Sunday 13th September 2015. 4am. My alarm goes off. And I'm instantly up,
bolt upright. Today is the day I've been looking forward too as well as
dreading since the day I signed up to it last December. The main reason I
signed up to it in the first place was due to last year being a complete
right off with having problems with my leg. No matter what I did, my leg was
just not healing. But every athlete has their problems with injuries and set
backs so I wasn't going to let this knock me down or put a stop to my
running and goals. I heard that Ironman Wales was possibly going to be moved
from Tenby to Cardiff and that this would be the last one. When I heard this
I thought it would be a great goal to aim for and will give me a brilliant
excuse to stop feeling sorry for myself and actually get out and get stuck
into the training. This was all that was going through my mind as I was
collecting all my stuff ready to make the walk from the caravan to the
transition. I spent all of Saturday (the day before the race) checking and
checking again, that I had everything ready for the race and everything the
way I wanted it. I didn't want any excuses for something not going to plan!
The walk was about 15-20 minutes. Felt a lot longer. And if I'm honest, I
even got a bit emotional. Everything goes through your mind, the positives
and the negatives. I knew deep down I did as much as I could training wise
as well as having a new born and my other boy, also starting a new business
and doing my best to get the mix right with it all. But I've never run a
marathon before, I've only cycled over a 100 miles a couple of times and
only swam 2.4 once. And that was in a pool! This was only going to be my
second sea swim. So as you can imagine, the doubt was definitely playing on
my mind. But I was happy that the rain was holding off, as I was keeping a
keen eye on it the whole week building up to it and it said rain all day.
But so far so good. After making it to transition and pulling myself
together, I got to my bike and put all my gels and cereal bars onto my bike
ready for the long ride ahead! I spent a good hour just going over my bike,
pumping up the tyres and again, making sure there was no reason for it not to go
smoothly. 6am, the 1km walk from transition to the beach commences. And now
the nerves are really going and I just want to get started! I couldn't
believe how many people were awake already and filling the streets. And it
just got busier the closer I got to the start. Walked down the windy ramp
and hung up my purple bag (has a second pair of trainers in it, ready for
the 1km run back to transition) took a deep breath and walked towards my
pen. I managed to do a sea swim a couple of months ago with Simon Norwood at
the Ocean Lava triathlon and I managed to do around 38 minutes and it was
half the distance. So I thought if I got into the 1 hour and 20 minute pen,
I couldn't be far wrong. The sea was quite choppy but it could have been worse
so I was again, a happy chappy first thing Sunday morning. 6:53am the Welsh
national anthem plays, complete silence. I look around me and it's like I'm
stood in an arena with people everywhere I look. 6:55 the pros are off! 7am
the front of the age groupers make their way into the sea and its just a
massive line of athletes jumping into the sea! As I'm running across the
sand, I'm ready to go. I'm so pumped at this stage, I just want to give it
everything and make all my family, friends and myself proud! I took the swim
in six stages. One buoy at a time, and it was two laps. The first two buoys
were wavy and then the swim back towards the beach was quick thanks to the
waves carrying me back towards shore. One lap complete, I look at my time
and for me, I seem to be well on target with a 36 minute lap! Feeling good
and keen to get back round for the second lap so dive straight back in and
crack on. The second lap was slightly slower at around 39 minutes. I didn't
kick in the sea on the second lap, thought to myself I might benefit saving
them for later on in the day and used my arms knowing they can have a rest
on the bike straight after. I land back on the beach and I'm the only one
who is taking off the wet suit on the beach. You can take it off as soon as
you are out the water right up to when you get back into transition. But my
tactic was just to get it off as soon as possible and try and dry off a bit
before getting on the bike. Plus, I'd rather run 1km carrying a wetsuit
than running in one! As I'm running through the crowds, I can hardly
hear myself think. The support was out of this world and I've never really
experienced anything like it before. I hear a "go Mark" from the crowd and
see my family in the corner of my eye and give them a fist in the air. 1
down, 2 to go. I'm always slow in transition but I'd rather be a minute
slower than rush. 112 miles on the bike is going to take long enough. Never
cycled that far in one go before and wanted to make sure I was ready to face
it. Helmet and shoes on, I'm ready. I run to my bike and face the noisy
crowd once again. Cycle through the town, give my family a smile and head
off! I set myself a goal for the bike , and that was to do my best to keep
the Garmin average pace over 28km per hour during the ride. Luckily I had a
week down in Tenby before the race and I knew the first hour of the route as
I've ridden it twice during the week. I knew it was possible to start fast and
just try and maintain it for as long as I could. The first 2 hours were
going to plan. A couple of hills but nothing my training hasn't covered. I'm
keeping an average of 30km an hour and feeling good. Was taking a bottle of
water at every feed station and wanted to make sure I stayed hydrated as I
knew from speaking to others, that you are eating and drinking ready for the
marathon that was waiting once this 112 miles in the saddle was over. I got
to 90km, the half way point and then that's when the hilly course kicked in.
