Ironman UK 2006 (Report 2) - Sunday 20th August

Chris Clarke at Sherborne 2006

Report by Chris Clarke

The IM adventure started on Friday 18th around 1ish. I can't go into detail, but when an accident closes down nearly the whole north west you know you're in for a crap journey. So after leaving Manchester we arrived safe and sound, although a little stiff at our destination Sherborne, Dorset, (8/9 hours later).

The race HQ is what you would normally find at IM, expo, lots of tents but more importantly - whirl pool power baths, oh yes!!. The whole event seems to have moved on since I started my triathlon career in 2004 (UK half). The whole place was full of people from all over the globe strutting and generally posing, (not me as I hadn't shaved my legs).

Race morning generally starts at 345 am. After breakfast it's off down to transition for final checks, another toilet stop then wait to see if the mist had disappeared for the abnormal 6 am start? The swim went off as planned on time , the course was 2 laps of Sherborne duck toilet. It was a decent swim as there seemed to be a lot of sensible seeding and not many people getting carried away with the moment. I decided to swim alone away from the crowd, which has it's advantages (no pulling of ankles) and disadvantages (beaching yourself). The swim ended on a comfortable 59 minutes, happy!.

T1 had bodies everywhere, but that's what you get I suppose when leaving the water in 165th place. After leaving T1 it was the normal sprint/navigation exercise around people who cant get on their bikes (skill which is often over looked) and on to the 3 lap bike course. The bike section was enjoyable, after going hard for the first 20 minutes I settled into a decent pace and had a bit of a chat. The bike had over 2000m of climbs which sad as it is, I enjoyed. I felt pretty good and I could/should have pushed a little harder, especially when we had the leaders splits called to us. On coming into T2 Colette (wife) briefed me, I was lying in 15th pos and to get a move on! Time 5 hours.

This run is my nemesis, I used to be based around here many moons ago so it brings back fond and not so fond memories. After getting my nutrition right and not losing any on the bike the first 8 miles of undulating run course seemed to go by quite smoothly. The 8 mile point is when you leave the castle grounds and head into the village and surrounding roads and that's when the trouble/problems started. Correct me if I'm wrong but the main points of having Coke on the run course are:

  • Caffeine
  • Sugar
  • All of the above
So I could not understand why my heart rate was dropping/legs not working even though I was getting the calories at each aid station (every mile). I had coke-water-coke-water and took mini pretzels and half a banana with me. That's when you look back in hindsight, stupid and wrong to expect it or unexpectedly why would they put DIET coke on the course, do I look as if I need it?. Unfortunately I did not realise this until the 18/19 mile point and at that time I was in 20th pos.

After 2 gels it was a mad dash for the line with my new legs. The finish was great, lots of noise and colour which is just what you want after a long day, total time 9:34:29, and the second PB this year. The best moment of the day was when my eldest Caprice was getting me food and hot chocolate as I sat in the power bath,oh yes!!!

Bring on Hawaii..

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