So far you have managed to raise over £3500 which is likely
to increase to over £4000 with off line donations still to come in. This is a fantastic
achievement and I would like to thank everyone for their overwhelming and very generous
support. Completing the Ironman was physically and psychologically challenging,
but seeing the challenges that people with a Spinal Cord Injury face on a daily
basis was a humbling and powerful motivator. I was inspired by the Clients at Standing Start to
complete this challenge.
I would also like to specially thank my Brother-in-Law, Dave
Howie, who has done an incredible job raising money on behalf of Standing Start . We have quite literally had donations
from all over the world and indeed some ships off shore. Thank you Dave for all
your time and effort , SBM offshore
contributions have made a huge difference to the total monies raised and
a massive thank you goes out to the many people who gave so generously.
The money you have all donated will allow the charity to buy
more equipment and help fund further research to support the work that Standing
Start does.
Please continue to help us change more lives through
exercise at Standing Start, we are constantly fundraising and would really
appreciate your continued support with future events. You can still donate at www.standingstart.org or by following the bmycharity link http://www.bmycharity.com/IronmanWales2011StandingStart
For those that are interested in reading about how I felt
during the Ironman and what kept me going please read on, if not, many thanks
again for all your generous donations and messages of support, it is truly
appreciated and will go a long way in helping many more people with spinal cord
injuries.
The Pembrokeshire course had been described as challenging “the
only thing that was flat was the swim and there was no guarantee of that” how
true, a wind lashed swirling sea was what met the 1500 competitors as they set
off on a mass start from Tenby’s North beach. Just before I turned the first marker buoy at
750meters I was thinking “this is not too bad, a bit choppy but manageable” only
to swim around the buoy and to be met with a wall of water that forced every arm
stroke backwards , interspersed with salt water mouth washes every time you
turned your head to take a gasping breath, the effort made sure the salt got right
to the back of your throat, nice! Trying
to sight the distant marker buoy, so you did not go off course, was impossible
from the trough of a 5 foot wave and equally frustrating when you found
yourself clawing at fresh air as your arm bursts through the crest of the next
wave. At least you get a glimpse of the marker buoy on your way back down to
the trough, quick, get a deep breath! It was a long 800 meters into the wind
before the relief of making the last marker buoy for the 350meters to shore, the
shore leg felt like I was surfing after the last 800meters. With 1 lap down it
was time to do it all again, but with some comfort in the knowledge that you
could actually make the 800meter leg into the wind.
By the time I exited the water and was running up the zig
zag ramps from the beach, the salt water was already making some strange rumbling
sounds in my belly, good job the Welsh crowd was in fine voice or I may have
been embarrassed, momentarily of course. As the swim had been relocated to the
North beach we had a longer run to transition before getting changed and picking
up the bike ready for the 112mile cycle. “Plan the race” and “race the plan”
was my intention, as I had done reasonably well in the swim I momentarily contemplated
wearing the same clothes for the bike, fortunately the sensible head prevailed
and I completely changed before setting off on what I can only describe as the
most, picturesque, gruelling, windy, downright dangerous descents and not to
mention, relentlessly hilly bike course I have ever been on. An Ironman veteran had said to me prior to
the race “If you think you are going to slow on the bike you are probably going
at the right pace” this proved to be sound advice as I set off at a steady pace.
I had just started to think it was going well when on the first serious climb my
chain came off as a result of a quick gear change, still disorientated from the
swim I actually thought my gear cable had snapped and was just getting my head
round the next 100miles with half the gears when I eventually managed to get
the chain back on but struggled to get going on the steep hill, I was annoyed
that at least 50 cyclists had gone past me, it seemed important then.
I deliberately left my bike computer on time so that I did
not psych myself out with the miles left
to do, instead focusing on setting time
targets to get through the cycle, I found myself treating myself to a sneak look
at 3hrs thinking I was going well only to be gutted that I was only just over
half way (57miles) with the hardest part of the bike course still to come. With
every hill my legs were now getting a bit heavier, eventually reaching the
ascents at Narberth (16%) and Saundersfoot (12%) I was in the easiest gear and
rolling my upperbody to keep some kind of momentum going, it was a struggle to keep
the cranks turning, I put in a pathetic zig-zag on the Narberth climb just to
give my quads a momentary rest but realised it was too narrow to get any
meaningful rest and was actually using more effort with the change of
directions. Eventually the effort eased as I slowly rolled over the crest of
the hill, this was probably the lowest point of the cycle as I settled in to do
it all again.
Strange as it sounds, it was actually a relief to get out on
the run, different leg action and straightening my back was a good feeling
albeit temporary. The run was 4 loops to
make up the 26.2miles, any thoughts of running a sub 4 hour marathon diminished
quickly after the second lap, I was over an hour and my legs were not playing
ball, walking up the hills and jogging down gave way to shorter and shorter
jogs with longer walks, I never doubted for one second that I would not finish
but was disappointed I could not run more on the marathon, Matt, who
was paralysed from his neck down following a motor bike accident had contacted me prior to the Ironman to say “when you feel like you have nothing in the
tank, just remember all of us people with spinal cord injuries who would do
anything to take that next step” his
words were ringing in my ears for the last two laps of the run, thank you Matt,
as always you inspire”.
As I write these notes less than 48hrs after the event, My
Ironman is over and my body is already adjusting back to normal. I will always be inspired by the clients at
Standing Start who face an endurance event every day of their lives living with
a spinal cord injury, we can make their endurance event just a little bit more
manageable by using exercise to change lives.
Please continue to help us change more lives through
exercise at Standing Start, we are constantly fundraising and would really
appreciate your continued support with future events. You can still donate at www.standingstart.org or by following the Bmycharity link http://www.bmycharity.com/IronmanWales2011StandingStart
