The Brutal....

The Brutal extreme triathlon: All that it takes is.... 

An Ironman thats not an Ironman. An Ironman where you can judge the hardiness of the competitor by the length of their beard. Ironmen have silly tattoos. Brutal competitors have the most awesome beards - the longer the beard, the longer the race you were doing - 1/2 distance, full distance, double or (gulp..) triple.

Neither Clare or I were sporting beards, so we were destined to do only the full Brutal. Stuart, well he had a beard but frankly it was pretty pathetic so he too was only doing the full. We were the babies of the race, spending the whole time in total awe of the Double and Triple Brutal competitors. They had proper beards.

The Brutal, recognised as the second hardest full distance race in the world http://www.220triathlon.com/training/iron-distance-triathlons-the-11-toughest/10816-10.html , but also quite possibly the most chilled out relaxed friendly full distance race in the world -  we were standing on the finish line waiting (and waiting.....) for Stuart to descend off of Snowdon and finish - Sunday morning 2am came and went, 3am came and went. The published cut-off time was 4am and were starting to fret a bit. I causally asked Claire the organiser about cut-off and whether there were any reports of a guy called Stuart having died on his way up the hill (yes Stuart, you were awol long enough that you may actually have died...) to which she replied causally "nah, I don't think he's died and cut-off, meh, well, I'm here until Wednesday...." 

Anyway, back to the race. I first became aware of the Brutal a few years ago when three of us at work entered the double as a team - I was going to do the bike leg, but then I got sick and the runner got injured so that was that. Then last year Ed did the double with Clare as support, and the seed was sown. Clare was always going to enter too and, well, Stuart was completely unaware that he was going to do The Brutal as his first ever proper triathlon until he logged into his email to find a confirmation of entry..... Thankfully he soon stopped hating on myself and his wife for that one.... Sorry mate...

Roll forward and its race day morning, standing by a rather fresh Lake Padern, wetsuit, booties, gloves, thermal hat. There we are, trying to get used to the "refreshing" water, standing around chatting through chattering teeth and a siren randomly goes off as we chat. Oh bugger, thats probably the start siren... 

I struggle in cold water, even in full thermals it was proper cold and my body and breathing took a good few minutes to adjust. I then started to get persistent cold water cramps in my calves, they spent about an hour of the swim cramped which was really rather unpleasant. 

3.8km swim done and into transition. Clare has hot steaming tea but isn't functioning at all due to the cold. Shes shouting at herself. Stuart is basically wandering around like a very cold lost soul, his wife Leanne generally trying to usher him in the right direction. I get tea too, gotta have a tea in transition, its the done thing. Clare gets angry as I arrive after her and leave before her. That anger seemed to serve her well as the day went on....

Onto the bike, 4 laps of 46km, such a pretty pretty bike course, just food for the soul all the way round. Having jumped both Stuart and Clare in T1 I knew they were both behind me when I came across a nasty nasty accident, poor guy had lost control, laying on the road with a pool of thick blood under his head, just utterly horrible.  Knowing there was nothing I could do (he was being well tended too), and that it wasn't anyone I knew all I could do was keep going, thankful to see ambulances, police cars and air ambulance on their way. It made for a very solemn hour or two and I had said to myself I would stop riding if the worst had happened - but news filtered through that he had been later seen sitting up. Organiser Claire later confirmed he had a fractured skull and broken ribs but was fundamentally OK and was being operated on. Thankyou, whoever was looking after him.

The bike I was deliberately taking at a very measured pace, albeit every hour or so Clare would come cruising past me, saying "I'm not racing you...". No, no, of course you weren't. Actually I don't think we were racing, we were both being very measured, both keeping each other honest. We both started the bike a couple of minutes apart and finished a couple of minutes apart (with me ahead, just to be clear.....). I checked in a few times with Leanne to see how Stuart was doing and was warmly pleased to hear how well he was getting on. 185km bike done. 

And onto the marathon run, three laps around Lake Padern (no, for the record, those laps are not flat...) then just the small matter of up and down Snowdon to finish off the marathon. I knew I needed a good half hour head start on Clare as we started Snowdon, we are pretty evenly matched on the flat, I have more strength on the climbs but shes a damn pixie on technical descents.  Out of T2 though and its like "er, where are my running legs...", my pace is well off where it should be - I'm running nice and smoothly and on my toes but the pace just isn't there - in hindsight I think the severe calf cramps from the swim had caused some damage - thats life, it ain't called The Brutal for nothing. 

