Race day - Ironman Austria

The alarms went off at crazy o’clock on the morning of Thursday 26^th June. Snooze was hit a few times, but the excitement of eventually heading to Austria got me out of bed fairly lively.

That excitement soon turning to apprehension and panic when I discovered Laura was up for a couple of hours at that stage with the vomiting bug. It had made its way through the house but I had avoided it so far. I’ll be honest and admit that the panic was less so for Laura’s wellbeing and more so a case of ‘what the hell (exchange stronger words here at will) will I do if I get this’.

Out to the airport, into the ridiculously long queues, so much for the ease of passage online check-in, and eventually through security. Plenty of triathletes around also travelling to Austria with a few familiar faces also around. I was thankful to Shipmytribike when I saw some others hauling their bikes through the airport.

An uneventful flight, through the airport and out to the car rental. This was the next issue of the day (after the vomiting, but nearly more stressful). Yes, they had a car and it was ready and the waiting was short, all good so far but then the Budget agent said ‘Here are the keys to your Yeti’. A Yeti, a god damn Skoda Yeti. Now, I’m no car snob but jaysus could they not give me something respectable J .  Laura and Paul (who was travelling down with us) had a good laugh at my expense. In its defence, the Yeti had a good sized boot for the luggage, but the pros stop there. Out onto the motorway we went in the beast, via a few tours of the airport, for the 300km+ journey to Klagenfurt.

For 2 people who didn’t mind the Yeti, they weren’t long about sliding low in their seats out of view. A wee rest they said, a bit embarrassed I say. The drive down was very scenic, the Austrians really know how to go route 1 through mountains.

After dropping Paul off in the town/city centre, we went to collect my bike from the Shipmytribike gang and headed off to our hotel. The hotel was up in the hills about 10k out of town. On arrival at the hotel, Laura’s face told a picture – we were up in the hills, in a quaint hotel with not a sinner or another car in sight. She compared it to Misery or something similar. Check-In consisted of being handed the key and told ‘10’, no more dialogue was exchanged. The room was big, the most important part being it was big enough for my bike to rest peacefully at night. I then went down to the beast to get the bike out and the bags and thankfully another car pulled in, even better news that it was 3 Irish guys for the IM also. Turned out there was a big group from Wicklow Tri staying so all was good, Laura felt much better then J

The hotel was actually perfect, despite the picture painted above. Breakfast was good, rooms were big and location was good considering we had a car, even if it was a Yeti. Although Yeti’s are used to the mountain so maybe that’s why they gave it to me.

On Friday, we went down to the Sanderbad, where we met Paul again and went for a swim in the crystal clear water of Lake Wörthersee. The main purpose of this swim was to head out to the entrance to the canal for some sighting, as recommended by Andy, another member of 3D Tri club.

Following the swim, we went for a bite to eat, before leaving and heading for registration. Upon leaving the restaurant, Paul looked across the road and then I saw this blank face appear as he walked across it. My stomach sank as I knew there was something wrong and unfortunately that was to be the case as Pauls bike had been stolen. A search of the immediate area yielded nothing, so we suggested he head to the information centre and report it. To say they were unhelpful is an understatement, but we spotted a Nirvana tent and made our way there as Paul had booked with them. Within a few minutes, he had a bike arranged, but we just needed to get into the shop in town to get it. We made it in just before another couple of guys so all was good. We got the new bike and headed out on the course for a quick spin and for Paul to get used to the TT bike. After a few adjustments, all was great and he looked like the bike was made for him, especially as he sped up the road nearly out of sight.
Back into Klagenfurt, more food, a view around the exhibition, spent a fortune and then some, and back to the hotel. On Friday night, we headed into town and a stroll around he beautiful city of Klagenfurt. It was a bit unfair the amount of ice cream parlours that were open, it just made me crave some ice cream.

Friday night was a nightmare, I went to sleep ok, but woke regularly and then at about 4 am, nerves realy kicked in and my stomach churned big time. Managed another hour or so sleep before going for breakfast at 7.30am, wrecked tired. I had to force feed the fod into me and all I was thinking is what will tonight and tomorrow morning be like if today is this bad. I don’t think I have ever been so nervous in my life and it came out of nowhere as I felt fine before going to bed.

Down to the race briefing we went for 9am and the nerves only got worse from there. So many people, so much hype and there was me nervous as hell. Met quite a few people I knew, got to know over the last day or so, at the briefing but this did nothing to ease the nerves. Everyone else looked fine in comparison which didn’t help, but I was hoping they felt the same internally.

