Ironman Hawaii 2011 - another hard day at the office

Another tough race that was. I doubt I’ll ever have a Kona race that is not a significant experience. As many people who have raced ironman distance know it is a big challenge to get around, but throw in a lot of heat, humidity and wind and you’ve got yourself a challenge that will take you to new levels of effort. The day started out good for me, I was very keen to swim well and I had worked fairly hard since Christmas to try sort my swimming out. Even the good swimmers struggle here as the swells and non wetsuit rules make for a difficult start to a long day. I had spoken to a few people who swim well here and two tips that stuck with me were a fast aggressive start and a shorter stroke.

I started out fast and expected it to be tough for the first 10minutes before things settled a bit. I had a near panic attack when I was locked in to a bunch on both sides where I was touching elbows on every stroke. I tried to block it out and manage the stress thinking it will be over soon, sure enough the group split up a bit and I found some breathing space. I focused on the short wide stroke and keeping my head down as much as possible. At the half way point it was pretty crazy and it seemed easier to do a kind of freestyle/breast mix as there were bodies everywhere. I noticed the time split of 32mins so already way ahead of last years pace. From the turnaround point I found a great draft from a guy who had a mild kick and decent pace so I stayed with him most of the way back. At various points other swimmers tried to take his feet but I was quite boisterous to hold on to it as it was working well for me. Coming on to the beach I saw  the time at 1:06 and thought I had a good swim for a change . T1 was slow but nothing new for me.

Right outside T1 a rear cage bottle jumped out as the road had some bumps and as this bottle was a heavily loaded part of my nutrition I went back for it and noticed a lot of people had dropped bottles there. The first section out to the first turn and back is always fast as people get carried away with the screaming crowds and their fresh legs. It was a good atmosphere but I was keen to get out on the Queen K and find rhythm. As soon as I got out there it was quite busy ahead unlike last year where it was quiet on the first section. About 10mins in on the Queen K I was watching my HR/power but also looking out for some good guys to work with, there was a few of us trying to pull away from the crowd and there were a few motorbikes around. One came up beside me but I wasn’t concerned as I felt I was well outside the 10m box. I had been using the cateyes on the side of the road as a guide as a few guys had told me they were around 10m between, so when the bike slowed down near me I stayed where I was maintaining the distance between me and the guy ahead, but all of a sudden she pulled a red card and told me to check in to the next penalty box. I asked her to repeat it as I couldn’t believe it. I stayed where I was and argued that the gap was legal but she wouldn’t respond, instead just repeating that I should check in next penalty office. I was in shock, The bike hadn’t even started and I was being told to stop for a 4minute penalty. I was so disappointed that I felt like immediately turning and trickling back in to town. I kept going but the penalty tent was a long way up the road and all I could think about was the fact I had been penalised. I was devastated and it distracted me from my race plan. I was determined to not let it bother me but in truthfulness it dominated my thoughts for a long time and it wasn’t until the pain of the run later on that I stopped worrying about it. When I was in the penalty tent I was chatting with another guy and we were laughing at how we were usually giving out grief to drafters and here we were standing in the tent. Not much we could do but laugh about it, and to top it off some pro photographer was snapping us standing there looking bemused.

Much like 2010 the bike was tough and the road up to Hawi heavy on Watts and it was difficult to keep the HR down. I had noticed Craig Alexander in the lead pack as the pros passed when I was climbing. it’s such a great thrill to see what’s going on with the leaders and it helps with the threshold pain of the race. I always maintain the only bad thing about racing Hawaii is that you don’t get to watch the pros in action, but we do get the odd glimpse when they pass. The road back was immediately fast and felt good after the long grind against the wind.

About half way back to Kailua Rob (Wormald) passed me looking comfortable and I stepped it up a bit as we headed back to town. Not long after, I seen Rob at the side of the road with a puncture, but he was quick to fix it and didn’t lose too much time in the end.

I knew my bike split was slow but was dissapointed with the final split of 5:13, I still held hope that I could run well and better last years time. My legs were tired in T2 but I felt quite good going out on to Ali drive for the first 10mile of the run. I was hot but I stuck close to the 140 start hr and it felt comfortable. I was taking on nutrition and water/ice as I knew it would be very important for the latter stages of the run. At the turning point I saw Owen close behind but i still felt very comfortable. Coming back in to town I saw Pete Jakobs pass to the finish and Raelert soon behind, I figured these guys were on very fast times.

Palani was harder than I remember last year, as the breeze dropped I really felt the heat and my pace to keep hr down was close to a jog. On the Queen K I felt alright but decided now to move hr up to 145 earlier than last year. It seemed a long way out and I was very aware of the 16mile still to go. I just kept my head straight  and focused on nutrition and heat management at aid stations. The pro women coming back lightened the load a bit as I watched the leaders go by and figured out what was happening there.

As I reached the energy lab I was quite tired but comfortable enough and still had some bounce, but I felt the first of a light cramp on my right hamstring. I thought it might be salt so I took on some salt tabs. In the energy lab my friend Una was screaming her head off and that was a nice lift but at the turnaround I seen Owen was very close and I thought I should lift it a bit to try and get away from him. 

