This was the second part of my Marathon Man to Ironman challenge in aid of Make A Wish Ireland.
My step up from Olympic distance to half distance couldn’t have been harder.
I had picked Mallorca for my race because I wanted my wife and kids to get a holiday out of it too and there was the added bonus of racing in the sun.
Now this being my first time racing abroad I hadn’t had the pleasure of fitting my bike into a bike box before. There was sweating, cursing and plenty of Google searches on how to get the job done without crying in front of your family. Eventually after a few prayers and plenty of deep breaths I got there.
We arrived in Mallorca a week before the race. I wanted to get a bit of open water swimming done before the race because there wasn’t too many opportunities here in Dublin in late April early May. It’s easily the best place I’ve ever swam. The water was crystal clear and fish were everywhere. It was a struggle to leave the water.
I was out cycling every day to get used to the heat. The climbs in Mallorca get talked about as being brutal but if I’m honest I found that a spin up to Sally Gap was tougher. The descents though are very dangerous, very steep with sharp turns.
Two days before the race I took the bike out for one last spin just to make sure the bike was ok. Even though I had been out and about on the bike I still wasn’t used to cycling on the wrong side of the road. This showed 20k into the spin. I came through a roundabout on a quiet road at high speed and whilst looking all around for cars I took my eye off the road and hit a high kerb. I went one way and the bike went the other. There wasn’t a scratch on me but the bike was in a bad way. The whole crank set was cracked and my tri bars were a mess. The Ironman bike doctor was 10k back down the road so I jumped back on and cycled back. 1k away from the bike doctor and another disaster struck. As I took a corner my pedal just broke away from my shoe.
When I reached the doctor he took one look at the bike and he sent me to his shop straight away. He didn’t fill me with confidence and the lads in his shop didn’t either. They looked at the bike as if I brought a corpse into the shop.
“Leave it with me” was what I was told.
I was gutted, all this way and now there was a chance I wouldn’t be racing. I tried to hire a bike but the whole island was out of road bikes that weekend. I sulked back to the hotel and told the family what had happened. My wife was optimistic they would fix it but finding a new crank set two days before an Ironman event is easier said than done. I rang the shop that night and I was told to come to the shop at first light.
70.3 Eve
I didn’t sleep at all the night before. My head was melted. As I walked to the shop that morning I was expecting the worst. The queue was out the door when I got there but I walked to the top anyway. I was past caring.
The mechanic left what he was doing and walked towards me. He was smiling.
Evil bastard I thought.
He brought me into his office and told me everything I knew that was already wrong with the bike. Then he disappeared out of the room and came back in with a new crank set. It was some relief. He couldn’t get proper pedals so I was stuck with pedals from a mountain bike but I didn’t care. I would be racing.
I called back three hours later to collect my bike and left the lads with a six pack of beer. I was buzzing. I was buzzing that much that when I checked in my bike I got distracted and left my bike at a fence in transition instead of racking it at my number. As if that wasn’t bad enough I left transition and went for something to eat with my wife and girls It wasn’t until we left the restaurant when I realised what I done. Transition was closing in 25 minutes so I had to sprint there and pray my bike was still there. Thankfully it was. I know what you’re thinking and yes, I am an emptyhead.
That night our girls got their first Ironman experience and smashed their Ironkids races. Luckily they didn’t have any troubles like their dad.
Race Day
As I said earlier one of the main factors leading me to picking Mallorca to race in was the chance to race in the sun. I woke up race day to Irish weather. Torrential rain, high winds and it was freezing. Just like home😉
Swim
It didn’t bother me though, I was buzzing. After a little warm up in the sea it was time to get into our pens for the swim start. I decided to jump into the 35-40 minutes wave. My time came, the gun fired and I was off. The water was very warm but rough. About 800m in I noticed a lot of people giving up and being fished out. I hadn’t a clue why they were giving up but then it hit me. Right across the face in fact. I had been stung by a jellyfish. It was actually stuck to my face. I peeled it off and took a breather to get over the pain. I pushed on but everyone around me was giving up. After all the trouble I had leading up to the race I wasn’t letting a jellyfish ruin it for me. I managed to get out of the water with my face in agony in a time of 33 minutes.
Bike
After a quick transition I was out on the bike. In the wind and rain the climbs were tougher and the descents were even more dangerous. Marshals were out in force telling everyone to slow down. A lot of heroes didn’t listen and ended up with a DNF beside their name. I even seen one bloke go straight over a wall into a 30 foot drop. I kept it together and managed to get the cycle done only 30mins over the time I wanted it done in. I wasn’t too upset about it as it couldn’t be helped with the bad weather.
Run
The run was rough. The weather didn’t let up and it was mentally tough to keep going. I suppose I didn’t get enough brick sessions under my belt before the race but what can you do. A mate of mine who runs with the Runners Support Page asked me to wear one of their tops and it certainly got me a lot of attention from the crowds which did lift my spirits. I met my family along the route twice and it gave me a much needed boost.
I kept it to a steady pace and soaked up the atmosphere as well as the rain. The finish line was a cracking experience. Dead on my legs, music blaring and people screaming. You can’t beat it. After collecting my medal I made my way to my family to share the moment with them.
As with most of my bigger races I use them to raise funds for Make A Wish Ireland. I suppose it keeps me going through the low points of a race.
It was a brilliant experience and thankfully my body wasn’t too beat up after it. That night I sank more than a few San Miguel to ease the pain of my jellyfish stings😉
What’s Next ???
In 2017 I will be doing another Marathon Man to Ironman challenge in aid of Make A Wish again. This time I’ll be doing the Barcelona marathon and Ironman Wales.
I’ve heard Wales is handy😉