Shortly after completing my first
Ironman in Austria in 2013, I had already set my heart on doing the double. As
I’m not someone who rushes into making hasty decisions, I thought I’d be wise
to gain some more experience first. In
2014, I went to Sweden to race the Ironman again and since then I’ve got completely
hooked on ultra running.
The double Ironman wasn’t going
to escape this year; I picked a race in Bakovci, Slovenia mainly because the
dates suited my other racing commitments. Being in Europe also meant I was able
to drive there and also combine it with a family holiday in the area.
My season started in Nov last
year, with my first “A” race in May at the Grand Union Canal, a 145-miler ultramarathon.
My schedule involved running roughly 4 times a week, biking 3 times a week and
swimming 2 to 3 times a week, also complementing my schedule with weight
training at home. Winter training went really well; week after week I logged
consistent training hours even achieving a cheeky 50 mile personal best in a
muddy Thames Path 50 in Feb.
As spring approached my stress
levels started to rise fast, we have also been busy having a big extension
built at home, the works have been going quite well to be honest, the builders
are great but we have had to deal with very difficult and petty neighbours week
after week, which has caused our family an enormous amount of stress. To make
matters worse, at the beginning of May I went out for a ride and was hit by car
head on. Luckily I only suffered some bruising to my ribs and soft tissue
damage to my right shoulder, but my beloved Cervelo was a write off.
I put all those problems behind
me and was super excited to race the Grand Union Canal at the end of May. I
thought I had managed to escape my daughter’s stomach virus that week, but by
mile 30 of the GUCR I began vomiting. I managed to go on till mile 50, but after
a chat with my wife (who was also now very ill too), I decided the best
decision would be to stop rather than cause myself lasting damage. Realistically
there was no chance of covering another 95 miles feeling like that and not even
being able to keep down water. I spent that night taking turns with my wife
hugging the toilet bowl and feeling very sorry for myself. I moved on from the
disappointment of the GUCR but was becoming very frustrated as I didn’t have a
racing bike yet; the insurance company dealing with the claim really took their
time and in the end I opted to purchase a new bike on finance until they
settled my claim, thankfully they’ve finally paid up!
With about 8 weeks to go until
the double I finally got my new bike to train and get used to before the race. By
now I had reduced my running training to 3 times a week as I had a great base
from the first six months and started biking 4 to 5 times a week and swimming 3
times per week. Despite the building works and the ongoing issues with the
neighbours from hell, I had trained consistently for a number of weeks and by
the time I got to Bakovci I was confident I had done enough to race well.
The race - consisting of 20 laps of a loop in the local lake
(4.8miles), then 76 laps (224 miles) of the bike course (which as a bonus was
closed to normal traffic) and to finish, 56 laps around Bakovci, equalling two
marathons (52.4 miles).
Race day finally arrived and it
was perfect, sunny but not too hot, the lake looked very inviting and I
couldn’t wait to start. My wife tried to close the wetsuit for me several times
and each time the zip would split, as she stressed a bit I told myself that the
worst that could happen was me having to swim without a wetsuit. Eventually the
zip stayed up and we were on our way. I steadily completed each lap in just
under 8 minutes, I felt relaxed and knew there wouldn’t be any surprises during
the swim other than the wetsuit unzipping! I stopped for a feed at the hour and
two hour mark, with my girls meeting me at the pontoon nearby. I slowed down a
bit during the last few laps but felt fresh coming out of the water in 2h46.
 |
| Bella was amazing supporting me throughout the Double |
 |
| Feeling fresh after the swim, the hard work was about to start... |
Very quickly I was out of T1 and
on my bike. I had a plan, first I didn’t want to get too carried away during
the bike start, I knew I had the endurance but speed was lacking; I also wanted
to have a good run and if I overcooked
on the bike I knew it could turn into a disaster. Because of the distance my
plan was to spend 30min at the aero position and 30min sitting up to spare my
neck and back from aching too much. It may sound soul destroying to do the same
lap over and over but I didn’t find that at all. There was support from the
other competitors as we passed one another and I also enjoyed high fiving the
local kids at the end of each lap. Every now and then I would see my family (who
had kindly set up the boot of the car as an aid station) to swap my water
bottle over, or offer me something different to eat and mostly importantly
cheer me on as I went past.
I must admit that at times I felt
a bit disheartened being lapped by the other athletes on the bike course but I
reminded myself that it was a long race and my plan was to save my legs to run
well.
As the evening approached we were asked to have our headlights ready. I was over halfway on the bike now so I took the opportunity for a quick stop to fit the lights, swap my drink bottle and say goodnight to my wife and kids who were off to the apartment for a well-deserved rest.
As it got darker the local kids disappeared but a few houses were enjoying the nice evening, barbecuing, drinking and cheering us on. The temperature dropped but the advantage of training in the UK was that I didn't feel the need for another layer and pushed on. I could no longer watch the bike power data in the dark and my riding was purely done by feel but I made sure I kept a good cadence and switched from the aero to the upright position as I felt like it.
Three quarters into the bike segment I made another quick stop to swap my drink bottle and had a cup of homemade chicken and vegetable soup with broken bits of potato crisps in it. It went down like a treat and I could now feel the end of the bike fast approaching.
With three laps of the bike to go my bike lights stopped working! Doh, it was so annoying but I made another quick stop and swapped the battery pack. For a race that long I came prepared for any bike issues so had spares of everything-luckily I didn’t need anything other than batteries.
