Chasing Kona

by Rob Cummins

  Swim 1:06:55

  Transition 1 was also slower than planned by about two minutes. I just couldn't get it together. I was like a cabbage, fumbling slowly through making mistakes and dropping things. I thought: ‘bring on the bike, and quickly’.

  Transition 1: 6:59

  Biking had gone really well for me that year and despite the patchy training leading into this race (this is always both my favourite and strongest leg) I was looking forward to it. I felt good and straight away started passing people and immediately started moving up the field. The Ironman Florida bike course is pancake flat, the only ‘climb’ is a motorway overpass and the road surface for the most part is great. This leads not only to fast bike splits but also to lots of drafting, made worse today by strong headwinds as many of the racers hid on wheels, looking for shelter. The wind seemed to turn with us and we only had a tail wind for a short time late in the bike leg.

  I raced aggressively on the bike, pushing harder than I would normally, trying to pass and stay away from the packs of drafting riders. In Ironman triathlon you aren't allowed to ride less than ten metres behind another bike, as you will gain an advantage as the rider in front is breaking the wind. The difference in effort riding in a pack is about twenty to thirty per cent less for the rider being sheltered. This means you can ride a lot faster for less effort. It happens often in Florida because there aren't any hills to break up the packs, and there were a lot of packs. It drove me nuts and I let rip a couple of times at guys trying to cheat and sit on my wheel. I surged and pushed to break away from them and would ride away solo for a couple of minutes before the pack would just ride back by me. I went again and again. I was feeling strong and the anger led to me riding a lot more aggressively and much harder than normal.

  I remembered some advice I got from a guy who had raced Florida before. He said he just sat ten to fifteen metres off the back of a pack when they caught and passed him and waited for a draft marshal to catch them. Then when they were penalised and the group broke up he would go back past them.

  I decided to try the same tactic and let them past the next time they caught me. As the pack of about twenty to thirty riders passed, I let the gap open up to about ten or fifteen metres and rode steadily, matching their pace. It didn't take too long before a motorbike marshal pulled up alongside me and matched my pace. I nearly got sick, thinking I was about to be penalised and checked my distance. I was way back and I looked over at the marshal sitting on the back of the bike. She smiled at me and kept on taking down the numbers of the pack.

  When she had them all she tapped her driver to move up and she proceeded to show all of the pack the drafting card. They would have to make a stop at the next penalty tent and wait there for a number of minutes as a result. She made sure the pack split and rode at the legal distance before heading off. I picked up my pace as the riders in front slowed, without the benefit of the pack and picked them off one at a time. Close to half way through the bike I knew that I couldn't keep riding as hard and surging like I had been or I'd blow up.

  At the turnaround point I would have a chance to count the competitors in front of me as they went in the opposite direction. There were still a lot of small packs riding together and I got more and more angry seeing this cheating. I had hoped to be inside the top fifty at this stage but as the numbers climbed past 110 I stopped counting and I could see any chance of a Kona slot slipping away. I decided that I would have to treat it as a run race now because I was so far back. I continued to push but rode a little steadier to the end of the bike. I was very sore and much more tired than I'd expected, most likely as a result of riding as hard as I did for the first half of the bike.

  Bike 5:05:44

  T2 was another fumble fest and worryingly my legs didn't seem to be working.

  Transition 2 - 2:46

  Then it was on to the run and I was pushing to find a rhythm with a sense of panic and anger overcoming me. Kilometres one, two and three saw me catching and passing a half dozen guys, but it felt very hard. I was intent on running down as many of those in front of me as I could, and to hell with caution, I was going to go hard all the way. My anger pushed but my legs were not co-operating at all. Then all of a sudden at about the five kilometre mark something clicked and I started moving really well. Picking off runners one after another and I started to feel really good – in fact the best I'd felt all day. I found that groove that I knew I could hold onto for a long time. I would look up the road and pick my next target and hunt them down. I also smiled at all of the spectators and started saying ‘well done’ to everyone as I passed. Some responded and some were too far inside their own heads to notice but the ones who did gave me a lift and the smiles and cheers from the crowd pushed me on. I was passing people all the way through the first lap and moving up through the field. I was careful to eat, drink and cool myself with the sponges at all the aid stations.

  I continued to feed off the crowd and the other competitors using their encouragement to keep me moving. This is something Ais taught me and I find it gives me a huge boost. Onto the second lap and the course was filling up and the buzz was growing. At about the thirty kilometre mark I was still flying. I felt fantastic and was catching and passing some of the pro men. This was despite the fact that they had started ten minutes before the age group race. I got a huge lift from this and it pushed me on more. It wasn't until thirty five kilometres that it began to really hurt and I started slowing a bit.

