Ironman Lanzarote 2012
This Ironman race has been around for a long time and has been on my to-do list for many years. Lanzarote is a volcanic island that is part of the Spanish Canary Islands. It is located about 120km east of Morocco. The race has been known as the most challenging courses on then Ironman circuit. It’s an ocean swim, followed by a hilly barren windy bike ride, then a hot run along the shores.
As with most of the races, the entry commitment needed to be made almost a year ahead of the race date. So I entered last summer to have the option to race if I chose to. It became more of a goal after speaking with Tara who talked highly of the race and who had some great success there. By the end of December, I was fully committed to racing it and we booked the travel arrangements.
Fast forward to race week. We decided to go a week early to adjust to the time change and temperatures. This would also give me the opportunity to do my last real ride on parts of the course. As it turned out it was a good idea to go early because the island was experiencing a heat wave when we arrived. The temps were in the low 40’s with scorching sunshine and not a breath of wind. I found riding for 2.5 hours the day after getting there really tough but tried to remain positive and focused. Luckily those temperatures did subside by the end of the week and into race day. As the temps dropped, the winds picked up which presented a more typical race day then what we had arrived in. In the race week prep, I was able to swim at the race beach, ride some interesting sections of the course and of course watch all the European triathlon peacocks strutting their stuff. Haha. Seems like we Canadians are more humble than most.
Race day:
Woke up at the usual time of 3:45 to start drinking breakfast. It went down pretty well so it was a good start. We left by 4:45 to head down to the race site. By 5:15 I was on the street where transition area is and looking to sneak into one of the many restaurants and bars that were just closing up to use their washroom. It was kinda funny as the streets were filled with nervous spandex clad athletes and drunken party goers (also wearing tight spandex) spilling out of the night clubs.
Swim: The swim start was a narrow shoot where they asked the faster swimmers to seed themselves up front and everyone else over 65 min to stay back. As I’ve been swimming well and more confident this year, I made sure I was at the front. This race did not have separate start for the pros. Therefore they started in ankle deep water and the age groupers were held back on the beach about 10 meters back. I started 10.5 meters back because I couldn’t get in front of some swaggering peacock feathers. As the gun went off it was game on and I took off after the pros. The goal was to get on some good feet of some experienced pros to follow. The two loop swim was flat with a slight current for the return leg. Almost immediately I settled in to a good rhythm and with a few other good swimmers. On the way back I saw a manta ray that was flapping himself into the sand on the sea floor. Very cool distraction. I felt great for the entire swim and exited the water in 51:50,16th overall and 2nd in my age group. Transition was a long run up the beach to the tent and road. Due to limited space, the bikes were placed in along narrow lines. This accounted for longer than normal transition times.
Bike: The ride is where I figured most of those peacock types would fly past me, which they did. Almost immediately guys were steaming past me like it was a 40km time trial. I thought to myself, I’ll see ya later after you blow up or if you’re really that strong, have a good day. This helped me keep to my own race plan and to ride smart. My bike fitness is what I thought was lacking a bit so I needed to be sure that I didn’t over cook it. One thing I did notice is that there weren’t many people riding with power meters. Thought this was odd especially for a though course like this. Mentally I broke the ride up into thirds. The first 60k was all about settling in, getting into a good rhythm and starting my proper nutritional habits. I felt good through this whole section which consisted of some good climbs and rollers but nothing too serious. The second 60k is where the majority of the climbs are and where we reached the highest point of the ride at 560m. This middle 60 was slow but I just stayed in my zones and made sure I wasn’t climbing at too many watts. The two toughest sections were the long strait climb up to the high point. This was dead into the wind as I just crawled along. Following that section and before the next tough section was a descent of about 300m of altitude over a narrow road with about 10 switchbacks. I knew this section from riding it a week earlier and was excited to let loose down the mountain. It was fast and fun with technical turns through rock cutouts. That lead right into the next tough section which took us to the far northern tip of the island. The road was narrow and climbed back up to almost 500m. The views were stunning. After that it was straight into the last third of the ride and a smokin’ descent. Some blustery cross winds had me hit the brakes a couple of times as I reached 80kph through some graceful turns. When I originally devised my plan of three 60k rides, I thought of the last third to be fast and mostly downhill or flat. It wasn’t very exciting other than passing flogging peacocks on the sneaky climbs that brought us back from sea level to over 300m again. Mentally I felt good the whole way and was excited to ride the last 10km cause it was on a technical, narrow winding road that descended back to sea level. It was referred to as the donkey pass all week. Ride time was 5:37 with average power of 195 watts. The time was a bit longer than I thought it would be but based on my power file, I’m happy with the ride and pacing. I came off the bike 5th in my division.
Run: My running had been going well so I was looking to have a PB ironman marathon. The goal was 3:20. The run course was mostly flat with only a couple of small rises. Nothing to be concerned about. The first 10km went pretty well. I felt good and was running on pace. It was good to see Fiona on the run course. Due to the out-and-back course that was done three times, I got to hear her words of encouragement and strict commands to keep going many times. I did struggle in the middle section of the run. Fatigue, heat, not knowing who was around me and just wanting it to be over must have been getting me down. The format of the run made it tough to know who was on the same lap and what division they were in. This was the first race I’ve done where athletes were not body marked. At the start of my last loop, Fiona told me I was still in it and to keep pushing. When I got to the last turn around I saw a guy that I knew was in my division because we had already passed each other a couple of times on the marathon and he looked to be struggling. I made the turn and picked up the pace. Once I passed him I sure as hell didn’t want to see him again so I kept the pressure on as best I could. Made it to the finish line at just under 3:30 and an overall time of 10:08. This got me 8th is in the division although I was originally told that I was 7th. I don’t know how some guy snuck in afterwards but that’s what happened.
Summary: I went into this race with some objectives. 1. Execute properly. Meaning pace and nutrition as those are the things I can control. 2. If number one happens then the goal of going under 10 hours would be possible dependant on conditions and 3. Get a slot to Kona. Overall, I’m pleased with my race as I did feel I executed properly. But I know I still have some work to do on the run therefore there is still room for improvement. If I could have run as I wanted to, I would have been 9:58. (Coach – make me run faster!). The day before the race it was announced that there were 7 slots to Kona for my age group as it was the largest. I honestly thought that qualifying at this race was going to be a long shot since the total number of slots for the race was reduced from 60 to 40 and there were 366 guys in my category. Since I ended up 8th, I needed to have one guy ahead of me turn it down. We went to the Kona allocations the day after the race with the 600euros entry fee in hopes that my name would be called. As it turned out, there were two guys that didn’t take the spots, one of which was the guy who beat me after I had already crossed the line. So we heard my name called as well as the guy who I made sure didn’t catch me on the final leg of the marathon. This guy also happened to be the one guy in the division who exited the water in front of me. Two out of the three goals accomplished with knowing that I can still improve makes for a good race experience. Even though I had thoughts of not doing this again during the middle section of the marathon, I know I will be toeing the line again later this year.
Thanks to all my friends and training buddies who followed the race and make doing these events so rewarding. I will certainly be returning the favour because I want you all to qualify for Hawaii too. I also want to thank Murray Drudge of NYAC who has been a great help with my swimming and allows me to try to keep up with his fast kids. As well as Nicole Stevenson’s Angels running team for all the quality sessions. Also a special thanks to my wife and coach, Fiona who’s never ending support, encouragement and high expectations keep me going.
Happy training and successful racing. See you all soon.
Brandon.
Link to Lanzarote pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/109598637801632904417/IMLanzarote#