My first exposure to an Ironman event was back in October 2017 when my dad completed his first ever Ironman in Barcelona. Back then I had no idea what triathlon was let alone an Ironman. I asked before the big race and I found out that it comprised of a 3.9k swim a 180k bike and a 42.1k run. At the time, I was gob smacked, I didn’t know anyone who could complete 180k bike ride let alone a 3.9k swim and then finally a marathon after that.
I decided to do this big event as my dad had inspired me to partake in this massive undertaking. If he could do it then why not me. I joined up with Piranha triathlon club whom my dad’s coach was a part of and I started training for the event. I got myself a bike, nice runners and off I went. Training for an ironman is a massive undertaking and it can be very time consuming as closer to the big day the bike and runs get considerably longer. All my coaching was done online through an app called training peaks (TP). As it was a pre-designed plan I had the freedom to move sessions around to suit.
So I started to train for what would be my biggest triathlon event ever and all the while using smaller races as preparation for the main event. As I was about to start my longer bikes (100k+) Covid raised its head and put the brakes on the world. Most races worldwide were cancelled with only a very small handful of races actually able to go ahead. Then I got a bigger blow when I found out that my upcoming race was postponed till the following year. It upset me as I felt like all my training had come to nothing… although my father did offer words of encouragement.. that it gave me more time to train and prepare for the race.
Race Week
My family and I flew out on the first flight Wednesday morning and got to our hotel early. Once I got the bike set up, I went on a short recce spin to get the ‘lay of the land’ (This is a crucial part of those last final days so I know what the roads are like and when to go hard etc..) Friday came around and I went to collect my race number & see a familiar face or two. I went to the race briefing and that’s when it finally hit me that its actually real. The swim was a standard one loop out & back consisting of 3.9k. The bike was two loops of 90k & the run was 4 loops of 10.5k. They had made some changes to the bike course this year where there were some U turns and a dog leg added before finally tackling the dreaded 4 loops of a run course.
The big day came and we got up early, went down to transition and made our final checks. We were put into timed corals, depending on our expected finish times for our swim leg. So I self seeded myself to the 1:15 coral and waited for my coral to be brought through. I didn’t have to wait long before my race started. We were let go in groups of five into the balearic sea. The swim wasn’t technical (thankfully), we swam 3.9k out and back. I did feel confident in the water and paced it really well. Finishing the swim in a respectful 1:12, I ran into transition, quickly changed out of my wetsuit, put on my helmet, bike shoes and grabbed my bike. I got on my bike and started out what would be a long bike spin.
There is great support on the run and it really helps you along. You constantly need to keep eating your bars and gels to help you complete the bike as nutrition is key, it really does make all the difference. Coming back in to complete the first loop of 90k there is a big roundabout and there were lots of supporters cheering us on. There were also nutrition and water stations along the bike course which helped me in a big way. On the way back to the finish I felt great and completed the bike in a time of 6:18. I got back into transition changed into my running shoes, grabbed my visor and gels before setting out on my marathon.
The run course had slightly changed as at the top of the beach we had to do a loop of the finish line so there were two lanes on the finish line one for the people still completing their loops and one for the finishers. The first two laps I was feeling strong and running around the finish line didn’t get to me but on the third lap it was starting to have an affect as we still had one more lap to go and we could hear the race official shouting (insert name here) YOU ARE AN IRONMAN. That is all I wanted to hear myself, as I had trained so hard for that moment. I continued on and the third lap was so tough! I used all the food, water and gel stops to keep my nutrition on point. The final lap came around and I struggled going out but on the way back on the last 5k when you come around that final corner and on the last stretch you can hear the race official and it nudges you on till you get to the final straight and down onto the red carpet finish line! That’s when I finally got to hear those magic words JONATHAN YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!! I finished the run just under the 5 hour mark (4hr:59min) …. I was so relieved to have crossed the line & what put the cherry on top was that I finished ahead of my dad by a whole minute (12hr 47min was my finish time)
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