When I lifted it towards the energy lab exit the effort brought on the hamstring cramp again so I popped more salt tabs. I had been drinking coke and what I thought was enough water, but the cramps stayed. I was also feeling fine engine/breathing wise so it was more than likely a dehydration cramp.  I looked back and seen Owen getting closer so I tried to hold pace but any time I lifted the pace the hamstring locked up. I knew Owen was breathing down on me so when I heard him closing and lifting his pace to go by I lifted the pace to hold him off for a while and make him work hard to go past me. This kept him at bay for a bit but the cramps were coming and going and as I reached out for the next aid station he went straight by (obviously we’ve both read Macca’s book J ) I got some drinks down and got straight on his feet, and stayed there for a mile or so, but by the next aid station the hamstring locked up completely and I had to stop and stretch it. I had enjoyed the battle with Owen but he disappeared quickly and now my next worry was getting moving again and finishing this thing. I managed to start again but coming off Palani the leg went and I had to stop again.

Stretching was not working and some guy said run backwards, I no doubt looked silly but about 10 seconds of this got me running again, so I stayed at a jog to get to the finish line. At least I enjoyed the home straight this time as I couldn’t run fast, and was determined not to stop and stretch in front of the crowd J

Coming over the line I felt weird so they had me in medical within minutes to raise my temp and get me on the drip as I weighed 10lbs less than before the race. The drip helped replace electrolyte levels and I got an ice bath before leaving too so I was very impressed with the medical setup. It’s the first time I’ve had medical and it really helped me recover after the severe dehydration. A very tough day and a great but painful experience. This race is always my biggest challenge but I can’t wait to get back for the next round!

It’s been a long but enjoyable season, I peaked in Austria but had struggled since to get back in shape. I was not able to repeat the months of consistent training that I had in the build up to Austria but at least I got to race Hawaii in one piece. I’ve really been looking forward to the end of the season so Alan has given me a month down to regroup and relax before we start our assault for next year.

I’m writing this from Waikiki in Honolulu where I plan to have some proper rest and keep my feet in the air. I will give the body and mind the rest it needs and I look forward to getting out there and improving for next year. Mahalo, Aloha!

Splits:

Swim:	1:06:52
Bike:	5:13:41
Run:	3:10:22
Overall:	9:38:15

Ironman 70.3 Ireland 2011

A tough day out in Galway...


If only I knew what was ahead!


It’s good to have a tough race now and then. When planning goes well, and the race execution is at or just below projected effort, it can often feel quite good out there, I don’t mean easy but because you are kind of programmed for the effort ahead, it often doesn’t feel that difficult. Austria for me was actually one of my ‘easier’ races. Galway was a toughie of the kind that hardens you mentally and physically and sets up some future motivation for when the going gets tough.

I was excited to race an Ironman event at home, and for the most part I think they got it right. The weather played a part in the difficulty of the race but there was great character shown out there by finishers, many of them first timers! I haven’t suffered this much in a race since Germany 2009.

Race morning was windy and cold, so much to the joy of many athletes including myself they shortened the swim to a reported 750m (it turned out to be over 1km), but with the waves it felt a lot longer. The fastest pro time was 14mins so it seems everyone had a hard time dealing with the current and choppy ocean.

I got a good start at the front of the largest wave but it was so rough that it was impossible to tell which direction you were going forget about drafting or following others. I swallowed a lot of saltwater but as it was a short swim I was never going to suffer for too long out there. The beach exit was easy on the feet but then started the very long run out through T1, I think it was about 800m from swim exit to leaving the transition, this included a long run on bare concrete, having dodgy calves this was a scary 5mins for me.

I got out on the bike to a very lonely road, there seemed to be very few cyclists around, I had somehow come out of the water high up in my wave. I’m usually away back in the pack so was surprised to see so few cyclists on the road. The first section was rolling and had a coarse surface but without potholes. My power has been up in recent weeks, and I noticed it fairly high at the start of the bike without me pushing too hard. There was some wind and the small rolling sections normally raises the power a bit. At Barna we turned right and inland towards the main out and back section, the terrain was hilly and uneven but I felt comfortable and power and HR was fairly stable. When we turned on the main out and back though, I didn’t seem to be making much ground on the guys ahead, my power and HR were quite high, but I was slow at reeling in the leaders. Energy levels felt fine but I didn’t seem to be getting a lot of speed for my input. There was a few guys up near the front with me and we were pacing together staying within 50-100m of each other. At the turning point my normalised power output was around 270w and I thought it would be easy to keep it there as there was now a healthy head wind for the return leg. The rain never ceased on the bike section, it made it difficult to stay warm and I really struggled with lack of dexterity. Opening gels, bean packs and changing gears became a challenge.

The start of a very cold bike ride!

With about 20k to go I pulled away from the other guys in my age group, but coming in to town I didn’t feel like I had any real sting and my power was starting to drop. The transition again being so long it felt like an eternity getting to the run bags. I had to get assistance opening my helmet strap as my fingers were not working at all.

Early on the run I felt great, but I think this was just adrenaline as it was not long before things turned on me. I managed the 1^st lap of 3 at a good pace, but early on the 2^nd lap I started to feel weird and my legs just stopped working. From about 10k in I could have stopped and lay down and slept on the road, my legs felt like lead and I didn’t feel like taking more energy on. I had no bounce at all and it really became a case of survival.

