Ironman Lanzarote took place on Saturday. I don’t think the race needs much introduction – a long standing event with lots of hills and wind to deal with – one of the toughest of the Ironman races. It still draws a decent mid to large sized field and offers a total of 40 Kona slots for the fastest age groupers. There will be 40 qualifying Age Group slots for the 2021 IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona on offer at the 2021 IRONMAN Lanzarote. Be prepared to pay the entry fee with credit card ONLY. We will NOT accept cash or cheque as a valid form of payment. 2021 IRONMAN Championship (kailua-Kona, Hawai`i, USA) - 1050 USD + Hawai`i GE Tax.

5.30am on race morningSlots Ironman Lanzarote
I have dreamt of the moment for so long....7am on PDC beach with 1500 other nervous athletes about to take on the toughest ironman on the circuit. I have never dedicated myself to something more, never made so many sacrifices in one go with the sole aim of getting the best out of myself from the time the gun fired to when I finished.
I cant begin to convey how sad and frustrated I was when about an hour into the bike, my right knee starting hurting in the same way it had done in previous rides leaving me unable to walk, let alone run. What do you do though? Stop? Risk it, carry on and hope the injury doesnt cause any lasting damage?
Whilst I did my upmost to clear my mind of any negative thoughts on Saturday morning whilst standing on the beach, there was always the little voice chipping away saying this is gonna hurt.....and it did.
If I didnt intend to finish, I wouldnt have started that swim. In the end it was a pretty special day out there and I did learn a lot from it. I also witnessed some epic ironmen and know that I can, with a bit more work, really mix it with the best out there.
I had a great, chilled out week prior to the race staying up in a villa in Tias. Jimbo Peet and his fiance Kasia stayed for the first few days which was great and it was nice getting to know those guys. Jim is a great athlete and it has been a pleasure doing a bit of training with him in the build up to the race. We did an easy hour on the Sunday and then another easy but longer ride on the Tuesday. Even taking it easy I was feeling the knee though and the day after (Wednesday - three days to race day) I was struggling to walk properly on it. Not good.
Anyway, a couple of swims also in the bank and was feeling pretty confident about that...ive just gotta get this technique cleaned up a bit to get that speed sorted as 1hr 13 is too slow for the sort of times I want to be posting. But here's a challenge for me during my recovery from the knee injury....a challenge to get my swim down to 1.05 by the end of the summer. Bring it on.
The support team of Mum, Guy and Kim arrived on Thursday evening and it was great to see them. I cant begin to express how much their support has helped me in my preparation for the race. I have consistently been tired and grumpy with a very short fuse but these guys have helped me masses. Thank you!
I took it really easy in the days prior to the race. Lots of stretching, trigger point therapy and just really getting myself in a good frame of mind. It was great to meet up with some more friends too. None more so than Tom and Helen Williams who are some great people and I really enjoyed having a lunch with them and just chatting through race day plans etc Tom really helped mentally and I thought a lot about our chat. I am an age grouper, this is a hobbie and we are here to have FUN! Its so easy to forget that sometimes though.
Race day finally arrived and after 32minutes sleep it was time for some breakfast at 4am. Ironman is as much about logistics and organisation as it is about fitness. We left the villa at 5am to get down to transition for 5:30 to set up the bike and have some time to soak up the atmosphere. I felt great and was so alive with the buzz of all the other athletes. Normally I would be soooo nervous and quiet but I really didnt feel the pressure I normally put on myself, mainly due to the injury I think. I think I knew exactly how the day was going to pan out so just wanted to ensure I didnt hate the day and use it as another notch on the experience belt, as well as finishing my first Ironman. Plus....get out there and have some FUN!!!

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So, the gun finally fired literally as the sun rose on the horizon and we were off.
Race Start
I set off close to the rope as most swimmers started wide before the first left turn 150m ahead. It was a pretty rough first lap and I rarely found open water. I think this is really down to the fact the majority of people swim between 1.05 and 1.20 so I was in the thick of the masses. Anyway, I just stuck to the plan and took it pretty steady although in retrospect I wish Id gone a bit harder as I finished the first lap a minute slower than what I wanted. Onto the second lap though and was surprised the masses hadnt thinned out a bit more as there was still a lot of congestion around the turn buoys. So, out of the swim in 1hr 13 - 3mins slower than what I wanted but was still pretty pleased.
Swim start
The first error of the day was not taking the wettie off in the showers as I got coated in sand when I took it off in T1 tent. Suncream applied, funky glasses donned and it was time to see how the knee felt running for the first time in 4.5 weeks to my bike.....it actually felt okay and I hopped onto the bike thinking maybe, somehow I could be okay today!
Heading off on the bike
It felt awesome getting on the bike and I was really excited about pulling off a savage bike split. I hammered the first 10 / 20miles consistently passing those who had swum a bit quicker :) The course is fantastic and there is always a fast stretch before and after a tougher stretch. I found the average speed jumped around a lot from 23.5 at one point to 19.5 another. My heart rate took about an hour to steadily get to where I wanted it and really felt great. I was amazed for example how easy it seemed as I went past endless people fighting up Timafaya and recall a number of people almost looking in disbelief at the speed I was going up the hills there. I genuinely felt as fast as I ever have done and was well set to take on my low 5hr ride. It was towards the end of the Timafaya climb that my knee became sore on the Tuesday ride prior to the race and it was pretty much exactly the same place that it happened again. Its difficult to describe but the pain is pretty dehabilitating and with every hard 'push' on the pedal it gradually gets more and more inflammed. I had some 400mg paracetamol tablets on the bike though and I planned to take one an hour in and then another c30minutes before the end of the bike. The first one went down and I really felt the effects.....and they werent great. On the fast decent into Famara I started feeling very light headed and dizzy which is a very insecure feeling when your going quick downhill! It did however help diminish some of the pain so that was a plus. This feeling lasted about 2hours which wasnt pleasant especially as the day started warming up. The climb into Teguise was smoking hot and dry but my HR stayed where I wanted it and just continued to pick off cyclist after cyclist.
By Haria I was feeling okay again but the knee was causing more issues especially on uphills sections where more pressure goes through the knee as you climb in the saddle. A combo of seated and standing climbing was required therefore and I guess the good thing was I didnt feel in anyway fatigued. My nutrition plan was going well although I had lost my gel carrier early on the bike but was only 2 gels short after Haria thanks to my special needs bag. Onto Mirador and the most amazing view ever! It was on the very fast decent from here though that I started really feeling the knee and about 5minutes after decending had to hop off the bike to have a stretch and massage to try and eleviate a bit of pain. The ITB is a nightmare to stretch and really once the inflammation is booming, nothing really can be done apart from either stopping or getting on with.... and its pretty obvious which route I was going to take.
Back on the bike and with about 25 miles to go I think I just tried to push as hard as I could. By this stage I could barely stand and cycle so was getting a bit concerned about the up and coming marathon. Still, I cracked on up the new part of the course to Teguise and then fired along the straight back towards PDC. Following a pretty sore last half of the bike I arrived back in transition having averaged 20.5mph getting me home in 5hrs 22minutes. This was probably 10 - 15 minutes slower than what I really felt I could achieve but still, a pretty fast time on a hot day and the injury / time off the bike didnt help either.

