I arrived in Haugesund, Norway on the 4 July, for the 70.3 Ironman race. Upon arrival, it was windy with a chill in the air and showers. I couldn't help but think to myself that the bad weather was following me this year following the horrendous conditions that were experienced in Austria. The weather was forecast to improve for race day though.

A few weeks before the race, while back in the UK, I had not had the best preparation. Both physically and mentally! During the course of a season I believe every athlete will have go through a bad spell, be it physically, mentally or a combination of both. Unfortunately I was still experiencing the effects leading into the Dambuster Triathlon which definitely showed in my performance.

After that race, I put everything behind and focused for Norway 70.3! I had an extremely good couple weeks of training under my belt and my mind and body felt like the one it was coming back from a fantastic and very successful Team Dillon training camp in Lanzarote in April.

During the couple days before Norway 70.3, my confidence was high and I was feeling in good condition. I went out on a course reccy organised by Nirvana Europe the day before the race. It was very undulating, technical in places and knew I would have to dig deep to meet my targets. After that, I racked up early so I could relax the rest of the day and get an early night.

Race morning - I woke at 04:00 to have a breakfast consisting of my gluten free muesli and cereal I had brought from the UK, bananas, coffee and green tea. (Not mixed together of course, but I'm sure it would taste too bad??!) haha... A couple hours before I would sip an energy drink to keep insulin levels steady.

I arrived at transition early, I hate rushing around, and if you're anything like me, I'll check everything 2 or 3 times before I'm happy. Conditions were very poor. Rain, wind and a chill in the air. I thought **** it, you're gonna deal with it.

I got my wetsuit on and begun my warm up (fired the glutes up and stabilised my swim muscles) I was also lucky enough to get a 5-10 warm up swim in the lake just before the Viking horn blew to initiate the start of the race. The wave consisted of the pros and another 400-500 AG's. I started well, getting into my rhythm quickly and making my presence felt amongst the other swimmers! ("Like your throwing punches" coach Perry Agass would say) I exited the water within my targets and raced into transition.

Onto the bike. It was cold due to the rain and wind chill but keeping focused on my aim kept it at bay. It was a very challenging course and I had to burn a few matches to keep the pace going (matches are when you are led to go beyond a pre determined intensity and you only get a certain amount in a race depending on the individual athlete) basically, if you burn too many, you BONK! Your body cannot remove the lactate quick enough or in the later stages of a race, glycogen stores are severely depleted! Monitoring my pace and intensity closely I knew I would enter into T2 within my targets. A quick transition and I was onto the run course.

I knew I had to start well and focus on achieving a high cadence and long stride from the glutes. A focus of Team Dillon Coaching and Perry drill into their athletes which improves efficiency and pace which has been shown by TDC athletes in recent weeks!

By this time, the weather had improved dramatically. The sun was shining and was very warm (was this a sign) I pushed on, again monitoring my pace and perceived exertion. The course was undulating, but a few short climbs certainly got the legs screaming! I had pushed hard all day, quite possibly one too many times but something that stayed with me was something that coach, Perry told me just 12 months ago when I first started being coached by him.

"You have to be prepared to lose, to win" something that I didn't quite understand at first but I believe it means sometimes you will have to go to depths you don't want or haven't been before. Experience pain that surpasses anything you've done in training and battle the demons or 'chimp' inside your head telling you to ease up or stop! Inevitably you will find out how far you can push your body before it breaks!

During the last 3k I experienced most of these things and reminded myself why I'm doing this and what is at stake, what lies beyond that finish line. I left nothing out there and finished in a time of 04:22:09, 5th in AG and 41st male in what was technically my first 70.3 due to the swim being cancelled in Austria.

A 'few' tense hours of waiting to hear if I had been lucky enough to qualify for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships passed and the time came when my name was called. I came with the intention of qualifying, up against another very competitive field but I made that slot mine and the blood, sweat and tears I had put in since November last year, and continue to work hard in training, had finally paid off!


PHOTOS TO COME....




Leave a Reply.