I had made the big mistake of starting the 2.4mile swim that lay ahead of me near the front of the pack. This mean't that for the first 10 minutes I endured about 200 people swimming over the top of me and all I could do was gasp for breath and try and stay a float.
The two lessons of aggressive swimming that I'd attended at Cardiff Triathlon Club was really not enough to see me hold my own in such a strong and determined field. It was an instant reminder that I was racing against to fittest, toughest and strongest athletes in the country.
Somehow I managed to get to the edge of the pack of swimmers and as I got into my stroke, things settled down. I focused on my technique of long strokes and gliding through the water. From then on my technique didn't faulter but at the same time I didn't get a particularly fast swim.
I was very glad when the two laps of Pennington Flash were over and had a mini celebration with myself as I ran up towards transition. Phase 1 done - Tick!
It was now onto the bike for a 112 mile hilly cycle. I wasn't very speedy in transition, mainly because I struggled like hell to get my 'too small' wetsuit off plus I was really enjoying my cheese and ham sandwiches that I had made. 7 mins later and I was off on my bike.
I had borrow a Titanium Road bike from Qoroz which I'd collected the morning before but because I was late for registration I'd had no time to set it up. As i registered I was told that I had to rack my bike at the same time which mean't I only had time to put on my food bag and speedometer. I hadn't even ridden it to check if the cleats worked with my brand new dhb tri shoes.
Luckily all worked and I was off. In fact the bike was amazing. It made my Carbon Scott Bike feel like a Ford next to this ferrari that I was peddling.
Immediately I was over taking people by the dozens and this continued for 30miles until my chain snapped, as I was putting down the power to get me up a particularly nasty hill. 20mins later and after having got even the bike mechanic hot and sweaty as he could not fix the chain quickly, I was off again, chasing those that had managed to catch up with me in this time. For 112 miles I flew around the course and actually started to enjoy the Ironman. The route however was not very inspiring but the feed stations were always something to look forward to...another nasty Powerbar gel or energy drink that was doing all sorts of nasties to my stomach! It was fun trying the keep a good speed up and grab hold of a bottle of water or gel from the marshals as they held them out for us to grab.
The bike was soon over and I'd be on the go for about 8hrs. A marathon was what I had to look forward to next. We ran up and down the same boring roads three times, about 8.5 miles in each direction...it was sole destroying. I held a pace of about 10k an hour and just plodded on.
At one stage I broke into laughter at the agony I was experiencing, the monotony of road running and the loneliness I felt being surround by 1500 other focused, yet in pain, athletes.
I was soon joined by Channel 4 camera crew as they tried to interview me and ask me about the pain I was experiencing as I was running. Of course my speed almost doubled to try and prove I was fine. It didn't last long.
When I realised I only had 500m left to run, reality set in and as I ran up the carpeted home straight the clapping and cheering from Bolton Town Centre made it all worthwhile. I leaped over the finish line with a huge smile and lots of tears in 13hrs 8mins.
I have the Ironman 2010 medal and am now an official member of the club!
