• Some training sessions are stars and some are stones, but they are all rocks and we build our walls with them!
  • The only race pace is suicide pace and today seems like a good day to die!
  • The only one who can tell you 'you can't' is you. And you don't have to listen!
  • If you cant win make the guy in front of you break the record!
  • You can keep going and your legs might hurt for a week or you can quit and your mind will hurt for a lifetime!
  • I don’t stop when I’m tired I stop when I’m done!
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Lanzarote WIND HILLS AND HEAT

Lanzarote WIND HILLS AND HEAT

Prepare yourself for a six hour bike mate.

When an athlete as good as Marc Laithwate hands you some advice you sit up and listen. I had bumped into Marc after racking my bike on the eve of Ironman Lanzarote. Why six hours you may be thinking, well firstly there is the 7500 foot of climbing, but mainly it is due to the extremely strong wind, which according to Marc couldn't have been in a worse direction for the following days brutality!!

The days leading up to the race had been much the same, very windy but thankfully not as hot as I had imagined, in fact I was finding the temperature very nice. I had been for a couple of swims which were a little choppy but manageable, a nice easy bike on the run course out towards the airport and an easy run on the same route. All was feeling good and I had spent a nice couple of days with an old school mate Pete Welsh who was competing in his second Ironman event. The girls didn't arrived until late Friday evening so they didn't have to put up with all the pre-race nonsense.

So after zero sleep I was having breakfast ready for the 15 minute walk to the race start. The transition at Lanzarote is great for spectators and athletes alike as it is right down the main street on the sea front. This makes locating your bike really easy as you just have to remember which bar you were adjacent to!! Bike all sorted and it was time to hit the thunderbox prior to getting the wetsuit on. This was the first surprise of the day as I bumped into Brian Fogarty all set to blaze a trail to Kona again, as usual he wasn't alone with a full complement of supporters all decked out in the FITT team colours. Being the top chap he is, he introduced me to the clan and delivered strict instructions to them to give me a shout if they saw me. And with that we made our way to the swim start.  All wesuited up and after doing a bit of filming for the official video (which made it on) we wished each other luck and went to our preferred starting points.

Bang on 7 o'clock the hooter sounded and all hell broke loose. I actually got away with the hammering for all of 30 seconds, then everyone in the world seemed to want to swim with me, or to be more precise over me. A word of caution about the swim here, if you are nervous you really do need to start near the rear of the field. This was without doubt the roughest Ironman swim I have ever done. That said I settled in after about 400 meters and got round the first lap in 33 minutes, which for me is good going. Second lap was much less hectic as the field had spread out, but was a little slower at 35 minutes giving me a time of 1:08, a time I would have taken all day long prior to the race. T1 was a tent on the beach and was pretty busy by the time I got in. One thing that never ceases to amaze me in the Ironman is the amount of time people take in transition. There were people there long before me still messing about long after I left. It's still part of the race and the clock is still ticking!!

With the bike easily located and loads of faster swimmers passed during T1 it was out on what is billed as the toughest MDot bike course in the world. Time to see if this is a fact. Well I can say without doubt that Mr Laithewaite was correct. Headwinds and then some is the best way I can describe it. These weren't gusts though, it was one constant blast unlike anything I have ever experienced.

Yiaza, head winds and hills,

El Golfo, head winds and hills

Fire mountain, mountain and head winds

Tinajo, Famara,Pedaling down hill with head winds and crapping myself on the descent

Teguise Head wind and bigger hills

So you get the idea, it was miserable. the saving grace for me was the fact I had loaned a Zipp 303 from my bike guru buddy Scotty Leverington. I have to say I don't thing that I would have finished the Bike leg should I have ridden the 808. I was in the unfortunate position to witness 3 bad crashes due to poor wheel choice, cross winds and poor road surface (of which there are plenty). This did slow me down on some of the big descents. Better to finish than crash being my reasoning. Anyway the biggest climbs of the days  Mirador Del Haria and Mirador Del Rio were handled comfortably sticking to a  prescribed wattage so as not to blow up on the marathon. With the last climb to Nazaret done the rest of the ride (25 miles) was more to my liking, downhill or flat with tailwinds or crosswinds. It seemed the  prescribed wattage had worked as I passed a lot of athletes really struggling at this point. The rest of the ride was plain sailing and I came into T2 with a bike split of 6:10. This was my slowest Ironman bike since 2010, my first one!!!

