Remember those foolish mistakes when you make your New Year’s resolution?
Well this is a lesson for all of you out there, read on, I’m an Outlaw!

In a moment of complete weakness I decided that 2011 would be the year in which I would tackle an iron distance race. For those of you who are not triathletes this consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 miles on the bike and the joys of the 26.2 mile marathon at the end of it all. I was encouraged by a fellow club mate saying that he would be there with me, little did I realise at this stage that this meant watching, supporting and cajoling me to the finish and not doing the race itself.

Anyway, how did it go? Well a little over 6 months later it felt that I hadn’t done enough training and it would be a tough old day but one thing I was going to do was to try to enjoy it. I had already driven around the bike course and whilst it was a bit undulating there was only one short sharp hill of note, which you tackled three times. For large parts the roads were very quiet or coned cycle lanes with priority given to competitors at junctions. The morning of the race I was actually quite relieved when the alarm went off at 4am as I had not slept much and was keen to get started (having to taper and not train very much in the couple of weeks beforehand had been extremely stressful.) I then made sure I force-fed myself enough coffee, porridge, bread and jam to stoke me up for the start without being sick in the water. By 05.10 I was down at Holme Pierrepont with my wife Belinda and chief supporters Matthew, Steve and Helen who had arrived in Nottingham the previous afternoon. Having loaded the bike with food and drink, done the usual last minute checks of the bike, I decided that I wanted to get ready early so off I toddled to the swim start 20 minutes ahead of schedule, which proved really useful in that I was able to select where I wanted to swim rather than engage in the usual scrum with the 640 or so others in the melee they call the start.

Bang on 6am we started. The swim course was simplicity itself a straight swim out for just under 1.9km a right angled turn, a 90 metre swim to the other turn-buoy and the swim back on the other side of the lake. So no messing about with counting laps or fighting around turns, which to be honest I am normally pretty good at. But what it did do was to allow you to get into a really good rhythm and concentrate on your stroke, and whilst I didn’t manage to draft anyone, I did get clear water all the way around and on exiting the swim felt really good ( as shown on the race video clip) something that I had not experienced much before. I realised that I had done a pretty good time but more importantly hadn’t taken too much out of myself as I got out of my wetsuit and donned some cycling clothes. It felt very strange to stop and dry myself, putting on socks for the bike and a jacket as it was still a bit fresh. I even managed to stop for a loo break; the race might be long but racing whilst dying for a wee is not comfortable and I haven’t practised the professional cyclists who do this on the move!

So, out on the bike and early mishaps of a sort. On going to the loo I had taken off one of my bike gloves and forgot to put it back on. So whilst rolling out alongside the lake, I attempted to put the glove on and went off the path and onwards up the grass verge until I thankfully wobbled back on to the tarmac. A couple of minutes later my speedometer decided it was going to have a day off and not work; not knowing how fast/slow I was going may have been a blessing in disguise. Anyway, I settled into the ride, cheered on by my band of supporters, to a very comfortable cadence, determined not to overcook it too early and blow up later. As planned, I took some fluids and food onboard early and actually felt pretty good. When I got to the start of the three lap circuit and the 12% hill at Oxton Bank, I scooted up quite easily, although there were a couple of competitors blowing very hard. There then followed a fantastic gradual descent after the feed station which took you to Southwell where the race organisers had bussed out spectators. Whilst not on the scale of a professional race it, was incredibly uplifting, especially on laps two and three when things got a bit harder, getting cheered on by the spectators. Also with the race organisers having closed off part of the town centre, it felt much safer ride the bike course . When I hit the 40 mile mark I realised I had the joy of a slow puncture (having first thought it was the poor quality road we experience so much in the UK!) I have been fortunate in that until now I have never had a puncture during a race. I still don’t know why I was so angry at the bike for getting the puncture! Having panicked for couple of minutes, I got the wheel off and started to get the tyre off when one of the bike marshalls asked if he could change it for me…. what a result given I am rubbish at changing tubes and I was able to have something to eat and drink before rolling off and getting going again. There where a number of other of places where spectators had gathered to support the race and the only downside at this stage was the wind which, although not very strong, made it hard work when it hit you full on. On lap three at Oxton Bank I got a very unpleasant muscle spasm that caused me to stop and stretch for twenty seconds, so over the next hour I made sure I topped up on fluids and food for the rest of the race and to be doubly sure took some dreaded gels. The last ten miles seemed to be an awful long way, not helped by the wind, but I knew the bike was nearly over when I entered the grounds of Holme Pierrepont Hall. At this point, on going over a road hump my tyre popped and it was puncture number two although being close to transition and not having another tube I rolled in on a very flat front tyre. I was extremely grateful when my bike was taken from me and I was able to waddle in to the changing tent, doing a great impersonation of John Wayne, to prepare for the run.

Well the run started well, at least it seemed to. I felt tired but not desperately so, and I started off at a pretty comfortable pace with my legs feeling no worse than they had done in training. But at the five mile stage I knew I was in a bit of trouble as I started to slow. I felt pretty awful and for the next ten miles it was a real struggle. I had been warned to expect this at some point! On the run course the spectators were fantastic and my own personal supporters club had been swelled by work colleagues and my daughter Rachel and her boyfriend who watched me for the first time. I think in many ways they found it more difficult than I did. A really nice touch was in having your Christian name on your race number so people who did not know you could encourage you by name rather than number. Only in the latter stages did I start to feel much better but by this stage I had already adopted the planned run/walk strategy given the legs were not working very well; although interestingly doing this I was still going quicker than some who were just running. Like all nut cases I had already started discussing the race next year with Matthew and Steve who ran alongside me for a bit when I was stumbling around the last lap. Many have told me of the immense feeling on finishing an iron distance race but I am still not sure what the real emotion was for me, maybe just relief. I don’t think it really sank in for a couple of days the nature of what I had done and I am still surprised that even in the bad times on the run I always felt I was going to finish. I did enjoy it though and wore the finisher shirt for a week after until it had to be prised off me and put directly in the washing machine.

And any lessons for anyone who might be thinking of participating in an iron distance next year? Well here are just a few hints:

• Whilst you cannot under-estimate the help, support and encouragement of club colleagues you can’t beat those miserable, lonely training sessions that you do on your own, as this is probably what you need when it comes to enduring what for most of us will be a very long day.
• Practice your nutrition and test it as much as you can. I am sure I got mine wrong somewhere along the line but I am still not sure where.
• Bricks, Bricks, and more bricks! I did see quite a few people who looked completely spent after the swim and others who did not get as far as the run. Personally, I needed more bike to long run bricks. Also if I had run a marathon beforehand, it might have helped. Who knows?
• Think about entering the Outlaw 2012 triathlon: brilliant race, extremely well-organised, fantastic marshals, enthusiastic spectators. And it was only 200 quid.

And some thanks:

• To all at ESC D3 who have helped me since I started doing triathlon, notably David A, who got me out of the lazy gym life and into this wonderful sport. I am especially grateful to Matthew who has been fantastic in mentoring me and dragging me through the training I needed to do in order to complete this race.
• And to my family without whose support the training would be exceptionally difficult. How Belinda puts up with my training I still don’t know, but without her I wouldn’t have got anywhere near to where I am today. I think we all realise the support we need but maybe don’t appreciate it enough when we get it.

Oh and finally, my time was 12 hrs 37 mins and 52 seconds(not bad for an oldie!)

The splits were:

Next year’s race is on 1st July. Entry is now open.
So go on, you won’t regret it!!!

Have a great summer.

Colin the Outlaw.