  Like Ironman UK the pain went from just being like background noise to being front and centre and feeling like a lot of pain almost instantly, but I didn't care. I knew that I had less than half an hour to go and I kept telling myself that I could hurt for that long. I had thought and hoped I would see Ais on the course but the way the lap in Florida is set out I never did. I ran harder and pushed all the way. Just like IMUK the support from the crowd was fantastic, especially when they saw that I was on my last lap, heading in to finish.

  One of the best feelings of the race was as I came to the end of the lap and there was a marshal directing people back out for the start of their next lap and as I caught his eye I smiled as big a smile as I had all day pointing straight ahead indicating I was finishing and he gave me a huge shout and a high five as I ran by, knowing the pain was nearly over.

  There was about a kilometre to go to the finish and I looked up to realise there was a guy just ahead that I might still catch. I couldn't believe I was about to start sprinting again at the end of an Ironman with nine-and-a-half hours racing completed and legs feeling like lead. I put my head down and I surged hard and tried to hold on to the speed. When I looked up he was walking. I couldn't believe my luck. I pushed harder and looked up again. He was running again but I was gaining fast. One more surge and I had him. I passed him fast, hoping he was too tired to respond. I held the pace for another ten seconds and backed off a bit but didn't dare look back. After a second I could hear footsteps and looked back to see if I was being chased by someone else. I couldn't believe it. I surged again and again but he was still there. I could hear his feet slapping and him breathing hard on my shoulder. I was sprinting all out and still couldn't see the finish. I pushed again and thought he was fading behind and gave it one last surge coming into the finish chute at last – to a huge cheer. The crowd loves a sprint finish.

  I held him off in the end by a couple of seconds. I turned immediately and as with all triathlons I've done the guy you were trying to kill ten seconds ago is the first one over to shake hands and congratulate you. It's one of the best parts of the sport.

  Run 3:18:37

  Overall 49th 9:40:29

  After getting my finisher’s T-shirt and medal I headed straight to the food tent. I was starving, and started into slice after slice of pizza and bottles of water while I was waiting for Ais to finish. I met and held her after she crossed the line. The end of an Ironman is always very emotional for me and it’s only made that much better if you get to share it with someone you love and
admire.

  In the end I had moved up from almost 400th out of the swim to 110th off the bike to forty-ninth overall and eleventh in my age group after the run. This was not enough for a Kona slot but I think I got the race I'd trained for, so I wasn't as disappointed as I was in the UK earlier that year. I also learned a lot and really enjoyed it. There were parts of the race that I was happy with and it was a run that I was proud of. I was also happy with my bike time, considering the training mistakes made leading into it. One of the big positive effects on me was mental. It reinforced my belief in myself that I can race at this level and that IMUK wasn't a fluke or a ‘soft’ race. Again, the satisfaction in my day outweighed the disappointment in not getting a slot for Kona. I also took some more valuable lessons away about race day and the lead into it.

  ❖

  Chapter 19

  Off season, ultra, half Iron

  I was mentally exhausted after Ironman Florida and ready for a complete break from structured training for what was left of November and on into December of 2011. After two weeks of doing nothing we started back running. Aisling and I have tended to go back to running whenever we are either in triathlon off-season or taking a break from structured training. I also made contact with a new coach, a guy called Bill Black. He was recommended to me by one of the top Irish Ironman athletes and multiple Kona finisher, Matt Molloy. I was scheduled to start to work with him in January. He was based in the UK, so all contact would be on the phone or by email.

  The first month back into proper training for us is very much about seeing how it's going to fit into our life and in forming new routines. I was also starting to incorporate Bill's plan. We were both sort of feeling each other out I suppose initially. The first three weeks on his programme made it obvious that he was going to drive me hard. I was excited and often nervous getting the week’s schedule and reading what he had planned for me. There was a lot of challenging sessions from the start.

  At the end of January we went on a holiday/training camp, but without the bikes. We ran twice most days and I had my biggest swim and run weeks with close to 180k running and 20,000m in the water. Training numbers overall for January weren't massive but I'd put in a lot of swimming and while the bike hours were very low, most of the sessions had a lot of quality work in them –either strength work or intervals. The run was close enough to target and again had plenty of good quality sessions.

  January

  Total hours 67:30 45 sessions

  S 15:15 48600m 16 sessions

  B 25:15 716k 10 sessions

  R 27:05 295k 19 sessions

  I wasn't feeling great at all in February and all month I was missing sessions. I only got about sixty per cent of the scheduled work done. I was constantly tired and, if I'm honest, it was probably due to the one race I did. It was a fifty-kilometre ultra marathon which I think had much more of a negative effect on the month than I would have liked to admit. I did a very short taper and ran it strictly as a long training run and stuck to the pace the coach set. I had a target time of four hours and came in at 3:57.

