I am an Ironman!!

Just did the Ironman Langkawi, Malaysia this weekend.
Wanted to share a quite lengthy race experience I wrote for my friends on FB.

"Knut Haug from Norway, You are an Ironman!" Short and simple, but hearing it felt unreal, even if there certainly had been plenty of time to prepare for it.

I never thought I would do one, don't even think I ever *wanted* to do one. This was too extreme. This was reserved for the insane and the training addicted. But then I have a wife who get these crazy ideas. And one year after she had convinced us to learn to swim and take up triathlon, we suddenly found that doing an Ironman was no longer a complete impossibility. And so the training began.

264 training hours this year to be exact. 185 training sessions. 635km of running, 3443km of cycling and 102km of swimming. 139524 calories burned.

The day before departure to Langkawi I was starting to feel very nervous. After about a week of tapering, my legs felt weird. The haze had dramatically reduced the training in the weeks before, and now I was starting to question if the training had been enough, or if maybe I had peaked way too early and was now in decline. Didn't sleep much that night.

Arriving in Langkawi seemed to calm me. I slept better and felt my nerves were back under control.

Race morning we woke up at 4:15am, before the alarm rang. Felt good. Was happy to notice that I had gotten almost 7 hours of sleep. Had a coconut drink and a banana, did a last check of our bags and got on the shuttle bus to the swim start and T1.

After checking the bikes and a last visit to the porta-potty I was very content. And found myself remarkably calm as I was getting closer to the starting gate. Harum was in front of me, it was our turn. I remember looking for familiar faces on the short 20m run down the beach to the sea, couldn't see any but heard my name so just waved in the general direction. Got into the water and started swimming. It actually felt really good to finally be on the way. Tried to control myself, not get carried away and stress my strokes, breathe, be efficient. "Be like water my friend".

Apart from a well placed kick in my jaw, the swim went without much drama. The kick hurt but I comforted myself that it could have been worse, 10cm higher up he could have kicked off my goggles but now it barely registered.
I got out of water in 1:29h, almost annoyingly predictable. I had predicted 1:30h based on my previous open water swims. Seems that salt and fresh water makes no difference for me, lake or sea, 1900m or 3800m, that is my open water speed. I felt good as I jogged on the beach towards T1 and this time I did see a lot of familiar faces who cheered me on.

Had tried to pee in the sea while swimming, but failed, so had a quick stop at the porta-potty again before heading into the changing tent at T1. I had opted to swim in swim trunks and would towel down and change into cycling gear before getting on the bike. Also had a peanut butter, strawberry jelly sandwich in my bag that I had been looking forward to. Felt good to get something into the stomach. After 16 minutes I was on my way out on the bike. Had taken my sweet time, but was determined to rather take a few minutes extra than to stress and waste energy and risk mistakes.

I was very happy to be on the bike. I have gotten so in love with riding during these past 2 years, that I was going to enjoy this. The bike course started off quite tough though. Some small hills before some bigger hills, you hardly had time to get warm and got nothing for free the first 30km. But was very happy to see Harum after the first u-turn, great to know she got out of the swim well too. Then there was about 30km of quite flat and fast road to enjoy, before the dreaded steep hills, three of them in quick succession. I had stopped at every second aid station, leaving as little as possible to chance I preferred to spend the time to stop and refill my own bottles as opposed to just exchange to the ready bottles.

After about 50km I felt a small tingle in my left leg, felt like an early warning for a possible cramp, was baffled. Had not experienced cramps since April, in the Putrajaya 70.3 race, when I was racing with flu, so my first thought was that I must be mistaking. Got up the steep hills without incident, some riders were already pushing their bikes. Then another 60km back to where we started and could finally get to our special needs bag. I had another sandwich in mine so I had been talking to myself, imitating the chatter in our long training rides, "let's stop at 100km for some food ok?!" YES YES YES". I left my bike in the grass and sat down on the little bench and enjoyed myself. But then my inner thighs started cramping! What was going on? It let got when I relaxed and stretched my legs, so was tried not to worry, but I was getting puzzled. Btw, the guy next to me was eating a microwave package of deep fried chicken and rice. It really did feel like a picnic.

