I had started my bike training in August when I put my name on the reserve list. My big issue was swimming as you will all know by now. I couldn’t swim front crawl, not even a little bit, when I got my race place - the race was on......
Fast forward to Klagenfurt:
We arrived on the day before the race, registered, met a few friends at the athletes briefing and then set about re-building my bike. I went for a short test ride, made a few more adjustments and packed my transition bags. I had never done a race like this before so found the race briefing very helpful. With everything done I set off with Danielle to an Italian restaurant for dinner. We bumped into a couple of pals at the restaurant which was great as we shared our hopes and fears for the race. My personal hope was to finish, my fear was that I would fall apart on the swim. (His turned out to be spookily similar!)
The alarm didn’t need to go off at 4am as I was already awake. The hotel was fantastic and had laid on a proper breakfast starting at 4:15. I shovelled in as many calories as I could, did the usual many toilet visits and filled my bottles. We set off to the start and ignoring the local police managed to get parked 30 yards from transition. I did the usual check of the bike, bags, applied a load of sun cream and pulled on the wetsuit.
I was dreading the swim. The 10 minutes before the race was amazing. A sense of anticipation and excitement was in the air. As the gun fired I stood on the beach and watched 2,221 racers hurl themselves into the chaos of the swim.
Swim (1:47)
Once the mass of swimmers was off and away, I strolled into the water and started at the back by myself. I had decided not to get involved in the bumping and pushing of the mass start and to stay calm, not panic, get into a nice stroke and then focus on beating the cut off. I was fine until about 400m by which time my goggles had fogged up and I bumped into another swimmer. I had managed to catch up with the back of the group. They seemed as incompetent as me. I spent the next 2,600m being guided by people in canoes on either side of the course. I probably swum nearer 4,500m overall because I couldn’t see where I was going! Sighting is an important skill and one I will focus on before my next open water swim.
I ran aground on the beach at the entrance to the canal. The canal was full of weeds and not that pleasant to swim in, but the support on either side was very vocal and it didn’t seem to last that long. There was a steep ramp out of the water that a couple of volunteers pulled you up and it was off to transition. My left leg cramped on the ramp which surprised me but I shook it off quickly. Danielle, my wife, was there to meet me at the swim exit and offer a few words of encouragement.
T1 (11:48)
Off with the wetsuit and on with the bike kit. I was so chuffed that I had got through the swim, I took my time in transition chatting to Symes (the guy I had dinner with pre race) – both slightly surprised we managed the swim. Put in my contact lenses, more sun cream, packed my bag and I was off to find my bike. This turned out to be a rather simple process as the previously full transition area was now deserted.
Bike (6:58)
The cramp on the ramp worried me. I had decided a rather defensive strategy from the start of just wanting to finish but now I was worried that even this goal was at risk. I decided to fuel up on the bike. I had a rather home spun food plan based around my mum’s fruit cake and flapjacks. The artificial bars that are dished out at the aid stations do nothing for me and generally upset my stomach.
By 9am the sun was up and it was getting hot so plenty of water and energy drinks.Quite early I developed a cracking headache and I hadn’t taken any painkillers out – a schoolboy error! The first 20k of the bike was undulating and very pleasant beside the lake we had been swimming in. Then it was off for the first loop and into the hills. There were 2 climbs on the course but it is considered to be one of the faster bike course on the Ironman circuit.
The second climb at Rupertiberg was the biggest climb and I found it a bit of a killer second time around and there were a number of folk walking up the steep sections but with the crowd shouting support and waving flags in your face you had to keep going! The support round the bike course was superb. Every village, even at isolated houses and at the top of every climb people gathered to cheer you on.
The only real excitement of my bike was when the eventual winner went past me nearing the end of his second loop. He was impressive. He must have been doing 45kmh compared to my 27kmh and disappeared into the distance with me 60 miles behind him!
By the time I was on my second lap people were moving into town to cheer the runners and with fewer marshals around I know of a couple of folk who got lost and headed off in the wrong direction! Passed a few pirates (Runners World Triathletes) on the bike and it was great getting the encouragement from some of the folk that I’d met at the pre-race briefing. During my second lap I waved down the medic bike and without stopping asked for pain relief tablets the medic on the back of the bike passed me some paracetamol - I didn’t know if this was allowed but they passed me the drugs and my head cleared.
The bike ride was stunning – the hills were amazing and the sun high in the sky.
T2 (11:20)
Dropped the bike and jogged over to the changing area. On with my shoes, grabbed a hat and some more sun cream and off I went. Not quite sure how I managed to waste 11 minutes in transition!
Run (6:06)
After about 10k of walk and run I began to see more and more people struggling. I put my finishing head on and decide that I want to finish above worrying about a time. So I walked and shuffled the 26.2 miles. A personal worst marathon time by 2 hours but I didn’t care. I knew that if I kept up my shuffling I would beat the 17 hour cut off and finish the race.
The support from racers going in the opposite direction was great and I hooked up with my pal Symes again for most of the second half before he went for his final 7k sprint. We whiled away the time messing up the maths to work out when we would finish! The run goes through the centre of the town and crowds in the bars were entertaining as they became more and more vocal as the beer flowed. It was pretty dark by the time I strolled in towards the end. I had followed this chap who was in a bad way for some time but determined to finish. He was being followed by 2 medics on bikes. He turned out to be over 70 years old and managed to finish the race.
The finish of the Ironman is amazing. The crowds are banked up in terraces, they dance and celebrate every finisher. As I turned the corner, Danielle met me and we jogged towards the finish line together. The announcer screamed down the microphone ‘ here’s John Ma-cle-odd a first time ironman’ and then as the crowd were going mad he added ‘ John Ma-cle-odd, you are an i-ron-man’. It was great. The sense of elation and emotion that was coursing through me was a high I still treasure. I was pretty exhausted but all of a sudden my main concern was getting the medal and tee shirt that proved I had finished!
So I finished in a very slow 15:15. The odd thing is that despite the slow time I still felt a winner. I didn’t ever feel any less than any other athlete taking part even though I was slow and the congratulations that I received from other racers was heartfelt. All of the training was worthwhile for that moment you cross the line.
Post race you have to clear your stuff and bike from transition on the evening of the race which is a nightmare given you are tired and just want to get some food on board. Fortunately because I had broken every rule in the book and dumped the car so close to transition I just pulled the wheels off the bike and threw everything into the car. Danielle didn't fancy driving, she was knackered after a full day watching the race - she assures me it is more exhausting watching than racing! So I drove home and we abandoned all the kit in the car, went into the hotel and grabbed some food and a beer. I couldn't drink the beer and stuck to water!
I struggled into the smallest bath in the world back at the hotel and only realised how badly sunburnt I was. I still have the tan lines from that day!
The Bike Course
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