The rest of Saturday consisted of hydrating, eating, hydrating, sleeping, eating, hydrating. Well you get the drift. It was then down to transition to rack the blue and red bags and the bike. The bike position I got was excellent and right beside the bike exit and entrance, so this was great news. I walked transition a couple of times, made sure I knew where my bags were and what way the flow of traffic was.

It then went back down to meet Laura, who was sunning herself all day, lady of leisure J and there she was eating ice cream. Some things in life are just not fair.

As I wanted an early night, we went for food before heading back to the hotel for the night.

I hit the hay at 9pm, dreading the night ahead. I was just asleep when the phone lit up with good luck messages, so quickly put that on silent (sorry if I didn’t respond) and went back to sleep. What a surprise it was when I woke at 2am feeling good, turned over and back to sleep again. Alarm woke me at 3.30, and I was shocked  but delighted that I had a great night’s sleep. Breakfast also went very well, food went down great and I enjoyed it. It was nearly like the race was yesterday.

Down to transition again, to put nutrition and hydration on the bike. I knew I had a good bike slot yesterday, but this was backed up by the fact that all the pros were racked beside me. In good company I was, well my bike was anyway.

Down to race start where I met Paul and a few others and following a few photos and best wishes, it was on with the cap and goggles and first gel of the day popped down the throat.

The start line was phenomonal with great camardarie amongst the competitiors. We lined up on the right hand side as this was recommended.

The countdown was on, the canon went off and the rope was lifted, the race commenced.

Following recent discussions with Sean and Mark, I had decided to go out hard, try and find fast feet and stick to them for as long as possible. I found feet fairly quick and got into a good stroke pattern. I felt I was swimming well throughout and I was able to draft for the most part. The swim wasn’t very congested, until the turnaround points and then it was mayhem. I went wide to escape the melee and glad I did so. On the swim back towards the canal, it was very difficult to sight due to swimming into the sun. I was so glad we recced the entrance on Friday, so I knew exactly where to aim for.

The entrance to the canal was a bit dicey, the water was very shallow and I swam into some guys leg as he had decided to stand up. Quckly got around him and was in the canal proper. It was crowded and I got a few slaps/punches on the head, one of which knocked my right lens up a bit. No panic, I pulled it back down, tried to empty the water and ploughed on. Lots of people had mentioned to me that the canal part was very fast. When I first entered the canal, I wondered what they were on about, but I then started measuring speed off landmarks on the bank and oh yeah, I was really motoring. The canal banks were lined with people with airhorns, cowbells etc so the noise was brilliant. A quick turn right and up to the exit point. As I exited the water, I heard Laura call which was great to hear, but god help the eardrums of the people beside her. Running up the carpet, I saw 1.04 on the clock and that produced the first massive smile of the day for me. I was out of the water 4 mins faster than I thought possible in recent weeks and 11 mins faster than I forecast 4 months ago. This time improvement is down to one man and that is swim coach Sean. Sean, thanks for all the work over the last 2 years, but especially for the last 6 months. You have got my stroke to where it is today, it took me a while but I have started to extend the arms. Thanks to Mark also for the recent tips on the stroke.

Into T1, grabbed the bag, into the tent, off with the wetsuit, applied sun screen, on with the bike shoes, helmet and goggles and down to the bike. Damn, all the pros were gone, ah well I’ll have to catch them on the bike. Then I remembered they had a 15 min head start so I said I’d leave them be and won’t chase them down J

The crowd at the bike exit was huge, the tunes were pumping, the crowd were going bananas and the vibe about the place was second to no other race or event I have been at. A few km into the cycle, I took a glance at the watch and it was saying 37km/hr. Ok, ease back here a bit as I remembered the words of coach Paul Jones ‘Don’t go racing the cyclists out there’.  I was passing plenty of bikes and was passed by a few also.

The most memorable moment of being passed in the first 50km was by a German cyclist called ‘Gunther’, he had calves as big as tree trunks and I am sure my bike swayed as he passed me like a train. On down the road he thundered until we came to a wee climb (more like a speed ramp really) and he near stopped as I zipped by him. Onto the straight and he passed me again like a train. I’d love to know how he got on on the run.

I started the nutrition plan on the bike nearly straightaway, which consisted of 5 Powerbar Cookie and Cream bars, 2 Peanut Butter Nature Valley bars and 5 Isogels. The sun had the bars slightly melted which actually made the chewing a bit easier. I ate a halve a banana I picked up at an aid station too. I also had Powerbar Isotonic in my 2 bottles and took on 4 more bottles throughout the 180km, plus a few swigs of coke at the various aid stations. All in all, the nutrition plan went perfect and at no stage on the bike did I feel a lack of energy or dehydrated.

