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IMOZ06 Race report
Time: 10:45:53
A lot of excess baggage this year. Picked up a chest infection on Wednesday (Doesn’t help being a teacher). Spent each day resting and pumping myself full of antibiotics, Sudafed, nurofen and panadol. Hope you enjoy the read. P.S will edit all spelling and grammar another time
Swim: 58:46
Photo: Aerial shot of the swim
I was a bit worried here. I was having coughing fits since Wednesday and wasn’t looking forward to an attack of the coughs during the swim with 1600 other people to contend with. I decided to start as far left as possible and about 3 rows back. I would normally position myself right in the middle of the field and at the front.
I the gun went off I headed straight to clear water, that way if I was to starting coughing uncontrollably I would at least be able to stop and clear my throat without having to worry about other competitors climbing all over me. Fortunately, I didn’t get an attack but the salt water was making my throat taste like acid and it felt quite uncomfortable.
Throughout the swim I maintained I nice easy pace and I took all the turns quite wide to avoid the traffic. At one stage I could feel the sand and thought this was getting to shallow for my liking. I looked up to see that I was well and truly left of the pack and had to make a sharp turn to try and salvage at least some draft.
The rest of the swim was uneventful, all at times things did get a little congested when we were funneled through some narrow sections on the course. As I neared T1 I thought that I was heading for around 1:01-1:04 swim. I was quite surprised to see 58:30 on the clock. Even with the acid taste in my mouth and feeling low on energy my spirits were pretty good and a sub 1hr swim picked me up even more.
Bike: 5:45:52
Photo: Jason Shortis on the bike
Took my time in transition and things went smoothly. Surprisingly enough when I mounted the bike I thought that I was feeling pretty good. I was thinking ‘Yes’ the antibiotics have kicked in over night and I was over my chest infection. Little did I know!
Once on the bike things settled down quickly and I made a point of taking it very easy through the initial hills. Everybody around me must have been sharing my thoughts as no-one was passed me for at least the first 20km. The pace was quite conservative.
Well things changed pretty quickly at about the 20km mark on the bike for me. I was up to this point just drinking water and eating some powerbar, then I decided to have some Gatorade. Holy crap I could swear I was drinking brake fluid or acid. My throat was on fire and every time I tried to have Gatorade it burned like nothing else and sent me into a coughing fit. I didn’t know what to do. I hadn’t planned on this and I knew I needed to get in the electrolytes.
Things progressively became worse. I found it difficult to sit on the tribars from this point onwards and not cough. My throat was on fire and my energy levels were plummeting. I’ve now managed to complete the first loop on the bike but I could feel my chest infection getting the better of me. I was no longer holding my position on the course. People were continually riding past me and each time I tried to maintain a good aero position on the bars I would cough my guts up. Heading out for that second lap was probably the worst part of my day. My throat was at its worst, I was riding into a strong headwind and I couldn’t get aero. I was having trouble swallowing my powerbars and decided to start getting hold of some powerbar gels at the aid stations. I didn’t really want to do this as I don’t train on this stuff, but I needed to start getting in the calories as I was feeling pretty flat by the 90km mark.
For the next 90km and some real up and downs. On a positive note my sore throat was getting better and I was starting to control my coughing fits. On a downside side I had no energy. I just was not able to get in enough calories early on and the chest infection had drained most of what was left in the tank out of me. I was in survival mode now. Coming back into town wasn’t too bad. Having a tailwind helped ease the pain. Reality set in though when I turned to head back out for the 3rd and final lap. Damm! Another 30k’s of headwind. I new this was going to hurt me and it did. I was struggling. What made it worse was watching everyone come past me one after the other, rubbing salt into the wounds.
My knees and hips were really aching and the back of my neck was stiff and sore. I knew now I was getting dehydrated even though I was drinking more then I had planned for. This infection now was doing me in mentally. ‘Just get to the turnaround’, ‘Just get to the turnaround’, ‘Just get to the turnaround’ I knew if I could just dig deep enough and make it to the turnaround I could use the tailwind to bring me home. It worked. I made it to T2
Run: 4:01:14.
Photo: Me on the run
After I dismounted the bike I was relieved. There was nothing left in the tank. Even though I had a marathon to come I knew that getting off that bike was probably the best part of my day. I would ever normally say that as the bike leg is my strongest leg. Not today though. That was wrong!. I didn’t enjoy that bike leg at all.
In T2 I just sat down and relaxed. This explain why my first run split is around 8min slower then the others. I just didn’t want to leave T2. I could found a corner and curled up and slept for a good couple of hours. No-one would of missed me. Wait hang-on my girlfriend and family are out there waiting for me. Time to get organized again.
