Sooo, alrighty then, its taken me over 2 weeks to get back on the computer to put ’pen to paper’ so to speak. It feels like I haven’t written for an age and to be honest unless you wanted to read ‘ate, slept, trained, worked’ (with most likely a spelling mistake every sentence) for the 4 weeks leading up to Ironman Florida, then its probably a good thing I didn’t update you with my day to day activity. Life was somewhat hectic; a far cry from my meticulously planned out, prepared taper that I had spent time perfecting for Ironman Tahoe!
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| Following the cancellation of IM Tahoe, I thought this was quite fitting.... |
After being stood on the sand at Kings Beach, Tahoe, sucked into my wetsuit and mere minutes before the race start and finding out I wasn’t actually going to hear the words ‘you are an Ironman’ that day, the wind was taken out of my sails. I mean blown completely sideways. I knew I wouldn’t be happy until I had signed up for my next race and by the following Tuesday I knew I was to join 3200 other Iron-loonies on the sand at Panama City Beach Florida on 1st Nov. Unfortunately left brain and right brain weren’t really communicating that well and, although I was glad to be racing, something just wasn’t there. It wasn’t my plan. (and for those of you who know me, know I am a creature of habit and I like to have a proper ‘plan’!). I went through the training process, not really thinking about it, which is the worst type of training. I had previously trained through three seasons feeling motivated, focussed, leaving each session knowing I had put 100% effort it and now it had all changed. The sessions were completed but not really enjoyed and, for the remainder of September, I felt like a balloon, deflated rapidly, trying in earnest to regain its proud form - ‘ppffffft’! Come October, Fall was in full-swing and my head was screwed back on correctly; a couple of long sessions and some good run sets saw me back to my normal self and, despite life being busy with my husband away, my mojo was back. A bit of course research and visualisation during my training sessions saw me excited to race again. I was back to bouncing around like a springer spaniel on Skittles! Yay!
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| A moment of Déjà vu! |
We arrived in Panama City Beach on the Wednesday before Halloween. A long travel day from West to East Coast saw us finish 22 hours of travelling with a spritely 20 month old. Luckily, Turbo Toby is a bit of a legend and travels really well so Team Wilcox arrived, in one piece, and still talking to each other! The next day, we were up and raring to go with a bike build, practice swim and race registration. Then, on Halloween, it was time to rack the bike!
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| 'Merv' my trusty steed racked and ready to go! |
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| Kit for an Ironman...it takes time! |
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| The 'Team Wilcox' Boys preparing for the race |
The weather was perfect; there was a slight breeze ruffling the palm trees but the air was warm with the waves gently lapping the shore. ‘Ahhhh, race conditions are going to be awesome in Paradise’…. or so I thought!
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| Conditions right outside our condo, the day before the race.... |
We woke up on race morning to the wind howling around the condo; and, after making my way out onto the balcony to witness the waves crashing on the beach, I beat a hasty retreat back into the warm condo for a cup of tea (you can take the girl out of England..!) The temperature had dropped by over 25 degrees! Without planning on needing warm kit, I had only packed a pair of arm warmers and a thin, but quite holey, cycle jersey. Hastily shoving it in my bag, I was mentally preparing myself for an English-weather type race.
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| Exposing an arm to the chilly air for number marking - bbbbbrrrrrrr! |
Reaching the race site, everyone was huddled in fleece jumpers, tracksuit bottoms, sock under their flip-flops.. ok that was me; my inability to deal with the cold is not something I pride myself on, so yes, socks UNDER my flip flops is TOTALLY acceptable on a chilly morning! So, back to the beach, wetsuited up, making our way to the shore….. within minutes the announcer comes over to inform us that due to a strong rip-current the swim was cancelled. Whhaaaaaat?? The race would be a bike-run with a time trial bike start. I have to admit, I was a little upset but purely out of frustration. I had travelled all this way to complete an Ironman! As second time being disappointed on a start line within 6 weeks. However, I knew I needed regroup and refocus on the job at hand, there was still a 10 hour day ahead of me. To be honest, looking out at the crashing waves, and Coastguard boats pitching left to right desperately trying stay in control, there was slight relief. The swim would have been brutal.
The bike start began with the professional athletes starting off at 0800 followed by the age group athletes, in number order. Being number 3072 I knew I was in for a long wait. As many people have experienced, you plan your morning pre-race nutrition on the timings that you are given, so to start over 2.5 hours after you thought for, means you are going to require a slight tweak to your nutrition plan to make sure you don’t either: over-eat out of boredom whilst waiting, or don’t eat enough. I watched athletes being set off, marvelling at the lengths some people go to, to keep warm. People were riding extremely fabulous and aerodynamic bikes worth $$$$ but then wearing a huge overcoat, a balaclava and a pair of jogging bottoms! Completely bonkers! Anyway, I digress, athletes were being set of 4 at a time; and the cheer of the crowd as they took off on their 112 mile journey was fantastic! Cowbells ringing, whoops, hollering and whilstling - awesome stuff!