The second half of the bike leg was relentless. If you weren't going up, you
were going down. And the ups were hard work! And just before all of this,
again I see my family, my very own support crew, outside Kiln Park (where we
were stopping) shouting and screaming my name. As I passed them I punched
the air with delight as I felt strong and I was going well. Seeing them all
got me emotional again. Crying up the hill back out of Tenby, trying to pull
myself together. It meant a lot seeing them all stood there. I was actually
doing this and and so far so good. Completing the race was getting closer
and closer. Managed to calm myself down and concentrate back to the race
plan. Head down and spin the miles out. They have their very own "heart
break hill" and this one is 16% and goes for about half a mile. And you do
it twice! I had to do a zig zag method to get myself up the hill as it was
too steep for me to go in a straight line! And it was also from this point
that my chain was coming off. It came off about 6-7 times in total during
the race. I was advised to get a new chain ready for the race and it was the
first time I've been out on it. No idea why it kept coming off, it could have
been because it was new and needed "bedding in" or because I put too much
oil on it but it seemed to be every time I went to the lowest gear at the
bottom of each hill it would come off. So after it came off several times, I
found a technique to stop it happening and still manage to get to the bottom
gear. I had to get to the highest gear possible, drop the front cog to the
smallest and then work the back from top to bottom and do this before I hit
the bottom of a hill ready to get myself up it. Didn't mind doing this as it
was working and didn't mean I had to keep stopping. Also, no idea how many
times is normal to stop on the bike section when doing 112 miles but I
stopped 3 times to take a leak! I knew i was taking enough water on board as
I didn't think I would stop more than once. I thought I'm better off being
safe rather than sorry. Other athletes couldn't believe I taped 8 cereal
bars to my stem on the bike. But I wish I taped more on! I got to 5 hours on
the bike as I was out of food. So I now had to stop for food as well as
water at the feed stations. Which again I didn't mind as I knew I would
need the energy. Another hill I have to mention is in Saundersfoot. Again it
was a 16%, if not more hill climb. But this one is special. It was like
something off the Tour de France when you watch it on television. There is a
tiny gap between hundreds of people, screaming and shouting and making as
much noise as possible. You forget that you've already done a swim and
plenty of miles on the bike before hitting this hill. You get a massive
boost of energy and adrenaline and from nowhere I smash this hill. All
thanks to the supporters. No lie. It was special all day but Saundersfoot
was another level. And then it was downhill for a mile or two back into
Tenby, ready for lap two! Coming back to transition was a lovely feeling.
The cycle was nearly finished and it was time to get myself mentally
prepared for a marathon. The last mile on the bike I took nice and slowly.
No real reason why, just wanted my legs to get ready for some running so used
the downhill into Tenby to my advantage and stretched my legs, loosen the
shoulders and shake my arms out. Got off the bike and ran into transition. I
did the bike leg in 6:31 hours. I was shocked and over the moon with that
time. And wasn't completely knackered. Which is the main thing, or else it
would be a long 26 miles. A lovely middle age lady volunteer sits me down
and makes sure I'm okay. Asks me if I want anything and she would get me it.
