Race Day

I slept pretty well and woke up at 4am, quick breakfast of porridge, toast and very good coffee. Mr Meier was up ready to take me on the back of his scooter to the start of the race - he knew all the short cuts through the back fields, we skipped out all the crazy pre-race traffic - legend!
I got my bike organised and found Rich, the panic began to set in - people everywhere - pumping up tyres, putting bottles on bikes, checking gear, pulling on wetsuits...Beautiful cloudless morning.

The pros start was at 6:30am, I watched them head off before joining the other herd of pink swim caps as we were ushered into the canal. Suddenly it was time to go - I fell into the rhythm that I would try to maintain for the duration of the 3.8k swim.
It didn't feel like the usual battering, I seemed to be in open space within minutes - I looked around just to check I was still on course - all good. I spent the whole swim trying to sit on other swimmers' feet - it's tough to find people who are swimming at the same speed, and also, there's no guarantee that they are swimming in a straight line! ;) It did seem to go on and on, then the final turn and up out of the water with a firm hand from the volunteers - 1:09 - (I swam 1:16 in New Zealand, so a good improvement). In New Zealand I managed to spend 13 minutes in transition - I was out of T1 in under 3 minutes this time - it felt great to be whizzing along on the bike, smooooooth roads.

I was feeling pretty good on the first lap, I was trying to push myself but was constantly worried about saving my legs, and the fear of running out of energy. I accidentally dropped my mini gel bottle - so at each aid station I was really conscious that I needed to be grabbing gels as well as drink bottles. No hot cross buns for me this time, no loo stop at the half way point - I was here to race this time!
I made the first lap maintaining a 30k/h average, but I was feeling a little depleted after all the hills, I spun into the 2nd lap determined to do my best to get off this bike as soon as I possibly could! The crowd support was amazing - each village had a huge support crew. There is one hill where spectators gather, 'Solarer Berg'. As you turn to go up the hill, all you can see is a SEA of faces - a huge crowd, 4 or 5 deep on each side of the road, cheering you up (Tour de France style) with just a tiny corridor tunnel to cycle up. I definitely shed a tear the first time up, with a big smile - it really does lift the spirits - my spirit was in need of some lifting during the second lap, goose bumps, pretty much downhill to the finish. I was so happy to roll into T2 in just over 6 hours; I was feeling pretty tired, but I thought that my run would survive it...
I dashed out onto the run course, legs felt ok - no twinges or cramps. First you run steadily uphill out of the town to the canal. Chrissie Wellington was completing her marathon, we passed, I had a long way to go! She looked like a machine, smiling as she powered on to a new world record time. As I emerged from the forest on the canal path, the searing heat hit me like a slap in the face. I spent the first 10k getting into a good running rhythm, the next 10k melting in the heat...by the half way point, I was ready to quit. My watch had gone bonkers in the swim, so I had ditched it on the bike course. I had no idea what time it was or how fast I was running etc. At 21k I decided to ask someone for the time. 4:21pm. My brain then painfully slowly worked out that if I could run the next 21k in under 2.5 hours, then I'd come in under 12 hours - an hour quicker than NZ. I knew this was achievable, so, mentally, I was back in the game! Hooray! However, physically, my body began complaining - I've never had stomach problems during a race before...I visited the facilities 4 times during the last 20k...not good. I was getting from one aid station to the next, walking through it - wondering what on earth my body needed to make it function properly...I just felt so sick! Watermelon seemed to be the most appealing on the table, probably not the best for the guts, but it got me to the end!

So, I came to the end - it was emotional - I had fought the mental battle from half way through the bike course. My overall time was 11:44 - over an hour and a 1/4 faster than my first attempt - albeit on a different course. Very happy with the improvement, I feel lucky! For me, this is a good result. My lack of proper training since Strongman was evident in the run. I'd love to have broken 4 hours on the marathon - but, again, I didn't do enough run training to make these dreams come true!
 SO, there is the challenge for the next race! Always room for improvement...but as I sit here on a sofa in London.........as my fitness goes down the drain with every lazy day...can I face another race like this? The answer: of course, yes! But with my life being so up in the air at the moment, I think I'll stick to half ironmans for the next 12 months before signing up to another full. I need to focus. I need to get established in the supply teaching market before hopefully arranging something more stable for the beginning of 2012, then when things are feeling more settled, I'll start rallying the crew for another grand destination race :)

My Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v​=fuqvgyxU_cg