Ironman Mallorca 70.3 2014 race report

Well, well, well - I didn't expect the race to be that much of a gem, but it was and what a surprise ! Great time had by all, and a tough but rewarding race completed for another 70.3 finish - this is how things unfolded .....

Pre-race - Having read a lot of race reports from previous years, I decided to stay away from Alcudia and located ourselves at the SportHotel (Villa Concha) in Port de Pollenca. A nice triathlon themed hotel that was just being completed which didn't let you keep your bike in the room and also charged 4 euros per hour to use the 25m pool. At least I wasn't surrounded by kids dive bombing though ! ( and I sneaked my bike in and out via the fire escape.)
We arrived on the Tuesday morning before the race, and rented a car, so had plenty of time to acclimatise to the Island. Heidi had kittens when we drove the bike course and she saw the switchback descent first hand. I promised to behave on them on race day :-) Registration was nice and easy, the expo was pleasant enough although the Pasta party ( now called a welcome party) rivalled only the now defunct Ironman Antwerp for shitness I'm afraid :-(

For those first 4 days all I wanted to do was race - I was ready.

Race day

Nice 8.50 start time for the 40-44 age group. This gave ample time to arrive nice and early, set the bike up and then have a nice amble through and watch the pro field in the water. I handed Heidi my wetsuit thinking that she would follow me down the long transition and we could swap bags. This was a big mistake - we got separated and I didn't see Heidi again until the run !!!!

Panicked and desperate I went up and down the path from the transition to the swim start hoping to be re-united with my wetsuit. At 8.40 reality struck home and I accepted that it was going to be a non wetsuit swim for me :-(

Swim - 40.35
There I was, all these people in black wetsuits, and in the middle of all this, me, in a bright red tri suit. Calf guards taken off and stuffed down the front of my suit to give me a 'package' and when we were set underway, it was all I could do to muster a walk into the sea. I got stopped and given a fresh swim cap, so a slow start in all, but when I did get finally into the water - what a great feeling. It was nice and cool and a very nice swim. My emergency goggles quickly let in water on one side, so it was a one eyed closed swim, albeit, sighting was excellent and the course easy to navigate. I reached the turn buoy at c.21minutes and knew then that the damage wasn't going to be too bad. My swim PB is 37 mins for a 1.9k swim, so I was delighted to see 40 mins on the clock when I exited the water.

T1 - 7.34
What a long transition - no really - longest in the world. A good 800m end to end I would say. Would have liked to have been quicker than 7 minutes, but I had some calf guards to retrieve from my crutch and then get on - this was no easy task !

Bike - 2.52.47
Out on the bike and my favourite part of the race. The first stretch was homeward bound from Alcudia back along the waterfront to Port de Pollenca. It was fast and felt so good, I hoped the rest of the course could be so fast, however we were soon at the base of the climb - a 7.7km effort, with switchbacks and an average of maybe 5-6% - nothing difficult but a very long slog and a real test for my non climbing legs. In truth, I felt comfortable the whole way up taking more places than I lost overall, I was relieved to finally make the garage at Lluc which signalled the start of the descent. A look down at the clock saw my average had fallen to 15.6 mph for the ride - now was the time to bump up that average on the wild and very fast switchbacks. It was mental and so much fun winding down the mountain, having to really concentrate on not only my riding but the erratic riding of some of my fellow competitors. One along the bottom, some of the roads were a bit shocking, however the main road sections were seriously speedy. After 56 miles of smiles I headed back into Transition with an overall average repaired at 19 mph.

T2
3 minutes summat including a pee stop - it takes me longer than that at home !

Run
Without the wind cooling me down, it was quickly apparent that it was a hot hot day in Alcudia. The announcer shouted 37 degrees, and the Farmacia signs showed 35.5 but surely not that hot ???
My first mile was also hot (for me) at 7.20 which didn't tally up with how I was feeling. My running was uncomfortable and I had developed yet another blister on my left foot which made cornering painful. I walked the aid stations and made sure I stuck a couple of sponges under my tri suit like epaulettes to try and cool things down. This worked a treat and I found myself livening up by the end of the first lap and throughout the second lap things continued to improve. I slowed on the final lap, but then I think that was more about knowing I was going to be a good way under 6 hours and not really caring how far.

One last diversion onto the beach and a finish of 5.41.16 along with my first top half finish in a European Ironman event. :-)  Let's hope Outlaw Half goes so well.....