IM Lanzerote- Michal

Before the race…

My trip for IM Lanzarote started on Monday before the race. Going a little bit earlier was a great decision that allowed me to rest in the sun, forget about chaos at work and focus on task at hand. I stayed in Puerto Del Carmen near the transition area and swim start, although it made getting to La Santa for race registration quite a trip, it proved useful for checking out the swim course, checking in the bike and easy access to my bags before the race. First thing after arriving was to build the bike and test it. After a quick 15 minute ride it seemed to have survived the flight. One lesson learnt at that point was to remember and take track pump with me next time, I bought a small hand one in the bike shop, but it wasn’t useful at all. Another, longer cycle a couple days later uncovered gears issue, that was identified as bent rear mech and promptly fixed at the local bike shop. Point to remember is to always properly check the bike on hills and faster sections – not just go through all the gears on a flat road without actually applying any pressure. And also, to be prepared for last minute bike service and know a reputable local bike mechanic. Having a friend that has done the race and knows all the details, helps massively!

… Registration…

Race registration was very smooth with an informative and quick race briefing afterwards. I found it extremely useful to attend, there was supposed to be another one just before the race, but at that point I was already positioned in the queue to start the swim and couldn’t hear a thing. Another lesson – don’t rely on a briefing just before the race and make sure you memorise the race guide. I stayed in La Santa for Nation’s Parade and some other events, but that was a waste of time. On the up side the Ironman backpack that everyone got was fantastic.

… One day to go…

I didn’t do a swim around the full course before the race; only parts of it to trial sighting landmarks and eventually decided to use a big white hotel visible on the way back – exactly as Al said. Sea was pleasantly warm and calm. On the last day before the race I packed the bags – blue with bike stuff – shoes, socks, helmet, sun glasses, 3 gels (1 for T1, 2 for tri suit back pockets), water, and race number on the belt, red bag with run stuff – shoes, socks, 3 gels (1 for T2, 2 emergency for tri suit back pocket), water, running cap, white bag with street wear/pre-race stuff – sun screen, Imodium, body glide, swim goggles, swim cap, anti-fog. I checked it all in and tried to get some sleep. I decided against deflating the tyres, since I didn’t have a track pump, but even if I had one I didn’t want to risk any last minute rushed pumping up. I was back in transition area at 5am, quite nervous whether I put everything in the bags, but other than that calmer than expected. I decided against taking Imodium before the race as a precaution since I didn’t train with it. But I still put it on the bike in case of a serious trouble during the cycle.

… Swim swim swim…

I went down to the beach relatively early. The only swim time indicator I could see was 75 mins+ so I decided to stand just a couple rows behind that. It was considerably faster time than I expected (90mins), but I wasn’t sure how many people were behind me and preferred to stay in the middle to be pulled by the mass of people – I wasn’t afraid of a bit of punching and kicking. Later on the video, I saw that swim times were marked by massive, colour-coded inflatable gates, which I didn’t even notice from within. Swim went much better than expected. I focused on staying with the group and following people, together with avoiding being hit and trying to always find some feet to draft made the swim actually quite interesting. After what felt like a long time I finished the first lap (42 mins), congratulated myself for having 50% of the hardest discipline for me done and went back in the water. Less people around this time, but still there was always someone to follow.

A bit more sighting required, got a bit more side-tracked, but got to the other end in 1h26 total time (Garmin showing 4.1km – oops). Overall, swim was quite pleasant – I didn’t do any sprints, kept it steady, warm water, minimal waves, I got strongly hit a few times, all good and expected.

… T1…

I wasn’t breathless or very tired, but took it relatively easy on T1, sat down, took off wetsuit, had a gel, changed shoes and jogged to the bike. Sun glasses, magical aero helmet I got from Alan and off to the mount line. I got queued up there for a bit of time with people not being able to take off properly. Total T1 time – just under 8 minutes.

… Looooong cycle…

My swim was very slow, I noticed that not many bikes remained racked and most people I started cycling with were all over the place. They were moving in the saddle all the time, cycling with their full body – swinging back and forth on the first pull up – crazy. I congratulated myself for finishing the swim and being on the bike then dropped on the aerobars and increased the cadence to a steady 80+. I kept an eye on the heart rate to keep it around 130, which I did, and started to overtake loads of people without actually putting much effort into pedalling. I was occasionally overtaken by a few fast looking people – mostly on the descents, but generally I was in a good place at that point. In no time I was at the first water station and I found out that replacing bottles was much easier than expected – volunteers were just amazing. I was killing it on El Golfo loop, then Fire Mountain (1 of the 3 significant hills that I mentally noted) and I marked 80km in under 3h.

