I've booked the total immersion swim course in Balfron in a couple of weeks time. This is why...........
I want to take you back to 2009 - my second Ironman in New Zealand and what turned out to be an eventful day! The local shops adopt a racer and they put signs up to support you as you are on the bike or running - it was fantastic and a nice surprise.
The Swim
New Zealand is an awesome country and Lake Taupo where the race is held is like Aviemore exploded with bigger hills and a huge lake. It's stunning. The race started at 7am so I was up at 4am to put as many calories as possible in. I had porridge, toast and tea before setting off in the darkness to the start. Just before the start the Maori people did a Hakka on a canoe as we entered the water under the lightening sky, it was amazing!
As you know I’m not a great swimmer but with practice and a few lessons my speed had improved and I genuinely believed that I could do a sub 1:30 swim. It’s a deep water start so I made my way over to the centre of the masses and felt my stroke was smooth and calm as I made my way over.
The gun went off with an incredible bang and there we were back in the washing machine. I actually quite enjoyed the cut and thrust of the pack and gave as good as I was getting. There are quite a few Japanese competitors in NZ and they seemed very polite getting out of the way as they were bumped and pushed. Anyway about 400m out I started coughing. Everytime I put my head in the water I coughed instead of blowing out, each time taking in some water which didn’t bother me too much but I was struggling to take in air when I went up for a breath. So I switched to breaststroke and coughed up some lovely phlem. I felt a bit sorry for any of my fellow swimmers who collected it on their goggles…..The situation went from bad to worse and I stopped altogether. My chest seemed to have filled up with gunk, my chest was tight and I was feeling as sick as a dog. One of the rescue boats saw my plight and let me hang on for a second as I recovered.
I got started and the same thing happened. Bizarrely, they had one of those endless pools at the expo and I had nipped in on the Thursday before the race to see what they were like. The lady who was selling the pools turned out to be one of the lifeguards and she came over to check on me. I could hardly breath, the field had disappeared in the distance and I was in trouble. We swum from buoy to buoy for a while with her just chatting to me trying to help me through the worsening situation and during one of the breaks she asked me about the wheezing she was hearing with every breath. I told her that I’d forgotten to take my inhaler and asked if the medical support boat had such a thing on board. She called for support and the boat arrived 5 minutes later. Doc gave me a couple of puffs of the inhaler, made me feel great by telling me that I sounded dreadful and offered me a hand onto the boat. It’s not a knitting club was my response which I don’t think he understood but let me give it another go. It took about 200m for the effects to kick in at which point I’d completed about 800m in just over 1 hour. My swimming support was replaced by 2 canoes who placed themselves on either side and I started swimming. My shoulder wasn’t allowing a full pull on the left hand side but I began to find my stroke. Having the canoes was brilliant cause I didn’t have to sight and was able to put my head down and get on with it. So I completed the final 3000m in 1:13 – which was pretty good for me.
I knew I was up against the clock but the guys in the canoe were great at giving me signals as to my progress. On reflection, completing the swim for me was the major achievement of the day and it’s hard to say or explain how I felt when I thought I was going to get hauled out but the organisers – they had said when I was getting treatment they would make the call at the turn, I was so relieved they let me continue. I'd made the cut off by 3 minutes finishing the swim in 2.17. Thus the lessons in a few weeks!
As I was running the 400m from lake to transition I bumped into the lifeguard lady – she was absolutely gobsmacked that I’d finished. It was good to see her as I was able to say a big thanks for the support. When I reached transition I was just so delighted to be there that I took my time and chatted to everyone.
The Bike
My legs felt like two big old lead things – I don’t normally kick in the wetsuit to save my legs but because I was making up time I kicking like a good un.
The bike course was pretty fair, couple of climbs at the start and end of each of the 2 laps but not much more. The wind was easing as well and once I got moving things I got into a good rhythm. I was second last out of the water to make the cut off and my nearest person was 1k ahead. I decided to go for it and see how many I could pass. My energy strategy was to pour 6 gels into a water bottle mix it up and take some every hour along with mums cake and peanut butter sandwiches – I have to say it worked pretty well as I felt strong for most of the bike. The lack of a number of 100 milers in training began to tell after the 80 mile mark and I probably dropped quite a bit of time of the way back as I tired. Had to stop for the loo a couple of time and I was still coughing.
The course was exceptionally well marshalled. They were all very encouraging, the stations well stocked and efficient in sorting out requests. The leaders went past me towards the end of my first lap – they were flying.
I caught up with a friend a bit into the second lap and had a chat with her. She seemed cheery and focussed which was good to see.
The support round the course was amazing as well. The locals come out and stay out to support. They were great fun shouting at the jock and I shared a few laughs particularly at the turn point when I lost my back wheel and had a major correction.
Back into Taupo whipping up the crowds as I went and getting a good mention from the speaker guy and Ironman live turned the cameras on me so I gave them a good wave.
Second transition was ok – again loads of support people checking on you and asking what you needed.
The Run
I started the run with the plan to run a k walk a k. This was ok until 5k when I bumped into a lady (Vickie) I been chatting to prior to the stat standing by the path looking really sorry for herself. I asked her if she was ok and she started bubbling – now being an old softie I hate to see someone in trouble. She had been going for a PB and blown up and was contemplating packing in so I suggested that she walked with me to the next aid station and made a decision there. Just at that point it absolutely tipped it down and we got soaked. So we walked and chatted for the next 15k. My run walk became a walk walk – after 15k she told me she needed to lie down and I felt I should carry on – to be honest she was probably sick of the chat!
So I marched, in clan tradition was the next 10k – at the turn I thought I would try to go back to my run walk strategy. Just after the turn I bumped into another friend called Ally which was good and was able to run walk with her for the next 5 or 6 k – as it turned out Ally was running at points I could only walk and vice versa so eventually we split up. At this point the blisters I picked up were becoming an issue so I decided to march/hobble the last 10k.
So that was my IM, not the sub 14 hours I’d planned but one of the best experiences I’ve been privileged to enjoy. I had finished in 15 hours and 30 minutes, a personal worst!
It had been difficult to train for this race effectively but I’m so chuffed to have done it. The locals are fantastic and they made you feel very special, regardless of time. The race is really well planned and organised and gave me a day to remember. I still stay in touch with one of the guys I met that day and was surprised to get an email from the canoe paddler to ask if I'd finished!!!
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