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I came down the hill into T2, hopped off the bike and immediately was reduced to a savage limp. This really was one of the most awful moments as I just didnt know what to do. I got the run bag, went into the change tent where again i got turned into a snowman thanks to the copious amounts of suncream that the helpers apply. I spent another 5 mintues stretching and sorting myself out before finally limping out of the tent and out on the run course. 6hrs 50 gone and It was time to take down the marathon in whatever way i could. I guessed I hoped that somehow I might be able to 'limp run' or at least walk darn fast but nothing other than a straight right leg hobble was achievable. What a long hack I was in for. The garmin read 18minutes per mile so by my calculations it was going to take a very long time. I have never been more frustrated as steadily the 631 people I had passed on the bike ran past....some wishing me well, some suggesting I take it easier on the bike!!! That comment frustrated me the most as I genuinely felt great and so up for running a great marathon split! Still I set about my challenge as fast as I could. I wasnt going anywhere fast though and its only when you walk a marathon you realise quite how far it really is. Running it almost makes it shorter and it also gets you to the aid stations quicker which helps tick things off mentally.
After about 4hrs of marching and the first half mara ticked off, I started to feel pretty awful probably due the combination of fatigue, pain and quantity of caffeine I had in my system. Still, I carried on as fast as I could gradually being over taken by slower and slower runners. A lot of mates had finished and were enjoying their well earned rest as I worked hard for mine. The support was great in PDC and I must thank my support team who helped me get through it. I think they probably thought what a mupppet, what is he doing but as I said earlier....there was nothing gong to get in my way of finishing. Jim who I mentioned earlier came and walked with me for a bit as i neared the end of the marathon. This was incredibly kind and so uplifting in my dreary, pretty emotional state. It got pretty lonely out of the town centre and as the sun went down, really quite miserable. The aid stations were diminshing and supporters turned to bemused family and couples heading out for dinner!!!
I finally got to the finishing chute in 14hrs 44minutes with a 7hr 53 marathon.....I was tired, upset and frustrated but finally had the privilidge of becoming and Ironman. I still, if im honest, dont feel an ironman and I wont until the next race where I am able to run the marathon. A lot of people hae said to me it was a lot harder doing what I did and that running was the easy option. They are probably right as mentally I have never gone through such emotion and required every ounce of strength to block the pain and get through the day. I had, though, trained so hard for this race. I have never been so committed to something in my life and so wanted to surpise people with what I knew I could achieve. This was my first ironman but i knew I could do an awesome time and give myself the ultimate boost.
One tough day finally done.
Anyway, enough of the dreary me....time to get positive, take the positives from the day and get even stronger and fitter for the next one. The plan is somewhat slighty blurry at the moment as I wait to find out a solid prognosis. Im going to get in to see an orthopedic next week to get this diagnosed asap and go from there. Ill work super hard at getting it right as soon as possible but i know patience will be required, something I severely lack! Roth Ironman in 7 weeks is not going to happen sadly. I think the plan will now be to race Antwerp 70.3 at end of July, qualify for the 70.3 World Champs in Florida (in November) and do either Challenge Copenhagen or Barcalona (both ironman's but unofficial ones) or potentially Ironman Canada at end of August, but thats unlikely.
Next year really excites me already. I sent off my London Mara ballot entry which I deffered this year, yesterday. The plan is to run c2.55 next year in that, go back to Austria for the half ironman in May, do another half in June and then a July Ironman - probably Austria - with the intention to qualify for Kona. Hopefully by then the swim will be down to low 1hr, the bike even stronger and run fast enough to get that slot. We will see but im gonna train my socks off!
Thank you to everyone for your support to date. I couldnt have done it without you.
Im proud to say i'm finally an Ironman.

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Tom
The finish.....