First and foremost I would like to thank everybody that contributed to our success in Austria. My fiancé Eimear for all her support throughout the long days and months of training, not once during my journey to becoming an Ironman did she doubt that I would finish the race and on every occasion she encouraged me to follow my dream, and ‘‘oh boy did I’’. When I said OUR success as apposed to MY success I mean this so sincerely because without the help of our fan club Eimear, Andrew, Anne, Claire, Edel , Anna, Martina, Conor (ButtHead) and Donna. Each and everyone of them swam every stroke, pedalled every revolution, and run every step of the way with us. And this group of people quickly became known locally as TEAM IRELAND , and could be very clearly heard and seen with their TRI Colour flags and Tee shirts. To all of the Athlone Tri Club members , friends , and family for your support via text messages, phone calls ,and your posts on the website. Reading all them comments makes me very proud. And last but not least Marc, Adrian, Dave, and Mick without the help and encouragement from these guys, I don’t think it would have been possible to finish the race. On every occasion that we passed each other they greeted me with a high five, a ‘’keep it going conor’’, and underneath the pain they had a smile on there face. This unbelievable courage gave me a huge lift when I needed it most. Five paddy’s left Dublin on the 1st of July just human, and returned on the 7th of July as IRONMEN.
Before I can talk about my Journey to becoming an Ironman I would like to give you a small insight into Ironman . Ironman is considered by most people to be the hardest one day endurance event in the world. It consists of a 3.8KM swim 180KM Bike and a 42.2KM Run. Ironman was formed in 1977 in Hawaii when a debate between 2 men on which athletes are the fittest swimmers cyclists, or runners. John Collins decided to combined the three disciplines and ran the first race. A trophy of a man made of Iron was presented to the winner and from that day forward Ironman was born. What makes this event so special is the stories that each and every athlete brings with them . Dick hoyt for example swims with his handicapped son in a boat strapped to his back, cycles with his son on the front of the bike and pushes him in a wheel chair, and Julie Moss who was a student and participated in Ironman as part of her theseis. Julie had led the entire race from the swim and with only 500m of the run left her entire body gave way and shecollapsed to the ground on several occasions only to be passed by another women 30m from the line. This was the first televised ironman and it brought world fame to the Ironman. Ironman have many famous stories to tell. And I am no different I also brought my story with me. For many of you that have known me for the last few years will realise the amount of effort I have given to this journey. I remember the I released that I was 20 stone and wearing a 46 inch pair of Trousers. My first run was a 500m run and when I got back to the house I taught that my heart was going to explode. So this story is for everyone that thinks that they can achieve anything if they put their mind to it and of course work very hard. Take Marc for example he couldn’t swim 4 years ago and now he is an IRONMAN.
So here is my Ironman story.
On the day before the race we went to the local supermarket to stock up on our much needed calories for the next day. In the supermarket we met Stephen and Bella Bayliss they are elite athletes and finished 3rd and 1st respectively. As it turned out they were staying at the same hotel as us. As we were talking to them I noticed there shopping cart as apposed to mine, I was loading my cart with high cabro foods and for 6 days I ate nothing but Pasta and they had Pringles Mars, Coke and Magnums so I knew straight away I needed to get some junk food and I raced back to the store to pick up some nutella Jaffa biscuits and some tucs. Meeting them was a great experience and some answers that stood out in my mind was from Bella, When the question was asked about how easy the course was she answered ‘’ Ironman courses are never easy you still have to cover the huge distances’’ and when she was asked who here main rivals were her answer was ‘’ My main competitor is always myself and the Russian girl will be a threat too’’. After hearing these 2 answers I started to get a good insight into what I was going to face during the race, the huge amount of distances to be covered and of course the demons that I would have to fight in this war of Attrition. Surprisingly enough I had no nerves before the race, it was hard to explain the emotions I was feeling it felt like my emotions were numb no nerves what so ever and everytime I taught about the day I looked forward to it and couldn’t wait for it to start. My feelings were certainly helped by the other lads who were all very positive. Not once during the week did I question if I would finish the race, I was here for a reason and that reason was to finish the journey I started 4 years ago, and no amount of pain was going to get in my way.
