Its about time - IMAT12

griffin100

Aaaagghhhh will you hurry up and finish the report, I'm dying to see what happens on the run and if you and Chrissie finally get it together

Oryx

Wow. You certainly know how to pack an emotional punch in your report! So good I almost feel like I was there with you.. oh, yeah, wait a minute. I was.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

That pic out of the water is bloody class, the relief and joy captured in full. There is enough material in here for a book:) Its like storytime with Red...good read so far. What will happen next:P

catweazle

Atlas Refined Treble wrote: »

That pic out of the water is bloody class, the relief and joy captured in full.

I agree I would never put a picture of me doing a triathlon up on the wall but if I had something like that it would be pride of place. I hope that is going to go off to the canvas photographer and have it mounted - perhaps a bit of photoshop on it and change it to a color or black and white sketch.

You will never get another picture like that (unless you talk mrs red into letting you do another one)

(give me a shout if you go that route with the photo)

Great report so far - having a nice bottle of wine out on the patio reading this. Looking forward to the womens triathlon in the morning

Dory Dory

Two things:

1) This story is so good I don't want it to end, and
2) That pic of you coming out of the water.....you're ripped!

RacoonQueen

You're such a tease.

Trig1

wow what an amazing report and amazing photo's especially coming out of water- absolute class. makes me want to do an Ironman now, hurry up and finish report, cannot wait to read more

pgmcpq

Started reading ....had no idea what I was getting into. I can't handle the stress ..... well done (so far!). Just reading Wellington autoboigraphy right now - great lady.

BennyMul

+1 on the pic leaving the water, Not sure if the woman on the right was overly impressed with your "primal urge"

any time line for the next installment:D

Trig1

next installment please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RedB

(cont'd – again, sorry for the delay!)

So anyway, there I was, feeling pretty low after a less than inspiring day so far, slowly, frustratedly, narkily, grinding my way up the last stage of the Rupertiberg climb in downtown Austria, when I spotted Oryx out of the blue and instantly thought with total rationality, what less than 5 minutes before would have seemed like a laughable idea - ‘I’m back in the race’.

Not a race with Oryx, but with myself.

Redemption.

It can come to you in the strangest places.

I probably think too much but what else are you gonna do when you’re out there as long as I tend to be! It’s the middle of an absolute scorcher of a day, I’m dripping sweat but my mouth is as dry as sawdust. I’m feeling pretty drained and hollow. I’ve had a pretty piss poor race so far and have just finished cursing my weakness when suddenly I’m revitalised by the sight of a friendly face and the realisation that I haven’t fallen completely out the back end of this race……yet. What I’ve done is to claw my way back into it. Sorry Oryx but you were my salvation as the reality check realisation of what a truly tough day it was for everyone kicked in and I stopped beating myself up. Yes, there were plenty of people there who were better able for it, who were rocking the joint and taking it in their stride but I was never going to be one of them. I’m a slogger and this was a slogfest. It’s a whopper of a day and I had done as much as I could have. Something clicked inside and I switched from feeling despair to feeling <wimp alert> sort of at peace. Yes, my body was taking a hammering, but I felt that I had at least caught up with the back of the pack, or least ‘my’ pack. I was happy again compared to my end-of-swim-stage. I slowly caught up with Oryx at the top and took on some more provisions at the aid station there as we cursed the heat and grimly laughed at our situation. It’s all a bit of a blur at this stage but we went back and forth over the next 20km but still managed to pass a few other people. I was still feeling a bit anxious about potential mechanical issues with the bike but thankfully all seems to be behaving itself on that front. My prayers are being listened to and the good luck wishes from everyone are paying off. At this stage of the day its nearing 4pm and some of the spectators in small villages who were sitting outside their local bars for the day are getting sizzled by now. A couple of armchair warriors were singing german versions of what I suspect was ‘you’re sh1t, and you know you are’, while another few guys further on were staggering whilst carrying home their buddy who was out of it. Great to see the young people enjoying themselves! I nearly launched into ‘You’ll never beat the Irish’ but thought the irony might be lost on them. Several places had hoses or sprinklers which were absolute heaven to cycle through as tiredness emerged for the last section of the course and my back really started aching badly. Blah blah blah, tired, weary, etc. Thankfully we were pretty much descending all the time at this stage and finally spotted Klagenfurt several KM ahead. Oryx and I were beside each other for the suburbs section and we were both glad to nearing the end of a long tough cycle in the heat. Its about 4:45pm and it took me 7:10 for the cycle which was 40mins longer than planned at approx. 25kph. Disappointing but not surprising. If only we could have gone to the pub then! Just a small matter of a 42.2km run course to deal with first.