The road surface on the bike course was like glass it was so smooth. The first 50km of the bike was alongside the lake, with beautiful scenery (didn’t see too much on the bike, but we did drive it the day before), the weather was perfect and the wind was slight, so a perfect day for the cycle. The bike course consists of 2 laps, with 2 climbs per lap. The first climb was relatively short and not too steep, while the second climb was a little steeper but nowhere near as steep as you would get in Wicklow. The catch on the second climb was it was in 2 stages, so was important not to hammer up the first section. I was very surprised by the amount of people struggling on the climbs. I passed a lot of people on both laps on these hills. The support on the second climb will be as near as I will ever get to the feeling of the Tour De France, as people out in shorts and bikinis, beer in one hand, cowbell in the other, bbq going behind them, music blasting out, some crazy lunatics running alongside the bike and everyone shouting ‘hopp, hopp, hopp’. I enjoyed it so much I was tempted, only for a second though, to turn around and go do it again.

The music, noise and support at the turnaround could only bring a smile to the face. It really was phenomenal. Out onto the second lap, which was more of the same but with a little bit of rain thrown in for good measure. I wiped my sunglasses to get the rain off them and stupidly realised just after I did that I had baby oil on my hands from the wetsuit, and this smudged across the lenses and meant I couldn’t see out of the glasses so they were dropped below the nose. The wind picked up a bit on the second lap also, but was nowhere near the wind I experienced on training rides around home. Paul came alongside after approx. 110km, we had a brief chat and then he was gone down the road. So much for not being used to a TT bike.

Into the last 5km of the cycle, I lowered the gears to get the legs ready for the run.

I dismounted at the line, took a quick look at the watch and saw 5.15, wow, wow, wow and another massive smile appeared. I was aiming for a 5.40 while holding hopes of doing a 5.30, but I never expected a 5.15.

Into T2, bike racked, grabbed the bag, helmet off, shoes off, on with the runners after applying plenty of Vaseline to the feet, on with the visor and off out onto the run. I decided not to wear the sunglasses after what happened on the bike.

The plan for the marathon was to run the first 10/12km with no stopping and then to walk the aid stations from there on in. An issue I had with every brick session during my training was going out too fast for the first couple of kms of the run. Today was to prove no different as I hit the first km in 4.19, way too fast, eased back on the second to 4.2x, third was 4.3x and then I started to get it together. I ran from shoulder of one person to shoulder of the next as I tried to find a runner that was going the same pace as me. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be too many around me going for the same pace, so I let some go and dropped some also. Nutrition plan for the run was to take a gel every 30 minutes until I felt the stomach couldn’t take any more. I only managed 3 gels before the stomach said no more. This got me to the 20km odd mark so I wasn’t worried about not taking on any more, especially as I walked each aid station and made sure I took on a cup of water, a cup of isotonic and a cup of coke at each aid station. The run was 2 laps, first section was out to Krumpendorf, where the support was ok but nowhere near as good as the section down along the canal into town and around the many squares , bars and restaurants. In one of the squares, they had a big screen set up for the world cup, but they were showing the Ironman as we ran through which added to the atmosphere. There was huge Irish support on the course and it was always nice to hear your name called out, regardless of whether you knew the people or not. Thankfully I saw Laura out on the course a few times, which was great.

I met Paul at the end of the first lap and the man looked like he was flying, a quick nod of the head as we passed each other and acknowledged a good days work so far.

I went through the 21km mark at 1.38, which was slightly faster than I had predicted.  I actually predicted I would run 1.40 first half with a 2 hour second half once the pain kicked in.

