I think Ironman has been somewhere in the back of my head for almost 10 years now. Since I first heard the details of the event I had been intrigued, with the 3.8km swim, 180km bike and 42.2km run challenge!!
I received some kind words of encouragement from my wife, Lisa in July 2011, which were along the lines of “either enter it or stop talking about it”… so that was decision made. Entry for Austria 2012 completed and put on the back burner while I trained for the Dublin marathon with the Crusaders.
Training started in earnest in December and the routine turned into a familiar (and often soul destroying) weekly schedule of 2-3 swims, 4 cycles and 5 runs. Over the next 7 months there were good days, bad days & very bad days! The peak training week of 20 hours in May came as a great relief whereby the big race day almost felt within touching distance. Although this also instilled plenty of fear about what lay ahead and whether the training would prove to be sufficient preparation for the big day.
We arrived in Klagenfurt, Austria on the Thursday prior to the race on Sunday. Friday and Saturday were busy with race registration, equipment & nutrition preparation and drop-off, some final sharp swim/bike/run sessions and a tour of the bike course by car (still not sure whether this was a good or bad idea!!).
I received some kind words of encouragement from my wife, Lisa in July 2011, which were along the lines of “either enter it or stop talking about it”… so that was decision made. Entry for Austria 2012 completed and put on the back burner while I trained for the Dublin marathon with the Crusaders.
Training started in earnest in December and the routine turned into a familiar (and often soul destroying) weekly schedule of 2-3 swims, 4 cycles and 5 runs. Over the next 7 months there were good days, bad days & very bad days! The peak training week of 20 hours in May came as a great relief whereby the big race day almost felt within touching distance. Although this also instilled plenty of fear about what lay ahead and whether the training would prove to be sufficient preparation for the big day.
We arrived in Klagenfurt, Austria on the Thursday prior to the race on Sunday. Friday and Saturday were busy with race registration, equipment & nutrition preparation and drop-off, some final sharp swim/bike/run sessions and a tour of the bike course by car (still not sure whether this was a good or bad idea!!).
The race day itself began with 4am alarm call. I had been awake and staring at the ceiling for most of the night so it was almost a relief to get up and begin the adventure. A monster breakfast and travel to the race site suddenly made things feel very real. There was just time for a final check of the bike equipment and then it was over to the lake for the 7am swim start.
The swim was a non-wetsuit affair due to the water temp being above the 24.5Celcius cut-off. This didn’t bother me as much as the majority of the participants - luckily I hadn’t wasted any time training in the (not so balmy) open waters of Co Clare in the lead-up to the event. The pool swimming which I had in the bank might just do the job!
The lineup at the start was nothing short of scary; here I was standing at the edge of a lake in southern Austria and minutes away from departing on a 140.6 mile journey to collect my medal. The scene itself felt very familiar, I’d seen a thousand photos and watched a hundred clips on YouTube, so I was all set . At 7am sharp the canon sounded and I entered the swim lake with 2,700 like-minded/crazy individuals. My plan for the swim was to steer clear of trouble, so I started a little wide at the faster side of the groups. I was lucky enough to have clear water all the way to the first turning buoy at 1.2km. This was a perfect start to the race and boosted my confidence hugely. A few accidental elbows and kicks followed in the next 1km but nothing near the scale of ‘being in a washing machine with Mike Tyson’ as I’d been promised before the race!
The last 900m of the swim are through a shallow 10metre wide canal which made for an electric atmosphere due to screaming spectators lining both sides of the canal.
Swim completed in 1:14:07 which was more or less what I’d expected.
The swim was a non-wetsuit affair due to the water temp being above the 24.5Celcius cut-off. This didn’t bother me as much as the majority of the participants - luckily I hadn’t wasted any time training in the (not so balmy) open waters of Co Clare in the lead-up to the event. The pool swimming which I had in the bank might just do the job!
The lineup at the start was nothing short of scary; here I was standing at the edge of a lake in southern Austria and minutes away from departing on a 140.6 mile journey to collect my medal. The scene itself felt very familiar, I’d seen a thousand photos and watched a hundred clips on YouTube, so I was all set . At 7am sharp the canon sounded and I entered the swim lake with 2,700 like-minded/crazy individuals. My plan for the swim was to steer clear of trouble, so I started a little wide at the faster side of the groups. I was lucky enough to have clear water all the way to the first turning buoy at 1.2km. This was a perfect start to the race and boosted my confidence hugely. A few accidental elbows and kicks followed in the next 1km but nothing near the scale of ‘being in a washing machine with Mike Tyson’ as I’d been promised before the race!