T2 was a slightly better experience than T1 as I wasn’t subject to a rollercoaster of emotion. There was a bit more life there too but I seemed to be in a bit of a trance with no great urgency. Basic Tiredness 101. After racking the bike in a now very full bike park and grabbing my bag from a now very empty bag rack, I headed for the change tent and went to change my top, hat, socks and shoes. I got a first aider to put fresh sunscreen on my arms, neck and shoulders while I did my face as the sun was still beating down and I was still worried about fried I was getting. Flashback time again as my roommate Dónal from 2011 Lost Sheep stopped to say hello as he was heading out. He was in Limerick Tri Club last year but had moved to the UK since. OK now I know I’m definitely back with ‘my’ pack! I spot Oryx heading out and I go to put on my socks and of course when I unroll them they’re inside out. The irony of me sitting in Ironman transition sorting socks hits me as I think of my previous post about finding it relaxing and I just have to smile and shake my head. After over 10mins of ar$ing around I finally can’t delay it anymore and head out to start my marathon, travelling more in hope than expectation.

But first there’s a nice surprise when I come out of transition and find my family waiting there to cheer me on.



I had hoped to see them somewhere on the run course but this was great. I stop for a minute to chat and MrsB is very concerned if I’m alright due to the swim and the heat. No bother I say. I’m actually very happy in a weird way as I know that I’m in full control now and am going to get around in some shape or form. They’ve been getting automatic timing chip text updates and were able to work their afternoon around me which I’m glad to hear. Everybody’s happy and they’re really enjoying the whole experience which puts my mind at ease. A sweaty kiss for everyone and crazy daddy heads off again.



I run across the road from the bike park, past the hotel, around the corner and when I’m sure I’m out of their sight I stop and walk.

WTF! I’m banjaxed!

I’ve run for approx. 1 min and my heart is racing and I’m out of breath. Not having a HRM, I’m working off RPE and I feel like I’m red lining it even though I’m running at a handy 5min/km. My original cunning plan was a run/walk strategy on a 10min cycle with a run of 8-9mins. Ok, I figure, there’s no panic here, let’s just walk for a minute and try again. Same story. Repeat again. Same story. Oh dear, this is going to be a long ‘marathon’. I knew I was never going to come close to a 4 hour marathon but I had hoped for a sub-5 as a ‘reasonable’ back of pack performance. I remember a line about your rookie IM marathon probably taking an hour longer than you think and I shudder. Ok, damage limitation time again. When I’m running I can run ok for about 1 minute before I blow up. When I’m walking I can actually ‘powerwalk’ at an ok rate too. I resolve to adjust my run/walk strategy to 1 minute of each and constantly review. At this stage, I’m just joining the centre of the main run course which is 2 laps of a figure of 8 (2 x(5km west, 10km east,5km west)) and there is lots more competitors around for the first time in several hours. As they’re a lot further into their race than I am, several are also walking at times so I don’t look as ridiculous as I feel plus there’s a crowd. There’s loads of supporters around here and it’s refreshing again to see and hear after a few quiet hours on the bike. I spot my nemesis a half lap (10km) ahead of me and am a bit deflated that he’s uncatchable given my current form but I drop the thought and move on.

