I finished IM UK about four weeks ago (first IM) and wrote up a race report for my local tri club. As I haven't seen any reports from England, I thought I'd post an edited version in case anyone is considering a flight across the pond in 2008. (It was a little easier for me as I am currently assigned overseas.) However, be forewarned it is still long.

I had arrived to England on Thursday evening before my first Ironman, rented a car with a steering wheel on the wrong side, and got lost driving in the black of night to Dorset, a small town two hours from the airport. At about 2 am as local bars emptied out, I finally found my way to a local family’s home which would be my base of operations for the next several days. The Ironman UK Homestay program which provides lodging for athletes with local families is a great way to do it and I can’t say enough about the family I stayed with or thank them enough for their generous hospitality. I awoke on Friday morning and went to get in a swim at the lake and register. The race venue took place at the sight of historic Sherborne Castle which provided a grandeur backdrop to the event. The morning was very cool and overcast. Sticking my face in the water for the first time caused me to immediately hyperventilate from the cold. After a few minutes my body adjusted to the cold temps and the calm water allowed for a good one lap swim of the two lap course. Following my swim, I registered and wandered around the expo buying some of the mandatory Ironman merchandise. Realizing my Mediterranean clothing attire might not be enough protection, I purchased some arms warmers, a decision which proved to be wise throughout the race.

Saturday began the same way, cool and overcast but luckily that ended by late morning and turned to cold and rainy. After packing, unpacking, and repacking my transition bags several times and trying to wait out the rain, I finally gave up and drove to the transition area to drop off my bike and bags. Here I spent a little extra time asking questions of volunteers as to how exactly T1 and T2 worked since this was my first IM. Once I felt comfortable that I knew the flow, I left. I got to bed by 8:00 pm and actually slept a good seven hours.

Wake up time on race morning was 3:15 am. My guest family had left a full breakfast spread so I and the other athlete staying at the house enjoyed a good solid breakfast. I arrived at the race by the 4:15 am transition opening and checked my bike and added bottles of water to my bike. Twenty minutes before the 6 am start, athletes were called from transition to the lake. Ironman UK requires the athletes to enter the lake and swim out about 200 meters to a buoy for the start. I let others jump into the cold water and waited until near the end of the stream of 1500 athletes to enter and make my way to the start buoy. Again the initial shock of the water literally took my breath away but I used the swim out to get my body acclimated. The horn sounded and I began the two lap course. Despite the washing machine effect and quite a bit of congestion for about the first quarter of the swim, I kept a good solid pace and never let the crowd panic me or take me out of my rhythm. Exiting the lake I saw I was slightly ahead of my target time. Swim time 1:18:06.

T1 was a good 150 yard jog/walk away from the lake. I took my time in T1 (some might even say I took a short nap). In hindsight, I could have been much faster, but I was focused on pacing myself, relaxing, and not letting the excitement take me out of my race. T1 time 9:59.

Departing the castle grounds on the bike I eased into a good comfortable pace and saw a most bizarre sight. Two bikes had gotten tangled together and both athletes and a volunteer were trying unsuccessfully to remedy the problem. I still have no idea how this calamity happened. The bike course had equal segments of long flats and hills, many on very narrow English country roads lined with hedges. The course was three loops. What I soon noticed was the unusual amount of flat tires. It seemed every 500 meters, there was another biker along the side changing a tire. It appeared the rain had washed a lot of debris into the roads and was wreaking havoc on tires. I kept thinking to myself all through the first loop, “Please don’t get a flat.” Sure enough near the end of the first loop my back tire blew just as I passed a group of spectators. The tire change went well despite having a crowd of onlookers watching and an elderly gentleman wanting to assist. Back on the bike for a short period, my rear tire began making a strange noise. I again hopped off hoping the tire was not flat again. It wasn’t, but I could not find out the source of the noise. I stopped for a third time but never figured out why my rear tire made a strange noise when the brakes where applied. I had equipped myself to handle two flats and placed a third tube and CO2 in my special needs bag. To be on the safe side, I stopped for a fourth time at the special needs drop and retrieved the tube and CO2 just in case. Never needed them but they made me feel much better. I guess I should also mention “The Giant”; the back part of the loop took us through a long uphill climb known locally as “The Giant.” That day, I came to refer to it as the “F*****g Giant!” The climb would not have been so bad except there were no natural wind breaks. At times, I could feel a gust of wind almost knock me off the bike. Not a comfortable feeling. I continued through the remainder of the bike at a good conservative pace thinking to myself I still have a marathon to do. Bike time 6:29:39

I also took my time in T2 changing socks and preparing for the run. Because it did not seem to be warming, I left my arm warmers on and put a long sleeve technical tee on overtop. The volunteers were amazing, constantly helping and asking if I needed anything. T2 time 7:42. (A slightly shorter nap.)

Off on the run, I started off slowly. I had begun having stomach cramps on the bike and this condition continued at the run start. My race strategy was to work through the cramps with a slow run and small sips of water. By about two miles, this strategy worked and I began to feel much better. I picked up the pace through the next 5 miles. I continued to follow a strict hydration regime of small sips of fluid (water, coke, Gatorade) every 1 ½ mile aid station. Every other station, I also took a power gel (wanted a pizza). The back half of the run course was affectionately termed “Babylon Hill.” As you would imagine this long 2 mile uphill climb was no fun with cold cross winds especially since we had to do it twice. There were several times on the hill I had to resist the urge to stop or walk. It seemed that by pushing it to the next aid station, the gels and fluid gave me the energy to make it to the next aid station. That strategy is how I took the second half of the marathon, one aid station at a time. Throughout the run, I kept checking my pace. I needed a slightly faster than 4 hour run to make my IM goal of under 12 hours. Despite a strong second half run, I realized I would fall just shy of that goal. As I reentered the Castle grounds there were large crowds cheering us on. My British hosts had also come out and provided me with my own personal cheering section. The last 300 meters were filled with lots of high fives to cheering kids. Into the shoot, I heard my name announced and it was over. Run time 3:58:45. First Ironman time 12:04:08.

What an amazing feeling to have completed an IM; its hard to describe. I can say the entire experience was phenomenal and that IM UK was exceptionally well organized. Except for the weather, it was a perfect setting to hold the race.

Mike