 Even as I slowed down to a low pace it was a struggle to keep moving. As I faced in to the wind on the last 4k, I started to get blurred vision, my HR went to near maximum and I felt so weak I slowed to a jog pace, fighting to avoid walking. The last 1km to the finish line felt like a 10k and I had no control over my movement, it was as if I was watching myself in a video from outside my own body. Coming over the line I felt as if I had just completed a full ironman, it’s a long time since I had a proper bonk in a race. It was a sobering experience and even now 2 days on I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus. I’m glad I finished but I’m a little frustrated with not knowing exactly what went wrong.

Dying on my feet!

I may have been a bit low on energy as I did not take on a huge amount during the race, it may have been the effort on the return leg of the bike where I was fighting the wind alone for most of it. But even then I did not put out a crazy amount of power and my HR was actually fairly normal for a 70.3 effort. I think it could have just been fatigue from a stressful week at work and very little sleep in the 2 days before the race. I was supposed to taper down from 21 to 12hrs but I only managed around 4-5hrs in total last week as I could not get the sessions fitted in around work, this is different from the heavy taper I did for Austria so maybe the slow twitch muscles went to sleep on me. Perhaps I was just expecting too much for my current fitness level. I’ll be chatting with Alan over the next few days to get his opinion on what may have happened.

I had been struggling to get back to fitness after Austria so I guess this will do no harm as a very tough training session, but running will have to wait as my calves are bruised up now. Nothing injured though and my foot surgery never bothered me at all during the race.

It was nice to race at home and even though the weather was atrocious, it is great that we are now hosting our own M dot event and it all went without mishap. There are some issues they need to address for next year, mainly the length of transition, but in general it was well run and they organised it very well considering the number of athletes participating.

Tough day for everyone and some great results out there, namely Matt and Lucy who had outstanding races. If the dates work next year it would be good to try again.

Splits:

Swim	T1	Bike	T2	Run	total
19.46	5.21	2.29.03	3.37	1.26.33	4.24.37

Age group pos: 1^st

Overall pos: 19th

New Kit

Work in Progress, my kit sponsor Champion Systems are currently producing some new gear for me including cycling and tri outfits, here's a sample of the tri kit:

Ironman Austria 2011 Race Report

My preparation had been good and I was feeling confident, race day arrived and my goals were as follows:

1.       Sub 9

2.       Irish record

3.       kona slot

in that order where each goal was likely to take care of the proceeding goal, etc. (i.e. if I went sub 9 there was a high possibility the other 2 goals would have also been met). In any case if I was slower than 9:15 then all goals would have passed. Europe and Austria in particular are fast so there is no room for mistakes, a puncture or a really bad swim and you’re out of the game already.

With almost 2500 people trying to start in a relatively narrow area, there was really no way to avoid the violence. I got away well but as usual I had people swimming all over me within seconds, Owen Martin (Setanta) had warned me it would be like this so I had resigned to the fact that the first 1km was going to be contentious. I tried not to waste too much energy with the constant grabbing and nudging but there was a lot of stop start action as I got blocked and also had people coming up behind me using my legs as part of their catch!

At times during the swim some spaces appeared and I tried to use them, I got a couple of decent drafts but nothing consistent. After the turning point we were facing in to the sun so I just used the feet in front for coordination as I had no idea where I was going. I reached the turn point in around 22mins but the way back was much longer, I reached the canal at around 45mins so I knew my goal of a sub 1hr swim was at risk.

The canal section was good fun with both sides lined with thousands of screaming spectators but I didn’t feel I was going at any great speed. I reached the swim exit in around 1:02 and started already worrying that I was now about 2 minutes down on my first goal pace. Ironman racing is a long day, but it never really feels like that. When you’re in there the time seems to go quite fast, however I had time to make up for the slower swim, a fast bike was crucial.

The long run up to t1 was surprisingly quick and I was out on the bike within about 4mins. The start of the bike is fairly flat and fast for the first 20k, having recced the course back in May with Matt Molloy I knew this section well and didn’t concern myself with the low wattage. High speed for low watts was the plan, I knew the power would rise later as I reached the hills as that’s how it happened during the test weekend. I felt good on the bike and loved the fast pace out along the lake.

My coach Alan Couzens’ advice was ride hard when the race is slow, he has written some excellent papers on power distribution during the bike. This is the strategy I had practiced and was following during the race. Unfortunately early on the bike my Quarq crank stopped emitting a signal, the watts blanked then came back with a huge figure of 2500 watts (not even Cancellara could reach those figures J ) I was a bit shocked as I had done 6months training on power and now I had no idea how many watts I was pushing! Quarq crank worth almost £2k and it was malfunctioning, great!

Luckily I have also done a lot of work with HR so Alan also had given me precise numbers to follow on that. For most of the first lap I was alone passing a lot of people, but a few really fast guys went by, I assumed they were either too fast for me to go with or they didn’t know what they were doing, either way I was staying in my own race plan range. Seemed quite windy out there and I stayed down on the bars on the flats and up for the hills to modify the position when possible.

Half way through the first lap I couldn’t find my salt stick container, I had it in a small side pocket and my race belt riding upwards seemed to have squeezed it out without me noticing, 40k in to the bike and I had lost my salt!!! This stressed me so much I started shouting at other athletes on the way past if they had any – no luck. I seen Joyce Wolfe on the main climb and she didn’t have any either. She was going well and high up in the womans race.