I took my helmet and shoes off and put my running trainers on and put the
cycle gear in the transition bag and handed it to the lovely lady. She gave
me a hug and said "go do yourself proud." Might sound daft but at the time
of the race hearing that is exactly what you want to hear. A stranger has
complete faith in you that you can go out there and get the job done. I
shook her hand and said thank you, and replied "I'm off to make my family
proud now!" And with that being said I ran out of the tent to all the
shouting and screaming again. The first mile or two my legs were like jelly
and felt heavy. But calmed myself down, got into a pace and rhythm I was
happy with and kept with it. It was 4 laps. Full of hills and horrible
straight roads where you run to a cone and back down the straight road
again. Was brutal. But the miles were ticking away one by one. Funnily
enough I saw customers of mine who have come to me for carpets. They were at
the half way point. They cheered me on every lap, and again seeing them also
gave me a boost. They were stood right at the point where you get the colour
bands to represent how many laps you did. Running is my strongest
discipline. I spent the whole run picking off people. It helped me get
through it. Nothing better than passing people, better than being passed! I
even ran past Oliver Simon, a pro! He was walking on his final lap. Not
every day you are running faster than a pro during part of a race. Get to
the 4th and final lap, I see my family again, take a sip of the flat coke
that's supplied and punched the air and shouted "SUB 12 ON THE WAY!!!" At
this point I'd been on the go for 10:45 hours and I knew something terrible
had to happen to stop me reaching this goal. I had 6.5 miles left to run.
The hairs on my neck stood up, I put my head down and dug deep. My left knee
was starting to burn, it was playing up the week before doing the race but I
wasn't going to make a big fuss of it as there was no way I wasn't going to
get the job done. My left ankle is starting to swell from all the pounding
on the Welsh roads. Passed my customers at 3 miles to go, gave them a high
5, thanked them for their support and cracked on. Get back into Tenby, 1
mile to go. The crowds are getting louder and louder as they can see you are
on the home straight. That and they've been drinking all day! Can't blame them.
I see the carpet. The pain disappears. It feels like a dream. You are
running down the carpet with the supporters going nuts and all you hear is
"MARK LAMONBY, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!" I've been dreaming of hearing those
words for 10 months. I cross the line. I'm too tired to see the time I did
it in. The mayor of Tenby tells me my time and shakes my hand and says "get
in!" I get into the recovery tent, and I ate anything I could get my hands
on. Ginger cake, fruit, pizza and pretzels. As much as I could eat. I
shuffle to claim my finishers t shirt and head on out to see the family. I
was so happy to see them, again got emotional. I couldn't thank them enough
for supporting me throughout the day. Not only for supporting me from the
crack of dawn and following me round all day, but for the whole build up to
getting me on the start line in the first place. You can't do an event like
this on your own. It's a team effort. And I'm lucky enough to have a great
team behind me. I had high hopes for myself and like to set goals that seem
stupid at the time, but, if you don't have stupidly hard goals to reach it
wouldn't be fun trying to reach them. For example, I was doubting whether I
could complete the race 12 hours beforehand. And I would never have believed
that I would do it in 11:38 hours. Not in a million years. But I did. I'm a
sub 12 hour ironman Wales athlete. And it feels good! I'm already thinking
to myself, 40 minutes quicker and it would be good enough for me to qualify
for Kona! The World Cup of ironman. So goal 1: get myself into a GB vest.
Goal 2: get myself to Kona. Stupidly hard goals? Time will tell .
Like this:
Like Loading...
Well done Mark, that was amazing. I hope you are recovering and are having a well deserved rest this week. I am sure you will achieve your goals, you are definitely determined enough!
Fantastic performance, Mark, and a brilliant write-up – even a flinty old northerner like me was becoming emotional reading your report. You are a star.
Well done Mark, brilliant effort and great report – puts short , scenic fell races into perspective! Best of luck with your targets!