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| Excited to get going! |
Out on the bike and it was cold, but time to get my head down and legs into gear and see what the hours upon hours of riding in Nevada's desert and Tahoe's hills had prepared me for. Knowing it wasn't a 'proper' Ironman I made the decision to see how hard I could push on the bike. I don't think I have ever passed so many people on the bike and I loved it! As many of you know, I have worked hard on all three disciplines this year, but the one I have really put my mind to is the bike. I’ve always liked cycling but it wasn’t my favourite discipline. I had no concentration for cycling further than 2 hours and compared to the other 2 sports, it wasn’t my strongest discipline. However, 10+ hours per week of riding and spinning, as part of my training, put paid to that! It was a tough going for the first hour or so; really quite cold and a strong 20mph head wind until we turned right at the 30 mile point. We were then battling a cross -wind for company over the next 10 miles. A small section with a little bit of a tail wind, following another right turn, was a welcome break before heading back into the cross wind and the bumpiest road I could imagine in any race! On that section I lost most of my drink out of my aero bottle with it spilling all over me. It was a terrible road! So, it was a head and cross wind all the way back until the 80 mile point and then it was..... awesome! A left turn and boom! Such a good tail wind! There was a short out-and-back to add miles, which was again into the wind, but then it was back on the gas and heading home. I was pushing hard throughout, I think the hopping from person to person helped me focus. To be honest the first 2 hours passed by without me even thinking about the time!
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| Quite possibly the most enjoyable bike split of any triathlon I have completed :)
It was at the half way point, under 3 hours, that I thought to myself that perhaps a sub 6:15 was possible, I didn't want to pile the pressure on and then be disappointed as I had no idea how my legs were going to hold up. So, at every 10 mile marker, I was amending my goal and that was driving me on. With 90 miles down I decide sub-6 was possible and decided to go for it. I felt so comfortable on my trusty Merv, only adjusting within the aero position to stretch out my shoulders every so often. My nutrition went well, I stuck to the plan most of the time but adjusted for what I felt like. For example I picked up some bananas segments a few times as I was completely fed up with Powerbar drink! I think that is important in any race; remaining flexible is the key! Coming in off the bike, my legs felt good. Transition was only 4 mins in total; I don't like to 'faff' about; I'm too impatient to get on the run! I decided against socks on the bike as I had toe covers but also I thought that I'd appreciate fresh socks on the run. So, shoes on, watch lapped and the longest wee ever! Haha! (I didn't stop on the bike at all) and then out in to the big cheering crowd, completely pumped that I had made it in not just under 6 hours, but in 5 hours and 50 minutes! Boom!
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Out on the run: oh I felt so so good the first half marathon. I was holding a slightly quicker pace than planned but my lungs weren't working overly hard and my legs felt strong. At the 14 mile point however, my hips/pelvis started hurting. After evaluating the race since, I think it was due to being in the aggressive TT position the whole time. I experienced this pain in my last long run off of Merv, which I never did on my Cervelo. I think it just such a big change in the position, which I haven't trained with all year. Also, I knew I had pushed hard on the bike (I remember wondering about how my run performance would be affected as I felt my quads working hard whilst pedalling!). Despite my nutrition plan, I switched to just water on the run; my abdomen ended up so bloated and a little painful toward the end. I knew I had it in me to go faster but my pelvis was so painful. Seeing Chris, Toby and the lovely Nicky (who also travelled down from Pensacola to watch me race) at the 13 mile point was a great boost (much better than my honey sandwich which was rather disappointing and quite dry!)
Strangely I also found myself tired, as in proper eyes-drooping-shut tired, around mile 17. I'd never experienced that on training but then I supposed I was never 'that' fatigued! I found myself a little emotional at times. Not crying, but almost on the verge - very odd! I'm not a particularly 'teary' sort of person so it it was quite weird to be dealing with it. The last mile I picked up the pace. Adrenaline pumping, I ran past a girl that had been back and forth with me throughout the last 13 miles. She tried attack back with a burst of speed but I picked up the pace and dropped her (yay!). I then put on a bit of a sprint to get past other guys in front of me (I wanted to get a good photo on the finish line! Haha!). It's funny how you have that little extra gear boost when your body overrides all other sensible decision making emotions!
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| My actual time was 9:59:47. A huge relief to get under 10 hours! |
Crossing over the line, hearing the words ‘You are an Ironman’, it was a bitter-sweet experience as I’m ‘not quite an Ironman’ yet; more of a ‘Tin-man’ (as my husband likes to call me). There were some big lessons learnt from my race, especially on the run. On other hand, there were also some big positives from it too. For the most, my well structured, thought out plan worked; I felt completely calm and in control throughout and changes I made took into consideration how the race was proceeding.
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| An emotional reunion with Chris |
I found myself, half way through the run route, deciding never to do Ironman again, but I know I need to do a full race before I’m happy. But you all knew that, hey?!
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| The smile says it all really....! |
So now it is into recovery for a few weeks. Teaching my spin classes and going for a run, swim or cycle at a 'relaxed' pace. I'm taking the time to enjoy all three of my favourite sports again. Oh and getting some good stretching in! It's time for Team Wilcox to take a break both physically and mentally and get some time in as a family. Time to enjoy some lazy Sundays filled with hiking and pancake eating, rather than 4 hour bike rides and Power-bar eating!
I owe a huge debt of gratitude for those of you who have joined me on this journey. My awesome coach Stefan Lawrence of tri-sl-training, my family (indeed, my grandparents who flew all the way from the UK to watch me race at Tahoe!), my friends who have followed my progress through the year and those of you who so kindly sat, glued to your computers, to follow me throughout the race and watch me cross that line and Nicky who drove all the way down to PCB and braved it through the long hours of spectating. However, not even one step of this fantastic journey could have been started if it weren't for my fabulous boys: my supportive, loving and generally fantastic husband (and in-house bike mechanic) Chris, my inspiration Turbo Toby and stepson Ross (who is renowned for asking me if I could 'just swim faster' whilst he was paddle-boarding next to me in Lake Tahoe).
Its time to keep working towards the next goal; an exciting voyage though the next chapter, taking the high and lows of what dreams, tears, sweat and laughter give us.
A small sign I found at the race expo summed it up really:
'Only those who risk going too far, can possibly find out how far one can go' - T.S. Eliot
Until next time friends,
TF
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