I was working in metric this time around but as the average pace changed so much on hills to the flats it was difficult to estimate what pace I was on for the bike, though coming through the ½ way turn point in around 2:22 I realised I was on for a good split as I was feeling quite good.

Later in the 2^nd lap I came up behind a group of guys who were doing a good paceline, there was 5 or 6 who seemed to be working together. I tried pacing with them back and forward but would drop off when the pace or HR didn’t suit me. They seemed to be good at pacing together staying well outside illegal distance so the referee motorbikes were happy with them. Keeping them within eye shot from time to time helped me maintain focus and pace.
I took on most of my nutrition in the first lap of the bike as planned, keeping one of the h5 extreme mixes with the electrolyte as I had a limited amount of this. Also picking up a powerbar bottle each time one emptied. I had 3 powerbar bottles from the stations in total and grabbed some quick water sips in the aid station before throwing the bottles within the station area. In the 2^nd lap I finished off whatever energy I had on me. Rolling back in to t2 I seen the split was good at 4:49 and I got through transition in around 3mins.

Early on the run I felt good, keeping my hr to Alan’s plan between 135 – 150, sitting around the 140 mark mostly until I settled in. The garmin was reading around the 4min/k and often dipping under so I wondered if it was accurate because it felt very easy. The only issue was that my stomach felt slightly bloated though not quite enough to stop me running. My buddy Matt Molloy was out ahead, he’s an incredible swimmer and I knew he’d have at least 10-12mins on me there. I’d recced the bike course with him few months back and so I knew he wouldn’t get any time on me on the bike, I estimated that he was around 10-12 mins ahead on the run because of his swim split. The course layout was good for spotting other people ahead as you turn back on yourself quite a lot. I seen Matt about the 5k mark and he was coming back at around 7k so I estimated about 8-10mins between us.

I knew he was going to be strong and I would have to run my socks off to catch him, but my stomach cramps were getting worse and after about 8k I decided to pull in to a portaloo. I tried but just couldn’t go, the mental pressure and anxiety just seemed to block any chance of this happening so I just got back out on the run after a few minutes. I was panicking that I had lost approx. 2minuutes here and I thought it was the start of me having stomach trouble. Strangely though I started to feel a bit better when I got back up to pace, perhaps the drop in hr with the unsuccessful toilet stop was the reason.

From here I started to get in to rhythm and really started to enjoy the run. The garmin was consistently reporting sub 4min/k and I started to believe this was accurate when I calculated some of the run splits as we passed the km markers. Could I really be running 6min miles here??? My worry now was that this was unsustainable. Something will blow if I keep this pace! But my hr was only 140, in fact sometimes dipping down below 140. Since Italy 70.3 three weeks earlier I knew my running was good, but I’ve had so many injuries and run issues in the last 2 years I still thought it was too good to be true.

Rory (Maguire) was coming the other way and giving me splits, Owen and Rory were both flying at around 8-10mins back and I knew if I had the slightest issue these guys would have been past me like bullets (They were both running sub 3 pace!!). At the far end turning point in the town (around 15k in) I seen Matt again coming the other way and counted about 7mins between us, considering I had a 2mins toilet stop I knew I was reeling him in. I kept on the coke for energy and Iso for electrolyte. The temperature was perfect and I felt no urge to slow down at any point, in fact I had to pace back a few times when I seen my hr go above 140 as it seemed so natural to speed up. I thought I’d save that for the 2^nd lap.

In to the 2^nd lap I felt very good and was starting to realise I was on for a sub 3 marathon, the pace was improving and I started to move my hr up cautiously towards 145. I reached the spot where I seen Matt in the first lap but this time hadn’t yet seen him, I carried on for a few minutes and still no sign, this made me think I was getting close so I had to keep controlling my hr as I was getting carried away in the chase by raising hr above 145, only ever for a few seconds as I then brought it back to within Alan’s orders.

Matt is an amazing natural athlete all round, he wins just about everything he enters and has little if no weaknesses. Coming in to this I thought my only chance if getting him was to chase him on the run and just outpace him, here’s a guy who runs 1/2marathons in 1:13 so I knew he wouldn’t be running slow. When I came up behind someone who looked like Matt at around 26km, I was surprised to see him so soon. As I approached I noticed his pace had dropped a bit and he was suffering, I felt great so I knew I was going well past, but I worried that Matt was dropping his head so I shouted that he was still well inside the Kona slots. He said afterwards he was in a bad place at that stage but he picked up and got motoring again. Matt did a 3:11 run in his debut and matched the previous record Irish record at 9:02. This is one of the fastest debuts on record.

When I pushed past Matt I again seen Owen and Rory in the opposite direction, still flying and looking good. We were all giving each other some acknowledgements and encouragement, but now my thoughts turned to something very exciting, the small subjects of the Irish record and a sub 9. It got me slightly emotional, I had dreamt of being in this position and visualised it so many times. My main priority was to keep getting nutrition without slowing down, and most importantly to keep running fast. It occurred to me that this was my chance, opportunities like this do not appear often in life and I was going to hurt myself as much as it was required to make this happen.

