IRONMAN UK 2019 - Johnny Mac
I just love the morning of an Ironman. The look in athletes eyes, the quiet nervousness in the air, the emotion and the anticipation of the day. Nothing makes you feel more alive.
This was my ninth Ironman race but I was just as petrified as I was before my first! You feel a huge responsibility to make all the sacrifices that you and your family have made matter. That burden weighs heavily on my mind in the weeks and days leading into the race.
My approach is very process driven. I have many goals throughout the day that I practise, write down and study leading into the race.
SWIM
Throughout the swim I focused on 4 teaching points from the club sessions (1) sight (2) high elbow (3) rotate (4) keep the kick on. During a fairly calm swim, I repeat these in my mind over and over. During the last 5 minutes of the swim I start rehearsing in my head the T1 process, what I need to remember and what I need to do.
Out of the water in a new PB 1:08. Great start.
T1
BOOM, I’m on the floor. Someone accidentally clipped my heels running to T1 and I land heavily on my hip and elbow. I jumped up straight away thinking nothing of it.
BIKE
Out onto the NEW bike course with 9000ft of climbing (1000ft more than IM Wales)!! I have spent the last 6 months climbing every hill in Ayrshire over and over again and having done IM Wales I wasn’t overly worried – just focus on what I can do. Target 240 Watts NP (@75kg for you geeks).
The first 20 miles is like a transition phase onto the main course, fairly easy so just focus on nutrition goals, stay aero, and a steady power output. Down on my aero bars that hip is really starting to grumble. Onto the first of the two main loops and we are straight into the climbing. The climbs are not huge but constant and I’m focusing on keeping my power and HR within range no matter what’s going on around me.
As the loop went further out into the country the hills got steeper, the descents got VERY technical and the roads got narrower. It was pretty crazy at times. To make things tougher every sharp descent seems to be preceded by a 90 degree (or sharper!) corner so you carry no momentum onto the next steep ascent.
After about 50 miles of the bike, challenge number two! At the bottom of a long descent my back brake jammed on (probably because I was on it so hard). I got off, managed to temporarily fix it and get going again. However, it became obvious that I had 3 options (1) ride with the brake half on (2) don’t use the back brake at all or (3) get off at the bottom of each descent and fix it. In the end I did a wee bit of all three. So, back to the process – my heart rate and power goals haven’t changed whether the brake is jammed on or not. That was my mind set going into the second lap of the bike, just do what I need to do but physically things haven’t changed. Focus on my 30 minute nutrition windows.
In the end I finished lap 1 at 239W NP and the second 241W NP – perfect but that bike course was really really hard mainly because you couldn’t carry any momentum from the descents and the unrelenting nature of the course. I saw more broken chains, snapped gear cables and general mechanicals than I have ever seen before. I was very grateful to get off the bike still in the race (14.4% Bike DNF rate compared to the average 3%!!!!).
T2
As soon as I jumped off the bike and ran into T2 I knew that the hip was going to be a problem. Into the tent, HR monitor off (I focus on pace and feel throughout the run) Hoka’s on – party time!
RUN
The course is basically round the city centre for 1 mile (huge crowds) then up a hill for 2.5 miles, round a cone and back down.
My goal was to go out relatively hard for the first 2 laps (7:40 min per mile / 3h 20m marathon pace), stay in control then ‘white knuckle’ it for the last 2 laps and try and hang on – see how much I can suffer. My nutrition is well rehearsed and practised – aid station 1 = gel + water, aid station 2 = coke + water – repeat until the end. The aid stations come every 2.5km.
That hip was really starting to hurt now but I knew it was just a bruise so I had to push on. After 13 miles my pace was perfect, 7:41 mpm. Now it really starts. In my opinion the success of your whole day comes down to how much you can hang on during that third lap and although my pace slowed I was fighting so so hard not to let it slide too much. It’s like holding onto a metal pole as it gets hotter and hotter – how long can you hold it! This is Ironman racing right here.
The final lap and I am in a world of hurt, compensating for my hip has aggravated something in my knee. Just hang on. I keep looking at my average pace on my Garmin and desperately try not to let it slide.
At last ‘the red carpet’ and my best Ironman finish ever: 11th in my age group (40-44) and 77th overall despite not a particularly quick time of 11:24 which I think reflects the severity of the course. I had a PB in the swim and a power PB on the bike so all in all a fantastic day. I had my issues out there but you are always going to get challenges during an Ironman, it’s just how you deal with them.
Ironman UK is not the most fashionable race but it is a fantastic one and a true test. The new bike course and a hilly run make it now arguably the most challenging race on the circuit as demonstrated by the massive 17.2% overall DNF rate. It is well organised, the crowds are huge and amazing throughout the day. If you are organised and pre-plan accommodation to suit the split transitions, logistically its easy. My wife (and team manager) Jayne did the 5km Night Run on the Friday, the kids; Ella and Joseph do the IronKids run on the Saturday, and then the big dance on the Sunday. A great and memorable weekend.
I had the most amazing support out on the course from my FANTASTIC family for which I am forever grateful. It truly was a team effort. Still dreaming of Kona . . . (I missed out by 4 positions)