Three lake laps done and dusted, mountain bag slung on the back and a mandatory check with medics before we head off to Snowdon. My ascent of snowdon started less than impressively, I got lost on Llanberis high street..... having been pointed in the right direction up we go. I can honestly say I loved every second of going up Snowdon, it was really really cool seeing a trail of headtorches waaaay up the hill, seeing the starry sky, seeing the voles, the sheep, hearing the owls, seeing Clare the little pixie bounding down the hill whilst I was still 1km from the top. NO NO, that bit was not cool, that bit was really rather annoying....

Managed to jog down Snowdon which after 15 hours of racing I never thought I'd be able to do, was very happy with that. Crossed paths with Stuart near the bottom and wished him well and thats it, crossed the line at 16 hours, an hour inside the time I reckoned it would take me, and amazingly finishing 28th out of 70, thats by far my best ever result. Pixie feet had a storming Snowdon leg and without knowing it jumped the two females ahead of her, crossing the line as first female home by a good half an hour. 

Stuart, well, he had a nice gentle stroll up and down Snowdon, finishing on the 20 hour mark. Not too shabby my friend for your first proper triathlon, huge kudos to you.

And that was it. Except of course it wasn't. Because there were plenty of people left out on course sporting very admirable beards.... Having done the full its quite unfathomable to think that they will be racing for a further 20, 30, 40, 50 hours to come....

The Brutal extreme triathlon. All that it takes is.... all that you've got. 

And once you've given it all that you've got you stand there the next day thinking "yeah, I reckon the Double would be a fun thing to do next year....."

Photos(including the recce):
 https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dzlo0hlubycogio/AACx5djRKFFE0poQq60tKvWya?dl=0

Lanza Ironman 2017: Fun in the sun

Ironman is never easy, just the raw facts explain it: 3.8km sea swim, 180km bike, full marathon to finish. Add to this the Lanza effect -  a raw volcanic island, devoid of vegetation, hot saharan winds, no shade, black volcanic roads weaving their way though the hills, 2,500m of climbing on the bike and thats why Lanza is regarded as one of the hardest races in the world.

And thats why we are drawn back here time and time again - everyone who has ever raced any ironman has had to earn their stripes - no ironman races are easy - here though, its more than a race - its an epic epic adventure, an adventure that takes you on literally just about every road on the island on the bike route before depositing you back in the mad mad ironman bubble of Puerto Del Carmen for the run.

Lanza was my first ironman in 2015, and yesterday I return here again for my fifth. I will always be drawn back here, drawn here to witness the destruction and mayhem that Lanza inflicts as we all suffer together. Yesterdays destruction was caused by the heat - so savage, so relentless.

Lanza Ironman starts with a mass swim start - this now defines Lanza, its one of the few races left where you all pile in the water together, 1,700 athletes into the water in the space of a few seconds. I'm not a terribly strong swimmer but you simply can't beat a good bunfight with 1,700 people at 7am. I took a while to settle into a rhythm, always finding bodies in my way, and every time I paused for a second to look for a path to clearer water then the five people immediately behind me pile into me. But settle I eventually did, doing the first lap in 40 minutes. The second lap started much better, swimming on the racing line, nice and smooth and settled until we turned at the far end and within seconds found ourselves 50 metres off course - a strong cross current had developed - strong enough that some of the weaker swimmers later on couldn't get back on course at all and were pushed onto the rocky seashore - this no doubt added a few minutes to my time but once again I posted a 40 minute lap, so total swim time of 1:20 which was within a couple of minutes of where I felt I would be and a great improvement from 1:35 back in 2015.

