Ironman Malaysia - My Race (updated with photos)

(Photos courtesy of Shilpa and Ivie - check out many more great photos on her blog Squirrel's Site)

Hopefully the shortish version: -

PRE-RACE
A good night's sleep (very important) but not as much as I'd have liked but better than I usually get - woke up at 4:30 and had my first coffee in two weeks. Usual multiple sit downs, followed by multiple more coffees and an energy bar. Off to the start, numbering, sorting bike out etc... ready to go for a warm up but no Shilpa or family anywhere to be seen - never mind, Ivie kindly took my bag and pump and I hit the water with about 15 minutes to go.



SWIM
A few drills, particularly sculling which I find very helpful to get the "feel" of the water before a race. Splashed around for a while and then edged up to the start line on the left hand side.

Today I was going to "race" an Ironman not just "do" one but my swim is weak so there's no point being in the thick of it but on the line to the left seemed a good compromise. The gun went and we were off. Not much else to say really, I was swimming well (for me) and reasonably straight, drafted a little when I could and got to the turnaround in 38 minutes (seemed like forever). I'd swam the day before at about the time I knew I'd finish and gauged the current so I knew that heading back was going with the current would be faster.

Eventually got back in what seemed like an age (swimming is sooooooo boring) with some tosser drafting me but really heavily hitting me every stroke. In the end I just stopped and let him swim into me - there's a certain etiquette that should be observed when drafting - if you're going to take a free tow no problem, indeed touching the guys feet can't be avoided but if you shorten your reach and concentrate you CAN keep this to a minimum and you certainly don't need to be burying the guys ankles every time you throw your arms forward.
SWIM TIME 1:13:55 PB for none wetsuit Ironman

T1
Pretty much straight through, all there was in my bag was salt tablets, chap stick (in case of chaffing on the bike) and a gel that I ate as I ran to the bike. I downed a bottle of water from the drink table and then saw Dad, then further down Mum and as I got to the exit of the bike there was Shilpa and Seb and Sid. Awesome! a big boost. Now on to the real race.
T1 TIME 2:36

BIKE
I knew I was in great shape and very focused and I knew this was going to be a PB before I even started - it wasn't part of the plan but I just felt that good. I was cruising along at a fair pace (no idea what speed I NEVER look at speed in any race, this is inconsequential, Heart Rate and Cadence are king, if these are right and you are well trained and not ill then the speed is a natural result - many a race has been spoilt by people thinking they need to go just that little bit faster and then blowing up). Heart rate was a little high but this was to be expected after the swim and with the adrenaline at the start of the bike. The key is not to ignore it but to gently bring it down while keeping the the cadence at the prescribed rate.

I had passed a great number of bikes on my way around the first loop but this was the one I'd been waiting for - RANDY - he must have had an awesome swim (he had - 1:03, Wow great job dude) we said hi and I was off. Heart rate was around 130 now and cadence mid 90's so all was good.

The wind started picking up and my disc wheel really started to pay dividends - I felt like I was being blown along, the laps just went by and I kept overtaking people. As I was climbing the steep hill for the second time I heard a load of screaming coming from a car, it was Seb and Sid, Mum, Dad and Shilpa. Wicked, what a mental boost - I was still feeling very good and to have these guys here was just unbelievable (unfair for my opponents quite frankly).

The hills were a mere inconvenience, in fact good excuses to stretch my back and stand on the pedals. On the last lap as I went past some guy, he made a comment about my bike/disc wheel not being very good for these hills?????!!!!! Was the guy for real? Was he being ironic or sarcastic? I actually think he was trying to be sympathetic but the fact that I was going about 30% faster than he was seemed to have been lost on him.

I got passed by just three riders on the bike and they were the top three Pros (they started 15 minutes before us). The third pro who was Reinaldo Colucci came by and started feeling his hamstring, after that he was never more than 300 metres ahead off me and I followed him into T2 where he pulled out clearly injured.
BIKE TIME 5:03:22 - PB (35.1kph) and beyond my greatest expectations considering the hilly, hot and windy course

T2
Decided to make this one count, i.e. no mistakes, no rushing. Drank a bottle of water, put socks on, runners, a bit more sun block, visor, Vaseline. I then went out and to the loo for a pee that an elephant would have been proud of, now that's a first for Ironman Malaysia. Then I realised that despite my carefulness I'd left my heart rate monitor on - I never run with this so it was back to the tent, find my bag and put it away. Job done and off we go.
T2 TIME 6:02 - 4 minutes too long but hey we'll fix that next time

RUN
For those that know my Ironman running plan you'll know that it's based on the DENIAL strategy i.e. don't think about it until it hits you in the face and then just hope. Of course that never works but at least it gets you to the start line in the first place. Today was different however, I spent the swim and the bike eager for the run, positively looking forward to it. In training my long runs were getting faster and faster and easier and easier. So I was very confident that today was going to go well. To top it all the weather didn't seem quite so hot as the 8 previous races I've done here (heat is my nemesis).

I started off at a very nice pace and hit the first turnaround at 5k feeling good. This continued until probably about 15k when I started contemplating the enormity of what I still had left - tch tch, those negative thoughts! I held it together for the first 21k but then the walk/run strategy had to be quickly uploaded and brought online.

Shilpa was at the special needs station on every lap with cold 100+ which helped physically and mentally more than I can express. Dad was there too, while Mum was looking after the exhausted boys at the hotel. An Ironman with your family and friends there is so much more fun and fulfilling.

The rest is a bit of a blur, I was in my own little world of pain and anguish but still enjoying myself and still focusing - sadly this meant that I didn't acknowledge as much of the support, encouragement and cheers that I got from my fellow competitors and spectators as I usually try to do - all such good friends - today though I had my "race face" on as someone put it. At least I got to say something Dave on my last lap - you kept encouraging me but until then I never got the chance to reciprocate.

Amazingly I didn't look at my watch much throughout the run, I knew I wasn't going to qualify by quite some distance and I knew that I'd have a PB so I was happy with that, the rest of the time I just moved forward as fast as I could. Even though it was a half an our later start than usual the sun was still high in the sky and I was on the way to the finish line. Beautiful!!!!!

First I saw Mum and Dad standing separately along the finishing shute to ensure that I saw at least one of them. But where were Shilpa, Seb and Sid?????? Oh my goodness I can't finish without them. I slowed right down in the hope of spotting them. Then they were there, right on the finish line LITERALLY. I stopped and called Sid and Seb over, I just had to run over the line with them - it was GLORIOUS, words cannot adequately describe the feeling of fulfilment and happiness - Life is good. When's the next one?
RUN TIME 4:17:51 - Ironman PB - I've done standalone marathons slower than that!

OVERALL TIME 10:43:44 PB for any Ironman and over 1hr23mins faster than my previous best Langkawi.

A final thanks to all my family, friends, training buddies, fellow competitors and all you guys who I've never met before but clapped and cheered on the side of the road for us all. IT WAS MAGICAL.