Completing My First Half Ironman

To add to running my first-ever marathon this year, I backed it up with not only my first-ever triathlon but my first-ever Half Ironman too! Looking back now, I wasn’t actually that excited in the week leading up to the event. If anything, I was feeling a bit flat about it all, which surprised me because I’d signed up almost a year earlier after getting completely caught up in the hype from the previous event. I remember lying in bed late one night scrolling through social media, seeing everyone’s photos and videos, and before I knew it I’d entered. It definitely didn’t help me get to sleep that night either. Instead, I spent the next hour thinking about what I’d just committed to and then had the small matter of waiting twelve months before I actually got to do it.

The training

Swimming, cycling and running have all been things I’ve done on and off for years, so none of the individual disciplines was new to me. I’d just never put all three together in one event before, and I liked the idea of seeing what would happen. Looking back at my preparation, it probably sums me up quite well. Running wasn’t something I was worried about at all after training for my first marathon earlier this year and then somehow convincing myself it was sensible to run another marathon six days later. Cycling has become one of my favourite ways to train over the last few years and the thought of spending close to three hours riding around closed roads with loads of other cyclists was something I was genuinely looking forward to. Swimming, however, was a completely different story.

It’s not that I don’t enjoy swimming; I just never choose it. For me, swimming is a faff. I’m the type of person who decides they are training and then is out of the front door within five minutes. Swimming doesn’t work like that. You’ve got to drive somewhere, get changed, put a wetsuit on, get wet, get cold, get dry afterwards and then drive home again. Every week I’d tell myself I’d get a swim in the following week and before I knew it race day was almost here. In the end, I managed just one open water swim before the event, and that was five days before the start. Looking back, that probably wasn’t my smartest decision, but I also knew I could swim well enough to get myself through it.

The day before

What surprised me most wasn’t actually the race itself; it was everything that came before it. The day before the race I had to check the bike in, sort transition bags and work out where everything needed to go. I’d never done one before and didn’t really have anyone there to tell me what I should be doing, so I spent a couple of hours wandering around Bolton (England) carrying everything on my back, hoping I hadn’t missed out packing anything important. By the time I’d finished, I honestly couldn’t really be bothered with the whole thing anymore. That evening, though, I watched a few YouTube videos from people documenting their first Half Ironman experience and, weirdly, that completely changed my mindset. Seeing other people admit they’d made mistakes or felt nervous made me realise I was probably worrying far more than I needed to, and by the time I went to bed I was genuinely excited to get going.

The event

I had a good friend, and an experienced triathlete and nutrition coach, drive me to the start in the morning! Which involved a 3:30 a.m. wake-up call, by the way! He was a big help just knowing exactly where to go, what to do, etc. He knew the area well and had raced this event a couple times. 

Lining up for the swim was pretty cool; I thought I’d dread that bit, but Thunderstruck was on the big speakers and looking around at everyone else participating. It reminded me of some of my first ever CrossFit® competitions… confident in my ability but with no expectations at all. 

The swim

The swim actually started really well, and for the first few minutes I felt comfortable. Then somewhere between five and ten minutes everything seemed to go a bit wrong. I couldn’t find any rhythm and I never really felt like I relaxed into my stroke. Whether that was because of how busy the lake was or because I’d only actually practised open water swimming once beforehand, I’m not entirely sure. Probably a combination of both. Rather than fighting it, I switched to breaststroke for twenty or thirty seconds, gathered myself, took a breath and started swimming again. From that point onwards everything settled down nicely. I found a swimmer who was holding a good line, sat just off their shoulder for parts of the course and actually started to enjoy myself. It made sighting much easier and meant I could just focus on swimming rather than constantly looking up to work out where I was going.

The cycle

The bike was exactly what I’d expected it to be. I absolutely love riding my bike, and I’d been looking forward to this part more than anything else. I went into it with a rough plan of averaging around 250 watts, but I also know myself well enough to know that plans have a habit of changing once the race starts. I have a terrible habit of seeing another rider in the distance and immediately deciding they need catching. It doesn’t matter what my pacing strategy is supposed to be; I just love chasing people down. Halfway through, I looked at my numbers and realised I was averaging closer to 260 watts. Thankfully I’d watched a few race vlogs beforehand and knew there were some climbs later in the course, so I consciously tried to keep a lid on things. Towards the back end of the bike route, every time I stood up on the pedals my legs threatened to cramp, which was a fairly good indication I’d probably pushed a little harder than originally planned, but I also knew I’d made that decision myself and I was happy to deal with whatever came afterwards.

The run

The run started exactly how everyone says it does after a hard bike. My legs felt heavy, and I honestly thought I was running much slower than I actually was. When my watch beeped after the first kilometre and showed 4:40 per kilometre, I genuinely couldn’t believe it because it felt closer to 5:30 pace. I stopped briefly to stretch my calves, made a point of taking on bananas and electrolytes at the next few aid stations and trusted that things would eventually come around. Thankfully they did. The course was made up of two laps, which actually worked really well because once I’d completed the first loop I knew exactly where the tougher sections were and where I could afford to push. By around 18km I realised I still had plenty left, so I gradually lifted the pace and was really pleased with how strongly I finished the final few kilometres.

The finish

Crossing the finish line in 5:12 was a brilliant feeling. I’d quietly set myself the goal of finishing under 5:30, so to come in comfortably inside that was a nice surprise. More than anything though, I finished feeling like I’d left a lot out there simply through inexperience rather than fitness. If I turned up tomorrow with exactly the same fitness, I’d be confident of going quicker just through better transitions, more confidence in the swim and generally knowing how the day works. I’ll also probably do more than one open water swim beforehand, which seems like a sensible place to start.

The learnings

The biggest thing I took away from the day wasn’t actually the finish time, though. It reminded me how much fun it is to be a beginner again. The last time I remember feeling like that was at my first CrossFit® competition back in 2010. Everything is new, every race teaches you something, and every little improvement feels massive. Somewhere along the way, after years of doing the same sport, you lose that feeling because you become comfortable and experienced. This brought it all back and reminded me why trying something completely new can be so rewarding.

I’ve already entered next year’s race, and I’d love to go under five hours. I honestly don’t think that requires becoming a completely different athlete either. A bit more swimming, smoother transitions and another year’s experience should make a huge difference. 

Whether I can stop myself chasing every cyclist I see is another question entirely, but we’ll worry about that next June.