Race Report - the "bigger picture"

I said after my win at Taiwan 70.3 that there "[was] SO much MORE to last Saturdays win than what simply went on in the 4h09min of racing..." I wanted to write about EVERYTHING that had gone into achieving that result, but decided to wait until after IM Western Australia as this helps give extra dimension and further "body" to all of it, maybe for some of you reading this, extra credibility too. You can read race reports for both those races below & on my website to hear about the race days themselves; what's here though, to me, is FAR more important and significant than the normal post-race waffle I might give about 'race strategy and the nutrition I took onboard etc'.

Both these race performances have been a LONG time coming and despite MANY setbacks, something I always believed I was capable of. Yes there has been a LOT of hard work and perseverance but SO many people have been involved in getting me through some very tough times and to those results... I'll try to mention as many as I can here and explain their significance. I owe a HUGE thanks to them ALL.

I should probably pre-empt all of this too by pointing out that the win in Taiwan on October 30th, was almost exactly 1 year to the day since I’d returned to training after an enforced 10 weeks of complete rest having been hit with chronic fatigue. 2007,08 & 09 had been incredibly draining years for me physically, mentally and emotionally; the stress of which had gone un-acknowledge by me. It all lead to a gradual deterioration in both training and race performance and eventually to me imploding in August of 09. I was an empty shell with nothing left inside but my faith that God was still in control and would use this for good somehow. He was, and did and I’m actually very grateful for this time as I learned some hard, yet important lessons and grew in lots of ways that I needed to. We can learn our greatest lessons from our biggest defeats, and I certainly did, leading eventually to 1 year on feeling like I had been restored and I hope, better for it all.

But back to the race report “bigger picture”…

Undoubtedly, without my parents none of this would have happened; not least because I was at the point where I couldn't actually afford to fully pay for the trip. Without their help I wouldn't even have boarded the plane to get to the race in Taiwan. But far more than this is the unceasing support they have given without hesitation in so many other ways. Always encouraging and believing in me... and trusting in MY self-belief EVEN through the really bad and low times, when MANY others didn't. Last year when I literally fell apart physically and emotionally with chronic fatigue, they never questioned or deterred me for continuing and they did ALL they could to help me try to fully rest and recover. I know I'm INCREDIBLY blessed to always have my mum, dad & brothers behind me. Coming to races to support, help and simply sharing the pressure, the early mornings, feeding me the HUGE quantities of food I consume :-) ...the list is endless, but personally NEVER goes un-noted.

My church 'family' too, have been wonderful over the last few years. Some VERY close friends have supported me, encouraged, prayed un-ceasingly and also believed in/with me when things didn't seam to be going too well. When, at 10.30pm, the night before the race in Taiwan I was STILL waiting for my bike to arrive they were back in the UK praying for me. This kind of support is hard to put a price on... you can't, but knowing I'm never "alone" when racing even when 1000's of miles away has been key to me being able to race closer to my potential. They understand my desire to use sport as a "missionary field" where I can hopefully show and speak about my faith. (You can briefly read more about this at www.ForHisGlory.co.uk ) I know they share in my delight as the results come and it opens doors - such as this blog - to speak about why my beliefs as a Christian are so important... THE MOST important thing. In particular Chris, Linda and Jen, have shared every hard and easy road as I walked (sometimes crawled) on it and I really can't thank them enough.

I'm also very fortunate to have a very big but close circle of friends most of which I've known since I was a very little kid. We've grown up (I hope ha ha) together and they've known me as the Wimbledon tennis ball-boy, footballer, the "lads holiday" boy etc... I know its quite unusual to have a large circle of friends whom have been together for over 2 decades but in recent times, when training and racing has meant sometimes 2-3 months between seeing them, I've realised how close and important they all are to me. They too have understood when it didn't make sense and never undermined what I was trying to do even if the evidence at the time didn't seam to back up what I believed. They've also come to races, helped when money got a little tight and very simply been good, solid, loving mates; even their parents have helped me at times! To quote one of them recently in jest (himself quoting Morrissey) "We hate it when our friends become successful and if they're Northern, well, that makes it even worse..."

