On the 26th September, I completed my third middle distance race of 2021 and fifth overall at the one-off Ironman 70.3 Bolton. Having set a new PB in the CHOLMONDELEY CASTLE GAUNTLET race back in June, I had already achieved my goal of setting a new PB this year.

Originally, I was signed up to race Ironman 70.3 Weymouth the week before the Bolton 70.3, however, I picked up an injury the week prior to Weymouth which meant I could not race that one. We still spent a family weekend down in Weymouth so it wasn’t a total loss but it was tough watching everyone racing the 70.3 on Sunday. I decided that I would transfer over to the Bolton 70.3 and if need be, walk or at best run/walk the 13.1 run.

My back and hip injury only really affect my running and walking. I can swim mostly pain-free and cycling feels ok. That is based on the one pool swim and one 30min spin class on the Peloton bike over the 15 days prior to the Bolton 70.3, besides that, I had done zero training in the two weeks leading up to race day.

Far from ideal preparation. My only goal was to finish within the 8hr 30min cutoff time. I knew I could get the swim done in around 35minutes, the bike is quite hilly so I was thinking around 3hrs for that, leaving me just over 5hrs to complete the run. I figured even walking at 17-18min/mile pace I could get 13.1 miles done inside that 5hr time.

Registration & Racking

I packed all my gear and nutrition on Friday evening, you can read my IRONMAN 70.3 BOLTON GEAR post to see what I used on race day.

I drove up to Bolton early Saturday morning to get to registration for 9am. Unlike IRONMAN UK 2021, where registration was in Queens Park next to T2, registration for 70.3 Bolton was in the Town Hall next to the finish chute.

I parked in the Octagon Car Park (BL1 1SN) which is a 2min walk from the finish area, town hall and right by where the shuttle buses pick you up on race day.

Having only officially registered for the race on Monday, 6 days before race day, I was missing some of the info required for registration. No race number being the main one. This didn’t turn out to be a problem. The volunteers scanned the QR code, checked my BTF license and Photo ID and handed over the race bag and athlete wristband.

I quickly stuck the race number stickers onto my White, Blue & Red bags, dumped the run gear into the red bag and walked the 10mins over to T2 in Queens Park.

Being one of the last to sign up for the race meant I had one of the final race numbers. This made finding my bag peg simple and the bike rack was right at the end of the final row.

After that, I went back to the car and drove down to Pennington Flash which took 35mins with the morning traffic. All I had to do then was bag the bike gear into the blue bag and stick the race number onto my seat post and helmet.

As with T2, bag drop and racking were straightforward. We picked up the timing chip upon exiting T1.

I had a quick look around the swim start to re-familiarise myself with the course, entry and exit routes. The lake didn’t look great and had a lot of reeds near the entry/exit points. Ironman had mailed overnight to say they will be removing as much of the reeds as possible prior to the race start.

Then it was back home for the rest of the day. Relaxing and taking my daughter to swim class and a family swim as well as watching F1 Quali.

My plan for tomorrow is to get up at 4:45am, eat breakfast and leave home at 5:20am to get into Bolton town centre around 6:15am, take the 20min shuttle down to Pennington Flash to leave plenty of time to get the bike checked over, nutrition on the bike and get into the wetsuit.

Race Day!!

One of those mornings where you plan everything to leave plenty of time but then one person causes everything to go to shit.

I left home at 5:20am for the 55min drive to Bolton, as planned. I got to within 10mins of Bolton, driving along the M62 when a police car came past and started weaving across all four lanes slowing the traffic to a stop. I thought here we go, what’s happened here. I was 5 rows from the front but couldn’t see anything down the road. We sat there for almost an hour, finally getting moving at 6:50am. It turned out to have been one car that had broken down in the middle lane!

With transition due to close at 7:45am it was going to be very close but I thought I could make it.

I parked up in the Octogan Car Park at 7:02am ran down 5 flights of stairs and across the road to jump on a shuttle bus. There were 4 others with me (on this bus) who had also got caught in the road closure. We sat there for 10mins before the bus set off to Pennington Flash.

