Ironman France 2009
Ironman France 2009 report from Dan Edwards
Firstly, I’d like to thank those who sent messages of support before, during and after the event; it was very much appreciated!
For those of you who don’t know, this was my second attempt at IronMan, my first being at Sherborne back in 2007. On that occasion, I’d completed the course in 11:43:46. Although it was a reasonable time, the day was far from what I’d planned as I suffered badly with stomach problems throughout.
Nice, unlike Sherborne is a sea swim, starting on the shore with a short dash down the pebbles and into the water. On race day, it’s a mass start with a section of beach about 150m long split into pens, each marked with a predicted swim time. I choose the sub 1h02min pen, which was adjacent to the Pros.
It was early, but already quite warm so I left my wetsuit down for as long as I dare before the start. Many people were getting into the sea for a warm-up, but I stuck to my usual dry warm up routine. This also enabled me to position myself at the front of the pen, which I hoped would enable me to enter the water quickly and avoid trouble.
10 minutes to go and the race marshals were clearing the water and it was getting pretty cramped on the beach, nearly all of the 2500 registered athletes taking to the start. The atmosphere was building, but I tried hard to stay focused.
10 secs to go… the commentator was counting down… 5, I started my watch… 3, 2, 1… CARNAGE!!! I leapt forward and entered the water, bodies EVERYWHERE. I tried hard to get into my stroke and get going. I got knocked and my goggles filled with water, I carried on wanting to stay ahead of the masses still pouring into the water behind me. Bang… this time the goggles were nearly off, so I stopped briefly to put them back on and got battered by passing swimmers.
The first buoy was 1km straight out from the shore. I tried to sight, but there were so many bodies and the water so churned up that I couldn’t see much. I put my head down and followed those in front hoping that the field would thin out a bit – It didn’t – all the way to the first buoy I was tightly wedged in and had my goggles knocked a further one or two times, requiring me to stop and adjust.
At the first buoy the course turns right approx 45 degrees and it’s 200m to the next buoy. At this point I got myself stuck on the wrong side of a large group that seemingly wanted to swim straight on. I fought hard to go right but we never got anywhere near the next buoy.
The third buoy was another 45 degree turn/200m – I got a bit closer to this one, but essentially I’d done a large totally unnecessary loop. From the third buoy, it was a straight 1km back to the beach before the start of the second smaller loop. The field was still thick around me, but at least we were heading in the right direction now!
At the end of the first lap there’s a short land exit and a 20 metre dash before re-entering the water for the second loop. Volunteers were on hand to help me out the water and I got through without drama.
The second loop was much better. With the field thinning out and clear water ahead of me I got into a decent rhythm and felt myself settling into my IronMan pace.
Swim Split 1 2,4km @ 41:19 (1:43/100m) GRRRRR!!!!
Swim Split 2 1.4km @ 21:00 (1:27/100m)
Overall swim 3.8km @ 1:02:19 (1:38/100m)
The run into transition takes you up a ramp then back through the finish gantry. I grabbed my bike bag and made my way into the tent. For the most part, T1 was pretty uneventful. I sacrificed a bit of time stopping to apply more sun tan lotion, but I knew the sun was going to be strong whilst out on the bike.
The bike park is long and narrow running for several hundred meters along the promenade – my bike was in Rack 12 at the far end. The surface was smooth tarmac and I could feel my heel and forefoot hurting as I ran in bare foot.
Out onto the bike course and it’s a relatively fast and flat run out for the first 20km or so. Without as much bike training as I’d hoped for in the preceding months my plan was to take it nice and steady. Lot’s of athletes were screaming past me at high speed, but I was happy to let them go, safe in the knowledge that I would see at least some of them again later on the steeper slopes.
The first ascent after 20km is the steepest gradient but relatively short and most athletes, (myself included) were out of the saddle, the effort showing as we went up. As the gradient lessened, it was easier to remain seated and tap out a nice rhythm as we continued to climb over the next 12km or so.
The following descent was fast and with no traffic to speak of, I tucked down on the aerobars and wound my way to the bottom. The next ascent, which starts around the 50km mark is the longest at around 22km and is a long slog. By now the sun was pretty hot and with little shade and only a light breeze, I knew I needed to be drinking plenty. From the start of the bike I had been drinking every 20 minutes, but I was now drinking roughly every ten to compensate for the sweat loss.
Over the top at the Col de l’Ecre and onto an undulating section before climbing the relatively short Col de la Sine. Another fast downhill section and then the ascent of the Cote de Sainte Pons – the last of the big climbs. By the time I hit the top here I was going through a bad patch, so took on a bit more food and just tried to pace myself through it without losing too much time. Unfortunately, this is the part of the course where there is an out and back section and whilst it’s plenty scenic and relatively flat, there’s something quite demoralising about riding down a road that you know you have to ride back up – especially as you see athlete’s already coming back. It was also here that I really started to see groups drafting. For the early part of the race, there had been a large number of referees on bikes to deter the drafting cheats. I hadn’t seen any for a while now and obviously a lot of other people were thinking the same thing and were taking advantage of it.