Others like Wayne who has been a great mate, fellow tri-geek to waffle tri-world chat to, share dozens of website links about the latest bikes :-) GREAT massage therapist and also massive help during some tough times in the last few years. His treatment of my legs before Taiwan was critical I'm sure, to my legs feeling SO GOOD in that race despite the mammoth journey I made so close to race day. It's little things -well actually to me they're HUGE- like his giving me free treatment and helping so much when I was injured earlier this year, that kept me going when sometimes I didn't feel like it. When I've been feeling a little low, their belief in me has restored mine or simply given it added strength when maybe mine was waning. I know particularly with Wayne that he's struggled himself with his training and racing recently so I hope that my results will give him a little personal satisfaction too and encourage HIM to keep chasing his dreams.

I am also, very blessed to count one of the worlds current greatest athletes (in ANY SPORT in my opinion) as a close and dear friend. It's says something of what she has achieved in triathlon and increasingly beyond it too, in such a short space of time that as I write this she has just received an honorary doctorate from Birmingham University and today is preparing to meet the Queen to receive an OBE! [It's often said that the BIGGEST stars need only be know by their first name so...] Whilst Chrissie has been destroying world records, beating most of the men in the world and racking up World Titles she’s also been a CONSTANT supporter, encourager, adviser and friend. Earlier this year literally HOURS after she broken her own world record she emailed me to wish me good luck for the race I was soon to do! This kind of thing is what all the on-line wana-be's and "haters" don't know about her. They don't see her fighting my little corner whilst they write complete rubbish about her, as they hide behind on-line pseudonyms; but I can't tell you how much it helps to have her also showing complete belief in me, even when things were going REALLY badly at times. Others previously very close to me have ended up very negative and un-supportive, but when I’ve have the best in the world saying otherwise its helped pull me through and I can't thank her enough. She deserves her royal honour and continued success in the future more than anyone I can think of.

The more I think about it, the more people spring to mind. Friends overseas who paid for me to have a holiday with them when external issues left me exhausted and emotionally drained (thanks to my American "family" for that!). There are SO many and it stirs up within me a deep sense of gratitude, love and humility when I stop and take it all in.

Sponsors too, have been very supportive and this year PureTri, Powerbar, CompressSport, ProVO2, Greeper and DC Leisure have really made things much easier when it comes to equipment, kit & nutrition that I quite simply couldn't afford on my own. It's nice to be able I hope, to repay them if only a little so far with the results and increased exposure of recent times.

Finally though comes the single most important influence and helper and the one who deserves ALL the credit for anything "good" I'm ever able to achieve... as a Christian I KNOW (as I wrote in my IM WA race report) its ALL a gift of Gods grace; I simply get to enjoy it... When things have fallen apart, it’s been my faith in Jesus ALONE that has kept me going, given me hope and purpose both in and beyond triathlon. I explain this on the website I linked to earlier and I hope you'll take the time to read it... because its not just what suits ME and helps ME, my faith isn't a crutch I lean on when the #### hits the fan; its truth, its real and I hope I can continue to share this and show it through how I train, race, speak, think and live. The bible speaks very clearly about endurance (Hebrews 12:1-2), but importantly, enduring with a purpose and NOT wasting the suffering that we ALL go through (1 Peter 4:11-16). Knowing this truth makes suffering, failure, hardship and defeat (as well as victories and good times etc) things I'm actually able to rejoice in... I know that seams like a complete oxymoron, but it’s true. And just by way of an example, consider that not less than 7 years ago I did my first ever Olympic triathlon at London finishing not far off 3hrs. A lot has changed since then (I'm nearly twice as fast now and as I write this I'm currently ranked in the top 30 guys in the world for Ironman and 70.3 racing); weaknesses have been turned into strengths (Hebrews 11:34). I've seen so many answers to my prayers and His hand SO CLEARLY at work in my life during this time, but I've only become increasingly humbled by my awareness that its all a gift, and I need to look after each opportunity, this body I've been given, every word I get to speak and use them as God wants me to... to reveal HIS glory :-) Soli Deo gloria

So you see, it’s certainly not as simple as swim, bike, run but nor does it come to watts, heart rates and energy gels :-) I know that Taiwan and IM WA don't make me a big "star"... they are only 2 reasonably decent results, but I certainly hope the start of more. Whatever though, Gods in control and I'm just happy I get to see a little of "the ride". I hope next year I get to share more of this with you all.