RaceDay:
Before the race everybody had a finish time in mind mine was 13 hours, I had it broken up into 1.15 for the swim 6.10 for the bike and 5.20 for the run, and 15 mins for transition.
The alarm sounded at 4am and in truth I didn’t need the alarm as I was already awake and looking forward to the day. We all met for breakfast and everyone was extremely relaxed so this made it very easy to get the much needed calories on board. We arrived at the transition area at 6am, checked in our bags said a very emotional goodbye to everyone and headed for the swim start. Entering the swim start was the first time I felt the adrenaline rush of Ironman. The crowds were massive and they were all there to support us. The local priest entered the water in his cloak to knee high and gave us his blessing. I was facing to crowd when the starter horn went off and to my surprise nobody sprinted into the water. Everybody entered the water at a casual pace and the swim was underway. The pace of the swim was extremely comfortable and considering 2,700 started together it was relatively comfortable only the odd stray hand or legs but nothing I couldn’t handle. The only mistake I made the whole day was in the swim where I wore my old goggles that had very little visibility and I had to stop 3 times to clear the lenses. The first buoy was in a straight line at 1400m, I reached that point at approximately 32mins and was still extremely comfortable the second buoy at 1800m passed relatively quickly, and after this point I knew I was on the way home, the next 1200m is straight back towards the beach, and the last 900m was in the canal. I found the canal the most enjoyable part of the swim it was about 50m wide and the banks were lined with supporters. I could hear and see everyone and the feeling was unbelievable .I found the swim the most enjoyable part of the race and I swam at a pace that was extremely comfortable. I finished the swim in 1.14:17,found Eimear and the crew gave her a big kiss and headed to transition 43 seconds ahead of schedule.
In transition I changed into my cycle clothes applied alot of vaseline, packed my nutrition grabbed my bike and off I went.
The 180km bike was a 2 loop course of 90km with 2 main climb totalling 800m. I exited the bike park and again I spotted TEAM IRELAND at about 1KM. The roads surfaces were like billiard tables and were ideal for high speeds. The first 20km of the bike was between Klagenfurt and Velden it was mostly uphill but it was wind assisted and very fast. On the previous night Claire, Eimear, Anne, and Andrew decorated one corner at the top of a hill with chalk, tri colours flags and posters saying go Conor go’’ ‘’ go Athlone tri club’’ and ‘’Irish eyes are smiling’’. This quickly became known as IRELANDS corner. I used the first 20km to take in a lot of fluids and some energy bars. At the first aid station I took on a banana which didn’t agree with me so I made a conscious decision not to eat them again. At 30km we entered Rosegg and the first climb of the day, it was a short climb but the day was getting hotter, things didn’t start well as my chain fell off, I dismounted the bike and went again. As my usual style in climbing I just put the bike into the easiest gear and grinded my way to the top. This was an amazing part of the bike because the whole climb was lined with tour de France like supporters. At the top you were funnelled into a tunnel of people who would at the very last minute clear the path for me to pass. My race number also had my name on it and all I heard was ‘’ hop hop hop Conor’’. During the climb I was very conscious not to overcook the climb. Putting my legs into the red so early on in a race of this distance could be very dangerous. Without much damage done to the legs I finished the climb and descended to a left hand turn. For me this was the hardest section of the course it was only about 10km but it was into the wind and on a slight upslope. As I entered the next town I was again greeted with hop hop hop Conor, at this point I was confused because I taught this meant up up up conor as people were saying it to me on the hills but now that I was on flat roads they were still saying it, after about 30minsof hard mind boggling thinking I released it meant go go go. To you reading this that might sound silly but its amazing the things that keep your mind distracted when you have to spend 6 hours on a bike. Looking back at this makes me laugh because out of competition I would have figured out go go go straight away but when