After about 5 minutes I was back in the saddle though and hit those early hills for the second time. Met Harum again on the way out from Datai, "fighting" I shouted as we passed, great to see her smile! On this last loop I started to feel a bit bloated. I was very conscious about the need to drink regularly though, my watch would alert me very 5km (typically every 10-13 minute), which I used to pace my drinking too. But due to the cramps I had felt, I wanted to drink slightly more frequent. But it was getting labored as my stomach felt full. I kept checking that my mouth was not drying up though and kept sipping away. Nearing the 3 killer hills again, I was preparing for cramps, although hoping for the best. Tried to down a bit extra of my drink containing carbs and electrolytes and managed to drop my bottle! What a noob. Luckily there were no cars or riders immediately behind me, so had time to stop and pick it up without causing too much of an inconvenience.

Then the hills! I was not even halfway into the first before both quads started cramping up really "good". I tried to relax each leg when I did not push the pedal, and it was just enough for the cramp to ease up a bit to enable me to keep the crank turning. I tried to stand up too, but that ended before it began as also the backside of the legs cramped then. Was lucky though, managed to work through the cramps to get up all the three hills. Saw many guys who were walking up, bike and shoes in hand. Maybe I should have done it too.

With that behind me I was in quite a good mood. The hills had been brutal, but I knew I had kept decent speed, and with only about 20km of flat roads to go, the bike leg could pretty much be crossed off as a success. Only concern was how the cramps would affect me on the run, the quads were notably stiff. Again tried to get in some extra water and sportsdrink with electrolytes before the run, so I would not start dehydrated. But the stomach was still making this difficult.

Got into the amazing air-conditioned T2 and realized that my bike time had also been exactly as expected - 7:06h. I had predicted 7 hours, but decided to not look at the time or speed while riding, just go with whatever effort felt ok so was surprised to see the time now!
Changed my pants here, mostly because I had opted to ride with bike shorts for the extra padding, which is not too good to run in. But also because putting on dry clothes is never a bad thing. My legs did not feel good, the after effect of the cramps was very noticeable. So decided to sit a couple of minutes extra to give the legs some rest, hoping they would recover a even just a little bit. Btw, if someone saw a white powdery mess at one of the chairs that was unfortunately caused by me, as I accidentally dropped a bag of leftover sports drink powder I had brought on the bike. Quite embarrassing. A dutch guy dumped down next to me and wanted to know what time it was. "16:25" I told him and he started laughing. " Ah, we can do this" he blurted, "yeah, plenty of time" I responded.

After about 15 minutes I finally emerged from the changing room and was positively surprised that I could jog on the very stiff legs. And seeing the amazing support crews in the hall I felt energized and optimistic. I knew that it would now only take a major accident or mishap for me not stop me from reaching the finish line.

Exiting the T2 reality hit you in the face, all 30-something degrees of warm, sunny weather! It was like stepping into an oven! I guess on the bike I didn't notice it that well, but I sure noticed it now. A strong reminder that the race was far from over. There was still 42km to go.

My stomach felt very bloated coming in to the first aid station, so was not really able to drink much water. Tried to force down a cup but think I managed only half. Was happy about my legs though, was keeping just under 8min/km which was pretty much as I had expected, although I had thought my legs would feel better. But my stomach was turning into the biggest challenge. Was developing a proper stomach ache and it prevented me from running, more than the ache in my legs. And more of a concern was that I had no clue what was causing it. It felt like I had eaten/drank too much, but that did not add up. I was contemplating forcing myself to vomit but figured that would be last desperate resort if it would get worse. So I just trotted away in a "run a few meters" - "walk a few meters" rhythm. I named it the Ironman shuffle, closely related to the Ironman zombie shuffle, that occurred a bit later.

Was still doing quite well passing the finishing area for the first time, 7km down, only 35 more to go. I made sure to pour cold water on me each aid station, but could still not take in much fluid. So started experimenting with some sips of coke instead of water. Hoping maybe it would cause me to burp out air. I knew I had to drink, but was not able to. Quite frustrating. My best theory was that somehow my stomach was full though, so I could rely on whatever was in there still, and that slowly it would reduce and relieve the pain. And my "run a few meters" was getting shorter, while the "walk a few meters" seemed to be getting longer. Also realized I had dropped my electrolytes somewhere, so would have to rough it out until turning at T2 again where I had more in my special needs bag. Met Harum as I was hitting the last 4 km of the first loop. Was concerned, she was a bit behind schedule, but if her legs were better than mine there might still be a chance. The sun was getting low on the horizon.