I had the motivation, the thought processes in place, and importantly the legs. I had a slight hard patch about 30k in and my right thigh was getting tight but I thought I’m running 6min/miles here of course it is going to hurt!! I had to keep an eye on hr as the prospect of breaking 9 got me so excited that a few times I got carried away and hr went up to 150. Soon as I realised I quickly brought it down and stayed calm.

With about 8k to go I knew I was on target and all I had to do was keep moving, I seen Rory as I raced the last 5k towards the line and he shouted I was going to smash the record, then Michael (Joyce Wolfe’s husband) shouted something similar as I sprinted for the line. Strangely I still felt good and the last few km seemed to fly in.

I showboated a bit over the line which is unusual for me but it was like a dream happening before my eyes and I couldn’t contain myself, I don’t remember some of the race but I think the brain shuts out painful memories in the same way trauma is removed after accidents. I do remember seeing a lot of people I knew out there and us all shouting at each other. Some nice Irish girl handed me a small Irish flag and I waved it heading over the line, I still don’t know who that girl was!!??

When I realised what had just happened I felt a deep sensation of joy, I knew it would take some time to sink in, but I’ve worked hard for a long time to realise this dream and I was going to enjoy it. I’ve had so many kind wishes and shouts since, I’m on a great high that will last a while.

As if I wasn’t happy enough my good friend Owen Martin came across the line also inside 9hrs, we were both so excited we were practically dancing around. I met Owen in Germany 2 years ago in my first Ironman, we both went under 10hrs and Owen was even back then a focused and strong athlete. To see how he has turned himself in to an elite is a huge inspiration and he’s the guy I look at to make myself feel guilty when I am having lapses in focus or will power. Before Switzerland last year I was having one of those lapses and he brought me straight back in to line! We celebrated together in Hawaii last year, and now in Austria. We are racing again this year in Galway, Vegas and Hawaii, it’s very exciting and in the best hearted way we will be fighting it out in every one of them!! J

Matt came in at 9:02 for a great finish and a huge achievement, he had pressure on him to perform and he delivered, top athlete and much deserved kona spot.

A few minutes later and young maguire was sprinting to the line in 9:06, for someone his age he is such a great example to all those kids at home in Ireland on what you can achieve if you really want to. Rory has a big future and I hope I’m part of it for a while yet, anyway maguire needs someone’s heels to look at on the run! :-D

A few very strong Irish athletes are racing the fast Roth course this weekend so my record may not last long but I have set these guys a good target, if any of them get under 8:49 then they will fully deserve the title. These are exciting times in Irish triathlon and Ironman and I love being a part of it.

I’m joining Owen in Kona again this year as he was also top ten in my age group. Matt got a slot too and although he was unsure at the time of taking it, I told him he would regret it later if he didn’t take it, will be good to have him along. Rory came 6^th in his age group but just missed out on a slot, he may try again in Regensburg, but he has years and so much potential. He is verging on sub 9 in a tough sport. All 4 of us will be fighting it out in Galway, let the smack talk begin!!! J

My splits for the day:

SWIM	BIKE	RUN	OVERALL	DIV.POS.
1:03:16	4:50:19	2:49:03	8:49:45	3/444

# fastest amateur run at 2:49 (including a toilet stop! J), 5^th fastest run including pros.

# 3^rd M35 AG, 28^th overall inc pros.

Ironman 70.3 Italy 2011 Race Report

Ironman 70.3 Italy 12^th June 2011. Race report, Martin Muldoon.

Ironman Italy is a new course so we didn’t really know what to expect from it. I like to study the details but the website was poor on the low level details that we geeks live on so I had to wait until we arrived in Pescara. The temperature was hotter than London but manageable, the water was beautiful and fairly calm day before race. We drove the bike course on the Saturday and although very scenic Italian countryside, it was seriously hilly, we knew this was a biking course and there was no conservative way to get through it fast. Bel sat in the back seat looking more and more worried as we drove hill after hill (as we all were J ), she ended up having a great race with 9^th in her AG so she needn’t have worried!

On race day the start times were very relaxed with pros setting off at midday and then waves of 250 or so setting off in 10min intervals until 12.30. I was off at 12.20 and in the largest AG, we also had some M40-44 with us for the beach start. From the start the swim was completely chaotic, I’ve been racing for a few years now and this was the most violent confusing swim I’ve ever been in.

The wind had picked up and the waves were quite big but the first 100m were still in shallow water and so it was a mix of dolphin diving, swimming and surfing (and a bit of karate)! There were people all over the place arms flying, feet in the face, I got quite a few hard knocks to the head but the worst was when the pros coming back to shore met us in the middle between the buoys (the course went parallel to the beach up and down one loop always keeping buoys on left), the pros were being pushed in by the waves and we were trying to stay out of the beach so we hit them head on. I got punched full suck on the nose by a pro in a silver hat (might have been a woman J ). I found sighting difficult and I had to tread water a few times to find the beach to check direction, the waves were significant enough that I couldn’t really see the buoys so I just followed everyone else with the same swim cap as me. After a lot of energy wastage we got back to shore and I was running through the long transition in around 32 mins which left me about 4-5mins down on the front guys.

As soon as I grabbed my bike I noticed the back wheel would not move and it was squealing as if the brakes were on. It was fine when I checked before the race but the direct sunlight seemed to expand the tyre and it was now jammed against the frame so I had to take the wheel out and reset it with a gap to the frame. This worked and stayed in place but I lost about 90seconds or so before getting out on the bike course. My T1 time of 3:17 was about 90secs slower than the leaders in my age group.