IM Western Australia 2010 Race Report

Having been away from home for so long prior to this race (since just before my win at Taiwan 70.3 back in October) there's a LOT I could write around this race... but I'll save that all for a later post. In short though I'd had a fantastic 4 week build up to this race staying with my good friends Andy and Melissa (and their boys Noah & Lucas) on the Goldcoast. The weather was great - certainly better than the snow back home and with 50m open air pools, runs along the beach and awesome riding up in the hills I couldn't have asked for a better prep for my 3rd and I hoped 1st successful (result) Ironman.

I'd also had a great time with my Homestay hosts Dennis and Liz; who'd welcomed me into their home so warmly and run around after me all week. With the picturesque town of Bussleton as the setting for the race, perfect race conditions and a flat fast course, I had no excuses not to be excited before the race.

With everything going smoothly the morning of the race, I found myself standing on the white sands of the beach waiting for 5.30am and the Pro's swim start. I was putting no pressure on myself and instead of a swim warm-up, chose to stand on the beach and take it all in, reminding myself that success or failure, pain or pleasure it was all a gift of Gods grace that I was blessed to be able to enjoy. This was going to be my approach to the whole day!

So when the gun went and the 50 or so Pro's all launched into the washing machine frenzy that the swim start always is, I found myself incredibly relaxed and calm. I quickly found my stroke and rhythm and settled into the the 2.4mile swim up and around the famous jetty. Crystal clear, warm water meant a great view of the wildlife underneath us including plenty of jelly fish that I kept cupping in my hands as we swam. Finding myself leading a large-ish group that i assumed was the 2nd pack, alongside number 35. He seemed happy to be sighting regularly so I simply swam alongside him, with 10 or so others tucked in behind us both. For the first time in a while I really enjoyed the swim; I felt relaxed and smooth and happy the day was starting under control, so I was really pleased to see the clock still on 52mins as we finally exited the water onto the beach and ran through the crowds into the transition area.


As with Taiwan, I was only focusing on racing my race today, and so even in transition I tried to be quick but calm and relaxed. I lost a little time on my fellow swim companions due to this but quickly caught this back up once on the bike and heading out of town onto the 3 loop VERY flat 112 mile bike.

Sticking with the plan, I actually quickly found myself passing them all and by the first short out-and-back section at mile 8 I was clear of them and pulling away. I timed myself here to the leaders and they had about 6mins on me... that's ok I thought, but as normal now, instantly disregarded this info and just pressed on at my pace. The ceepo venom is such a great stiff bike and MADE for TT'ing on a course like this and it wasn't long before I was already heading back into town to complete the first 37mile lap. By this time I had passed more guys who'd now become shall we say "legal-ish" passengers behind me. Once we started the 2nd lap heading back out of town I caught and passed fellow Brit Scott Neyedli and good friend Guy Crawford (doing his first IM). We exchanged a few funny words as I went by and pulled to the front once again. I was now feeling fantastic on the road and with the wind picking up settled into a nice big gear and just enjoyed the ride. I was extremely surprised to see that within 15mins I'd dropped them all and was now on my own... but more surprising was that I was catching everyone apart from race leader Luke Bell, who wasn't pulling away however. "nice" I thought. The halfway mark came and went in 2h10 and the main chase pack of 3rd-8th came into sight. Catching them again without trying to actively pursue them was a great feeling, not least because current champ Patrick Vernay was leading this group. I decided to drop in at the back, but quickly changed my mind - the pace felt too slow and I wanted to stick to my pace. So I moved to the front and into 3rd place over-all. Now having caught most of these guys for at least 4mins over the previous 100km, I should have been able to ride away, but lets just say the 12m rule the race org was trying to enforce wasn't adhered to by all of them... ignoring this however I stayed true to the plan and just pressed on at my pace, now with a motorized camera crew filming me for company. The rest of the bike went by without an issue. I got all my powerbar nutrition down as planned and happily, eventually got rid of my "passengers" at about the 100 mile mark too. Coming back into town in 3rd place was a REAL buzz and I was now really looking forward to staring the marathon and seeing how my legs had REALLY faired during the bike...