With time likely to be tight when we get to transition I decided to get the wetsuit on to the waist, put the timing chip on, goggles around my neck, face mask and swim cap in the trisuit pockets to save time. The drive took 20mins but they didn’t drop us off at Pennington Flash like I was expecting, instead, the bus drop off was on Leigh Sports Village which was a 10min walk to transition.

We arrived at transition exactly at 7:45am and it was closed off. We spoke to the man at the gate explaining why we were only just arriving, who just kept saying “It’s closed”. After speaking with his team leader she kindly agreed to allow us to go in and quickly put the nutrition and head unit on the bike. As soon as I got to my bike, which was right on the last rack point next to the T1 tent, one of the volunteers there started shouting GET OUT to us and promptly kicked us out of transition without putting the nutrition, bottles or head unit on the bike. With a threat of a DQ for being in transition after closure.

I had to hide my bottles, top-tube bag and Wahoo Element Roam under a bush to be picked up after the swim and spend that time loading the bike up in T1. It was a good job I was not going for a PB today but I was so frustrated with everything that morning, so many things outside of my control had gone against me.

I dropped the white bag off as they were about to leave, I had 5mins to use the toilet and fully get into the wetsuit.

 Swim – 1.2 Miles – 33.37

After the rushing to make the start and the stress of the journey to this point, I was not expecting a great swim, couple that with the lack of training and injury. Let’s just say, the pressure was off. My plan today was to take some painkillers just prior to starting the swim and hope they help with back/hip injury pain management for the majority of the race. I do have a second dose waiting in my T2 bag but I would rather go without if I can.

Pace wise, I wanted to go into the swim looking for around 34 – 35 mins, I feel that is still possible. On the bike, I am going to take it steady and not push too hard. There are a couple of climbs along the way that I am going to push the power on and just have some fun climbing those. The run is at best going to be a run/walk affair, my hope is to run three-quarters of a mile and walk the remaining quarter mile from the start. Worst case, the back pain means I can only walk the 13.1 miles and try to get home before the cutoff.

When I first joined the self-seeded start, I could only get into the 60min area. Now when I say the pressure is off, I was still hoping for quite a bit faster than 60 mins. So I jumped the railing and walked through the spectators and climbed back in just in front of 40mins. This felt more my pace, although, I had swum 33mins in Staffs not so long ago.

Having done the Ironman UK swim here twice before I knew the route (IMUK is two laps, Bolton 70.3 1 lap) and felt comfortable.

I hadn’t heard what the water temperature was and still have no idea but I jumped in and went for it. It did feel a little cooler than July but hey, we are heading into autumn so to be expected. I soon got used to the water and got into my flow of breathing bi-laterally every third stroke.

I quickly realised that I was catching and passing quite a lot of swimmers. This gave me more confidence and I was not feeling any back or hip pain.

The swim went well, I was really pleased with my 33:37 time, in fact, that was only 14secs shy of my Staffs 70.3 swim PB three months ago. All going to plan so far but will the back stand up to the famous east Lancs potholes?

Now came the tricky part of the swim for me, the run from the swim exit to transition. Would my hip and back feel ok or would they just give way?

I didn’t run as fast as I would typically but all in all, I managed to get to transition with no real pain or issues. The race day adrenaline and cool water on the body will have helped mask that discomfort.

T1 – 6.20

So this transition wasn’t your typical transition. As mentioned pre-race, I had to hide my bike nutrition and head unit in the bushes. This meant having to climb over the railings again to retrieve the stuff from the bush and thankfully it was all still there.

Changing out of the wetsuit into the bike gear went smoothly, no issues to report there and loading up the bottles, bento box and the head unit went well.

To be through the transition in under six and half minutes after having to load up the bike as well as get the bike gear on, felt like a win to me. Granted, a win I shouldn’t have had to celebrate but in races, you have to take small wins along the road to the big win.