When I started out on the bike I felt good right away, Alan had me tapered in to the race a bit and the rest had me feeling very strong and ready to go. The bike started flat but in to a head wind, though very quickly we were climbing and I felt very strong passing people with ease and enjoying the buzz. There was only a few guys out there that seemed to match pace but they soon dropped off and I was hunting down the leaders as the athletes thinned out and I worked my way through the earlier waves on the hills. It was hot and although the wind was fairly strong the watts were high on the Garmin (705) and my HR seemed to be under control below 150.

I had decided to go with one bottle on the bike to save weight and hassle, this meant I needed to hit the aid stations at 30k and 60k to pick up and replace my energy drink to have 3 in total during the bike, but I rushed through the first aid station and picked up water by accident as I couldn’t hear the volunteers properly. I knew after a taste that this was trouble; it meant I had to do the next 30k with just water and at the threshold I was pushing I was not in fat burning zone! I did have one gel and an energy bean pack but 200cal would not get me far, I also topped up with a few salt stick tabs, but I did notice a slight drop off on watts as I went through the hills over the next hour or so before reaching the 60k mark. I made no mistake this time grabbing an energy drink and a gel before settling back into rhythm.

The hills got harder and I knew I’d gone off a bit fast but I guessed I was fairly safe as this was ½ distance I could hold on for the last 30k. My wheel choice of disc back and 404 front was the perfect combination as I think it was too windy for the 1080 front wheel. On one of the fast descents I overtook some guy in the middle of a corner and the back wheel left me. I just about held on to it but a passing referee on a motorbike looked at me like I was crazy, no rules broken so I got back to work.

The last 20k was tough because although it was the flattest part of the bike there was a strong and constant head wind and I was still slightly low on energy below race plan. It was a long grind on my own riding through a now very sparse field of the front end guys, I kept the head down to avoid wasting energy in to the wind and soon enough I was back in town.

I squashed the last gel down, it was horrible but I knew I needed it for the run so I just got it done. As I came in to T2 some guy 50m ahead went head over heels while getting off his bike so I was extra cautious dismounting.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how few bikes there were in T2, I knew I was up there and just needed to execute the part I was most worried about – the run! I’ve had a terrible winter again through injury and running has been the discipline that I had to avoid, but over the past month I started again and Alan has allowed me to run on a treadmill so I was keen to see if I could still produce some leg speed. I’ve had issues with calf, knee and Achilles injuries but I’ve been doing more stretching and foam roller work, always being on the edge spoils confidence and keeps you worrying.

I aimed for both HR and pace this time using a Garmin 305 (I now have a 310XT but it didn’t arrive until after the race!). I was more keen to monitor HR for the first 2 of the 4 lap run, to avoid blowing up, but I also kept a good eye on pace. I seemed to hit sub 6:20 pace without too much stress so decided it was a safe speed to stay at, my HR responded well to this sitting around 148 and only changing when I slowed down to get drinks and had to then speed up again to get back in to rhythm.  

½ way through the first lap I seen Rowan in the opposite direction and he was moving well with very good stride and posture. I have more of a running background than him but he had pretty much held me on the swim and bike, as we train together I knew this would be the case. This meant he was a good ‘carrot on a stick’ for me to push towards. I slowly closed the gap on him but this was hard work and took some focus. While doing so I passed a lot of runners and the only person who passed me was in running shorts so a relay runner, but I got him back later. I got past a few of the pro men in the run and knew then I was running well. 

As I closed on Rowan we shouted at each other and agreed starting the last lap that if we blew now it didn’t matter with 5k to go, I upped my HR to 158 and dug very deep to hit that 1:20 mark. Rowan held strong and upped his pace for a very respectable top ten AG finish and 29^thoverall, the result of some consistent and well organised training. The last lap of the run was the only part of the race where I really suffered greatly but it was a safe place to do so and I think I timed it well as looking at the results the run times were quite slow out there after a tough bike.

I had the 7^th fastest run of the day (1:20) including the pros to finish in 4:32 and a minute off winning my age group. I ended up 4^th amateur and 18^th overall including the pros, my fear of not being able to run was quashed and I got some confidence back. It’s been a tough winter of training but it seems to have been productive as this is my first ironman 70.3 podium.

I have spent a lot of time and money on kit and technique this year including bike power, I also had a Retul bike fit. All these things chip away at the time splits, but the main thing I changed was my coach. After a very big rest from Hawaii I started with Alan Couzens in December, a proper scientist at work, I have gained a lot from working with him. I hope now I can execute over full distance, time will tell. Roll on Austria!

Splits:

Swim (1.9km)	T1	Bike (90km)	T2	Run (21.1km)	Overall
31:14	3:17	2:33:20	1:54	1:20:45	4:32:45

Position:

Age Group M35-39: 2^nd

Amateur overall: 4^th

Overall inc. pros: 18^th

Full results:

http://ironman-italy.com/results-2/

           

Ironman Hawaii 2010 Race Report

Ironman World Championships, Kona Hawaii 2010. Race report by Martin Muldoon.