The bike, well, it was lovely really, one of my most enjoyable rides ever. Most people loath the bike leg here but to me it all adds to the drama. I set out pace to a ride of 7 hours and rode 7:02, very happy with that and 15 minutes quicker than in 2015. For me though the bike is actually all about the run - I could have ridden a 6 hour pace but that would have fried my legs. This race I really wanted to have a good run - I find distance running "challenging" to say the least, the marathon having fallen apart at each of the previous four ironman races. I had higher hopes coming into this race - until I got off the bike and the thermometer read 32 degrees - added to this the heat being reflected off of the pavement and the lack of wind and it was simply a cauldron, the pavement temperature must have been nearly 40 degrees - destruction was evident all around me, most people we already walking -  every single one of my friends here walked at least half if not all the marathon. My saving grace I think was running every day on holiday in Cayman a few weeks ago, my body clearly a little more acclimatised to the heat - but even then it was proper slow, really just jogging along necking pints and pints of water that were immediately sweated out. My spirits improved after a couple of hours when the afternoon turned to evening and it cooled down a bit but by then the damage was done, the run becoming a run-walk which in turn then became a walk for the last 3km. I set myself the mini target of running across the finish line but failed in that too - I could have walked for hours more but my running legs were done. It was still however my best ever run at 4:45, some 20 minutes quicker than two years ago.

Weird thoughts go through your head when you are suffering - this races thoughts were "who the feck invented Ironman, this is really truly horrible..." and "holy crap my next race "The Brutal" (Ironman distance but really stupidly hilly) in September is going to be hard...."

Its difficult sometimes to get too thrilled for yourself when you see everyone around you falling a long long way short of their own hopes and desires, but that's Lanza for you, it sucks you in, chews you up and spits you out as a broken mess. But privately thrilled I was, my finish time of 13:24 some 50 minutes quicker than two years ago, my finishing place of 780th some 200 places higher. I now have finally achieved my aspiration - I am finally truly average.....

A huge thankyou to the supporters here - they were awesome - they define Lanza too, just amazing. And a thankyou too for the barman who gave me my final defining memory of the day, as I wandered slowly home he came running out of the bar and shouted "Hey Ironman, come back, free beer on the house". Love Ironman. Love Lanza.

Mallorca Ironman 2016: The Long Hard Wet One

Ironman races are never easy, they have to be respected and earned through blood sweat and tears - this one more than most - conditions were hard beyond belief, so so tough out there.

Its been a funny year of racing - after the shambles that was The Outlaw on July 24th where my run fell to pieces and I had my worst ever race, Mallorca IM suddenly changed from "holiday end of season fun race" to a "I have something to prove to myself here race" 

Mallorca a super relaxed relaxed environment as always, although a lot of the first-timers pre-race nerves not helped by poor poor race communication around the use of wetsuits (which are prohibited above a certain water temperature), with an unofficial announcement two days before the race that they were permitted being changed to the official announcement at race briefing that they were not permitted (cue a mad rush of people back into the water for a practice swim without wetsuits...) and then it simply being announced an hour before the start of the race on their facebook page that its OK folks, actually they are permitted (cue a mad rush of people back to their cars / hotel rooms...). Poor show guys.

Hugely atmospheric start, sheet lightning and thunder rolling away in the distance, with the most gorgeous sunrise possible (thanks Adele, I nicked your photo) all adding to the atmosphere of 2,000 racers lined up with massive pent up energy and emotion ready for the off.

Despite no coaching and pretty limited training my swim time continues to fall, from 1:35 in Lanza in May '15 to 1:25 in Mallorca IM 1 year ago a new PB of 1:19 now - with that though comes a new experience -  at the back its all quite sedate and polite - now a little more in the mix its less so, people fighting to get on others feet (for the tow) and fighting to get others out of their tow - I got a smack in the face for my troubles when I clearly got too close to someone - thanks to whoever did that... Came out the swim in 1,200th place (out of about 2,000) versus 1,550th last year.

And onto the bike we go. Truth be told I never really settled on the bike, its not really my type of course at all, I like it hilly, preferably huge mountains, the bigger the better - I'm a decent climber, a very decent descender but pretty mediocre on the flat. Mallorca Ironman is largely flat with one proper climb, Lluc, at the 110k mark.  The first 100k was uneventful and then we get to the climb and all hell breaks loose - out of nowhere a massive thunderstorm rolls in, the rain was literally like a bucket being poured on your head, rivers running across the roads and at one point a massive fork of lightning and instant smash of thunder directly overhead pretty much made every rider on the hill duck for cover, it really was astonishingly bad up there. I don't mind the cold or wet too much but loads of people abandoned and / or were carted off with hypothermia. Given this and the wet / slippy roads all the way home it was never going to be a bike PB, finishing some 7 minutes slower than last year, along with a further few minutes extra in transition whilst I thawed out my fingers so I could tie my shoelaces. But still made up places on the bike, now in 1130th place versus 1260th last year.