your mind and body is tired it takes alot longer for it to function rationally, this gave me a great laugh on the day, how sad was I, but I didnt care 30 mins and 15 km had passed. At 65km I hit the second climb, this climb is longer and harder and the day was starting to get very hot. Again this climb was lined tour de france like people, with 2 guys in particular dressed in black suits and ties, these guys offered great support, later in the story I will meet them again. At the top of this climb there was a DJ blasting out some cracking tunes, when hit the top of the hill Tina Turner’s ‘ simply the best’ was playing , and you better believe thats exactly how I felt. The 2 main climbs were completed and I was in great shape. On Thursday Dave and Marc had driven the bike course and some misleading advise was handed around (Thanks Guys J). I was told that the last 26km was all downhill. So when I hit the top of the 2nd climb I was looking forward to a free ride to the turning point. No chance it was very rolling no sooner were you going downhill and uphill followed but in fairness to the boys there was some very nice downhill’s . The last 5 km of the first loop seemed to take forever because I couldn’t wait to see Team Ireland again. When I passed the big football stadium with about 1 km to go the adrenaline started to pump again as I heard the music coming from the turn point. I then hit a right turn and entered the final straight and it was amazing, all it was lined with thousands of people and ironman branding everywhere. I spotted TEAM IRELAND just before the turn point gave them and big smile and wave. I finished the first loop in 2.52, 8.43 ahead of schedule and I was off on the second 90 km happy with the taught of seeing everyone again. For someone reading this report you might think that I am painting a very pretty picture of the race, but in actual fact I real felt extremely comfortable at this point. I again hit Rossegg and climbed at a slower pace as I found the legs starting to burn a bit so I made a decision to slow down for the rest of the bike, as I was wisely told that every time you go into the red on the bike it takes minutes of your run. Looking back now I believe this statement as much as ever. My plan was to slow right down on the uphill’s and freewheel the downhill’s. In my own mind I was calling these downhills free miles as I was covering the distances without pedalling thus using no energy. So they became free miles and I was happy when they came. At this point the crowds were smaller and nothing like the first loop as most people had gone into watch the elite race so the tour de France feel was less evident. After I slowed down I found the climbs easier the second time around. The next 30km was starting to take its toll more so on the mind than the body. I hit the final climb at 150km again I spotted the 2 guys in the suits and they were now drinking beer and relaxing in their lounge chairs. One of the guys offered me a beer, it would have been easy to stop there and then take a can throw away the bike and cheer on the rest of the athletes, but I didn’t I had bigger fish to fry I had an Ironman to finish and for once beer had to take a back seat. The last 30Km of the bike was relatively comfortable until my left foot started to pain like hell but I knew it was from the lack of blood flow, which is common enough during long spins on the bike. I removed my shoe from the pedal and shook my foot around a few times and this seemed to do the trick. A lot of people had said to me that after 180km would be happy to throw away your bike and never want to see it again, but I didn’t feel like this, I loved every minute of the bike. I enjoyed the bike so much because I never treated Ironman as a race it was always about finishing with a smile, and because I allowed myself to slow down it made the 180km bike a pleasure. Another factor that I didn’t want the bike to end was that in triathlon the bike is always followed by the run, running is my worst discipline, and did I have a long way to run, 42.6 km to be exact. I was greeted at the bike park by Eimear, Anne and Andrew which again gave me a huge boost. Its amazing when you see some familiar faces you stand up taller, run faster, and you have this uncontrollable smile when you see them. I finished the bike in 6.05.39. 5mins 03 secs ahead of schedule.
Into transition 2 again I was feeling very comfortable and never had a taught of not finishing, failure was not an option, becoming an Ironman was only 42.6km away.
