With 4 Ironman races under my belt and my long distance confidence building, I felt 2002 was time to take on the notorious Ironman Lanzarote. With its self pro-claimed logos ‘The Worlds Toughest Ironman’ where ‘The Normal Rules Don’t Apply’ it was certainly going to be a race full of challenges. Here’s my journey….

I first partnered up with Don at the post-race Lake Placid 2001 party. Lanzarote was our target from day one. After a solid winter of training in my bones I arrived at the volcanic island well equipped to do battle with the famous wind, mountains & heat.

My mindset is generally very positive but I can have bouts of negativity. I had worked on developing a strong mental approach to racing by reading books, practising techniques in training such as visualisation and by incorporating Dons tips. The idea was that come race day I would be mentally as well as physically equipped to deal with the challenges of Lanzarote. On the plane I re-read Dons ‘Get Psyched!’ article on mental preparation. I felt confident that come race day I would be wearing a smart head. But getting into the right frame of mind turned out to be a challenge in itself. It became a battle of mind over matter and getting the right attitude was not as easy as I had anticipated.

A fear started kicking in when I drove the bike course in its entirety, a necessity that helped me break it down into sizeable chunks. A single loop covering most of the island, it had it all; long climbs, steep grades, brutal winds, tricky descents, rough tarmac, there was nowhere to hide… it was ominous. I had ridden the Computrainer course, studied the map, the profiles, feed stations, climbs - I had done my homework. Seeing it in the raw made it more daunting than I anticipated, riding segments was even more daunting, riding segments when the wind was screaming was more daunting than I could at first handle.

Recalling Mark Twains wise words “courage is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of fear" I plucked up some courage & cycled the section that I feared the most. Give me a fast straight descent and I’ll happily push it as fast as possible but technical descending is something I’m yet to master. Therefore I chose a very tricky hairpin descent off Mirador de Haria. Unknown to me it was sadly the site of top Ironman Marc Herremans tragic crash months previous. I tackled it later in the day, the clouds were on top of me & the winds were gale force. Getting the bike out of the car, the realisation of how angry the wind was kicked in. It was an effort to keep my 15lb steed from blowing away. After taking some deep breaths I reluctantly dropped off the peak. It was truly the most nerve-racking bike ride of my life. As I came out of each hairpin the crosswind was unbelievable; keeping a straight line was nigh impossible. Cars were coming in both directions and it took a total focus to get to the bottom unscathed. When I met my girlfriend Ele at the bottom I was visibly shaking and she was close to tears. Driving behind me, she had seen how the wind had whipped me around like a wet rag. My schedule called for a 30 minute easy spin, I had done 9 minutes which given the conditions equated to 30, probably more like 60. So, it was back in the car - time to try and normalise my system.

	“	If you feel the need to take your Ironman challenge to another level, go to that little island with a challenge as big as your wildest dreams or worst nightmares, depending on how you look at it.”
		— Adrian Jones

Panic set in and self-doubt began to vandalise my confidence. I began to build a library of worst case scenarios. After a two-day festival of negativity I knew I had to work on rebuilding a strong attitude or my race would be a disaster. With the help of Ele & my brother we rationalised it away. “It will be the same for the other 799 athletes”. “We will be descending off Haria earlier in the day and so the wind won’t be as bad”. My schedule called for a few other rides and I used them to overcome my fear by riding other sections. Getting on the road early in the day I focused on developing my wind riding technique. I also drove the descent in the comfort of the car; this made it more familiar which in turn helped me build a positive visualisation. As race day approached, slowly but surely my confidence re-built. It was tough but we did turn it around.

Friday and time to rack. Better check all those bolts are tight. One twist of the aero bar bolts, one of the bottom bracket, one of the stem, oops - a snapped stem 2 hours before racking closed. A quick panic attack then we launched into ‘Operation Stem’. Three hours later I was in transition refitting my aero bars after a bike technician had rescued me. Moral of this side story – keep calm and be very, very polite to race bike support.

Race day and by Lanzarote standards the wind seemed fairly tame.

The swim was a simple two-lap rectangle affair with straightforward sighting. Aside from the usual couple of kicks in the face and the carnage caused by a very early first buoy it passed in it’s usual wake-up manner, no problems there.

Then it was time to get onto two wheels. What a bike course, anyone who is in the Iron community just has to live that ride – it is something else. The usual cat and mouse game over the first few 10Ks then it was time for solitude. Past the surf at El Golfo, through the rough roads & lava fields of the ‘Fire Mountains’, a few white washed villages then up & up towards Haria. After conquering the long & testing climb it was time to revisit my new friend – the ‘Haria Hairpins’.

I could not believe what happened, it was a breeze. I even sung aloud my Natascha Badmann inspired musical mantra “fly like a bird, I wanna fly away…”. I had turned my fear into my friend. I flew down the very same terrain that had shocked me the week previous, it was the highlight of the day. What a huge learning experience, I now firmly believe that however big an obstacle appears at first, if you tackle it front on you can transform it into something less imposing. OK, the wind wasn’t as bad as previously but to be honest I reckon I could of handled whatever the gods threw at me.

From Haria we climbed once again, this time towards Mirador de Ria. To those that made it there was a worthy reward waiting. From atop the views across to La Graciosa are awe inspiring, a quick moment to take it in then its time for the long tail wind home trip to T2.

Coming back into the tourist-ridden man made environment of Puerto de Carmen the experience shifted to that of crowds & heat. The run was a four times out & back, very different to the time in the saddle. A few undulations but the main challenge was the heat and the small issue of running the marathon off the toughest bike course imaginable. Off the bike I felt well fueled and ready to find my running legs. I kept searching for them but never really found what I had hoped to. I suspect the ride had taken more out of me than I had thought, maybe I’d climbed too hard? Regardless I picked away at the miles looking in envy at those ahead of me with more lap-bands around their necks. Oh what I would have paid for a free lap band. A bit of stomach trouble but I managed to keep a consistent pace.

During the months previous to Lanzarote I had thrown a lot of my energy into the bike leg. The majority of my sweat training had been indoors on the bike but it’s the run where the heat became the challenge. Whilst bike preparation is fundamental to this race I probably went into the run well trained but not geared up for the specifics of the day. I had forgotten that IM marathon feeling and I struggled to meet my expectations. Another lesson learnt – prepare for each discipline and don’t underestimate the challenge of marathoning off the bike.

11 hours 15 minutes and 21 seconds later and I managed to muster up a strong finish. I placed 170^th out of 800 starters. I won’t be taking home my splits and positions but the memory of doing battle with such raw nature. 20% of the field DNF and no one broke 5 hours on the bike. I think this puts Ironman Lanzarote into context.

Whilst Hawaii is the race most Ironmen want on the front of their portfolio it will not be complete without a Lanzarote finish. So if you feel the need to take your Ironman challenge to another level go to that little island for a challenge as big as your wildest dreams or worst nightmares – depending on how you look at it.