The final 50 – 60km of the course is largely downhill, with a flattish 20 – 25km run straight in to the finish. Up until now the descents had been fast and wide allowing you to just let the bike run, but the final descents were a bit more technical with a few switchbacks and tighter turns. I passed a couple of riders who had crashed and were being treated by paramedics – I slowed down a little. Eventually I hit the flat run in to find an on shore breeze blowing strongly up the valley. This didn’t bother me too much as I’d been expecting it, so just tried to make myself as aero as possible and kept up a good cadence.
Twice in the last 10km, I got caught and passed by groups of 30+ drafters. Incensed, I just sat up, stopped pedalling and let them pass whilst trying to convey in my best French what I thought of cheating. IronMan is an individual event and I’d rather not finish at all, then finish knowing that I had cheated.
The last 5km of the bike is back along the promenade alongside the run course. Three things entered my mind at this point 1. There are an awful lot of people already running 2. It looks really hot 3. Have they extended the run course, as it seems like an awfully long way back to the transition area!!!!
BIKE SPLIT 1: 27.9 km 27.9 km (59:31) 28.13 km/h
BIKE SPLIT 2: 56 km 28.1 km (52:00) 32.42 km/h
BIKE SPLIT 3: 105 km 49 km (59:34) 49.36 km/h
BIKE SPLIT 4: 118.7 km 13.7 km (35:07) 23.41 km/h
BIKE SPLIT 5: 144 km 25.3 km (56:00) 27.11 km/h
BIKE SPLIT 6: 180 km 36 km (48:15) 44.77 km/h
TOTAL BIKE 180 km (6:02:32) 29.79 km/h
Into T2 and the long bare foot run back through transition – my foot REALLY hurting this time – and into the change tent. I stopped to change my tri-suit for a two piece and plastered some more sun tan lotion on. I’d decided during the last 5km of the bike to change my clothes as I was concerned about getting too hot in my tri-suit, which was also stained white with dried salt deposits.
The run course is a 4 lap out and back course up the Promenade de Anglais to Nice Airport. At this time of day, there is no shade and the sun was beating down. I started off the same way I had at Weymouth Middle distance – easy and building my pace gradually over the next 30 minutes until my HR was around 75%. I felt comfortable, but terribly hot.
There are three aid stations on the run course and initially I was taking a little energy drink and water at each, but I was feeling sick and couldn’t eat any food.
The first two laps of the run course I was actually enjoying in a strange kind of way. Yes, I was hot and I felt sick but I was running quite well and my pace was bang on for a four hour marathon, which was exactly what I’d been training for. At this rate I would be on for about 11:15. I reasoned with myself and figured that I would eventually slow down a little, but even so I could probably make 11:30.
Then the third lap. Oh dear. About half way up to the airport my HR just dropped about 15bpm and I was breathing hard – I’d run out of energy and my body was turning to fat as a fuel source. Shit. Things suddenly seemed impossible. I think that it was shortly after the turnaround at the airport, that I caught Richie on his second lap. He was walking so I stopped and walked too. We chatted; I was keen to know how he’d gotten on in the swim. He was having a hard time digesting the energy drink and had been since the bike. I’m not sure how long we walked but we reached the next aid station before we started running again. I say running, I mean shuffling.
I was now reduced to shuffling between aid stations, rewarding myself at each aid station with a little walk through each. I forced food down, but I felt sick and it was getting harder to get going again after each stop. Bella went past in the opposite direction, all smiles; I managed a grunt (I think).
I finished the third lap and picked up my last wristband. I asked myself if I had it in me to turn around and do it a final time. I thought of Annette and Isabel and my mind was made up; I would do it for them. I knew from my watch that I was unlikely to get a P.B. but that didn’t matter anymore. I had to finish else all the help and support that Annette had given me was for nothing and I knew I would not forgive myself.
I resigned to run as best I could and walk the aid stations. My legs ached, my head swam but I pushed on. I reached the turn around at the airport and was now on the home straight.
At the finish I saw Annette waiting with Isabel, so I stopped and went over to hug them. I wanted them to know I’d done it for them. I was happy to walk the final 100 yards and savour the moment and think about the experience.
RUN SPLIT 1: 10.5km 10.5 km (58:51) 5:36/km
RUN SPLIT 2: 21.1km 10.6 km (1:01:14) 5:46/km
RUN SPLIT 3: 31.6km 10.5 km (1:14:12) 7:04/km
RUN SPLIT 4: 42.2km 10.6 km (1:13:30) 6:56/km
TOTAL RUN 42.2 km (4:27:47) 6:20/km
SWIM BIKE RUN OVERALL RANK DIV.POS.
1:02:19 6:02:32 4:27:47 11:45:15 902 167
So I finished in 11:45:15 which is about 90 seconds slower than my previous best. Even so, I was pleased with what I had achieved. IronMan France is a fantastic event, extremely well organised and enthusiastically supported by the locals. If anyone is thinking of racing abroad, then I’d highly recommend it.
Finally, I’d like to congratulate both Richie and Bella for completing their first IronMan.
Dan.