A couple of weeks ago I did
my biggest challenge to date – the Marlow Half-Iron Distance Triathlon, at the
end of July. I was feeling reasonably
confident that I could do it, although what finishing time I would achieve would
remain to be seen! The main goal was
just to do it, within the 8 hour time limit.
At least I’d be going down with another Tri-Forcer – Dawn – so we could
keep each other company before we set off!
I’d done the Marlow Olympic distance
triathlon three weeks before, (did it last year as well) which was great as it
helped me remind myself of the course, transition, the run etc. The Half was slightly shorter than an “Ironman
70.3” race, as the half marathon at the end was in fact 20km (4 x 5km laps)
instead of the regular 21.1km/13.1 miles.
Not that a few minutes difference would make much off my time over
7-plus hours!
We had to register in Marlow the
day before (Saturday), but not rack the bikes which was a bit of a pain as it
involved two 50 miles drives. I went
with my parents for the afternoon – may as well make a day of it - and after
picking up my race pack we had a nice coffee by the river. It was a scorching hot day, and I did hope it
would be slightly cooler on the Sunday!
We also had an athlete’s briefing that evening, and it was surprising
how many people there were doing their first HI – nearly all of them! Although I did talk to a couple of people who
were doing their first Half, but had in fact already done a full Iron that year
anyway so were “working backwards”.
Seems to be a bit of a trend among new triathletes who wish their Ironman
to be their first of everything – first open water race, first marathon, and
first triathlon. I think I would rather
work “upwards” although I did do a super sprint tri after I’d done an Olympic,
and 5k run after I was doing half marathons!!
During the briefing we
learned that the bike route had changed from the original plan – instead of
several out-and-back laps, it would now consist of a ride out to Henley, then
three 20km loops round the villages, and then the ride back to Marlow. The three loops were essential 10km long slog
uphill (that gradually got steeper and steeper!), then 10km downhill! Not quite sure I was looking forward to that,
while distance wise there was equal parts up and down hill, the ups would take
much longer and therefore constitute far more to the race, time-wise! I can just about do hills, apart from very
sleep, long ones such as Ditchling Beacon on the London-Brighton route, but I
do prefer mainly flat!
Anyway that evening I went to
Harvester for my favour pre-race carb dinner of goats cheese pasta, packed my
gear then attempted a very early night.
Alarm went off stupidly early, at 3am, and it felt like I had only just
got to sleep. I had breakfast then set
off, picking up Dawn on the way. Neither
of us wanted to think about how early it was or what we had planned ahead! It didn’t take long to get to Marlow at
4.30am, so we were there over an hour before the race start and took our bikes
and gear to transition. Lots of
obsessing and triple-checking everything, then it’s wetsuits on and head on
down to the river.
There was about 700 people
taking part, so it took a while to get everyone into the water but once in we
had plenty of time to do a warm up. I
always need this, and also just to adjust my wetsuit as the thing never seems
to fit properly when it’s dry. My Garmin
was taking ages to get a satellite signal though – I should have started it
before we got in and then simply “paused” it until we were ready to go as it
did miss off the first few seconds! Soon
– we were off.
The swim went well, although
it did take a while to get settled due to there only being two waves (male then
female) and all starting at once. It
wasn’t cold, and once I got going I didn’t mind it – as long as I stayed to the
side and let the faster swimmers (who lapped us slow swimmers!) go past without
kicking me! I always end up with a song
in my head during swimming, which had the same beat as my breathing, and this
time was no different. The whole time I
had “Auld Lang Syne” going round and round in my mind! Now, whenever I hear the song, I think about
the half iron!
Next up was the bike course,
the longest of the disciplines. Knowing
I had about 4 hours of riding ahead of me, I did not rush back to transition
but took my time a bit more and make sure I was ready – as anything annoying
such as hair not tied back properly, or Garmin too loose around my wrist, would
just irritate me for the next 54 miles. Better
deal with that now than try and faff around on the bike halfway up a hill! Half iron transitions are SO much more
relaxed then the sprint triathlons – well, unless you’re in it for a trophy
which I most definitely was not. Anyway,
soon I was on the bike and ready for the next 54 miles.
The bike course was quite
tough – the long ride up the first half of the loop seemed to go on
forever. Even when it felt fairly flat,
my times were at least 30-60 seconds slower than my usual “flat” mile splits so
I was either really slow and tired, or like I expected - it was all
uphill! The downhill sections were quite
fun though, long and straight, not too many tight turns to worry about. Then it was do it all over again – twice! By the time I reached the top of the hill
during the second loop, I was really needing some energy, so I took some banana
at the feed station and an energy gel – that helped a lot. Finally I completed the last lap of the hill,
there were very few riders left now and only a few people behind me. The rear marshal on the motorbike was riding
up and down between myself and a few of us, so although I know I was slow, at
least I was not on my own! It was still
another 8 or so miles back to transition though, at least half an hour of
riding and I was starting to hurt. The thought
of a half marathon after all of this was almost too much!
Made it back to transition
and racked my bike (virtually all the bikes were back in now!) and it was so
nice to get off and stretch. My back and shoulders were really stiff from being hunched over for almost 4 hours. No rest for the wicked though – helmet, gloves and jersey off, pick up water bottle and head out
for the half marathon. I started out
really slow, my legs felt like jelly and it had become very hot. Once I got going though, I found I could keep
it up, just at a very slow, shuffling pace.
The first couple of laps were quite fun, there were still loads of
people around – although most were on their third or final lap! There was loads of banter and camaraderie among
the runners, with everyone really encouraging each other along. There were a lot of people out on the paths
too, as it was all open to the public, and some were very encouraging, although
many totally ignored us. I tried to say “good
morning” when I could, although I then realised it was in fact afternoon by
this point – but “morning” is easier to say than “afternoon” when knackered! It was very warm though by now and the two
water stops on each lap were very much needed (I walked through these and ease
the cramping muscles). As I carried my own
bottle, I gave some water to another girl who was on her final lap and really needing
some liquid. We encouraged each other on
and then she finally peeled off the finish line. We both got lots of cheers as we went back
into the race village, but unfortunately for me I had to run straight past the
finish line and back out the other side for a final 5k!
At long last though, I was
finishing my final lap with just a few people behind me, and at last I too
could turn off into the finish. 7 hours
and 30 minutes after I had set off and finally it was done! I got a lovely big medal, and collapsed on a
bean bag with my energy drink and water.
It was bliss just lying there in the sun – I was finally a half-ironman! We all clapped as the final few finishers
made it through, then a started the drive back home ready for a huge pizza, ice
cream and a warm bath! I didn't see Dawn afterwards - she had other plans for afterwards, but she got a fantastic time almost two hours faster then me!
TOTAL 07:30:11
|
Athlete
|
Time
|
|
Swim
|
00:46:32
|
|
T1
|
00:05:23
|
|
Cycle
|
03:57:22
|
|
T2
|
00:02:54
|
|
Run Lap 1
|
00:41:21
|
|
Run Lap 2
|
00:39:07
|
|
Run Lap 3
|
00:39:00
|
|
Run total
|
02:37:58
|