I arrived Monday 27th September, almost 2 weeks before the race on Saturday 9th October. The idea was to acclimatise to the heat and 11hr time zone change. The flights out from London and LA had quite a few triathletes on them, obvious from the bike boxes and skinny physiques. The atmosphere had started already and I wasn't even on Hawaiian soil yet. The hotel was recommended by Jenny Gowans and couldn't have been more convenient, a 1min walk to the swim/race start! Jenny ended up having a tough time on race day with a stomach infection, she was wise to withdraw during the run and they kept her in hospital for 2 days. She's well on the mend now. The build up to race day was fun meeting athletes from all over the world. I did a normal taper, careful not to tire myself for the big event.

Race day arrived and I’d slept very well, almost 7hrs straight which is the most I had in the previous two weeks. Being so convenient to race start I didn’t have to stress too much, I woke at 4.30 for a 7am start, I had a quick breakfast and headed for number marking and swim check in around 5. This was pretty straight forward and I then checked bike tyres and placed drinks bottles for the ride. I was keen to get to swim start on time for a change so I then went back to hotel and got swim gear together. I was nervous but not overly so, I worried slightly that I was a bit too relaxed!

I got down to the beach start area just before the pros set off, they had the starting ceremony with traditional drums and dance. It created a really nice atmosphere, but nothing could take our minds from the huge task ahead. The very powerful cannon from the pro start was the first time when I really felt a touch of nerves, it was the realisation that this was it, show time…

Just after the pros left shore I swam out to the floating car, warming up a bit and hanging on to the buoy and trying to negotiate with the marshalls that we should be allowed to go left of the floating promo car as it would otherwise be too tight. Through sheer numbers of swimmers they gave in and we were able to go well left of the car and spread the mass start a bit thinner. I was using a Polar 625x with time of day display along with lap time and HR, the HR monitor blanked 5mins before start and in fact never came back until I reset it on the bike. I knew they wouldn't count us down so I was ready from about 2 minutes to go, the loud cannon boomed and we were off.

I started fairly aggressive to find a bit of space but I didn't waste energy by fighting anyone, trying to avoid too much kicking and seeking a pair of feet to draft. I once got a huge shunt from my left as I turned to see NED in large letters, couldn't see the face to check if it one of my Dutch friends :-) I did get caught a few times at the start thinking, wow can't believe I’m here - in the crazy start of Kona, shouldn’t have been thinking about this but it just seemed a bit surreal. I never really suffered too much in the water, I enjoyed the swim and felt as if I was moving along nicely. I was surprised and disappointed with the time of 1:15 but thought I had a long day ahead to make up some time. I excited and had a fairly uneventful T1, although my neck was cut up from the swim suit. I was out on the bike in around 3mins.

The start of the bike was a bit awkward with people all over the road and lots of corners and the non-overtaking Palani Road before the turn around and back in to town. I took it fairly easy at the start of the bike and was keen to find a good rhythm, but the headwinds started out pretty soon and I was working at 140-145 early on the Queen K. I had hoped to get on a pace line but there was no one similar pace and I ended up going it alone. I noticed quite a bit of drafting and people grabbing my wheel while I passed, but I didn't waste any energy getting annoyed about it. The road to Hawi was long and the head winds never ceased, what lifted my mind from the effort was when the pros passed in the opposite direction. The helicopters in the distance meant they weren't far way and I was wondering who would be behind Lieto. I probably shouldn’t have been paying so much attention to the other side of the road but I’m such a huge fan of the sport that I couldn't help get excited to see all the big names fly past in the opposite direction. Lieto was smiling, Stadler, Macca and Voenecker were all up there. I was surprised how far Crowie and Lanos were back but they obviously made up ground in the closing stages. Later as the pro women came past I noticed Julie Dibens had a big lead as expected with Chrissie Wellington out of the race.

The last 10k or so towards Hawi was all up hill and the wind although sometimes from the side was strong and I had to work a high HR to get any decent speed at all. I recognised a few guys coming the other way and I realised then how far I was behind from the swim, I tried to ignore this and keep pushing. By the turn around in Hawi I was feeling the work and my stomach started to play up. I started thinking that my recent efforts to reach race weight had resulted in me losing a bit of power on the bike so I was working harder than race plan. Regardless of the dodgy stomach the road down from Hawi was good fun, I love downhill and the extra challenge of the powerful back to side wind was quite a rush. At one stage I was doing over 45mph but the bike was at a huge angle as I fought the side winds. Each time I passed a gap in the hedge a gust of wind would throw me 2-3m across the road, it took a lot of lateral work to prevent me coming off on the decent – all that core work was paying off now!

I overtook a lot of people on the way down from Hawi but as soon as it evened out again I was disappointed to feel the notorious headwinds in the other direction again. As I continued to work against this my stomach was stirred up and I was sick a few times, the high 5 extreme didn't appeal anymore so I stuck with water and coke from the aid stations. My average speed came and went and my HR was always a little higher than I wanted, but I got back in to Kailua with an average of around 21.5mph for a split of 5:11.

Just as I was coming off the Queen K near the energy lab the pro men were heading out on their run. Macca had a decent lead by now as Raelert and Voenecker were chasing hard. Crowie was so far back I thought how strange it was to see the champion in a position where he couldn't attack. These guys looked awesome on the bike and run, their concentration and pace was so impressive. Unlike mine so I stopped race watching and got back to business!