The last 900m of the swim are through a shallow 10metre wide canal which made for an electric atmosphere due to screaming spectators lining both sides of the canal.
Swim completed in 1:14:07 which was more or less what I’d expected.
Transition 1 was a manic affair consisting of goggles, swim hats, cycle jerseys and bike shoes flying around the changing tent. However I managed to get changed, collect my bike and get to the frantic bike mount line without any real issues. Getting on the bike in such a crowded area can be a little precarious but after a little argy bargy and a brief shouting match with a German competitor I was on my way for the 180km (2 x 90km laps) cycle, through some stunning Austrian countryside.
All the advice I’d been given suggested treating the bike leg as a long picnic, so I soon settled into my planned routine of taking on some nutrition every 20mins. Gel...Gel… Bar, all chased down by 3L of water became my hourly ritual. I soon grew to detest my watch beeping as a reminder to continue the feast.
The first lap was relatively uneventful. I tried hard not to push the legs too hard, since there was a long day ahead and I focused on soaking up the atmosphere created by the thousands of Austrian and international spectators that lined the route. My personal cheerleaders (including our very own Cormac!) had spread out along the bike route so I got some very welcome extra encouragement at regular intervals. The two main climbs on the route also acted as the main spectator spots so it really felt like Tour De France style support as I trundled up those hills. Each hill was lined with frantic spectators complete with blaring techno music which made it feel like being in a nightclub in Berlin! The final 30km of the loop was mainly flat which was a super opportunity to recharge physically and mentally prior to Take two.
All the advice I’d been given suggested treating the bike leg as a long picnic, so I soon settled into my planned routine of taking on some nutrition every 20mins. Gel...Gel… Bar, all chased down by 3L of water became my hourly ritual. I soon grew to detest my watch beeping as a reminder to continue the feast.
The first lap was relatively uneventful. I tried hard not to push the legs too hard, since there was a long day ahead and I focused on soaking up the atmosphere created by the thousands of Austrian and international spectators that lined the route. My personal cheerleaders (including our very own Cormac!) had spread out along the bike route so I got some very welcome extra encouragement at regular intervals. The two main climbs on the route also acted as the main spectator spots so it really felt like Tour De France style support as I trundled up those hills. Each hill was lined with frantic spectators complete with blaring techno music which made it feel like being in a nightclub in Berlin! The final 30km of the loop was mainly flat which was a super opportunity to recharge physically and mentally prior to Take two.
The start of the 2nd lap allowed me to collect the special needs bag. Apart from a couple of bike spares, Nurofen & Imodium (none of which were required ;-)) the highlight of this bag was a plain ham sandwich which provided a very welcome taste change from the 7 PowerBar Gels , 3 PowerBar Bars and 5 bananas that I’d already forced down!
There was no need to worry about conserving energy on this second lap, quite quickly the easy leg spinning disappeared and each kilometre seemed to take a little bit more effort than on the first encounter. The sun was also getting towards its peak at this stage - bike thermometer suggesting 35C…. I was dependent on my warm weather training around Ballyvaughan & Fanore to help me through this part of the challenge!!
The spectator support was even better on the second lap, which really helped to drag the bike over the sharper of the hills. The flat section back into Klagenfurt felt a little bit eerie. On the positive side, I had now cycled further than ever before in a single day and although I felt fatigued it was under control. My nutrition had gone well, I had managed to take on the planned 400 calories per hour and I wasn’t dehydrated at all. The final 30km now felt easy since the climbing was done. On the negative side once the bike was dropped back, I still had to run a marathon in temperatures that had now hit 37C!
Bike completed in 6:15:00 which on the more ambitious side of my predictions. Maybe I had gone too hard after all, time would tell!!
Transition 2 was again non-eventful – bike racked and I changed into my runners and threw on a sun visor.
The run scenery may not have been as visually inspiring as the bike course but it was very spectator friendly. The course was a figure of 8 which we would go around twice. This meant that I would regularly see some familiar faces. My aim on the run was for it to feel like a comfortable & casual pace. I had been in this situation before in triathlons where it felt good on the early part of the run and then suddenly all could change drastically! I concentrated on keeping my pace around 8:40per mile and all still felt OK at the halfway point (1:54 ish).
There was no need to worry about conserving energy on this second lap, quite quickly the easy leg spinning disappeared and each kilometre seemed to take a little bit more effort than on the first encounter. The sun was also getting towards its peak at this stage - bike thermometer suggesting 35C…. I was dependent on my warm weather training around Ballyvaughan & Fanore to help me through this part of the challenge!!
