I did it! I made it! 70.3 miles of swimming, cycling and running completed and a nice shiny medal and a hell of a lot of pride to show for it!
Before I get into the nitty gritty of the race itself lets rewind a few weeks, so grab yourself a cuppa and a biscuit or two and get yourself comfy for what is undoubtedly going to be a fairly long, emotional, hopefully amusing and potentially “too much information” blog. Like you expected anything less!
Since the Alps trip not only have I been checking the weather on a daily basis but I achieved a number of PBs throughout my training. The first of which was completing the Mad Summer Hare, a 106 mile (36 miles more than any other bike ride I’d done before) ride taking in 4 ridiculous climbs in the Cotswolds.
This may well have tipped me over the edge though because following on from this I managed to pick up a niggle in my leg. I tried to ignore it and went on and did the Great North Run. Initially intending for it to be a training run, I took the first 2 miles steady in my low HR zone, taking photos of the Tyne Bridge on route. I could feel the niggle in my leg but it wasn’t enough to stop me running. The only real niggle I had now was the one in my head telling me I could get sub 2 hours, or even PB. So off I went, on a mission for my second sub 2 hour half. I ignored my watch and just settled into a steady pace. The heat and the adrenaline ultimately resulted in me running HRZ4 for the remaining 11 miles but to be honest I didn’t feel like I was pushing myself too hard or going all out. Every mile I was just making sure I was on track to average 9mm and get my sub 2. As I reached the mile 10 marker I’d banked a couple of minutes as I knew there was a final uphill to tackle. Somehow the crowd got me through and I didn’t lose my pace. Hitting the descent to the beach I had two options, let gravity take me down or try and hold myself back a little. Obviously the first option was the less painful one so I went for it and continued into the final mile weaving in and out of people and finishing with a sprint finish in 1.55.20 – a PB of almost 3 minutes on my previous PB from 2 years ago! (Strava claims my half marathon time to be 1.54.57 so I’ll take that as a sub 1.55 half!)
Unlike last time though I had cycled 70 miles the day before yet I was still about to walk after and headed towards Flip to cheer others on! Unfortunately, GNR pushed my niggle into the front of my mind a bit more as I struggled with it over the next few days. An emergency sports massage and a last minute physio appointment were booked and I reluctantly missed my final 2 hour 15 mins long run of the training plan. Quite honestly it was torture and it took every ounce of me not to go but I knew I’d do more damage than good and opted to spend the entire morning in bed.
Before I knew it, it was time to head to Portugal. I packed and repacked my bag multiple times to ensure I’d not forgotten anything of course. The journey over to Portugal was a slightly stressful one. Not only did it take us 2 and a half hours to drive to the airport instead of 1.45 but I spent the entire flight hoping that my bike had made it over successfully. I was so sceptical about easy jets ability to deliver my suitcase to the right country that everything I needed for the race, other than my bike, was in my hand luggage! You’ll be glad to hear my bike made it and Becky and I dragged it across Portugal to our apartment in Cascais. I didn’t trust my bike poor bike mechanic skills to put my bike together myself so instead I paid for someone to do it for me which was well worth it as I had no issues on the day at all – thanks bike fix!
The next few days were a blur of last minute training, registering, purchasing obscene amounts of merchandise, packing my transition bags a million times and a day of distraction at the zoo! Our other mate Adam arrived just in time for the zoo trip and now my finish line cheer squad was complete!
Cascais is quite honestly a stunning town! Unfortunately the surrounding area is not flat which obviously meant the bike course wasn’t going to be flat either. Through the powers of Facebook and Instagram I had befriended two fellow competitors, one of whom had a car and used to live here, so Friday morning we headed out to drive the uphill segment of the course. Luckily it was not as bad as I was expecting; a 10km climb from the bottom to the top but with a few flats and down hills in between. I’m glad I drove it as it gave me a bit more confidence about meeting the cut off on Sunday.
Prior to the event I had so much support and advice from so many people. The best pieces of advice I received were:
- Finish before cut off
- Don’t sh*t yourself
- If you collapse at the end the volunteers will stop your Garmin for you
- Enjoy it
Two of the things above were my biggest fears for the day and I had to hope they didn’t come true! All I had to do now was cross that goddamn finish line within 8 and a half hours and not sh*t myself…simple right?! My strategies were simple, don’t drown, don’t crash, keep your legs moving regardless of how slow and take a load of Immodium! Anything else that may happen along the way wasn’t going to stop me!
On the Saturday I spent the day packing up my transition bags, checking their contents at least 4 times with Becky and Adam also verifying I’d packed everything, before racking my bike and hanging my bags in transition. In between I attended the race briefing where I somehow managed to squeeze into a room packed full of huge egos which quite honestly was exceptionally intimidating. Of course I stayed behind at the end to ask a multitude of questions but it eased my mind somewhat.
I headed to bed early ready for my 4am alarm to go off. Turns out I didn’t need the alarm as I was wide awake from 2am! Suncream on and nutrition collected from the fridge and off we trundle across to transition in the pitch black. After dropping off my nutrition in transition we headed to the beach with a mere hour until I had to be in the starting pen.