Inside the T2 hall, coming in for my first turning, I got my electrolytes from the special needs bag and left my cap and sunnies, wouldn't be needing them anymore. Was carried out from the support crews in the hall and once again realized that just a few minutes in air condition makes you forget just how warm it is outside. The feet was getting painful now, no wonder as the shoes got drenched each time I poured water on me. So was almost like running in water all the time. Then got a real uplifting sight as Harum was on her way back from her first round just around the same area I had met her coming out. Think she had kept about the same pace as me the first round. I was so impressed. There was still a chance. Was hoping she felt better than me. My stomach was hurting more and more. But from what I could see I was far from the only one, so just willed myself on.
Passing the finishing area for the second time felt good, even though I was just about halfway, it felt like there wasn't that long to go. This is where the unchartered territories started though. I was well aware. My longest run leading up to this had been 28km, which had resulted in major cramps. Started to regret the bricks I had cut short.

But to my very pleasant surprise, no cramps were to be found. Just the every worsening stomach. "Decided" to walk a bit more. Actually not sure if I decided it, or if it just happened. But I did walk a couple of kms with very limited attempts to run. A final desperate attempt to see if my stomach would improve, together with chewing on some of the sweets from the aid station. I knew I probably had been drinking too little, so figured I should just try to get down as much of anything as I could, be it sugar, salt, water or coke. But only a little went down each time.

After about 3km of walking I met Harum again. Was sad to hear she had stomach problems too.

By now it had gotten really dark, and it started to rain. Reached T2 and was very happy. Only 7km to go to the finish line. And finally, finally, my stomach started to improve. My "walk a few meters" was getting shorter again, and my "run a few meters" was getting longer. Felt good to be able to put in a decent effort to finish the race. It was the best I felt the whole run. Coming around the final turn in towards the finish line I think I even started a small sprint. High fives and cheers made a really great finish - and to finally hear that I was an Ironman!
Arms in the air I got my towel and the medal, wow it was heavy. Then sank down on one of the chairs. It's funny how you never know how you will feel. Earlier in the race I had gotten teary eyed just thinking about the prospect of making it. But as I sat there I just felt so incredibly happy it was over. It had been brutal. It's the first thought that hit me. Brutal, brutal, brutal. The run felt more like pain management than anything else.
When we registered for the race I noted down that my expected total time was 15h, with a 6h run - I finished in 15:04h with a 5:58h run. After assuring the staff I was ok I hobbled into the recovery area, my legs were excruciating! It felt like I was walking on broken glass and my thighs - I can't even describe it. I sank down on another chair. My stomach was bloated again. I could not drink more than 2 sips of water. I felt nauseous. So decided to just sit and wait for things to get better. I was half hoping to pass out when a guy in front of me vomited, before falling backwards and passing out. I shouted for medics which arrived quickly. And as he was getting help I thought that he looked just like I felt. Never again, I thought, never ever ever again.

1.5 hours later I was finally able to pick up my street gear bag, change and try to squeeze down some food. I knew I needed it, but my body wouldn't have it. Took off my medal, it was too heavy, felt like it was strangling me.

After almost 2 hours I was finally able to act somewhat normal, and with the cut off time drawing very near I was so sad to realize Harum would not make it. But I could not be any prouder of how she powered through to finish anyways.

Got to bed around 2am, woke up at 6am. WTF!!! How is that possible? After getting breakfast - which my stomach still struggled with - and picking up our bikes and gear we managed to get a good nap again. Legs still hurting but mentally I felt much better and at the awards dinner my appetite was finally back. And even the prospect of doing it again started to feel appealing. Oh, how fast do we forget our past pains...

My legs were barely walkable for a couple of days. Bending them was impossible. 4 days after the race I weighed myself, I was still 2kg lighter than when we started! But today I can walk almost normal. And today I am certain I will do another. My warrior wife has already sounded the battle horns. The Haugs will charge again!! Because what else is there for us to do, us Ironmen!