On the 12th June, I took part in my third Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire having raced in Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire 2018 and Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire 2021.

This was my last “warm-up” race before doing Challenge Roth in a few weeks time. I felt like I had something to prove to myself in this race after really struggling during the run at Ironman 70.3 Mallorca in May.

The Staffs 70.3 is always one of my favourite races of the year and one which I try to add to my schedule as often as possible. Mainly because I only live 40mins up the road.

Saturday – Registration & Racking

I drove down for the registration and racking on Saturday morning before returning home to relax during the afternoon. We still had to pick a check-in time for registration but this didn’t appear to be monitored.

Number pick was smooth, just scanned my QR code, showed my ID and I was out of there, avoiding the deadly Ironman Merch tent.

The two transition zones at Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire are in different locations which can prove a challenge for those without a car, worth bearing in mind if you are planning to do this race. T2 (Bike to Run) is located right next to registration in Stafford town centre so it is easy enough to drop the run kit off once registered.

I like to have a walk-through transition from the bike entry, locate my bike racking spot and the run into the tent to get my bag. Always a good idea to look for something near to your bike peg so you can quickly find it when you ride in.

T1 (Swim to Bike) is at Chasewater which is located roughly a 30min drive South of Stafford town centre. The parking for bike racking is located just over the road from Chasewater, from there it is a 5min walk to T1.

As with T2, I have a walk-through to get familiar with the route from the swim exit to the transition tent and through to the bike, but there is time to do this on race morning too. As it was sunny and fairly warm I let some air out of my tyres to avoid any issues with the popping during the afternoon sun. There are always lots of track pumps available in transition on race morning so no need to stress over that.

Drop the blue bike bag off in the tent and collect your timing chip on the way back out.

Once that was all done I headed back home to take my daughter to swim class and did a family swim with her before relaxing during the afternoon and fuelling on a nice big Dominos Pizza.

Sunday – Race Day!!

I got up at 3:30am, had a bowl of porridge and a coffee then headed off down to Stafford. There is an athlete car park just behind Sainsbury’s and a shuttle bus down to Chasewater, this takes approx. 30mins.

Once down to transition I put some air in the tyres and spent the next 40mins waiting for the toilet. IT was really cold down there this morning, even with a hoodie on I was shivering waiting for the swim start.

Swim – 1.2 Miles – 00:36.57

Got to say, it was nice putting the wetsuit on to warm up a little. I was feeling quite nervous about this swim, I have struggled quite a lot over the winter with cooler weather and the water didn’t look very warm at all. It was quite breezy as well which was creating a chop, it looked like it would be blowing in our face for the long straight before turning to the swim exit.

As soon as I jumped in the cold water took my breath away, it wasn’t quite as cold as I had expected but still a long way from the warm water at Ironman 70.3 Mallorca last month.

The swim was a challenge, I found the first 400-500m were a struggle, my heart rate was high and technique all over the place. I made it to the first buoy to turn down the long straight and as thought, the wind was blowing the chop against us.

I did get into a bit of a flow here and started passing some people. My goal for the swim was to just take it steady and get around anyway so I wasn’t too stressed about my time.

I finished up over 4mins slower than last month, a bit of a surprise when I got out but as I said, I wasn’t racing flat out.

T1 – 9.17

The transition was a bit of a mess, it took a lot longer than usual to get the wetsuit off then I decided to go to the toilet again rather than risk doing it on the bike, this took more time up. Luckily I was feeling quite chilled about this race and wasn’t stressing about a time otherwise this would have started to build up on me.

Bike – 56 Miles – 02:52.09

It took a good few minutes on the bike before I started to feel warmer but at least I was in my happy place, in the saddle!

The plan for the bike leg was to take it nice and steady, don’t push the pace just save the legs for a strong run off the bike.

So with the race plan in mind, I took it really easy around the narrow winding lanes in the first 10k, a lot of people came past me but I wasn’t going to get drawn into racing others.

Once onto the wider roads I decided to increase the pace slightly but still not really giving it any more than 75% effort.

Last year I went out hard and struggled after the climb into Cannock Chase, this year was the complete opposite. I went up the climb holding the power back, not pushing hard but trying to get as aero as I could on a road bike for the downhill sections.

Unsurprisingly, I felt good all the way around the bike. I stuck to the nutrition plan where I took a gel every 40mins and had a flapjack to munch one every 20mins. This would put me in good stead for the run off the bike.

T2 -4.04

The bike to run transition went a lot smoother than usual, I had a bike rack near the mount line so I was soon running into the tent and straight into my running shoes. Again, I took the hit for a toilet break in transition so the run leg looks better lol.

Run – 13.1 Miles – 01:32.16

So the bike plan was to take it steady but the run plan was to have a hard run off the bike. Not go for it at full PB pace but push it.

I went out around 6:30-6:40 per mile pace and felt good. The legs didn’t feel too tired from the bike and the body felt as though it had the energy and fuelling to have a good solid run today.

The first few miles flew by but I had mile 2 in the back of my mind, last year I ran hard to mile 2 then really felt off and struggled from there on.

No such issues today, I went through mile 2 feeling strong. I ran through to the bottom of the climb to the castle, again, another area which broke me in 2021. This year was a much better experience, I ran straight up and around the castle.

The first lap gave me so much confidence, finally having a good run off the bike after struggles in Mallorca. I guess it just shows that I over biked it in Mallorca.

At around the 10 mile point I started to slow down and those thoughts of I need to stop, my legs hurt, my heart rate is too high…. blah blah blah, all gave into my mind but on this occasion, I was feeling confident and mentally strong enough to push them back and kept running. Yes, it was slower but at least I was still moving forward at around 7min mile pace.

That right turn onto the finish was a good feeling and pushing the pace to make sure that there was nobody ahead of me so I get a good photo on the red carpet. In fact, pushing the pace that much I had the whole finish chute to myself.

Overall:

05:14.41 – 21st in 40-44 Age Group out of 203, 163rd overall out of 1678.

Final Thoughts

Not my fastest 70.3 but my fastest Ironman branded 70.3, there are always positives to take from race day. Today was a good day, I had the self-discipline to hold back on the bike to give myself a better chance at having a strong run. Finishing strong like that always leaves you with a good positive memory of the race.

Those races where you push hard on the bike and blow up on the run, tend to leave a sour taste. Yes, you may bank enough time on the bike that a slower run still doesn’t take too much away from the overall time but that feeling of pain and struggle on the run certainly lasts.

Today was more of a training session in preparation for Challenge Roth. My swim was below average for me, and my bike split was below average too but the run ended up being my second fastest 13.1 off the bike.