Ironman Frankfurt 2017 – Carlos Nunes

Watching some Pulsers preparing and doing Frankfurt in 2016 got me the motivation and the
inspiration I needed to sign in and do an Ironman.

At the same time I’d like to do one before I turned 50!!!

Seeing all comments about how Frankfurt is such a great race I decided to go for it.
And then you think what’s next?

Well I guess you need to think what you need to prepare for such a hard endurance race as
the Ironman.

After all you have to swim 3.8km, cycle 180km and run a marathon in the end. Respect!!!
Since I joined Pulse in 2014 the only long endurance events I did was Dublin half Ironman
and Dublin city marathon in 2015.

Without no experience in triathlon long distance endurance events you wonder where to
start. And nothing better than ask your fellow Pulsers what they have done to prepare for
Ironman races.

Paddy Holohan, Siobhan Quain, Leon Shakeshaft and Joanna Butler gave some directions
and tips on what you need to do.

I bought the “Triathlete’s bible” by Joe Friel and I was recommended to buy “Be Iron fit” by
Don Fink.

Joe’s book although good is a bit more technical and doesn’t provide a training plan.
Don’s book is less technical more easier to understand and comes with 3 types of training
plans: competitive, intermediate and just finish.

Perfect for a newbie in Ironmans like me.

I went for the intermediate plan.

And so it begins.

It was July and I was on my preparation for Dublin half Ironman in August 2016.

Took the opportunity to read part of the plan and improve a bit my training although was a bit
late.

Finished Dublin half Ironman in 5h57m with an improvement of 21 mins from 2015.

Delighted with my time but with a lot of pain as IT band trouble decided to kick in and my
right side was in bits causing me a lot of pain around the knee area.

Later I’ve discovered that all these IT band issues were caused by weak glutes on my left
side! Interesting how your body works.

It took about 3 weeks to recover from it but it suited me as I was on holidays.

During that time manage to read Don’t Fink’s book and got a pretty good idea of what you
need to do.

Started to prepare for what I was facing ahead and prepared a plan and a calendar to
highlight my priority races.

Here I included my training for Dublin 2016 marathon.

Training was going well and did some physio sessions that helped me to fix my problem.
Finished the marathon in 4h12m and struggled because 2 weeks before the race I got a
sinus infection which ruined my plan for a sub 4h marathon.

A week and half later my Ironman training started.

Although I had a calendar to give me the big picture I also decided to create an excel sheet
and plan each week according to what I had in the plan and adjust it to available time.

Below is an example:

Monday
– Morning: Swimming session
– Night: Running session at the track

Tuesday
– Morning: Cycling session
– Lunch: S&C
– Night: Swimming session

Wednesday
– Lunch: Weights
– Night: Running session

Thursday
– Morning: Cycling session
– Night: Swimming session

Friday: REST

Saturday: Long easy cycle

Sunday: Long easy run

Because my weakest of the 3 sports was running I decided to join a running club and it
helped to make me faster and be more consistent.

In December did the 5km Jingle Bells and got a PB.

In January did a 5k park run and got another PB.

in February did Avondale house run. A 10k to raise money for Wicklow hospice. Part of the
run is in a park. A bit hilly but enjoyed it.

In the beginning of April did the 3 peaks challenge cycle involving climbing some of the
peaks of the Wicklow 200. Loved it.

Met some pulsers there and had great fun. Do recommend doing this cycle race.

Then I raced the great Ireland run 10k and got a PB too. Very pleased considering it’s a
tough course.

In the end of April did Wexford half marathon and got another PB.

I was really starting to enjoy my running and feeling comfortable.

Middle of May triathlon season started with Carlow sprint distance. Not racing it. Just wanted
to see how I felt and also trying a new wetsuit. Faster bike and run than last year.

2 weeks before Athy double olympic my IT band issues kicked in on my left side but not as
bad as in the past.

Athy double Olympic came along but wasn’t racing it again but was pleased with my
performance overall.

A week later did the Wicklow 100 with my partner for the craic and to support her too.
Training was going well but started to feel a bit tired.

A few weeks later there I was in Frankfurt to take part in one of the most physically
demanding triathlon races.

Arrived on Thursday registered and picked up the bike.

Friday had a short morning run and an afternoon cycle to do a bike check and to get
familiarized with the area and the weather.

Saturday was time to check in the bike and do a swim reccie with no wetsuit just in case we
couldn’t swim with wetsuits as the water temperature as already at 24 degrees.

At night going to bed around 22h as I had to get up at 4h but I couldn’t get any sleep at all. I
was wrecked and buzzed at the same time.

Got breakfast and got on the bus to get to the lake.

Sun was rising and it was absolutely gorgeous out there.

Did some warm up and got into my corral 1:10-1:20 as I was hoping to do 1:20.

And we’re off.

Finished my swimming in1h17m and was feeling good.

Got on the bike and started not too hard as I was being cautious trying to save my legs for
the 2nd loop of the bike and the run.

After a few kilometers noticed that my front derailleur wasn’t working properly but wasn’t too
worried.

When I started the 2nd loop managed to get a van providing bike service and in less than a
minute was back on the bike. Happy days.

By this time the heat was starting to kick in which made the 2nd loop harder although I was
trying to keep myself hydrated as much as possible.

Finished the cycle in 6h26m.

The run was very hard and was getting slower on each loop.

The heat (31 degrees) made the run very difficult and finished it in 5h36m.

Total time of 13h40m.

I’m now an IRONMAN!!!

Did several mistakes during the race but like they say live and learn.

This is a great journey and the sacrifices you do to get it done are all worth it.