And another record is set...

Okay folks, the time has been logged and another club record was set; this one's going to take a bit of beating!

Thanks to Stewart for the excellent race report below -enjoy...

I spent all of last year saying I would only do 1 Ironman, and then I spent all of this year saying I would only do 2... It’s an addiction!

I said it last year and I’ll say it again; Ironman is a lifestyle, you can’t be a part-time Ironman. It’s a commitment that you wake up with every morning and go to bed with every night.

My goal after Nice 2010 was to break 10 hours for Ironman, and this is how I went about it:

I got a coach. A guy called Oliver Harkin @ primed4fitness.com, who I had heard about through a friend. Having a coach is good, as you get a structured training plan tailored to your individual needs working on your strengths and weaknesses to the right amount. For example, under his guidance, my cycling went from being my weakest discipline to my strongest. Locally, Ronan McNamara is doing great work with coaching and his highly recommended by everyone he works with.

I did a week long training camp in Lanzarote in February. This is a great way to enhance your fitness, to get yourself ready for the season ahead, and for the high-intensity training to follow in the spring months.

I converted my bike to an aero-bike (and got an aero-helmet). Instead of breaking the bank and getting a new TT bike, I just got a new saddle, aero-bars, stem, and most importantly I got professionally fitted for the bike to ensure I was in the most efficient position for power and minimising wind resistance. Fernando@fit4bike.com. Nice way to save a few grand.

For anyone contemplating going long next year, none of these things are essential, but they do help!

Training:

Essentially the same as last year with 4 cycles (1 or 2 on the turbo), 3 runs and 3 swims per week – usually between 10 and 15 hours in total, but it was more effective than last year, working to a more specific, goal orientated training plan. The hardest sessions were the 5Hour cycles, and the 34km runs, but I found bike time-trials were the most cost-effective way of improving your cycling abilities.

I also started incorporating weights sessions and core work-outs, which really have made a difference, not only to race fitness but to reducing recovery time and injury prevention. Two 15-20min sessions a week were enough; you’re not trying to become Arnie.

I found a nice way of getting long spins in, in the winter, was to cycle with high powered lights mounted on your helmet – night cycling! It’s great, as you can go for a 3hr spin with friends after work and it doesn’t eat into your valuable weekends.

Race Day:

Frankfurt is an amazing city, uber modern, unbelievably efficient and very German. If any city was going to be able to host a well organised Ironman – it’s Frankfurt. Not much for kids to do, and doubt it’s too appealing to significant others looking for things to do while you’re in race mode...

Swim:

Up @ 4.50am, porridge, yogurt, coffee – game face on.

6.45am, 3000 competitors piled into a man-made lake 15km outside of the city. Apparently it’s usually calm and every few years it’s so warm that you

MUST swim without a wetsuit (watch out for this!) However this happened to be a day with 25kmph winds, and lashing rain.

The gun sounded and from a water-start we swam 2 separate loops of 2000m and 1800m with a brief stroll on the beach in between. Ironman swims are as less about actually swimming and more about staying calm in the washing machine! I had to keep reminding myself that the guy behind me grabbing my legs is doing it by accident, just as I am with the guy in front. Otherwise the swim passed without incident, a little disappointed to not break the hour, but happy overall.

Quick transition with the help of the Hyper-cool super-friendly German volunteers and I was out onto the road.

Bike:

It was raining when I started the race, and it was raining when I finished. The course was rolling, not flat, but with no major climbs or descents like in the Nice Ironman last year. The first loop of the cycle went really well, I was averaging 37kmph and the world was at my feet. To keep myself entertained I was engaging with the crowd at every opportunity, “Guten-tag” and “Hopp Hopp Hopp” got a great response! At that point I was imagining that I would title this report: “Fisher-Price do Ironman”. I was going fast and I felt fine, I ate PowerBars and jellies, and drank 1.5L water. 120km in and as the wind and rain got stronger and heavier I began to feel tired. Then to add insult to injury I got yellow-carded and had to spend 6 long minutes in the penalty box for drafting – I was most certainly not drafting. No warning or anything, just 6 minutes of hell. Balls.

Run:

I got off the bike feeling okay but forgetting to take my Garmin, so I had no idea what pace I was running at – balls again. I was really annoyed at myself but I knew there was nothing I could do now so I just let my body govern my pace. The first 36km were fine, although it was driving me a bit mental to not know how much time I had left and what pace I was going. I had to ask bystanders the time and try to work it out in my head. Regardless, as the last 6km stretch set in, my quads began to burn, my shoulders began to cramp and my breathing became laboured. I thought I would have to quit, but another Irish guy (John Woods) that I met 2 days prior ran beside me for the last 3km – he kept speaking words of encouragement to me and somehow he dragged me to the finish-line.

The Finish:

We turned the corner into the final red carpet straight. The applause was deafening. I took a tri-colour from a woman in the audience and together, John and I sprinted up the ramp, and over the line – I was so happy and so exhausted I could have cried right there and then. John would later tell me he had no memory of the finish-line due to the extremes of fatigue and emotion, but I will never forget it.

My final splits (minus the unfair penalty) were 1:00:11/5:11:37/3:39:24 with a final time of 9:56:46 putting me 23^rd in my AG and 2^nd of the Irish. Woohoo!!!

I said earlier that Frankfurt was like “Fisher-Price do Ironman”, but by the end of the race I knew that was ridiculous. There is no such thing as an easy Ironman. It’s hard, really, really hard. As the pros say: “It’s one long tedious conversation with yourself, and you have to ask yourself, do you have what it takes?” If you think you might; Frankfurt’s not a bad place to find out.

Many thanks for the support from everyone, and all the well wishes from the Sligo Tri-Club; I couldn’t have done it without ya!