crack at the full distance, but at some point I’d like to return to Antwerp to shave off those pesky 25 seconds!