Anyone else who races will get the above photo, it definitely doesn’t need any further commentary…. (although there is no emoji for the Immodium consumption)
I headed for the sub 35 pen and got chatting to a lovely lady who was calming my nerves! The rolling start wasn’t the rolling start I was expecting. They weren’t releasing 6 people every 10 minutes, as soon as you reached the front you were off. Which was good in a way as it meant I didn’t have time to stress before I started.
Off I went into the mass of flailing arms and legs swimming into the sunrise. My tactic here was to stay to one side which I managed quite successfully. It was very crowded round the first two buoys and I managed to draft off a few people along the way and overtook a large amount of people too. By the 3rd buoy the field had started to spread out a bit and I was on the home straight. Unfortunately the home straight was also quite choppy which I wasn’t really expecting but I powered on through to the ramp. A quick check on my watch and I was chuffed with my swim time. One down, two to go!
I headed up the ramp and grabbed my trainers for the 650m run to transition . I knew Becky and Adam were there somewhere in the crowd but the amount of cheering was ridiculous so I wasn’t able to locate them.
The bike mount line was at the bottom of a ramp out of transition. Having been told it was at the top on the road I had obviously left my bike in the wrong gear along with everyone else! A quick run through the gears and I was out onto the road.
The bike course is honestly stunning and a reasonably quick course, at least for the first 30 miles. I clocked the first 20 miles in under an hour and realised I probably needed to reign it in a bit if I was going to make it to the end! At 30 miles we headed in land for a lap of the grand prix track which was really cool. After this the “big hill” started. It was split into two really steep 10% incline sections followed by a short downhill before finishing with a long and steady uphill. Here my hill climbing strength came into play as I powered on past a fair few people. Obviously I imminently got overtaken on the downhill! The final 10 miles were downhill and then flat along the coast which meant for a speedy finish. Somehow I came in 50 minutes faster than my target bike time of 4 hours and now just had the run to conquer. I’d met the cut off and felt significantly more relaxed by now.
A quick change in transition where I braved the portaloo (gross) and apparently lost my Garmin edge (later located in lost and found luckily!) and I was back out on the road for what was going to be toughest bit.
The first two miles were ok and then I swiftly deteriorated from there. I refused to walk the first lap which I successfully managed just about but by the turnaround I felt broken. It was so fricking hot, full of rolling hills and my feet were in agony. for the second lap I knew I’d have to walk so told myself I’d walk the aid stations and up the hills. I popped a few paracetamol and took a gel at mile 7. For the next mile I felt significantly better and then at mile 8 I was concerned fear #2 might come true. Bear in mind I’d already taken 4 Immodium by now I didn’t know quite how this was possible but I walked the next mile to the aid station. Upon opening the door to the loo my body suddenly decided it was fine (the sight was sickening) and I carried on past the turnaround and into the final 5km. I was by no means going at any speed but mentally I was in a much better place by now, accepting the run walk strategy was the way forward and hoping I could still make my 2.15 target.
Coming towards the finish I could see and hear Becky and Adam cheering from the top of the stand. This was the last push I needed to get round the final turnaround and down to the finish line!
Overall I finished in 6.13.25 almost an hour faster than my target of 7.10 and well within cut off. I beat my target in each of the 3 sports and spent the evening celebrating with prosecco and ice cream! Its the hardest thing I’ve ever done but I really enjoyed it (apart from maybe the first 10 km run) and I haven’t said that I won’t do another one so it can’t have been that bad!
Thank you to everyone who supported me along the way. Massive thanks go to this pair for being truly awesome over the last few days – I couldn’t have done it without you!
But also to everyone who supported me, tracked me, answered my ridiculous questions, came swimming cycling and/or running with me and always believed in me!
It’s been a journey that’s for sure! A journey that started as a coping strategy to the grief associated with the loss of my mum, a way to keep myself busy and ultimately to do something that would have made her proud.
But that soon escalated from a sprint triathlon into something much much bigger as I became addicted to triathlon and the desire to always go the next step.
Quite honestly I’m sad it’s over – I’ve enjoyed the training and have made a lot of great friends along the way. I’ve even managed to fit in some dating and acquire an addition to the ironman cheer squad somehow; if you haven’t read “Don’t Date a Girl who Tris” then firstly you should, but for now you won’t understand the complexities and difficulties of trying to date whilst training for a half ironman.
Prior to flying to Portugal I had already signed up for Outlaw Half for May 2019. I did this largely as a backup strategy just in case I didn’t make it round Portugal I’d have another chance!
I’m excited that for the next few months of relative “rest”; I will be able to plan my exercising around my social life rather than the other way round. My hectic lifestyle I’m sure will remain but hopefully I will not be carting myself from a 40th birthday in Ashby to a ball in Birmingham to a swimming gala in Leicester, whilst trying to fit in a 2+ hour bike ride and pray my bike doesn’t get nicked out of my car!
Overall, the race was great and I would really recommend it. The aid stations were great and the support was incredible. As for Cascais itself, it is a truly stunning place to spend a few days!
If you’re ever in doubt, always remember “Anything is possible!”
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