Bike – 56 Miles – 2:57.29

As you can tell from this super aero position, I wasn’t going off hard. The first 8.5 miles are from Pennington Flash to Lostock where you join the ‘loop’ riding clockwise for 3 miles before turning and riding the loop counter-clockwise riding through Bolton town centre over the hills down into Rivington and back to Bolton town centre for T2.

I went off with the aim of taking it steady and holding around 230w – 250w over the flatter sections. I was concerned pushing much hard may trigger the back which until now had been feeling okay. I felt comfortable and strong on the bike for the first 20 miles.

Mile 20 – 40 is where the majority of the hills are and where I was just planning on having some fun going up the hills. My first target was the hill by Harwood Golf Club, this climb is only 0.70 miles and averages just over 7% so it’s not a biggie but you can push the power pretty hard up here. I saw my mate Danny spectating halfway up, he ran alongside me for a bit having a chat. It was good to have a brief catch up, although I think it did annoy some of those I was overtaking whilst chatting.

The next challenge for me was the climb out of Belmont, again I pushed the power up here but not as much as on the previous hill. My back was starting to hurt now I was nearly 40 miles and just over 2 hours into the bike. As always, the crowd support outside the Black Dog was awesome, the cheering as you go up past the church always gives you such a buzz and a lift going into the climb.

I took it very conservative on the downhill going down Sheep House Lane, the road was damp and slippery under the trees. The last thing I wanted to do was come off the bike and aggravate the back even more. This was one of two areas where the 70.3 route split off from the Ironman UK route. I hadn’t been down these lanes before, they were narrow with some tight bends which made for some interesting turns whilst going downhill easy but trying not to lose too much speed. To be honest, I felt quite nervous going through that 3 miles stretch.

Once back onto the main road I felt more comfortable once again, but I felt as though I didn’t have the energy to keep going at my previous 230w – 250w target. All those missed training sessions due to the back injury were catching up to me now.

These last 10 miles were mostly flat so it was just a matter of bringing it home. A few people came back past me along this part. Thinking back to Ironman UK, this was the stretch where those on the TT bikes caught and passed me after I went by them going through the hills.

I was really pleased to finish the bike leg in under 3 hours, especially given the 4,117ft of climbing.

My back had started to ache towards the end, the painkillers must have worn off by now which was a concern heading into the run where the higher impact of my foot strike was going to hurt the back and hip a lot. On the run from the mount line to the racking peg, I could feel my glute and hip starting to get angry.

T2 – 3.09

Another smooth change over into the run shoes. I did opt for the additional pain killers to hopefully mask the pain during the run but I knew it was going to be a long 13.1 miles.

Run – 13.1 Miles – 2:11.41

I started the run off like I do with most runs off the bike. Too fast but feeling comfortable, the legs and hips enjoying the freedom of movement after a few hours of being on the bike. The first mile went by in 7:35/mi and the hip didn’t feel too bad at this stage.

What I didn’t want to do was to fall into that trap of thinking “things feel ok so I will keep going at this pace”, then further down the road pull up with my hip in agony. I also had to factor in the lack of running over the last 2 weeks. Granted, you will not lose a huge amount of fitness over a 2 week period, but zero training will have an impact on the overall fitness levels.

I played it safe in mile 2, slowing the pace to a very easy 9:49/mi. I have to check my ego and focus on the main goal of completing this run and doing as little damage to the hip injury as possible.

My plan upfront was to run around three-quarters of a mile and then walk the remaining quarter mile. Until now I had run the full two miles, I was going to stop and walk at the end of mile 2 but I knew there was the hill through Queens Park to come at the beginning of mile 3 so I ran up until the hill then walked up the hill.

It was tough walking up the hill, this is where a large number of spectators gather and they were cheering me on and encouraging me to get back running. This felt amazing having their support but I had a plan and I wanted to stick to it. Once up the hill, I got back into the jogging to finish off mile 3 in 13:03. That was a bit slower than I had planned ahead of time but I put this down to the hill. In mile 4 I walked through the feed station filling my pockets with Maurten Gel 100 packets, I figured I may as well get my value for money and come home with some extra gels for training.