T2 and time to see if riding to a prescribed wattage had left me with good running legs. I hopped of the bike bare foot and thankfully had great legs immediately. By the time I hit the tent My helmet was in the transition bag, my cap and glasses were on and trainers in hand ready to go, socks, shoes and grab bag in hand and straight out. Like I said the clock is still ticking!!

What a result,  leaving T2 to Back In Black by AC/DC. More bleeding wind on the run course, but thankfully it was fairly flat. My aim was simply to run hard during the marathon. All the numbers had been good in training and I felt good off the bike. I did feel that a sub 3:10 was on the cards and to be honest the first 10 miles gave me no reason to doubt this. I saw  the girls on the way out and a couple of friendly faces in the shape of the legend that is Neil Mercer and Paul Nozzer Norris, both giving it loads, always fantastic!! You know you are running well when the lead man is using you as a wind break. This actually happened as I was chatting to the bike escort he had, but with this little confidence booster gone it was into the headwind towards the airport and what I can only describe as a complete sand blasting. This was horrible, in fact the only good thing about running past the airport was seeing Foggy flying in the opposite direction about 40 minute up on me and looking like Kona was in the bag. The rest of the run was pretty uneventful up to the turn round point were I saw Marc coming in the opposite direction hunting for shaded areas and obviously having a tough day. I turned and started the run back to town. Thankfully the heat wasn't to bad for me so the wind on the back was great simply pushing me along without overheating. I passed Marc exchanging a few words but not sticking around simply because tough days are bad enough without someone banging on if they are feeling good and I've way too much respect for Marc as an athlete and a mate, so left him to his own devices but ensured I encouraged him every time I saw him there after, something that was reciprocated, pure class!!

So what is the hardest thing about the Lanza marathon. The wind, the heat, the concrete surfaces. Nope other athletes and the crowds. Because of the location of the race, as the course gets busier the space is somewhat limited. This isn't a moan just a fact. The atmosphere was great in town. 1:33 at 13 miles and feeling great with no real issues except a blister on the left foot. I turned round, collected my yellow band and started the first of 2 six and a half mile loops. At about 16 miles I encountered my first real issue on the run. My left hip flexor and outside of the knee began to give me some real jip. All I could put it down to was possibly running a little odd due to the blister. But what do you do but carry on, walking was not an option but I did go from running 7:10s to 7:50s and developed a bit of a limp. Just prior to the last turn round point I saw three guys all in my age group. This is where the experience of going to Kona lat year kicked in. I was pretty convinced that I was nowhere near the top four positions required to qualify again, but I knew I could catch the three guys if I put up with the pain and stepped it up for the last three miles and who knows maybe the times were slow for everybody due to the wind. The legs felt good, the joints not so much, but show me someone who doesn't hurt at this point. I got my head down and began the chase. The three guy were caught without much of a problem so i went on the hunt for other 45/49 age groupers. These last three miles were run in 6:40, 6:50 and 6:50 proving that the legs were still feeling good. I crossed the finish line, Union Flag in hand, in a time of 10:42:58. 77th overall and 8th in my category. Unfortunately only 4 qualified for Kona and I was 10 minutes down.

In summary I maybe could have pushed harder on the bike, but this could have had an adverse effect on the run. As I've always said you generally get what you deserve in triathlon and I got 8th at Lanza. As always I have to thank my great girls for all the support my mate Pete and his family for the great company during the week and for getting me suitable spannered after the race and for completing the race in a very creditable time of 13:21:25.  Ian Murphy for the pain cave he puts me into every week so I can get these results, and all the training guys especially Adam for the hours of company all over winter in some pretty crap condition (promise I will return the favor prior to the outlaw mate). And of course Foggys mob for the big cheers they gave me both times they saw me

So, if you don't like hills, wind, rough sea swims and heat, then Lanzarote is not for you. However if you are tenacious, mentally strong and willing to suffer probably as much as you ever have on an Ironman race, then get on the 25th anniversary race next year and good luck.

Take care and see you at Ironman UK either watching or possibly racing, watch this space!!

 

Joe D

 

Joe Duckworth

I am a 43 year old airport firefighter. I am married to Johanna and I have two daughters Anna & Lucy (my main support network).

 
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