I’m running slightly over 5min/km and walking slightly under 10min/km so my average is around 7:30-7:45/km and it turns out to be pretty sustainable. It’s a good balance between running, ‘crashing’ and recovery and for some 2min cycles I’m able to slightly stretch out the run and reduce the recovery so I run 1:15-1:30, walk 0:30-0:45 and I’m generally walking fast. I liked the 2 min cycle and it helped knock out several km without too much problems. I catch up with Dónal who’s faded also and encourage him to try a similar strategy so we leapfrog around each other a bit on slightly different cycles. We get to the first aid station and in the hustle and bustle I nearly take a wrong turn and miss a 2km dogleg section but Dónal alerts me to my error and we resume normal business. The dog leg section actually takes us down near the lake again and through a bit of a holiday resort area in Krumpendorf where people are lying out sunbathing. Bikini-clad beauties abound and once again the image of Catweazle loving this makes me smile. Back at the aid station I can’t really stomach anything at this stage but try half a banana and gratefully take a few sponges to stuff into my top and over my head. It’s still ridiculously hot and I’m taking any offers of a hose down from locals. The support is incredible given the time of day and I can’t believe so many people are still whooping it up as I trundle along. Its mighty impressive to see loads of local families supporting, cheering, handing out sweets, drinks, sponges, etc and I’m ‘Danke’-ing left, right and centre. Some people are even offering beer and, when they see from the IRL on my race number that I’m Irish, even Guinness gets a mention but my body isn’t interested. Despite being low on energy I have no appetite and little interest in the fruit, gels, energy bars and drinks at the aid stations. My taste buds are gone and I can’t seem to take in much water apart from 1-2 small cups. Apart from ‘crashing’ every second minute I’m in good form and actually seem to be making up ground. I pass the Lindner hotel after 12km where some of the Limerick gang are staying and there’s a small group of supporters set up there who give me a good cheer. There’s several other pockets of Irish supporters along the course and they’re giving it loads for all the Irish and its great to get the shout outs of ‘C’mon Limerick’. I realise I’m squelching as my runners were also getting doused with the hoses so I avoid them from now on as I want to avoid any blister issues. The run course rejoins the canal and I have to remind myself that it was only this morning that I was in there as it seems like an age since I started. As I make my way towards the town centre I pull away from Dónal but become aware that the initial surge of visible competitors is dying down as plenty of people are finishing up. It’s a welcome change of scenery in the town section as you go through the town square and turn around down a popular shopping street as well as passing under a charity bell that I resolve to jump up and ring on my final loop. For the moment I’m grinding out the kilometres and focusing on finishing happy.

Nothing to report about the next section back out to the lake apart from passing some people pulled up in real difficulty and learning about putting sponges under my hat but then after my only toilet break on the run I see Oryx again around the 20km stage. She’s not happy and I try to encourage her to run/walk short sections as it was kind of working for me all things considered. I see another Limerick guy a few hundred metres ahead and slowly reel him in. It’s the guy who sorted me out with the chain the day before (was that really only yesterday!) and I have a bit of craic with him as Oryx also falls in with us for a bit. We struggle on, back through the lake resort again, leap frogging a bit and the heat is finally easing off as the sun starts to go down.