I got very excited about my time, because I expected 7h for the full course and remembered that first 2/3 is against the wind and slower. I thought that I almost finished the slow section and was far ahead of my expectation! I had Alan sitting on one should and Diana on the other. I kept hearing Al saying: “you are looking strong, just keep going, swim is done you are on the bike now!” But then kms started to slow down. My lower back started hurting and over the course of next 10-15km it developed into a terrible pain. I stopped cycling on the aerobars and by sitting tall I had to work harder against the wind to go slower than earlier. My heartrate dropped to 110-115 and I wasn’t tired but cycling became very uncomfortable. The biggest climb on the course – Mirador De Haria, was a road of pain, it wasn’t the steep part; it was a long stretch near the windmills against the wind that was the worst. It was all up and down and then back up to Mirador Del Rio and down. I didn’t take any food over the course of those climbs and ran out of water as well – not a smart move. I was in pain and stretched my back every few pedal strokes – very annoying. I saw a lot of people that stopped broken on the side of the road to Mirador Del Rio, I was hurting and just wanted that cycle to finish, but then I heard Diana saying: “Stop moaning, get your ass up that hill, it is not that high and that will be all climbing done!” More people overtook me, but I kept spinning, stretched out of the saddle, back in the saddle and kept going. I replenished the water at the top of Mirador Del Rio, had 2 gels straight on and that picked me up a bit for the time trial on the highway to Puerto Del Carmen. All started to go a bit more positive for another 15km and then another turn against the wind to Nazaret killed the positive vibe. It was the longest 5km in my life… so many people were overtaking me, it was terribly disheartening. Then bad surface stretch… no comment on that. Donkey trail downhill was crazy; I’m normally chicken on downhills, but that one was no breaks, flying down. Another fast descent with cross winds 10k before the end – later I was told that I lot of people crashed there – it was a bit scary roaring over 70km/h and being pushed and pulled all over the place by the wind, but at that point sensible part of my brain was on a break. Overall my cycle was very inconsistent and yo-yoing all the time. I finished the bike in pain and mentally spent, but not physically tired. I anyway patted myself on the back for getting that longest part of the race finished with no mechanical problems, no stomach issues, all ready for a little bit of running.

… T2…

I was worried that my lower back was going to hinder my run and again took it easy in T2. Had another gel, asked a volunteer to put further 2 gels in my back pockets and off I went.

… Only a marathon left…

I remembered there were supposed to be aid stations every 2.5km and the course consisted of 1 x 20km lap and 2 x 10km laps. I decided to walk through aid stations rather than try drinking while running, which I couldn’t do. Started off too fast – 4:55mins/k, but I kept an eye on the pace and reined it in. I just had a gel so ignored first 2 aid stations thinking they were too early. And that was a disastrous mistake. Next 6km stretch along the airport and straight against the wind took all the strength from me. I drafted a little bit, but my legs weren’t moving too well and head started zoning out a bit. I just wanted to keep moving forward. I reached to my rear pocket to use the emergency gel, only to realise that I lost both of them – must have dropped them when I was pouring water over me to cool down. I finally managed to get to the next aid station, grabbed a gel and that instantly picked me up. Happily fuelled and with the tailwind, it felt like I eventually started running instead of shuffling forward. I started overtaking people again, skipped gel on the next aid station since I just had one 6km ago and wanted to grab another one on the next station, i.e. in 2.5km. But then a surprise – they ran out of energy gels. Next aid station near the finish/start line only had water (by design), so I realised that meant running another 7.5km with no fuel again. Summing up,  after the bike I only had one gel after 11km and would have second gel after further 16km. That was by far not enough and was clearly reflected in my pace. At one point when I walked through the aid station and just walked a bit further for the second cup of water and I heard little voice in my head urging me to just keep walking – no point in that slow running anyway. I didn’t give in and took off. Next time I saw some gels I grabbed 2 – just in case! I finally got my nutrition right after 27km into the marathon, started drinking coke on the final 12km and started properly running again. My legs were totally fine, I wasn’t in pain; it was just those first 25km that I just couldn’t force myself to move any faster and I felt heavy and sluggish. I had a strong second half of the run and overtook a lot a lot of people. Some of them I saw running strong earlier and now they were walking and looking down. I just kept checking who had both bands on, since that would mean I would be in front of them overall! Final stretch was downhill, I took left lane to the finish chute, high fives with people cheering and that was it!! Medal, photo, handshake with Kenneth!

… Finished! Thank you Diana and Alan!

My first IRONMAN done – 12h37:09! I was tired, happy and confused it was all over… Based on my training I was expecting under 13h – I thought it was slow and at the back of my head I hoped that race is always special and I should find some extra energy. Realistically, 2 years ago before I started training I would have said that even completing this race was insane. I wouldn’t get here without my coach Diana, but also the best athlete and friend ever – Alan with his always cheerful and “can do” attitude!! With their support I’m sure that there are many more successes to come ☺