T2 was again pretty clean, not very fast but without mistakes and I was on the run in around 3mins feeling relaxed and immediately trying to get to my target HR of 140. I had planned to keep it here for most of the run until the latter stages where if possible I would step it up for a strong finish. In the first section out to the turnaround point I had to stop at an aid station cubicle, felt like the longest pee of my life but then I was in a rather big race! About ½ way out to the first turn I noticed a tri colour on a fence that had the names of all the Irish squad on it, a cool gesture that give me a nice lift – no doubt the work of Owen Martin’s wife Ashling!

I kept my policy of water, ice, cola, sponge through all aid stations and felt comfortable at 140, never allowing myself to sneak above that. I had put on a fuel belt in T2 that had 3 small bottles of high5 extreme and one water. Idea was to have something to wash down the salt tabs with and the H5 extreme for an extra kick. Even early in the run the high5 bottles tasted terrible, so when I seen Ashling on the way back from the first turn around I dropped my fuel belt with her and kept just one of the small bottles. I was now packing light with the salt tab bottle and one h5 extreme bottle each in a side pocket which seemed much less burden than the clumsy fuel belt. Not only did the extreme taste bad, but I was getting enough energy from the coke so I think in future I’ll just take a small bottle of water for emergency between aid stations and mainly for washing down the salt tabs. You don’t want a salt tab on your tongue without water, I’ve tried and don't recommend it!

As I turned on to Palani my HR started to rise as we climbed but I immediately slowed to hold it below 145. I remembered the short steps and high knees an old coach Paddy Downey taught me when I was 15 – that’s a while ago but the method works. A lot of people were walking up Palani but I never felt the need to lower cadence. As I reached the QueenK I spoke with a few guys about the mens race as the pros were passing the other way to the finish line. Timo Bract, Faris Al Satan and Eneko Lanos had just went past for their top ten finishes. I wasn't aware yet that Macca had dropped Raelert in the last 2 miles for the win. Very inspiring to see him come back after an average year for such a big win.

Meanwhile back on the Queen K things were heating up a bit with reports of ground temperatures of 120F, and as a precaution I was putting 2 lots of ice down my front and back at each station. This was becoming 2nd nature now and I didn't really slow down at the aid stations at all. I was still focused on keeping my HR at 140 in case the heat or humidity started to play with me but it never really felt that difficult, I had lost weight before the race to help handle the heat and this seemed to be working. I decided that when I reached the energy lab I would step it up to a more aggressive pace if I hadn’t started suffering too much at that point.

It seemed like a long old way out there but I reached it feeling fine and ready to step things up. I seen fellow Serpie Rachel Joyce pass the other way, I shouted that she was in the top 5 but she was well aware of it anyway as she had been battling it out with Yvonne van Vlerken for 5th place for some time. She eventually dropped Van Vlerken and went on for a 5th place pro finish!

As I reached the energy lab I felt good so I put the hammer down and moved my HR up to 145, this felt like a considerable step up in pace as I started passing a lot of people but I was comfortable and knew I could hold it there without trouble. I found out afterwards that my pace from entering the energy lab with 9miles to go changed to 6:36 per mile, I held this pace til the end but wished then I had stepped up the pace earlier because I never really suffered on the run.

On the way back in on the QueenK I passed a lot of people and some that I knew, some of them had blown but I encouraged them to hold it as they were so close to the finish. Most of these guys held on for a sub 10. As I had lost full race timing from earlier in the swim, the only way I could work out overall time was from time of day setting on the polar, this turned out to be fairly accurate as I knew I was fighting to get under 9:50. My calves were so tight as I turned off the Queen K on to Palani but I was thinking this is my last race for a while I would keep sprinting for the line, my knee was fine throughout. Running down Palani was fun, I let go and ran like a child with no control arms wailing all over the place, the crowd was amazing.

As I turned on to Ali'i drive the atmosphere was incredible and for the sake of 30 seconds I wish I had slowed down to soak it up a bit. Coming over the line in Kona is a fantastic thrill and one that I hope to do again many times. The clock read 9:48 and for the tough course of Kona things could have been worse for me.

As a triathlete I’m very self-critical and I was disappointed that I didn’t hurt myself more in the first ½ of the run, a 3:15 run is not fast and it’s frustrating to have finished so fresh and reflect on how I could have done it differently. It’s wise to respect Kona as many big people have fallen apart in the heat, but I gave it too much respect and left my surge too late. I think the heat plays with HR and next time I will use a GPS system to monitor pace and avoid following HR so closely. My HR for Switzerland was similar but the pace was completely different. I know I can go a lot faster, I’ll have to wait a year but I’m positive and look forward to getting out there and doing some damage.

My usual post-race nausea soon set in and it was an hour or so before I could eat or drink properly. A nice mellow atmosphere surrounded the finish area with pros and age groupers mixing and chatting about the race as the sun went down. As a competitive triathlete I soon was analysing the race and finding things that I could have done better and realised areas I need to work hard on this winter, namely swimming and bike power. I’ll take a month off now to recuperate and try get my leg strength imbalance issues sorted out. I’m signed up for Austria next year where I hope to get another World Champs slot. Kona is an amazing experience and I look forward to trying again next year. Mahalo Hawaii, Aloha!!