In T2 I didn’t have anyone help me. In a way I was glad, I was just too frazzled to worry about someone fussing over me and telling how could I was doing when in fact I knew I wasn’t. I was starting to get pissed off. Why me, why did I have to get this chest infection 4 days before this race. I’ve spent soo much time preparing for this event and this damm stupid chest infection was beating me down with a big smile on its face.
When I stood up to leave T2 I was gone for all money, my day was over. Running is my worst leg and I have never felt this bad before in my previous 4 IM’s. I stepped out of the change tent grabbed a cup of water and the first person I saw was Katrina. The look on her face was enough, that was it. Nothing was said. She just looked at me, smiled through a look of concern which clearly showed that she knew I was hurting. From that point onwards this race was on. It’s hard to describe but she kept me in the race and lifted my spirits to a new level. It was time to deal with this pain and get through this day.
I took 2 nurofen + to deal with the foot issues. That worked. I decided to run the flats, walk the aid stations and walk/run the hills as much as possible. The first 12km were terrible. There was just nothing there for me to draw on. I had no energy. It was such a grind getting through that first hr. At each aid station I took in as much water, Gatorade, coke and Jelly beans I could get my hands on. After an hr of pumping sugar into the system I was starting to pick up. I was feeling better and better after each aid station. The next 2 hrs were quite pleasurable for the first time since starting the race. I was holding my race pace and picking off people one at a time. Even when I was feeling good I still made sure that I walked the aid stations to keep those sugar supplies coming in.
At about the 30km my quads began to cramp. It was tough again from this point onwards but with only 12km to go I was feeling the finishing line getting closer and closer. The crowds were going nuts and that was enough for me to finish my 5th IM. I can't honestly say what happend in the last hr. It was a blur.
Not the time I wanted but a very satisfying day overall. Nothing beats being part the day and I can’t wait to do the next one. Since I’m off to Tokyo in August for 2years. Ironman Japan is looking very good at the moment.
Catch you later
fluro
A lot of excess baggage this year. Picked up a chest infection on Wednesday (Doesn’t help being a teacher). Spent each day resting and pumping myself full of antibiotics, Sudafed, nurofen and panadol. Hope you enjoy the read. P.S will edit all spelling and grammar another time
Swim: 58:46
Photo: Aerial shot of the swim
I was a bit worried here. I was having coughing fits since Wednesday and wasn’t looking forward to an attack of the coughs during the swim with 1600 other people to contend with. I decided to start as far left as possible and about 3 rows back. I would normally position myself right in the middle of the field and at the front.
I the gun went off I headed straight to clear water, that way if I was to starting coughing uncontrollably I would at least be able to stop and clear my throat without having to worry about other competitors climbing all over me. Fortunately, I didn’t get an attack but the salt water was making my throat taste like acid and it felt quite uncomfortable.
Throughout the swim I maintained I nice easy pace and I took all the turns quite wide to avoid the traffic. At one stage I could feel the sand and thought this was getting to shallow for my liking. I looked up to see that I was well and truly left of the pack and had to make a sharp turn to try and salvage at least some draft.
The rest of the swim was uneventful, all at times things did get a little congested when we were funneled through some narrow sections on the course. As I neared T1 I thought that I was heading for around 1:01-1:04 swim. I was quite surprised to see 58:30 on the clock. Even with the acid taste in my mouth and feeling low on energy my spirits were pretty good and a sub 1hr swim picked me up even more.
Bike: 5:45:52
Photo: Jason Shortis on the bike
Took my time in transition and things went smoothly. Surprisingly enough when I mounted the bike I thought that I was feeling pretty good. I was thinking ‘Yes’ the antibiotics have kicked in over night and I was over my chest infection. Little did I know!
Once on the bike things settled down quickly and I made a point of taking it very easy through the initial hills. Everybody around me must have been sharing my thoughts as no-one was passed me for at least the first 20km. The pace was quite conservative.
Well things changed pretty quickly at about the 20km mark on the bike for me. I was up to this point just drinking water and eating some powerbar, then I decided to have some Gatorade. Holy crap I could swear I was drinking brake fluid or acid. My throat was on fire and every time I tried to have Gatorade it burned like nothing else and sent me into a coughing fit. I didn’t know what to do. I hadn’t planned on this and I knew I needed to get in the electrolytes.
