Aspiring to be average
Ironman Mallorca
My second Ironman and very different from my first - no longer the incapacitating pre-race nerves, the terror in the eyes, the fear in the heart - but no longer either the overwhelming elation of simply crossing the finishing line - once you have finished the brutal Lanzarote Ironman you know you can finish any Ironman in the world - huge joy and happiness at finishing here for sure, but different emotions - this race was much more immersive for me, really relaxed before the start, smiling and chatting all the way round, high fiving the amazing spectators who shouted your name out all through the run and cheered and clapped you on. So so many highlights from the run, but the 118-118 boys in particular were great. I don't think they made me run any quicker but they sure made me run happier.
So, back to the start - so awesome to have the family here for this race but almost missed them, we just found each other as we were on our way into the water, shed a little tear of emotion at the off. Today was a rolling start, you start in one long snake, taking about 15 minutes to feed into the water, designed to negate the understandable anxiety a lot of people have over mass starts. Well, frankly I prefer the mass start, there is simply nothing like the spectacle of the gun going and 2,500 people rushing forward towards the same postage stamp sized piece of water - the mass start at Lanza was truly awesome and will live with me forever. Had a really great swim, I struggled all year with tennis elbow from swimming and the break over the summer seems to have cleared it up - 1hr25 is fab for me, some 12 minutes quicker than Lanza.
The bike, well, never mind eh. My tapering consisted of riding 450km from London to Paris last week for charity, that was certainly still in my legs. I managed to pick up some 300 places on the bike but the time at 6hr18 was a good 20-30 slower than it should have been - but hey, we raised £60k for the prevention of child abuse, so who cares about 30 minutes more on the bike.
The run, well, it went. For what its worth it was 5 hours for a marathon, 11 minutes quicker than Lanza but still an eternity, and I picked up 40 places on it.
I'm a lazy "athlete" at heart, my ambitions this year have been to finish the races and genuinely aspire to be average - I'm getting closer! Overall finishing time 12hr55mins, coming 1,213th out of 2,273 - almost average!
Went back to the finish line with Heather and Katie to watch heroes hour - the clock ticking down to midnight, screaming the final finishers across the line, brilliant experience.
What next - well, since my first ever triathlon last December I've done 2 Ironman, 4 half distances and a 3/4 distance in 10 months - it really feels like its time for a wee break, though tomorrow I will probably change my mind...
My second Ironman and very different from my first - no longer the incapacitating pre-race nerves, the terror in the eyes, the fear in the heart - but no longer either the overwhelming elation of simply crossing the finishing line - once you have finished the brutal Lanzarote Ironman you know you can finish any Ironman in the world - huge joy and happiness at finishing here for sure, but different emotions - this race was much more immersive for me, really relaxed before the start, smiling and chatting all the way round, high fiving the amazing spectators who shouted your name out all through the run and cheered and clapped you on. So so many highlights from the run, but the 118-118 boys in particular were great. I don't think they made me run any quicker but they sure made me run happier.
So, back to the start - so awesome to have the family here for this race but almost missed them, we just found each other as we were on our way into the water, shed a little tear of emotion at the off. Today was a rolling start, you start in one long snake, taking about 15 minutes to feed into the water, designed to negate the understandable anxiety a lot of people have over mass starts. Well, frankly I prefer the mass start, there is simply nothing like the spectacle of the gun going and 2,500 people rushing forward towards the same postage stamp sized piece of water - the mass start at Lanza was truly awesome and will live with me forever. Had a really great swim, I struggled all year with tennis elbow from swimming and the break over the summer seems to have cleared it up - 1hr25 is fab for me, some 12 minutes quicker than Lanza.
The bike, well, never mind eh. My tapering consisted of riding 450km from London to Paris last week for charity, that was certainly still in my legs. I managed to pick up some 300 places on the bike but the time at 6hr18 was a good 20-30 slower than it should have been - but hey, we raised £60k for the prevention of child abuse, so who cares about 30 minutes more on the bike.
The run, well, it went. For what its worth it was 5 hours for a marathon, 11 minutes quicker than Lanza but still an eternity, and I picked up 40 places on it.
I'm a lazy "athlete" at heart, my ambitions this year have been to finish the races and genuinely aspire to be average - I'm getting closer! Overall finishing time 12hr55mins, coming 1,213th out of 2,273 - almost average!
Went back to the finish line with Heather and Katie to watch heroes hour - the clock ticking down to midnight, screaming the final finishers across the line, brilliant experience.
What next - well, since my first ever triathlon last December I've done 2 Ironman, 4 half distances and a 3/4 distance in 10 months - it really feels like its time for a wee break, though tomorrow I will probably change my mind...
posted by Chris Pugh @ 00:36
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