My run fell apart at the Outlaw so in the last few weeks training I changed from "run" to "run-walk" which is often quicker over a marathon distance for weaker runners such as myself. It was an interesting experience,  starting off at mile zero, stopping after just 4 minutes to walk for a minute (and repeat), watching everyone else stream away from you in that minute, hoping that the benefit would come towards the end of the run. Well, it didn't really actually make a difference time wise, but it certainly made a difference spirit wise - running for 5 hours solid shatters my soul, I end up in a very dark place but with run-walk you only run for 4 minutes at a time. Repeat that 4-1 three times and you hit the next aid station, so it breaks it down into nice segments - run-walk, run-walk, run-aid station. Repeat. Its actually sorta quite pleasant(ish...). Thanks Andy for the "Chris wearing his rather fatigued Ironman expression" photo from the run that sums this race up nicely.... 

And now as the run churns on we get thinking - a new PB is possible here - despite the miserable conditions and slow bike leg, maybe just maybe we can PB, so with 2k to go run-walk became ruuuuuuuun!, setting a new marathon run PB of 4:52 and a new overall PB of 12:52, a mere 3 minutes inside my old PB but a massive fist pump moment down that amazing Ironman red carpet.

Picked up 25 places on the run, finishing 1106th versus 1223rd last year - thats how tough the course was yesterday, clocked basically the same time as last year but finished 115 places higher - gotta be happy with that.

So thats it for triathlon for my second season, time for a break then back into training with a vengeance - Lanzarote IM was my first in May '15, we're coming back for another fix of Lanza, May '17. Can't wait.

Outlaw 2016 - a very average birthday

Outlaw race report – A very average birthday

I am, as you know, the worlds worst triathlete. In my first season in Ironman last year both races were finished in the dark and both were waaay down the field, mainly due to my complete lack of anything resembling a run. The difficulty is that in multi-disciplinary sport you should concentrate on your weaknesses – swimming and running in my case – but I love cycling so much that I kept being drawn back to riding rather than running or swimming.

So this year I have deliberately back off the cycling – although still ridden over 6,000km so far this year – and followed a run programme – the London Marathon intermediate program – and have clocked up nearly 1,000km of running so far this year – and actually enjoyed almost every minute of it, particularly the hill reps / interval sessions where you can feel the burn for hours afterwards. The programme I felt went really well, I struggled a bit with calf issues and more recently with sciatic nerve issues – but my times were tumbling and I was a happy bunny.

So going into this season of racing my two wildly unambitious ambitions were:

1)      To finish a race in daylight and

2)      To finally become average

The Outlaw has always had a really great reputation for a fun, friendly relaxed full distance race. Same distances as Ironman (3.8km swim, 180km bike, 42.2km marathon run) but much more friendly and chilled out. Also as it is held in July and starts at 6am I would pretty much hit ambition number 1 with relative ease!. Ambition 2 I felt was well within my grasp as well, I felt it I could finish in 12.5 hours or so that would be a great achievement. Others were suggesting I would go sub 12 which felt at the edge of my limits but not beyond grasp.

The swim start was a mass start. Ironman has pretty much eliminated mass swim starts now but I do love them so much, can’t beat a good bunfight at 6am in a lake to get the blood flowing. Out of the swim and the helpers shouted 1hr 22 which is fab for me, especially in fresh water.

You can see me here at the swim start – I am the one with the black wetsuit and white hat…

https://www.facebook.com/OutlawTriathlon/videos/1141512575913139/?pnref=story

Onto the bike, and one of the few races I’ve done on open roads. People moan about the cost of racing Ironman races but the extra money you pay for an Ironman race over “unbranded” races such as Outlaw does buy you a lot – invariably buying you completely closed roads. I wasn’t overly stressed about open roads but having traffic around you when you are at racing pace is one more thing to have to think about, when it’s difficult to think about much more than keeping the pedals going for 6 hours solid. Nailed the ride totally, I wanted to do the 180km in 6 hours which I knew should be an easy cruise, leaving plenty in the legs for the run – did it in 6hr 2 minutes so spot on.