I started the hardest part of the race and for most this is where the race really begins. At this point your mental resilience is tested to the full. 6 hours on the bike takes its toll and knowing that no matter what you do I still had 4 to 5 hours of running ahead of me. So I broke the run down to 4 sections of 10km and the last 2 km would be covered by my adrenaline. I covered the first kilometre very easy trying to be patient and not go to hard at the start. After passing the 1km I told myself that I only had a 39km run left as the last 2km would be run with ease as I would have the feeling of finishing. This is where I met Marc for the first time and he looked very comfortable and was heading to Klagenfurt. The first 6 km was relatively ok for me I was in a good rhythm and I felt that I had a lot of energy and the taught of finishing was very strong in my mind. I had made a decision before the race that I would jog to each aid station and then I would walk through each aid station, this was the equivalent of running 2.5km and then walking 100m. This would allow my legs to recover and it would also allow me to get the much needed calories on board. When I arrived at kilometre 7 things began to take a nose dive and my body and mind were feeling very tired. This was the only time all-day that I taught that I would not finish the race. This was an extremely low point of the race and finishing the race seemed like a life time away the 36km left to run might as well have been 360km it didn’t matter I didn’t want to go on. This is known as hitting the wall, I had certainly hit it hard. So I decided to walk 100m before the next aid station take my time, go some gels in, and drink some coca cola, I then walked another 100m before I started running again. To my amazement the gels worked instantly and I mean instantly I felt great after about 30 secs it was like someone had given my body and mind a huge boost. So at this point I decided to take a gel at every second aid station. Soon after words I met Mick who was closely followed by Dave, a quick well done was passed between us and this always gives you a good moral boost. At the 10km marker I found myself back in the Ironman village with thumping music and Team Ireland shouting encouragement. I had completed section 1 of four and my taught of that section of the course was that I only had to run it one more time in section 3, this was my way of putting a positive slant on things and it seemed to work very well for me. Onto section 2 another 10km loop from Ironman village into Klagenfurt city. This was my favourite loop of the 2 which made it easier to run. Again I stuck to walking the aid stations. After approximately 4 km I entered Klagenfurt city where all the locals were offering water to athletes and other locals were using hoses to spray water at us, which was very much appreciated, at this time of the day the temperatures we near the 30s. We turned at a famous statue of a dragon in the city centre and headed back to Ironman village. I then saw Adrian for the first time and we greeted each other with a high five, he was approximately 1 to 2 km behind me. I actually taught he would catch me and possibly we could run the last few kilometres together, but things like that don’t happen in Ironman, its not that easy, you are on your own and nobody can help you but yourself. I arrived back in Ironman village 2 sections completed and 2 to go. On the 3rd section and my last time to run this lap, approximately 6km in to the lap the s*^t hit the fan and it became a matter of survival and any taught of times went out the window all I knew was that the finish line was 14km away and I didn’t know how to get there. So I just decided to put one foot on front of the other ,and then I tried running from telephone pole to telephone pole. At this point I met Adrian again and he crossed the whole way across the road to give me a high five, this took unbelievable effort on his behalf to do but it just showed the through spirit of the man this gave me the biggest encouragement of the day knowing that he was on his limits but he still had the energy to wish me well.This automatically worked and before long I was out of my bad patch and I was running fine again. Thanks Adrian. Two lovely incidents happened in the next few kilometres the first was some local kids were given out some sponges soaked in ice cold water I went to grab one but I missed it and after about 50m I heard the pitter patter of small feet behind me I turn and there was a lovely little blonde haired child no more than 5 or 6 handing me the sponge, and in her beautiful little voice said hop hop hop Conor. This lovely sign of generosity was shown by the local people all-day. The second incident carried me mentally along way through the remainder of the run. I had just passed the last aid station on the 3rd section just outside the ironman village at approximately 29 km I was walking the 100m after the aid station when a smart arsed Canadian dude pulled up beside me on his bike and told me to start running you lazy prick and sped off again. I don’t have to tell you what my response to him was but it was not very polite. Just as I was cursing that guy, a very funny incident happened approximately 50m up the road the same guy had obviously said the same thing to the wrong person when all of a sudden a guy in a blue trisuit punched the Canadian straight in the jaw and bike went one way and he went the other, he was flattened I nearly wet myself laughing it was the funniest thing I had seen so when I passed the guy I didn’t see his foot and I stood on it by accident, very