Around the 25km mark I finally crash for good and totally run out of juice. I bid adieu to my 2 companions but try to walk on as fast as I can. Dónal passes as do a few others but anyone else still around me also seem to be just hanging on. I start doing the maths about the time of day, my walking pace of about 9:30/km and the distance left and have a wry laugh at my ETA. Guess I will be catching that finish line party after all. Back past the Lindner Hotel and embarrassed to be walking as the Limerick group there is larger with some people finished, showered, changed and back out supporting. Embarrassed again a few minutes later passing a café in the park where a crowd of people there were really trying to encourage me to start running but it wasn’t happening. So much for my walk in the park mantra I thought. Finish happy was my new mantra. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going.
Not much else to report apart from having to walk 10 miles on your own when tired, it’s getting dark and you’re on your own is pretty boring. I had a brief flurry of diversion as I made my way into the town centre and met Oryx coming out in the dark and she was still motoring well. Passed by a bar where punters were now sitting out watching the European Cup final between Spain and Italy. Got into the town centre which was busy now with crowds of people sitting out around the square enjoying food and drinks and it seemed slightly surreal as this death march of people with vacant stares shuffled through with the odd shout of encouragement. Finally reached the last turn around point and headed for home. Rang the bell. As I made my way back out the last 6km towards the lake I met some familiar faces coming against me. Limerick’s Mick Griffin that I met on the cycle was still motoring along slowly but happily and his daughters had joined him. Another clubmate, Ger Shire, was really struggling badly and had been joined by a few of the Limerick gang. And right at the very back, complete with a bike escort that said ‘Last Competitor’ was Liam from Donegal that I met at the expo and the cycle. My pack. I gave them all a good shout out and counted my blessings that I wasn’t cutting it that fine or struggling that much. Of course I probably should have been struggling a bit more than I was but the fight was gone out of me. An Irish guy caught up with me with 4-5km to go and asked if I wanted to join him and push it on and run the rest of the way home but I declined and settled back into my happy place. In hindsight I probably should have at least tried but I was sticking with my ‘finish happy’ approach and I didn’t want to risk any unhappiness at that stage! It was pitch black now and as I pass the last aid station it’s lit by candlelight! Nearing the last few km I had nothing better to be doing apart from starting to finally image what it would be like to run into that finishing chute for real after all that had happened. The training, the dreaming, the hassle, the days before, the awful swim, the heat, etc. One thing was for sure. I was going to milk that experience for everything it was worth! A few mad scenarios went through my mind but I just decided to keep it simple. Coming towards the lake there were a few supporters still out in the park section and for some reason they seemed to be older American ladies still whooping it up. God bless ‘em, they were great. I was watching my time and figured I’d try to ensure I got under the 15.5hour mark but didn’t want to cramp up. While there had been some minor flickers of pre-cramp feelings, nothing had come to pass so I was fortunate on that front. I was still power walking as much as I could but struggled a little bit to see the last of the route in the dark. There wasn’t many people around but after a bit of help I came through the worst bit and figured out the last few 100m. I started running slowly just past the Lindner Hotel and after checking that there was no-one else about to cramp my finish line style, made my way over to the last section along the lake edge. It was like being a child on Christmas morning. I could hardly wait to get there now! I could hear the crowd and the finish line music. I could see the lit up area and the back of the stage and stands. And as I turned the second last corner, I could see my family waiting behind barriers on the lake edge just before the turn into the finish area! And they were going ballistic. I ran down to them and stopped to hug and kiss them. Number 1 was jumping over the barrier and I think they all wanted to join me but I had it in my head that it was against the rules and I didn’t want to risk being disqualified at this stage so I said no! MrsB explained to them that it wasn’t allowed (even though it turned out later that plenty of people did it and they had seen it happen themselves). I told them to meet me at the other side of the finish area and off I went again for the final 150m. And was I ready to enjoy it. Finish happy Red. As I turned into the finish area I could see the clock ticking somewhere in the high 15:29:4x’s so I thought I can’t hang around here for very long! I went with a windmill impression with my arms to try to get the crowd going and time seemed to slow down as I made my up towards the finish ramp



I’m accelerating as the crowd cheer me on and I have a final mini-race against the clock



Work that crowd baby



MILK IT



FINALY



There’s something in the background about blah blah blah Ironman but all I can focus on is I am finished. I did it. I really did. All the way to the very end. It wasn’t pretty but I got there. And I am happy.

TBC!

griffin100

Epic report for an epic performance. Once again well done Red

ps loving the photos of the cheerleaders at the end

Oryx

Oh Lord you finally did it! Reading that brings it all back. Not that I want to remember all the messy bits but you make it all sound as epic as it really was. And I'm glad I had a small part in your redemptive experience. You repaid me on the run. When you passed me at the halfway point and I couldn't do your run/walk thing, all I tried to do was keep your red hat in sight and run a little when you did. And it worked. You dragged me along and motivated me without even knowing. Of course then I found my legs and got past ya cos I'm a sod, but I will always credit you with getting me through the lowest, grimmest part of the day. Which you just reminded me of. Thanks

Izoard

Got to be the best race report, ever - even if it took 2 months to deliver:)

Great stuff Red...You are an Ironman!

Dory Dory

Awesome!!!

Trig1

1 word LEGEND!!!!!!!!!!!!

Solobally8

Fantastic report. Really enjoyed reading it. Brilliant!

catweazle

Good man Red, was that pistols at dawn or thumbs up at the finishing line

Fantastic read, you should bring a book out

shotgunmcos

'Bout time. Read this on the phone (tinnie writing... eyelids cramped!) over the weekend. Epic Red, Epic. Great stuff, well done again and thank you for a fantastic account of it

BennyMul

Sir, you are simple a legend. Great report and some great pics.
read the entire lot again to get the mood rite and it worked.

handangeo

Well done epic report and an epic race