After passing through the 21km mark, and a glance at the watch, followed by some quick calculations, it was the first time I imagined that a sub 10 was on the cards. I had a quick smile about the thoughts of it, but then put it to the back of my head as I was expecting to hit the wall at some stage. I knocked off each km one by one and continued to feel good. Pain did kick in at the 30km mark, just at the same time another runner asked me something in German. A shrug of the shoulder informed him I was an English speaker and we demand that everyone else speaks English J, so he reverted to speaking English and asked what was the pace to run a 4 hour marathon. I replied with a 5.40 or thereabouts, he thought it was slower than that and we both agreed that our maths capability wasn’t working too well. (Turned out I was right though) He asked was I going for a 4hour too, to which I replied we’ll see after the next 10km when I see the finish line. He then said ‘Oh s*7t, you are 20km ahead of me, best of luck’. I wished him well and off I went. The body felt sore for the next few km but when I passed the 35km mark, I realised I was definitely going to finish this regardless if I had to walk or crawl. It was around this time I passed Laura again and up ahead I saw the 10 hour pacer balloon. Was the ultimate dream about to be realised? As I approached town, I met Paul again and we exchanged a high 5. At that stage he was odds on to nail the sub 10 by quite a margin and I was still hoping I could maintain the pace for the last few km. I calculated and recalculated the pace per km that I needed to maintain in order to finish in under 10. All pain had fully subsided at this stage, either that or I was numb, and I passed by Laura again with a few hundred metres left. Despite the distances done so far, the last 200m of the run felt like the longest part of the day. I was so happy to take a left turn and down towards the finish line, before turning left again onto the blue mat and there it was, the finish line that I dreamt about for the last 12 months since signing up for IM Austria. I passed the commentator on the way, pointed to my race number and he called out ‘Jason, you are an Ironman’. I crossed the line and pumped the air as the clock read 9.54.05, a time beyond my wildest of wild dreams. I was so happy, elated, ecstatic, over the moon, you name it, I felt it. Every possible happy emotion was going on. It got better when I saw Laura there at the end just outside the finish area, she looked as happy as I did. Emotion then kicked in and I cried like a baby with lots of tears of joy and happiness. This day was a long time coming and came with a lot of sacrifices, so it was inevitable that the tears were going to come. After a quick shower by a power hose, I got a cup of water and a glass of beer, non alcoholic, but it tasted great. Paul was there sitting on the bench and we exchanged a big man hug and congratulated each other. All the conversations between us over the last few months revolved around hitting the 10.30 mark for us both, but here we were both having achieved sub 10 and both smiling like Cheshire cats.

I then made my way out of the athlete area to meet Laura and give her a big hug, regardless of my soaked body from the power hose. This day meant as much to Laura as it did to me. Obviously more tears were shed here.

From there, it was onto post race food, shower, change of clothes and the most important part rehydration, with beer of course. For the rest of the evening we exchanged tales of the day, had some food, then some beer, went out to support others on the course and all was done with the biggest of big smiles on my face.

All in all, the biggest and best sporting occasion of my life.

The only negative on an otherwise great day was hearing the news that Phil had fallen off his bike and ended up in hospital. Speedy recovery Phil and you will smash the course when you return next year.

There are many people to thank for my whole Ironman experience.

Sean Farrell for his swim coaching over the last 2 years, but especially in the last 6 months. Sean has provided excellent advise on my swim stroke and has helped me correct it. I really don’t think I would have achieved the time without Sean’s advice, so thanks Sean and thanks for persevering. Thanks also to the other guys and gals swimming in the NAC on a Wednesday night, it helps swimming with others and I always love getting a draft J

Thanks to the 3D Sunday morning chain gang for the long winter cycles and to Shane who despite trying to kill me by bringing me out cycling on the frost was there for many a cycle over the months.

Darren in Base2Race deserves a mention too for sorting out my glutes following DCM last year and putting a programme in place to ensure that they were well maintained.

Shipmytribike for the excellent service they provided in getting the bike to and from Austria.

Thanks to Andy, Kevin and Stephen for all the information and tips on IM and IM Austria in particular. All the information was put to good use, from clothing choice, to reccing the swim entrance, to where to line up for the swim, to where to place sponges, to what ice cream to eat afterwards and one of the best tips, to ‘Eat lots of Sacher torte in Vienna afterwards’.

My mother and father deserve a thanks too, for the support they have provided through the years, but more importantly for putting that fat picture of me on display. That alone shamed me into starting all this lark. Mam, the madness does not stop here, so don't be worrying J

Thanks to all who have provided words of encouragement, support and best wishes over recent months and weeks. Sometimes even the simplest of words mean a lot.

Paul Jones, my coach for the last 18 months. He has put the plans together, offered countless advice, provided lots of support. When things haven’t being going right, a few short words of encouragement or advice have helped me look at things differently and for the better.  From the outset, Pauls mantra was ‘Stick to the Plan’, which I did and it has kept me injury free, ensured I haven’t overtrained and most of all got me across that finish line in a time that I thought was impossible for me. Thanks a million Paul.

Laura, Katie and Jack, what can I say. Regardless of all the training put in, none of this would have been possible without you. Laura, to say you are my rock is an understatement. You have supported me, even though you thought I was mad, since I first proposed this idea 15 months ago. You were there for me after DCM when things went pear shaped and I started having doubts about IM before the training for it even started. You have put up with the constant talk about swimming, running, cycling, transition, nutrition, physio, massages, can’t eat this, can’t do that, must buy this, pain here, pain there etc etc. You’ve put up with the long hours of training, especially the long Saturday and Sunday morning sessions and you have supported me every step of the way. For this I owe you a massive massive thanks, words can’t describe how much I am appreciative of this and this Ironman is for you. I love you Laura, Katie and Jack very very much. 

(Oh and look forward to your support for the next one too J )