Training Log Archive: bartholemeu

Event: Ironman Cairns
 

Ironman Cairns 2015
Total time 11:01:22 (163rd)
S 1:04:03 (195th)
T1 5:58
B 5:36:51 (151st)
T2 6:16
R 4:08:14 (186th)

Swim - was very nervous before getting in the water... 3.8km looks a LONG way in open water, but a little warmup swim calmed the nerves immensly. first 500m or so was still a little nervous and trying to keep calm, but as soon as the first buoy was rounded, started feeling amazing. looking back at the rainforest from offshore was an incredible experience.
Murky water meant a lot of bumping into people through the whole swim, and not much sealife spotting.
Got out of the swim feeling very good and fresh! Fantastic to have the feeling that hard work of long swims, sighting drills, openwater trials, and wetsuit trials all paying off in spades.
No crocs, no sharks, no jellyfish, and much faster than expected

The bike leg is the one that non-triathletes are always going to be nervous about... mine was pretty much one of 10 non-triathlon bikes, and about one of 5 that didn't have deeprims or disc wheels.
As soon as i jumped on the bike, i realised it didn't matter, and passed i reckon about 30 people in the first couple of kilometres. I checked my effort level and didn't seem to be pushing too hard, so just maintained a steady rythym (with a tailwind) through the first leg, averaging 36km/h to port douglas. undulating, but a lot flatter than i'm used to, and absolutely stunning scenery on closed roads by the coast
Back from port into headwind the weather turned a bit with stinging rain etc, but still avg 30.
2nd leg up to port avg 35
The last long leg down to Cairns avg just under 30, where the headwind REALLY picked up for the last 20k.
Pushing to make it under 5:40 meant i prob didn't follow my strategy of taking it easier and eating really well at the end of the bike, but worth it to make it under 5:40.

So happy with the bike leg. felt strong the whole way, and comfortable on aeros. ate and hydrated well, and steady effort. again, hard work pays off

too a cup of coke on the way out of transition and within 100m, my stomach started playing up. This was gonna be a long day.
Took a steady-ish rhythm for the first 10km, around 5m/k, unsure whether to continue trying to eat, or swap to only drinking carbs etc... but not feeling great. Moved to run/walking from there. trying to get between aid stations, but occassionally needing to stop to settle the tum.
This was pretty much the theme through the whole run, trying to find a medium between eating enough to get by, but as little as possible so as not to throw up.
Found some good pacers at stages, but not a pace i'm especially proud of, and didn't really feel like the game was won until the last 10km. with one lap to go (14k) i realised i wouldn't quite make a 4hr marathon, but didn't slow too much. at 4km to go decided i could run the rest and was able to ramp it back up to 5m/ks.

Not over the moon with the run. Probably should have been walking a bit less, but never really felt familiar if that makes sense... i had no idea how my legs would go after 30k, having not done any long runs in 12 weeks or so, and didn't really know what was going on with my stomach.

Very happy overall with the result. I trained hard for the swim and the bike, and both paid off, and my solid run training before 6ft seemed to hold up ok. but i don't love how i've gotten into a habit of just missing milestone times in races, and would have been ecstatic to get under 11hours.
Not too worried about it. I'll be back.

Pre race day leg warmup

Taper turbo.
steady pace with some cadence stuff.

IM taper.
Tried swimming in a long-sleeve compression top in the event that water is too warm (26deg) for a wetsuit swim. (Cairns has stingers & jellyfish which make swimming uncovered a bad idea).
felt fine, and speeds didn't seem too affected.

IM taper week.
Relaxed recovery run.
Leg pain 0/10, honestly didn't feel it the whole run
Other joints etc 1/10
Struggled with energy. heat, and heavy legs a bit, which is probably just a taper thing.
Definately worked as a recovery run, feeling better after than before.

Extended post run hip-mobility (Myrtl) and stretching

Solo aero ride. 70km at IM effort, and some transition tests in heffron park (shoes off, shoes on, shoes off, shoes on etc)

Easy laps with Anne.
Concentrating on sighting, and bilat breathing.