Having set the officially “punchy” goal of qualifying for the World Championships in Hawaii at my first Ironman, the initial (and most expensive) job in 2016 was to get hold of a proper triathlon bike. Whilst my steel-framed steed had done an admirable job last time out – and proved you don’t need to spend a fortune to complete and enjoy triathlons – I needed an upgrade to compete on an even playing field. After shopping around for second hand ebay bargains, it turned out my local bike shop owner was selling his old bike – the exact model I was after – and I snapped it up. Although it didn’t give me quite the magic speed boost of my first clip-on aero bars, the financial outlay gave me plenty of incentive to train hard over winter and make the investment worthwhile.
In my growing obsession with Hawaii, I found out that accommodation would get booked up extremely fast in Kona, and by the time of my qualification race in July anything in the town itself was likely to have gone. So, in January, I took the strangely confident decision to book a room for the nights before and after the race. With only one triathlon in the bag and seven months to go before my first Ironman, I tried to view the non-refundable deposit as a bet on myself – although I chose to keep the whole thing quiet in case this uncharacteristic show of confidence spectacularly backfired!
In the spirit of committing my whole year to the task at hand, I also signed up to a warm weather training week in February. “Winter miles equal summer smiles” seemed to be the mantra online and although I left it late managed to grab the last place on a triathlon camp in Lanzarote led by coach Russ Cox. The trip was a huge help. With so much expenditure already on Project Kona I certainly didn’t have money left for a coach, but I also had a lot to learn, so I tried to absorb as much as possible from Russ and the other experienced athletes. One nutrition tip from Russ was to unwrap Powerbars and use their gluey consistency to stick onto the bike’s top tube – providing convenient solid food without packaging to mess with. This works well for me, but always seems to amuse athletes in transition before races (and probably does nothing for Chris Boardman’s finely tuned aerodynamics)… Crucially, Russ reassured me that I had a chance of qualifying in Bolton and getting his support (the first from someone who knew what they were talking about) meant a lot.
The debut event to test my new bike and increased training would be the Cotswold 113 half ironman – 5 weeks before Ironman UK. This was advertised as a flat course, which I probably should have ridden in advance, but despite being fairly local was a bit too far away to cycle there and back in addition to the 56 mile course. I also thought it might keep things interesting to have somewhere new to explore on the day.
Despite being June, it also looked like I’d have the added interest of extremely wet weather. I was a bit nervous of this, having not subjected my precious race bike to the indignity of going out in the rain before. I was surprised how many athletes gathered for the pre-race safety briefing – more than 800 – and equally so that we set off in a mass start for the swim, meaning I received a fair amount of accidental punching and kicking for the first five minutes. Although not entirely plain sailing, I finished the 1,900m and was away on the bike inside 30 minutes.
I immediately regretted my assumption that any showers in June would be “warm rain” as I struggled to warm up at all after the swim. This probably caused me to push harder in the early stages just as a survival tactic, but I tried to limit myself to what I hoped would be a sustainable effort. The course was indeed very flat, with only one short hill of note on each of the two laps, and I was able to spend the whole time in the aero position – enjoying the benefit of my new bike. I noticed a lot of other competitors sporting Ironman tattoos on their calves and, whilst I had no intention of getting one myself, felt respect for all of them knowing they’d already achieved what I was still working towards.
By the second lap, my hands were extremely numb and I was struggling to operate the brakes – luckily the course didn’t need them too often. My only time out of the aero position came when I spent a good five minutes trying to find the finger strength and dexterity to remove a drinks bottle from behind the saddle, fill my front bottle and return it – worried I could accidentally drop it and get disqualified for littering. I enjoyed a boost of motivation as I started to lap some other athletes – speeding past someone is always good for morale, although this was countered by the occasional bigger, more powerful riders who were also overtaking me. The bike course was a little short at 55 miles, but I was pleased with my time of 2 hrs 19 minutes and the fact I’d gone faster on the second lap – representing my fastest average speed to date.
After a particularly slow T2, where numb hands again proved an issue, I set off on the four lap run – a flat loop combining roads and forest trails, some of which were starting to get quite muddy with all the rain. Having so many laps, along with a relay event going on simultaneously, meant I had no idea what my position was or whether the people I overtook were on the same lap as me, but I felt strong and enjoyed being able to run through the different pockets of support several times.
On the final loop, one athlete I overtook asked which lap I was on and he sportingly congratulated me when we realised we were both on the closing stretch. I invited him to try and come with me, but he was happy running his own race and I was going at a faster pace. I must have gained a few places on the run and was really happy with my run time of 1 hr 23 minutes – a half marathon PB, in somewhat challenging conditions (and with a swim and cycle before).
The race had gone extremely well, with all the new gear giving me a psychological (and I think actual) advantage – I’d taken 25 minutes off my time for the same distance in 2015 to finish in 4hrs 15 minutes and third place overall, earning my first trophy in the process. Although the weather was far from ideal, I really enjoyed myself and would definitely recommend the Cotswold 113. It’s a friendly, well-organised event which attracts a surprisingly strong field from all over the country – both aiming for new PBs and those like me using it as a warm up for an Ironman later in the season.
