Race Report: Mallorca Half Ironman:
Fullen Gill, 5.02.59hrs, (33.21 - 1900m
swim, 2.52.21 - 90k bike, 1.30.50 - 21k run) 1st in age group,
I needed an early 70.3 this year, as I was aiming to qualify for the
IM 70.3 World Champs in Austria and since I was intending to
go to Mallorca training anyway it sort of made sense to do the
race while I was there. It was a bit of a shock to go from
chilly UK weather to baking hot Spanish climes and hope to be
competitive, but I had a week to acclimatise at least. I was
with a group of 8 other Harriers and managed some great rides
with them at the start of the week, including the infamous Sa
Calobra at the crack of dawn. Then the tedious taper began and
I had to watch them zooming off all over the island while I wound
down for the race. Boring.
I swam every morning to try and overcome my habit of being sick
every time I swim in the sea and to get used to the wetsuit
again – fail ! Very generously Dave PH lent me his lovely Zone
3 suit in the end and I found that I could actually breathe,
which was a huge improvement on being strangled by my own
wetsuit.
Running was slow and on very heavy legs, but in good company and
beautiful surroundings and gradually improved as I got used to the
heat. On race day Richard P was a gent and drove me into
Alcudia for the race start. I had racked the previous day with
everything prepared, but arrived at my bike to find the rear
tyre completely flat – not in the race plan. Luckily I had
plenty of time to change the tub for my spare and persuade the
bike mechanics to inflate it through my dodgy spare valve
extender. Otherwise all was set and I checked again where my
fairly empty transition bags were placed on the racks so I could
find them easily.
The beach start went off in 15 waves, with about 3500 competitors to
get through, starting with the male pros, then the lady pros.
Great to see them start and realise that the front runners
would be finishing the swim in 15 to 16 minutes – less than
half the time it would take me! It’s fairly shallow at the
start of the swim, so I kept wading through the water to the
last minute rather than swimming any further than absolutely
necessary, which seemed to work, as I found myself near the
front of my wave, with some good feet ahead of me. The swim wasn’t
too crowded and I felt pretty comfortable throughout, but as
always very pleased to get back onto the beach for the long
run to T1. Most of the other women were jogging up the beach,
so I put some effort in and ran, passing most of the ladies
who had swum better than me and arriving at transition well up
the field. Both tyres still up, I ran out with the bike, threw
myself over the saddle in a semi-professional manner and promptly
took the wrong exit from the roundabout, having to turn around
to get back on the route and losing a few places in the
confusion. Drat.
Bike course instructions were to push the first 10k hard (usually a
recovery stage after the swim), so I hit the gas and was soon
passing ladies from the previous wave. At 10k the course
starts to incline subtly uphill, but speed was still good and
I kept pushing to the start of the 14k climb, where
instructions were not to kill myself so I was too tired
for the second half of the course. Duly span fairly easily up
and up and up, with no-one passing me, until the top of the course
finally arrived and my favourite part, the steep, technical descent
with 16 hairpin bends thrown in for good measure. Less than 12
mins of persuading my hands to stay away from the brakes,
leaning into the turns and keeping the speed as high as
possible. Closed roads here, made all the difference in
terms of finding the right line and I even overtook the race
referee’s motorbike! So onto the long, twisty in places, but
fast and rolling second half of the course, where power is the
key and being aero into the onshore headwind. I felt strong
and, apart from the odd hill, kept the speed at over 20mph for
the whole of the return leg of the loop.
Just the run to do. I had tried to take some gels on the bike, but
only succeeded in getting through about half of what I had
with me, so knew I was a little under-fuelled. There was a
long run from transition to the first aid station, which
didn’t help and I only managed to take on water there, so my
legs weren’t feeling like they wanted to do a half marathon
with me. Tough. Next aid station was time for my secret weapon –
Coke. Caffeine works for me much better than sports drinks, so
Coke & water at each aid station from then on and keeping hold
of any ice blocks I was lucky enough to be given.
I knew my pace wasn’t great, but on the dead turns I hadn’t seen any
other women in my age group, either in front or close behind, so
figured I could probably get away with an average run. Now I
was chasing an overall ladies’ placing and gradually
overhauling any pink numbers in front of me. The general pace
of the run on the second loop was far slower, as most of the
pros had finished by then and the slower cyclists were joining
the run, which was very narrow in places, so it became harder
to keep a good speed up. I was more motivated on the last lap and
started to pick the pace up and managed to keep it going, even when
they seemed to be pushing the finish arch further away every
time I looked! Finish funnel – best feeling ever! A whole
bunch of Harriers waving and shouting madly! What a great
sight. Over the line, medal, congrats from the officials. 1st
out of 60 in age group, 4th non-pro woman. Qualification for
World Champs in the bag, (presented by Paula Newby-Frazer,
very famous, mega, multi-IM-Kona winner). Job done. Bubbly and
paella for tea.
Gill
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