The Newton trainers went on and I headed out of T2 through the massive crowd now packing the new 4lap run course around the town of Bussleton. The first short out and back loop down past the finish on Queen St was a very exciting place to be right now. I clocked the gap to 2nd at about 2mins but was still very happy to run at a pace that FELT right and just see what happened. However my speed work recently has been going VERY well and I knew within the first km I was running faster than I probably should and yet it felt comfortable. I checked my split at 2km... 7m30 WHAT!!! That was WAY too fast... even if it DID feel comfortable; but maybe the marker wasn't quite right or I hadn't started my watch early enough. Luke Bell soon came past on the return leg of the short westerly out-and-back; He looked strong and smooth. I went past the supporters starting to build along this section to first turn around and first aid station packed with super enthusiastic and helpful volunteers and took another split at the 4km mark... 7m40! Ok I was running too quick without question regardless of how good i felt. I consciously tried to ease back as I passed back though town, along the beach path and out to the longer easterly turn point. More and more crowds were lining the course and being in 3rd over-all I got such a buzz from the energy and noise they were ALL giving out. I couldn't help but remember what a privilege it was to be able to do this.


6km point came... and my pace split was slowing though still too fast. I decided to follow my good friends advice at this point and simply "make hay while the sun shines". At the far turn around point though I simply HAD to stop and "make use of the green facilities" -porta loo - hopefully it would help me restart the run at a more sensible pace.

For the first time in an Ironman the run didn't daunt me. I simply concentrated on ticking each lap off as a task in itself rather than a full marathon. As I headed back towards town one of the best parts of the run started... two young ladies at about the 8km mark shouted as I passed "great ass" (insert Aussie accent) I laughed and replied "shame about the coating of salt all over it!" Referring to the nasty white coating all over my 2XU race kit from the sea water... and my sweat.

I passed the transition exit point where I'd first started my watch... the 10.5km mark. 39m30 was showing on my watch and that INCLUDED the toilet break OUCH I'd seriously gone WAY too fast! I made a conscious effort now to run at what felt like jogging pace. Dennis (my Homestay) and his family cheered me onto the 2nd lap and he gave me a split that I was gaining on 1st & 2nd. The atmosphere in the town continued to build as the crowds grew and more runners came onto the course. The 2nd lap went by nicely and included another great boost from my 2 cheerleaders out on the run course. My efforts to slow were working though I still went through 21km in 1h22, still too fast, but i continued to feel ok. In fact for the first time in an Ironman I was actually racing the run and the distance of the marathon wasn't over-whelming. However, not long past the 21k mark, my quads began to say "hello", I could tell my pace was slowing beyond what i wanted and by the far turn around at about 27km I had to walk the aid station. This was the start of a rapid decline in my running and despite more amusement from my new supporters and Dennis still cheering me through town I knew it was now about survival. Marty Whyte passed me and Pete Jacobs and Patrick Vernay had closed the gap I'd built up, VERY quickly. As I started the final lap I was now reduced to walking each aid station and just past the 32km mark both Pete and Patrick passed me with no ability to respond in my legs. My quads were now KILLING me... odd I thought given what a flat course it was. I was now in 6th and it was about hanging on through gritted teeth to the finish. The walk run strategy worked well enough and on the final turn for the finish and 4km to go I had over 6 minutes to 7th place. I could afford to take it easy, which was about all my legs would allow anyway.


It was though, still with great delight that i re-entered the town and ran through the final few hundred meters and onto the packed Queen St for the finish. I died on the run more than I'd wanted for sure, but I'd finished this one, raced it most of the way and in a field THIS strong, I had plenty to be happy about. As I'd tried to focus on right from the very start, it truly was a day to be enjoyed as a gift.

Congrats to the other Brit who raced too (Scott, Jo, Tim and Lordy all had great results) and a HUGE thanks from me to Liz & Dennis, Mel & Andy and all my friends & family back home who were incredibly supportive over the past few days and weeks.

As ever, also a BIG thanks to my sponsors PureTri, Powerbar, CompressSport, Ceepo, ProVO2, DC Leisure and Sanctuary Church Guildford.

Now its time to go home, enjoy Christmas, some great food and times with friends and relax for a few weeks.