The bike was over in 13h32 and I
was looking forward to run, by far my favourite part of any triathlon. My car now
became T2. Thomaz, one of the organisers kindly took my bike to the race
headquarters and I quickly changed into clean kit and started running in no
time. I was still benefiting from the high cadence and the first 4 miles felt
very quick at around 9:30min/miles. My body naturally slowed me down after that
to 10:30min/mile until mile 15 or so. It was still dark, Bakovci was now asleep
from the all the partying they had done the night before and all the
competitors were subdued, and maybe out of respect to the residents we kept the
noise down. Even though I slowed down to 11min/mile from mile 15 I was really
enjoying the run and my confidence started to grow as I kept lapping some of
the guys that had been quicker than me on the bike and swim.
The sun came up and it started to
get really warm, we made it through the night and I managed to finish the first
marathon in around 4h40. I had told my wife to arrive after 9am and started to
look forward to seeing their faces again.
Needless to say the second marathon got really tough but lapping the
others encouraged me to keep running at whatever pace I could. I also started
using simple tricks to distract my brain from the pain I was going through. I
remember noticing some of the houses had the exact same window shutters my
grandma used to have in her flat and I spent ages thinking about my grandma and
my two aunties who lived with her, and how she would tell me off for playing
with the shutters. I then started to notice the lovely vegetable gardens some
of the locals had and I tried to imagine the taste of the various vegetable and
fruit I saw- tomatoes tasted especially great in my imagination. Every now and
then I would reward myself with a 50m walk, but it had to be a powerwalk and I
tried to do it when no one else was looking.
My family had now arrived and I
had around 20 miles to finish. My first request was my running cap and
sunglasses. It was so great to see them. My daughter Bella said she wanted to
run a lap/mile with me and it was great to talk to her and find out what they
had been up to and how my race was going, etc. The miles seemed to pass very
quickly with their presence, I wanted to finish quickly and make sure they
could start enjoying their holiday soon, as up till now it had been all about
me.
Bakovci was now in full party
mode with loud dance music being playing and I could now feel the finish within
my reach. As it was hot my wife would throw some cold water over my head and it
was a great relief, it is amazing how little things make you so happy when you’re
suffering. With 5 laps to go I passed the timing mat with Zoran from Croatia
and he was one lap behind me, he had a quick chat with the referee and then
said to me there had been an issue with his timing chip. I then assumed that we
were probably on the same number of laps and a position was at stake. He then
upped his pace and I decided to follow him. We followed each other neck on neck
for the next four miles averaging around 9min/miles which felt ridiculously
fast at that stage of the race and on very tired legs, it was fantastic
sportsmanship. To my relief as I passed the timing mat for my last lap Zoran
still had two laps left and I could finally enjoy it. Bella joined me for the
last lap and I started to get that tightness in my throat and the tears flowing
from the corner of my eyes. We had to run the last lap in the opposite
direction and I had the opportunity to wish the others well for rest of the
race. Katie, my four-year old then joined us for the last 100 metres and we
crossed the finish line together in 26h28min38sec, 6th overall with
a double marathon time of 10h10. Wow, from dream to reality, I’m now a double
Ironman, what a cool title to have and memories I will treasure for a lifetime.
 |
| So lucky to have them there with me for the finish! |
To my wife’s complete despair I
now wish to do the Triple Ironman!
Nutrition – I have now been a metabolically efficient athlete for
over 3 years now, meaning that my body excels at burning its own fat stores as
fuel. Nutrition was the easiest part of
the double Ironman in Bakovci because I didn’t need to eat much during a race
like that and as a result I never suffered from any stomach problems, I never
felt low in energy and I didn’t need to constantly remind myself to eat. It is
that simple. I don’t know how people claim to eat in excess of 300 calories per
hour and not feel sick; do they bring toilet paper with them too? Metabolic
Efficiency is a concept developed by Bob Seebohar, whereby you manipulate
your daily nutrition in order to maintain blood sugar levels and keep insulin
spikes to a minimum, by doing this over a period of time you will adapt your
body to be able to use more of its own fat stores and as a result you’ll
require less calories during racing and training. Other than being able to use
less calories when training and racing I also benefit from better sleep, better
insulin levels, improved fasting blood glucose levels, body fat loss, reduced
sugar cravings, better concentration levels at work (I drive high speed trains
for a living so concentration is paramount) and improved blood lipid profile.
Just out of interest for some of
you, I consumed two scoops of Generation UCAN during the swim (160
calories), during the bike I consumed another two scoops of UCAN, one avocado
and ham wrap in halves, some ginger beer mixed with water, 2 cashew cookie Nakd
bars, 4 jaffa cakes type biscuits, one cup of hot chicken and veg soup with
potato crisps broken in it and Coke mixed with water during the last few laps.
During the run I consumed 2 jaffa cakes at the start and then I consumed grapes
and watermelon and either coke or ginger beer mixed with water, I really didn’t
have the stomach for any solids in the heat but I wasn’t worried, there was plenty
left in my “tank”.
A big thank you to the
organisers, they really did look after us brilliantly, a special thanks to
Thomaz, Miran, Alex and Nina for looking after me and my family. Also a big
thank you for all the other competitors, lovely racing with you all, great
banter and camaraderie throughout the event.
A big thank you to Skechers Performance UK
for supplying me with my favourite shoes for the 2016 season. I wore the
Skechers Go Run 4 for the double in Bakovci, although I had the Go Ride 4 as a
spare but didn’t feel the need to change during the run.
And a MASSIVE thanks to my wife
and daughters for being there for me on the day (and a bit) and offering me all
your love and support. It was SO special to have you there with me to witness
my success. I couldn’t do it without your tolerance and support of the long
hours of training involved.
Just one more ‘little’ race for
2016 left and I’m super excited to be travelling to Greece at the end of
September to challenge the mighty 250km Spartathlon ultramarathon.
