IronMan Wales 2023; (Fish) Guts and Glory! -Lindsay Straughton

On the back of the highs of LakesMan and 255 in 2022, I decided I wanted to tackle my first IronMan, and what better course than the beautiful Tenby in Pembrokeshire.

Training was due to officially start in November when I got back from a family holiday to Florida. Those who have read my Run Disney blog from last year might remember that I was suffering with a hamstring/glute/abductor injury. After consulting Mark Taylor at Bespoked physio the decision was made (by Mark and Paul) that I needed to take 4 months out from running – not an ideal start. But in Coach Paul’s words “we’ll just make you a beast on the bike!” and he wasn’t wrong!

It would transpire that 4 months of no running but lots of strength and conditioning work followed by Coach Paul’s “couch to IronMan” strategy, would make me a faster runner. I’ll let Paul scratch his head over whether there’s any science to that!

September 2023 and it was time to head to Tenby with husband, teenage son, in-laws, our dog, the Irelands and a LakesMan winner in tow.

We spent a week in Tenby (acclimatising?! lol) and the weather changed what felt like hourly, 48hrs before there was torrential rain and wind!

By race day all was calm, if anything we were worrying about the heat!

Race Day

IronMan Wales has a unique set up in that there is a 1km run from the swim to transition. After adding nutrition to our bikes and transition bags we headed down to the swim start, pink bags in hand ready to stash our trainers for the post swim run back to transition.

The start is exactly as you see on all the videos – the streets are lined with spectators at 6am, a sea of pink bags on the zig zags and pink caps on the beach. Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau blaring from speakers along the cliffside and perfectly timed fireworks.

The sea looked almost flat.

The Swim

I started in a self seed wave exactly where I wanted to be, those around me seemed to be doing a similar pace and I was able to do some good drafting on lap 1, coming back to Goskar Rock for the Aussie exit bang on my target time.

Approximately 250m into lap 2, around the first turn buoy, I swam into what can only be described as a diesel slick. I’ve swam in lakes that have powerboats, but this was nothing like that, it instantly stung my face, lips and inside my mouth. Fishing boats are moored along to back straight of the swim, I can only assume the incoming tide was washing any leaks straight into our path and this happened again several times before the next turn.

But the diesel was the least of my worries….. in my attempt to avoid being in a crowd at the buoy, I got a little too close to a trawler…… the stench and “bits” in the water are probably best not described in too much detail. On top of the diesel taste, my stomach just couldn’t take any more and started to do back flips.

When I stopped to tread water, I was only 25m from the next turn buoy and I could see that the tide was rushing in around it. People were getting stuck in a rip current and one person was screaming for help as they were stuck under the buoy!

I made the decision to stay wide, swim past the buoy and then turn, this was the right decision as the tide then sling shot me round the buoy and pushed me most of the last 1km back to shore (stopping several times to dry heave along the way!)

I took my time exiting (20 minutes behind target) and slipping my trainers on was glad I’d put a bottle of water in my pink bag to try to swish the salty, fishy diesel away, before steadily making my way to transition through the cheering crowds.

The Bike

Heading out on the bike I knew I wasn’t in great shape, and this would become a balance between pushing hard and not blowing up.

Early on near Angle there are some long single file sections with no overtaking allowed. The slow swim meant I was in heavy traffic among slower riders, and I think this cost me around 10 minutes.

While I didn’t feel too ill, my stomach wasn’t happy when I was eating and every mouthful had to be swilled down with fluid if I was to stand any chance of not bonking.

The rest of the ride was uneventful, Saundersfoot is like something from the TdF and I managed to make up nearly 500 places over the 180km.

The Run

Out on the run and the first lap felt reasonably ok. Top cheer crew Louise and Bex told me I was 8th in my age group and closing in on the couple in front of me.

But by midway through lap 2 I realised things were not right at all and the salty fishy diesel had done more damage than I initially thought.

All I could stomach were sips of water and even those were a stretch. I began to question whether I should continue, let alone whether I could.

Going out on lap 3 I knew that I needed an intervention. I headed for a nearby bush and did what some would call “a tactical chunder”. 2.5litres of Gatorade the second time around is not a joyous thing. I had already decided that if getting rid of my stomach contents didn’t alleviate the nausea and cold sweats then I was seeking out a medic who no doubt would then have pulled me out of the race. Luckily it alleviated enough to allow me to power walk the uphills and gentle jog the downhills, taking a few minutes to compose myself at each feed station.

Seeing my family and realising how concerned they were gave me the kick needed to get my butt into gear for the final lap.

It was pitch black by the time I got back into Tenby, but the bonus is that my run photos are flipping amazing!

As I rang the first timer bell at the start of the red-carpet Neil Diamonds Sweet Caroline began blaring from the speakers. The crown erupted and were so loud that I couldn’t hear the commentator shouting those infamous words…..

Lindsay Straughton….. YOU. ARE. AN. IROMAN!!!

Footnote: despite finishing 3hrs slower than planned and having seriously suffered on the run, the following day I had ZERO aches or pains. This is testament to Coach Paul’s training plans. I have no doubt had it not been for the top notch preparation I would still be in a world of hurt a week later!