When I began to run again was when I first noticed the hip pain had increased. I was running with a limp and slowly. A guy from the medical team pulled me over to ask if I was ok. After explaining that this was a pre-existing injury and I had the plan of run-walking the remaining 9 miles he let me go but advised that he would radio the medical guys on the bikes around the run course to keep an eye on me. I had not experienced this side of the race day support before, I was really impressed that they were actively out looking for people struggling and offering help, support and treatment.

I continued on with the run-walking and completed the first lap. My hip was feeling worse for the first 30 secs each time I started to run again. The prospect of another 6 miles lap at this slowing pace was a worry and more so the increased pain when restarting the running. Do I walk the whole lap? Would I make it around within the cut off time? I worked out I would probably have three to three and a half hours to get around that 6.1 miles which felt very achievable. Or do I chance running the full lap to remove the stop/start motion?

In the end, I continued with the run-walking, the crowd support over miles 7 – 9 through the town centre gave me a big lift just when I was feeling down about the hip pain and slower than usual run pace. I opted to run through the crowded sections and walk through the feed stations.

The second time going up Chorley New Road felt better than the first. The medical team did not come over to me so I must have looked as though I was coping ok but to be fair, there were others who looked as though they were struggling more than I was.

I had got into a rhythm on the uphill section of Chorley New Road, holding my pace back on the run and walking just the last 0.15 of a mile now. I was averaging 10min miles up there, then on the way back down, I ran the full length of the hill (almost 2 miles) down to the feed station where I walked through grabbing a few cups of water.

With the slower run-walking pace I had not used any of the Maurten Gels, I did have a few cups of Gatorade as I went around the course and was staying hydrated or rehydrating I guess, with cups of water.

The last 2 miles through the park and into the town centre were much of the same but that feeling you get when you realise rather than turning left for another lap, you are about to turn right for the red carpet. Nothing ever tops that feeling, all of a sudden the pain goes away and you are on top of the world, flying the aeroplane down to the finish once again.

Overall:

5:52.14 – 45th in 40-44 Age Group out of 127, 316th overall out of 916

Final Thoughts:

So, I knew prior to this race that it was going to comfortably be my slowest 70.3. I wasn’t racing this one for a time or to push myself, I was out there to enjoy the day and see the race from a different perspective. I had to manage my ego to control the pace and by doing so, manage the risks of further injuring myself.

I would like to say, not to do as I do and race a 70.3 when you have an injury or a niggle. You have to know your body and what you are capable of doing and where/when to push things. Today wasn’t the day to push, I knew I could swim and bike without causing any hip or back pain. I knew the run would cause pain which was why I planned for the run-walking.

It was difficult running at a slower pace and walking but I had a plan and I stuck to it. I came out of the race without further aggravating the hip and back injury. The days and weeks after saw no additional pain, in fact, the pain continued to decrease as it had in the 2 weeks prior to the race.

My swim went really well, swimming my second fastest 70.3 swim ever was not something I expected and gives me good confidence as I go into the off-season training. My bike split was in the top 30 for my age group despite holding the power back and slowing towards the end, again more confidence that I have good bike strength and the endurance will come back as my fitness improves.

The run was easily my slowest half marathon ever but rather than be disappointed with that, I feel proud that I “ran” my slowest half marathon. This was the plan and what I needed to do in order to finish the race healthy, that was exactly what I did, I stuck to the plan and got it done.

Other positives to take from the day: not allowing the pre-race issues and setbacks to affect me mentally. They were very stressful and completely threw me off my usual pre-race routine but I adapted well and did the best I could in that situation.

One improvement I could make would be to allow even more time to get to the race start, if I had booked the race more than 6 days before race day I may have looked at staying over closer to the start to remove the need to drive into Bolton before taking the bus to the start.

At the end of the day, I made the start, completed the swim, bike and run and crossed the finish line. That was the goal, everything else that fits around that goal is part of the journey and the learning experience.