https://www.strava.com/activities/653760068

So onto the run – a 4hr 20 run would get me a sub 12 hour result – both of my ironman runs last year had been 5 hours – but that was without any proper run training and also on much much harder courses (Lanzarote & Mallorca) – I felt 4hrs 30 ish would be easily doable, 4hrs20 within my reach. So off we set, and from the first step there is literally nothing there, its turgid from the very first KM and got worse and worse  - I started having stomach issues, visiting several portaloos along the way – I’ve never had this before, I can only theorise that I drank something in the rather grimy lake swim that didn’t agree with me, or that it was just “one of those things”. Lots and lots of endurance athletes suffer from it, and today was my turn I guess. As the run ground on the 12 hour target quickly slid to 12h30, and then to 13 hours then as the run just became a pointless trudge I decided to speedwalk the last 3km along with another chap, Carl who was doing his first full distance race and had been targeting 16hr59minutes (the deadline is 17 hours). Walking together was lovely and a bit odd, we were finishing together - he was chuffed to bits finishing some 4 hours inside his target, I was mildly irritated that my great swim and bike had just deteriorated into my worst possible run. But hey ho, I knew if we continued to speedwalk at our current pace we would sneak in inside 13 hours which we did, 12hrs57.

https://www.strava.com/activities/653767951

So oddly, just because this was a much easier course than those I normally pick:

1)      I finished in daylight - Yay

2)      I finished with a PB - Yay

3)      I was actually average! Almost exactly bang in the middle of the pack  - Yay and

4)      It was by far my worst race!

Times:

Swim: 1hr 22 – my best swim to date, position 592^nd out of about 1,000 males, that’s very good for me, happy with that

Transition 1: 6m31 – 485 out of 1000 males – above average!

Bike: 6hr02 – 421^st out of 1000 males on the bike, happy with that mainly as it was bang on the pace I wanted to set – Ironman distance is all about pacing not racing.

Transition 2: 6m02 – 429 out of 1000 males – above average!

“Run”: 5hr20 – 623^rd out of 1000 males – pants!

Overall – 12hrs57 – 530^th out of 1000 males. An average birthday, very very average!

Highlights

-          Family and friends being there to support me – thanks all!

-          The chilled out atmosphere, such a fun event

-          The good swim time

-          Ellie running alongside me being given a fake ticking off by the officials for “pacing me”.

-          The crowd signing happy birthday to me

-          Running down the finish chute with Ellie

Lolights

-          Open roads on the bike leg

-          The “run”

Next stop Mallorca Ironman in September – love that race so much, looking forward to it already.

Mallorca Ironman 70.3 2016: So who upset the jellyfish?

Mallorca Ironman 70.3 2016: So who upset the jellyfish?

My second time at Mallorca Ironman 70.3 after last years hugely enjoyable race here in 30 degrees, blue skies, ice cubes under the hat on the run, sunburn all over. This year, well everyone had been watching the weather forecast all week - a whole week of lovely blue skies was forecast to come abruptly to an end at pretty much the moment we arrived on the start line  - and alas it was true - torrential rain, 12 degrees and a grey bumpy choppy sea greeted so so many people doing their first 1/2 Ironman race. Credit and Kudos to all those newcomers who simply got stuck in - tough tough conditions for your first long course race, well done to you all - a lot of people chose the easier path and simply didn't turn up - out of 3,400 entrants around 700 didn't start. Today was never going to be a day for setting PB's, it was always going to be about getting round safe and home in one piece on a treacherous bike course - Mallorca in the rain is very very greasy, accidents a plenty. Lots of friends racing here, all of them got home safe and sound.

I helped out a couple of stranded cyclists earlier in the week, they wished me massive karma for the race and seemingly it was being delivered, I was having a really good swim, enjoying the rough and tumble, the elbows and kicks of swimming the racing line until bam, BAM, first one jellyfish gets me on the hand and another on the foot, the one on the foot was immediately really painful - I had heard some people comment previously about jellyfish in Mallorca but I'd never seen any in all my sea swims here - but here they were feasting on a bunch of triathletes - barely anyone escaped without at least one sting.

So onto the bike and its party time in the miserable weather - time to let my strongest discipline shine though and start blasting through the field like usual.... Tapering though is a key part of triathlon racing - you're not really meant to do a whole lot leading up to a race - certainly nothing that fatigues the body..... My tapering consisted of doing the Mallorca 312 a week before the Ironman, a 312km tough tough bike race across  Mallorca and hoping that my legs would recover in time for this weekends race - ha ha no chance, any attempt to put the power down was firmly met by my legs telling me that actually they'lld quite like another few days off hard work thankyou very much. My bike time was a huge 20 minutes slower than last year, around half of that was probably due to the conditions, every corner being taken with extreme care, the other half down to my bike race legs having a lie in. One of these days I will take this triathlon lark seriously and actually properly prepare for a race. Actually, that's a lie, tapering is soooo boring.