Things progressively became worse. I found it difficult to sit on the tribars from this point onwards and not cough. My throat was on fire and my energy levels were plummeting. I’ve now managed to complete the first loop on the bike but I could feel my chest infection getting the better of me. I was no longer holding my position on the course. People were continually riding past me and each time I tried to maintain a good aero position on the bars I would cough my guts up. Heading out for that second lap was probably the worst part of my day. My throat was at its worst, I was riding into a strong headwind and I couldn’t get aero. I was having trouble swallowing my powerbars and decided to start getting hold of some powerbar gels at the aid stations. I didn’t really want to do this as I don’t train on this stuff, but I needed to start getting in the calories as I was feeling pretty flat by the 90km mark.
For the next 90km and some real up and downs. On a positive note my sore throat was getting better and I was starting to control my coughing fits. On a downside side I had no energy. I just was not able to get in enough calories early on and the chest infection had drained most of what was left in the tank out of me. I was in survival mode now. Coming back into town wasn’t too bad. Having a tailwind helped ease the pain. Reality set in though when I turned to head back out for the 3rd and final lap. Damm! Another 30k’s of headwind. I new this was going to hurt me and it did. I was struggling. What made it worse was watching everyone come past me one after the other, rubbing salt into the wounds.
My knees and hips were really aching and the back of my neck was stiff and sore. I knew now I was getting dehydrated even though I was drinking more then I had planned for. This infection now was doing me in mentally. ‘Just get to the turnaround’, ‘Just get to the turnaround’, ‘Just get to the turnaround’ I knew if I could just dig deep enough and make it to the turnaround I could use the tailwind to bring me home. It worked. I made it to T2
Run: 4:01:14.
Photo: Me on the run
After I dismounted the bike I was relieved. There was nothing left in the tank. Even though I had a marathon to come I knew that getting off that bike was probably the best part of my day. I would ever normally say that as the bike leg is my strongest leg. Not today though. That was wrong!. I didn’t enjoy that bike leg at all.
In T2 I just sat down and relaxed. This explain why my first run split is around 8min slower then the others. I just didn’t want to leave T2. I could found a corner and curled up and slept for a good couple of hours. No-one would of missed me. Wait hang-on my girlfriend and family are out there waiting for me. Time to get organized again.
In T2 I didn’t have anyone help me. In a way I was glad, I was just too frazzled to worry about someone fussing over me and telling how could I was doing when in fact I knew I wasn’t. I was starting to get pissed off. Why me, why did I have to get this chest infection 4 days before this race. I’ve spent soo much time preparing for this event and this damm stupid chest infection was beating me down with a big smile on its face.
When I stood up to leave T2 I was gone for all money, my day was over. Running is my worst leg and I have never felt this bad before in my previous 4 IM’s. I stepped out of the change tent grabbed a cup of water and the first person I saw was Katrina. The look on her face was enough, that was it. Nothing was said. She just looked at me, smiled through a look of concern which clearly showed that she knew I was hurting. From that point onwards this race was on. It’s hard to describe but she kept me in the race and lifted my spirits to a new level. It was time to deal with this pain and get through this day.
I took 2 nurofen + to deal with the foot issues. That worked. I decided to run the flats, walk the aid stations and walk/run the hills as much as possible. The first 12km were terrible. There was just nothing there for me to draw on. I had no energy. It was such a grind getting through that first hr. At each aid station I took in as much water, Gatorade, coke and Jelly beans I could get my hands on. After an hr of pumping sugar into the system I was starting to pick up. I was feeling better and better after each aid station. The next 2 hrs were quite pleasurable for the first time since starting the race. I was holding my race pace and picking off people one at a time. Even when I was feeling good I still made sure that I walked the aid stations to keep those sugar supplies coming in.
At about the 30km my quads began to cramp. It was tough again from this point onwards but with only 12km to go I was feeling the finishing line getting closer and closer. The crowds were going nuts and that was enough for me to finish my 5th IM. I can't honestly say what happend in the last hr. It was a blur.
Not the time I wanted but a very satisfying day overall. Nothing beats being part the day and I can’t wait to do the next one. Since I’m off to Tokyo in August for 2years. Ironman Japan is looking very good at the moment.
Catch you later
fluro
posted by Paul Fleuren at 6:56 pm
2 Comments:
Great job working through the pain and suffering. Most people might pack it in. Way to draw that strength for Katrina. Did you thank her for that little lift? :)
Congrats on a great time, even if it wasn't your goal. That is still faster than most people finish!
Thanks Flatman.
I did get to thank her, a couple of times ;-)
Im still holding onto that hawaii goal. I know I'll get there one day.
fluro
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