  I still think it took at least two weeks to recover from this, despite running easy. In hindsight it's probably better to do an event like this before I start full training. Any benefit gained from the experience of running that long is far outweighed by the loss of training hours and quality overall during the period. I also started to introduce some strength and conditioning which I was hoping would become an important core part of my training.

  February 12

  Total hours 55:50 41 sessions

  S 13:50 40800m 12 sessions

  B 20:05 549k 9 sessions

  R 18:05 225.5 13 sessions

  S&C 2:40

  March was slightly more consistent and I gradually saw an improvement in times and particularly in the quality of the bike sessions. I was still, however, about fifteen hours short for the month’s target. Work was getting busier and as usual training was the first thing to suffer. The bike was really the only one of the three that was on target that month, with the swim and run both coming up short. The strength and conditioning was also falling off a bit.

  March 12

  Total hours 65:20 38 sessions

  Swim 8:20 26400m 9 sessions

  Bike 47:00 1220k 25.95kph 20 sessions

  Run 8:50 102.5k 11.46kph 8 sessions

  S&C 1:10

  In April things finally started to click and I strung together some good big weeks. But probably the best lesson from the previous three months was that all the training sessions, even those that one doesn’t think are working add up over time. I believe Ironman is all about the big picture. The small details like which type of session I should do or how I feel on any given day is much less important than getting the training done consistently. Again the bike volume was close to bang on target, with the swim and run very close to what was scheduled. The improvement in weather helped a lot in getting in the bike miles and a return to club racing for the first time in a number of years. This brought on my bike speed very quickly as well as helping to sharpen up my handling.

  The strength and conditioning was miserably poor, only getting in one session for the month.

  April 12

  Total hours 74:00 46 sessions

  Swim 11:40 36600m 16 sessions

  Bike 44:40 1211k 15 sessions

  Run 15:40 191k 12 sessions

  S&C 0:30

  Despite work being very hectic in May, I was not only getting good consistent weeks in at the start of the month. I was starting to see my splits improve. I could feel the fitness coming on and with it some confidence. It was the beginning of the triathlon season for me and I was starting with a half Ironman. The other big event was the Race The Ras, an eight-day sportive I rode the previous year which was on again this year. Swim volume for the month was very low, the run wasn't too far off target but with the bike week the volume of cycling was high. The strength and conditioning was still very poor, again only doing one session for the month.

  May 12

  Total 73:15 32 sessions

  Swim 6:40 18300m 6 sessions

  Bike 55:10 1627k 16 sessions

  Run 15:40 175k 13 sessions

  S&C :40

  Tri an Mhi 2012 half Iron distance

  This was the most nervous and reluctant I've been before any race I can remember. I was dreading the cold of the swim. I'd been hearing stories of freezing open water swims and hypothermia all week and it had got to me. I was battling in my head with a ‘why the hell am I doing this’ back and forth argument for the last thirty minutes before being herded into the lake. I never used to mind the cold but one of the side effects for me of all the training was that I had become very lean. During race season I usually only have about six to seven per cent body fat, which means I really feel the cold.

  The cold was shocking and my chest tightened. I swam a few strokes and stood up. I tried again with the same result. I found it really hard to breathe and we were due to start any second. The starter’s gun went and I dived in and had to keep alternating swimming with my head up out of the water then back in to try to get used to the shock. After a couple of minutes thinking I would never get going properly, I gradually adjusted to it and settled into a steady hard rhythm. It wasn't long before I was actually enjoying myself.

  My swimming had been improving steadily over that year. In particular my sighting was getting better so I tended not to wander around too much. The first lap went well. Halfway into the second lap the cold really hit me hard and I started shivering badly. I knew I was in trouble as I slowed more and more. I was aware that I was getting dangerously cold and I was still a couple of hundred metres from shore. I couldn't bend my arm properly to catch the water and as a result slowed further still. I was told afterwards that the lethargy and lack of panic are symptoms of hypothermia. I was being passed by lots of people but couldn't do anything about it as my body began to shut down more and more. I finally made it to the slipway and had to be helped to my f
eet. I headed into transition but I was so cold that I again needed help. I couldn't put on my jacket and gilet. I was over ten minutes behind the first swimmers out of the water and near the back of the field. I think I was somewhere about 130th place.

  Swim 0:39:06

  Transition 1– 02:45

  It took ages to get going up on the bike. I was shivering violently and tried to push hard to warm up but my body wouldn't respond and I found myself in the unusual position of getting out at the back of the swim and going further backwards. The bike is where I normally start to move up the field and pass people. It took almost thirty kilometres before I warmed up and finally started to go well. From then on I moved steadily up the field all the way through the rest of the bike section. I ended up with a big negative split on the bike, going over seven minutes faster on the second forty-five-kilometre lap when I finally warmed up. I never would have believed that a cold swim could cost so much time overall. I had no idea how far back I was at this stage but I had plenty of racing aggression from the bike and I was going to carry it out onto the run.