Throughout the bike my jellyfish sting on the foot was getting worse and worse, it was swelling up on the top of my foot and really irritating me - riding wasn't an issue but I was getting pretty worried that running was going to be tricky if it got any worse. So, well, I took the opportunity of needing what is called in pro bike racing a "natural break"  to "self medicate" the issue, directed a strong stream down the left leg and yes, I can confirm - it does work....

Off the bike and everything is sodden. I had packed a spare pair of socks in my run bag anticipating rain and wanting to change into dry socks for the run to prevent blisters. Yup that plan worked for about 30 metres of the 21km run when we were met with a lake across the run course... The bike time I was annoyed about but the run went perfectly. This year has been "project run" - doing a bit less cycling and trying to focus on getting on top of my running which in all previous races had been a real slog-fest - here, my first race since starting project run it was like "I CAN RUUUUUN". It actually felt like I was properly running, setting a constant pace, light(ish...) on my feet and keeping my heart rate under control - and doing so from the first km to the last km. Interesting the time was exactly the same as last years (two hours dead for a 1/2 marathon) but it felt so so much better, like I was just cruising round - and more importantly for the next race which is full  Ironman distance with a marathon run to finish - it felt like I could have kept cruising for at least another 10km or so which will be a massive improvement on last years two Ironman marathon "runs" each of 5hours+.

Broke the tape at a pretty mediocre 6hrs 22minutes, some 25 minutes slower than last year. A pang of annoyance on crossing the line, but only briefly, this was always a small step on this years path and the one thing I was hoping to achieve - a decent "feel good" racing run, was achieved - a race to remember for the hugely challenging conditions, the nasty nasty jellyfish and hopefully just hopefully the first signs of Project Run starting to pay off. A race to forget for my epically cruddy bike leg but hey ho, I wouldn't have done anything differently, doing the Mallorca 312 the week before was hugely challenging but a whole lot of fun - and if you aren't ever going to win a race then you gotta have fun haven't you.

Next stop Nottingham, The Outlaw full distance race.

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...

The Chocolate Box triathlon - Challenge Walchsee

Not sure you will ever find a prettier setting for a triathlon, nestling in a valley of the Tyrol mountains in Austria, lush green mountains all around. Picture perfect and so easy on the eye.

This was a "holiday race" for me really -  just happened to be on the way home from our summer break - and of course the other prerequisite that it was a proper bike course, none of this boring flat nonsense.  

Having been away for six weeks and not really done any training of note I wasn't really expecting miracles from this race - but nothing ventured, nothing gained etc.

Swim was in Lake Walchsee, the water is drinking water quality and lovely and the perfect temperature too. Yet again though I set off too hard and my heart race goes bonkers, spent the first few minutes trying to calm it all down. Total swim time for 1.9km 42 minutes, a little down on usual, only having swam once in the last two months could explain that one...

Bike was as ever a blast. All my previous races I had ridden the bike leg within myself, deliberately leaving something in the legs for the run. Here, well, nothing ventured, nothing gained... I decided to ride it pretty much to my limit. A tough-ish course, 1,100m of climb over its 90km, and the climbing was generally short and sharp, persistent rolling - not really my best terrain but as ever we sailed past a perpetual string of other riders, until I suffered the humble-pie moment of being lapped by the race leader... and then by most of the other male pro's.... But 2hr 54, happy with that for a proper bumpy course.

The run, well, I always say I am rubbish at running, but yet again relative to the other competitors it was my strongest discipline - go figure... swim I was 501st out of 900 ish, bike 423rd, run 395th... A run tinged with a little sadness when my girls shouted out that Lucy had had a tough day at the office - still, second place ain't none too shabby Lucy - still bought a tear to my eye though mid run - so so wanted Lucy to win. Sadness soon turned to happiness though, a 1/2 marathon run of 2hrs 5, a bit down on usual, the blat on the bike no doubt to blame for that -  finished in 5 hrs 49 - very very happy with that time on a challenging bike course -  and fab to be able to run across the line with two of my girlies. 

Onwards, upwards, Ironman Mallorca next stop. A few pics of the pretty pretty course: