IRONMAN IX - “Every Second Counts'

I have 27 days from now as I pen these words to get physically, psychologically, and mentally prepared to try to complete my latest Ironman adventure.

Sometimes when I ask seasoned triathletes if they will every do an Ironman, they reply: “Of course, when I feel I have done enough training and preparation” – believe me, you will never feel as if you have done enough preparation.

How do you property prepare for a 2.4 mile open water swim, 112 mile bike ride, then a marathon? When you are swim training, you feel you should be biking or running when you are bike training, you feel you should be swimming or running etc.

It’s not only the demands of the three different sports; it’s the transition from being a swimmer to a cyclist, then to being a runner. Everyone dreads the transition from bike to run, but one transition that is not practised often enough is swim to bike. To do that properly, you have to have a bike at the Leisure Centre ready for you to leap onto once you exit the water.

My young friend Gavin Noble, who had hoped to make it to the Olympics, would do a savage swim set, and then leap onto a torture device known as a turbo trainer which was standing beside the pool.

A turbo trainer would probably be outlawed by Amnesty International. It is a totally unforgiving machine which places relentless demands on the body. As you are sitting there in the one place on the static bike, you feel the need to turn the pedals faster; you don’t even get the benefit of being able to look over a hedge. You are stuck in the same room listening to your gasping breaths and looking at the sweat, drip, drip, dripping on the floor. The only focus for your concentration is your bike computer which tells you your speed (not fast enough) distance travelled (not far enough Cadence (Not high enough) and average speed. To try and do more than one hour on one of the torture devices is going into the realms of the impossible . Years ago when training for an Ironman I was out for a 4 hr. ride and my bike fell apart after 3 hours when I was miles from home.

I got a lift home, then as I had another hour to do, I got stuck into the turbo trainer. Did you know there are 3,600 seconds in a hour and that everyone of those seconds can be given a different curse word? Sometimes when I am on the turbo trainer, I look at the figure on the computer in front of me then I think that the computer has broken, or that the battery has ceased because the numbers have stayed the same and there has been no movement…. The one second passes, the tumbrils fall and the number changes on the screen in front of me and I realise that the second I just experienced has become a microcosm of time itself.

Triumph and disaster

One second can last a lifetime, but one second can be the difference between triumph and disaster.

A few weeks ago in Spain they had the World Long Distance Open water 20K swim race. The winning time was 5 hrs 1 min. and 1.3 seconds. The silver medallists time was 5 hrs. 1 min. 1.8 secs. Five hours of effort to be beaten by ? a second! Some Ironman races have been won on a sprint finish after 8 hrs. of shoulder to shoulder combat by a second. The guy who wins feels delirious but feels no pain; the bloke who finishes second feels disconsolate and feels all the pain.

Obviously for a punter like me who just wants to get round the course, one second might not seem all that important, but if you are on 16 hrs. 59 mins. and 59 secs; you have one second to finish the race and be on the result sheet – 17 hours and 1 second counts as a non finish and a disaster.

So you always push yourself every second, every minute, every hour as you swim, spin and stride. I have done two hours on the bike in the Leisure Centre and they have had to hose the bike down after that, such has been the sweat that has a been expended. You can listen to your Ipod to get you going – ELO’s greatest hits being a particular favourite of mine, just get your legs pumping in time to “Evil Woman” and you’ll know what I mean! You can perform a really useful session in the gym or the turbo trainer but in general you need to be on the road. You need to feel the wind (every cyclist’s worst enemy) you need to experience heat, cold, the hills and bliss, the downhills. You can easily do 45 miles an hour at Downhill or 50 on the Glenshane. You wouldn’t do a mile in the car without a seat belt, so you don’t cycle a meter without a helmet. Also gloves are vital, why? Cause if you are knocked off and catapulted towards the road, you put your hands out to save yourself and the skin on your hands won’t look too pretty as you slide up the road at 20 miles an hour without the protection afforded by gloves.

My main concern at present is my running – or rather lack of. I hadn’t run for 4 weeks because of my back problem. I decided that last week something had to be done about it so on Thursday I did my favourite run of all time the 4.3 mile loop from the Roemill Road, car park in the Roe Valley Country Park to the Dolphin Bridge down one side and back the other.

You see squirrels, heron, fish jumping. Whatever the weather, the country park just looks fantastic. We are so lucky to have it on our doorstep. The running surface is not as harsh as the Cam Forest and it always lifts your spirits to see the waterfalls and watch the evolving face of nature during the Four Seasons. As I had 35 mins. to spare, that was the target I set myself. I went round rather gingerly and made it with 65 seconds to spare. The back hurt but the pain was manageable. Thanks to Greg Kearney, I am doing back strengthening and stretching exercises and noting my usual 100 ab crunches and press ups every night. I grabbed a quick shower, then headed off to the RDS in Dublin for front row seats for one of my all time musical idols, to see Mr Bruce Springsteen from New Jersey. In case of medical mishap with my back I took my Doctor – Paul Finlay – with me! As I had two extra tickets, I flogged them to an unsuspecting New York couple who were in Dublin for a wedding. We all had a ball. Bruce hit the stage with “Thunderland”, then segued into “Radio Nowhere” and then it was just a one show stopper after another.

“Baby we were born to bike”

If Bruce Springsteen were an athlete, he would be a marathon runner. He just never stopped on stage. He has the energy of a 20 year old. His music is still relevant and he puts in 100% enthusiasm and commitment. His passion for his art is total. When he sang “The Rising” it took me back to last year’s Ironman in Lake Placid as that was the track I listened to constantly in the New York apartment in Canal Street. I needed to rise up for the occasion to conquer various ailments and Bruce got me to the finish line. I thought of another of his songs that would be relevant to an athletic pursuit – The seminal “Born to Run”. That’s all very fine Bruce but what about “Born to Swim” or Born to Bike “? It was just about the best gig I have every been to. There was only one problem – travel and lack of sleep. Paul and I boarded the midnight bus from Busarus back to Belfast and it was packed. It took me back about 30 years when I boarded a bus overnight in Australia and I would sleep on the floor at night and stumble out into a different city or state or desert every morning and drink in the local sites. I used to have the luxury of a pillow in my rucksack but alas there were no such luxuries on Bus Erin. Eventually I made it to bed for 4.00 a.m. All I was fit for 12 hours later was a little light 50 length swim.

Our main swim set in the Triangle is Tuesday night. The session is usually taken by the Clubs – and one of Ireland’s – best Ironmen, Adrian Devine. Adrian’s sessions are always hard work but always worthwhile. Last week was a short session of only 100 lengths which included 25 metres, 50 metres, 75 metres, then 100 metres x 6 at race pace. Everyone’s idea of race pace is different but it usually involves a lung bursting effort when you are trying to keep o the toes of their swimmer in front of if you are the unlucky bloke in front, you are trying to ensure that your toes are never tickled cause you don’t want to get the satisfaction to the guy behind of catching you. Ironman swimming is mostly aerobic (i.e. with oxygen) but sometimes it’s anaerobic (without oxygen). Sometimes when you finish a TTC swim set you don’t have the strength to haul yourself out of the pool but that’s why the steps are there I suppose.

“Why do I bother training? What’s the point?” I hear you ask.

This may sound weird, but it’s great to wake up and put your foot on the floor and shuffle down the stairs wincing with every step. Why? - Because that discomfort reminds you that you are alive. Many of us live sedentary lives behind a desk. We no longer have to forage for food and water and warmth. Everything is given to us on a plate. The remote control is King.. Sometimes it’s good to have reaffirmation that there is a little daily struggle involved in life. It stiffens your resolve, it steels your nerve. That pain when you get out of bed is replaced by the satisfaction of thinking of yesterdays tough session that mentally puts you one step closer to an Ironman finish.

Energy creates Energy

Training for triathlon enables you to become not only a very efficient user of the only resource we have all available to us – time – but also it gives you energy. Energy creates energy. If you come in fro work and slump down on the sofa it’s so hard to find the resolve to train later – leave the desk running, get to the Leisure Centre, change for a swim or bike or run and release those endorphins. There has never been one training session which I have done in the last 30 years which I have ever regretted. I have felt the benefit of every single one. As a stress reliever, it’s ACE. As a guide for life, it’s unbeatable – as a sign that you are still alive and kicking, it’s unmissable.

Sorry Ken!

Last Wednesday was of course the Champions League final. I decided to put a little bit of extra pressure on myself. I left the house at 5.40 p.m. wanting to complete 35 miles and be back in time to see Man United –v- Chelsea.

Despite the wind, I made it at an average of 18.1 miles an hour with 3 mins. to spare. One thing triathletes learn to do is to shower quickly. 90- 120 secs. does the trick. Why on earth should it take any longer? Not a second of the match was missed. The exquisite touch of Ronaldo’s header was matched only by the passion of Springsteen the next night in “Jungle Land” which could only be matched by the satisfaction of organising the Ulster Sprint Triathlon Championship in Limavady last Saturday for 165 competitors from all over Ireland (but only one from Limavady!) We had 30 marshals and helpers and it all went very smoothly.

For once the weather was kind. I tried not to gloat when I saw the Constitution’s photographer, Ken Reay, a well known Chelsea supporter. I told him we were a tad fortunate when Terry hit the post and not the back of the net, one inch away from Triumph for him and one second away from disaster for me. I always like doing a big training session before watching a major sporting event. I feel I can empathise more with the athletes.

I came back from a 35 mile bike ride. I came back from that 35 miles bike ride knowing I hadn’t left one second out there on the road. I couldn’t have gone any quicker to Dungiven and back and then round the bridges. I merely wanted the Man United midfield to expend as much energy as I had.

When you organise an event like last Saturday all you have the energy for is to prise the top off a beer bottle and watch the European Cup final on TV. The next day was a different story however, I hit 35 miles at 8.30 a.m. again on my trusty new Cannondale and then in the afternoon, I completed the 6 mile loop in the Cam Forest in the running shoes. My back at this stage was on fire due to the hard surface. I have learned that if I run in a certain way holding my back just so, I can still continue to move forward towards the goal of the finish line. Every step counts, so does every second. My time was the slowest ever, some 11 mins. outside my PB but the only time I am interested in is on June 21st in the Czech Republic. Anything under 17 hours is a win and vindication. Anything over 17 hours is a failure and waste of the last twelve months of my life. Every second counts, (even if there are 61,200 of them during an Ironman…).

Now, where did I put those Brufen tablets….