childish I know but who cares he deserved it. I don’t know what happened to the guy after that but I am sure he woke up with a crowd around him, and hopefully a little bit more respect for the incredible people who were participated in this wonderful race. Another huge boost , I could hear the music of the Ironman village, it was at this point that the courage of and determination it takes to be an Ironman really was made aware to me. I spotted Eimear and Andrew talking to Dave a guy from Dublin who was staying in the same hotel as us. We had got to know him very well the days building up to the event. Dave was quite obviously struggling and didn’t want to go on, but I learned afterwards that Eimear and his wife Donna had obviously said some right to him and Dave went on to complete the whole race in 15.30 hrs. Dave didn’t feel great after the race but I am sure when he recovers and looks back he will take great pride in what he achieved. Dave is now an Ironman and no-one can every take that away from him. Dave also had his Ironman story, a tough story but a successful one. Finally I was on the way home and boy was I glad. At this point I met Mick and he had only 1km to go, how much I would have given to be in his position, but I wasn’t , I had 12km to go, and this would be the toughest test yet.I got to the 36km mark and turned in Klagenfurt fairly comfortably, at this stage I started to release I was passing alot of people so obviously my training had been spot on and I was feeling strong and looking forward to that 100m run to the finishline, something I have taught about everyday for the last 12 months. At the 6km to go point I was feeling very anxious to finish it wasn’t that I was hugely suffering I just wanted to finish and get my medal. Again I came upon Adrian at the exact same spot as I had passed him the previous time. I knew then that we were running at a similar pace, as in turned out our run times were within a minute of each other. At this point I could see that he was having one of them low points so I tried to give him a big shout ‘’go on Adrian you are flying’’ I just hoped it helped him as much as it had helped me. At this point of the race the high seem to become more high and the lows become more low and they come and go quicker than before, my last low point came between kilometre 37 to 40, at this stage I just put my head down and counted my steps and when I lost count I started again and it worked I was into the last 2km, I was floating on air I even passed the aid station without stopping I didn’t need anymore gels I was running with my heart. During the last 2km I found myself uncontrollably emotional the numb feeling of the week before was coming out and the fear of not finishing was replaced by the taught of crossing the line, I even found myself crying at certain stages. My journey to becoming an Ironman was just around the corner and all the hours of training was about to pay off. I finished the last lap and saw Eimear and Andrew waiting for me they wanted to come up the line with me, but I told them to go the the line. I had read in 220 Triathlon that it was illegal to do this anymore and I would have been disqualified, as it turned out they could have come with me, I regret not letting them be part of the finish, sorry guys. I was into the last 200m when I came to the big yellow sign it said turn right for 2nd lap and left for the finish. There was a gentleman on front of me in a red tee shirt and I yelled out him congratulations we did we are Ironmen. As we approached the sign he started to veer right and I knew he still had 21km to go, I felt very sorry for him i should have kept my mouth shut, but I later checked his number and he finished in 16.23. I ran the next 100m and saw the finish line, I turned left into the finish arena and it all hit me, it was the best feeling of my life every hair on my body stud up and I was shivering with excitement. I crossed the line in 12:32:26, 27mins 34 secs ahead of schedule. To be honest I didn’t care about time I was so overwhelmed with emotion I burst out crying I turned to my left and I seen Anne, Eimear, Andrew, Marc, Claire, Martina Edel and Anna and I saw that all of them were crying too. You might read this and ask why were we crying but you can’t explain in words what it is like to be at an Ironman finish, its not just a finish celebration its a celebration of 4 years of hard work, 4 years of sacrifice, 4 years of perusing a dream. As it turned out I wasn’t the only one Marc, and Dave were the same, grown men crying thats what Ironman does to people. I turned back to my right and there it was my Ironman medal was there in front of me and a nice lady put the medal over my neck and there it was I was an Ironman.
Looking back and writing this report has made me realise the accomplishments we have achieved and at times I find myself reliving the emotions and finding myself with a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye. I feel that my Ironman story had to be told and I hope it will inspire you to follow your dreams and one day become an Ironman. People told me it would be a day filled with pain and suffering and yes it was to a certain degree, but it is also filled with overwhelming joy and happiness.
I would not give back any of the hours I spent training and competing Ironman, and I would certainly never take back the picture in my mind of Eimear, Andrew and Annes crying faces of Joy.
So for you please follow your dream, take your journey and tell your story.
My Journey is complete and my Ironman story has been told.
I am an Ironman and I can brag for life.
Conor.