The spectator support was even better on the second lap, which really helped to drag the bike over the sharper of the hills. The flat section back into Klagenfurt felt a little bit eerie. On the positive side, I had now cycled further than ever before in a single day and although I felt fatigued it was under control. My nutrition had gone well, I had managed to take on the planned 400 calories per hour and I wasn’t dehydrated at all. The final 30km now felt easy since the climbing was done. On the negative side once the bike was dropped back, I still had to run a marathon in temperatures that had now hit 37C!
Bike completed in 6:15:00 which on the more ambitious side of my predictions. Maybe I had gone too hard after all, time would tell!!
Transition 2 was again non-eventful – bike racked and I changed into my runners and threw on a sun visor.
The run scenery may not have been as visually inspiring as the bike course but it was very spectator friendly. The course was a figure of 8 which we would go around twice. This meant that I would regularly see some familiar faces. My aim on the run was for it to feel like a comfortable & casual pace. I had been in this situation before in triathlons where it felt good on the early part of the run and then suddenly all could change drastically! I concentrated on keeping my pace around 8:40per mile and all still felt OK at the halfway point (1:54 ish).
There were two problems which were quickly becoming big problems - my stomach and the heat. My stomach was beginning to do somersaults due to its contents being a bouncing & violent concoction of Powerbar chemicals.
The sun was blasting down and with little shade it was virtually impossible to cool down. My run nutrition plan quickly went out the window and before I had the sense to correct it, I was only drinking water at the aid stations. It’s strange how illogical the mind can become after 10 straight hours of exercise, but I somehow convinced myself that I’d survive to the finish line on water alone!
The second half of the marathon was a brutal slog; I focused on counting down the kilometres. I had done plenty of running in training so I was confident that if I could survive the conditions that I would survive the distance. I gradually forced myself to drink some sports drink at the aid stations, Coca Cola became my best friend too (short sharp sugar hit!). The support along the run was invaluable at this stage; I couldn’t handle the prospect of my personal cheerleaders seeing me walking so I continued to plod along. The last 5km was nothing short of torture, though the support of the spectators and marshals really helped to tow me towards the finish.
After what felt like an eternity, a marshall directed me to turn left towards the finishing chute (I felt very sorry for the poor souls that were turning right to face into another running lap in the Austrian Sahara).
The last 400m felt like sprinting down the home stretch in the Olympic 100m final. What an indescribable mix of emotions. The physical exhaustion briefly disappeared to be replaced by elation and sheer delight. The Ironman team are masters at making each competitor feel like the most important person on earth. I loved every stride of it! The job was done & adventure complete!
Run time 3:51:25 to give an overall finish time of 11:39:09. And a very happy camper (though it’s not reflected in this photo!!!)
The sun was blasting down and with little shade it was virtually impossible to cool down. My run nutrition plan quickly went out the window and before I had the sense to correct it, I was only drinking water at the aid stations. It’s strange how illogical the mind can become after 10 straight hours of exercise, but I somehow convinced myself that I’d survive to the finish line on water alone!
The second half of the marathon was a brutal slog; I focused on counting down the kilometres. I had done plenty of running in training so I was confident that if I could survive the conditions that I would survive the distance. I gradually forced myself to drink some sports drink at the aid stations, Coca Cola became my best friend too (short sharp sugar hit!). The support along the run was invaluable at this stage; I couldn’t handle the prospect of my personal cheerleaders seeing me walking so I continued to plod along. The last 5km was nothing short of torture, though the support of the spectators and marshals really helped to tow me towards the finish.
After what felt like an eternity, a marshall directed me to turn left towards the finishing chute (I felt very sorry for the poor souls that were turning right to face into another running lap in the Austrian Sahara).
The last 400m felt like sprinting down the home stretch in the Olympic 100m final. What an indescribable mix of emotions. The physical exhaustion briefly disappeared to be replaced by elation and sheer delight. The Ironman team are masters at making each competitor feel like the most important person on earth. I loved every stride of it! The job was done & adventure complete!
Run time 3:51:25 to give an overall finish time of 11:39:09. And a very happy camper (though it’s not reflected in this photo!!!)
It had been a long journey since the previous November, things had gone well to even make it to the race start line, nevermind the finish line.
The training totals still scare me - Swim 99km, Bike 4,030km, Run 1,313km which occupied approximately 320 hours of my life over the 7 month block. Time to relax now….!!
Will I be back?? Most certainly ;-)
PS I couldn’t leave this picture out…. “Batman & Robin Clare Crusaders style!!”