Race morning, stomach jumping around a bit, but overall quite calm for a few minutes before the start of a half ironman race. Once again I found myself at the start line of the Challenge Gran Canaria race, this time doing the “medium” distance (half ironman) as opposed to the “short” one I did two years ago. I had done the medium distance race here in 2019 so I knew what I was getting into, but the course had changed a bit so it was almost like a new race.

Race prep went well, though it was tough coming back from a ten day trip, including a wedding, lots of food and drink, to having less than a week before the race. I got most of it out of my system and was feeling pretty good by Friday, when I headed down to the race. A great thing about this island is that nothing is too far away; in about 50 minutes I was at the race location. It took another 30 minutes to find a parking spot, then a 20-minute walk to check-in and the race was officially occupying the majority of my mental capacity.

20-minute walk back to the hotel, check-in, prep all the stuff, then a quick drive back to the race site to drop off the bags and the bike at T1 and T2 (this is one of the few races I’ve done where they are not in the same place, but they were within a few minutes of each other so easily walkable). All set by about 18h30, I drove back to the hotel, parked much closer this time, time for a shower (the Law of the Day Before in full effect, a warm and sticky day), dinner and all the final prep. To bed at around 21h, with my alarm set for 5h10.

I lay in bed thinking about the next morning. How would my shoulder react to race conditions? Things had been going well since the surgery, swimming was not a problem, but I had not yet gone from intense swimming to being in the aero position on my bike for 90 km. We would see.

Good morning! I brought my usual breakfast materials and coffee with me from home, nothing new for the belly to work with. Breakfast finished at about 5h30, then all final equipment and mental prep completed and out the door at 6h20 for the 20 minute walk to T1 – time to put the bike shoes, nutrition, and computer on the bike, make sure the tires were properly filled, etc. I’ve been through these logistics many times over the past 27 years, so it was easy to remain calm. I started putting on the wetsuit, dropped off my cloths for after the race and made my way to the swim start for a warm-up before it all began. Time, about 7h45, then they told us to get out of the water and that we were about to begin.

The pro men started at 8h, a mass beach start, followed by the pro women at 8h02, and then us, age-group men doing the “medium” race at 8h04 (followed by the other groups). There were over 100 of us running the 20 meters to the water and then diving in, arms flailing, splashing, kicking, trying to get a nice stroke going. This would not happen for a while. We were doing two 950 meter laps, it took most of the first lap before things opened up a bit and I could take more than two or three strokes without looking up. We came out of the water, around the statue on the beach, then back in the water for lap two. More space now, things went well, no problem with the shoulder, and then we were out of the water. Just over 33 minutes, about what I expected, then the 400-meter run to T1 and the bike.

The beginning of the bike was uneventful, but even at this point in the morning you could tell that it was going to get hot. We had four loops to do, undulating road with some straights but a lot of climbs as well. I dropped my chain during first lap and took about a minute to free it and then get moving again, but after that smooth sailing (until I dropped it again during the third lap – some day, I’ll move to electronic shifting!) through most of it. The pros came flying by a few times, really moving!  My shoulders were a bit sore from the cramped aero position, but not that bad. I finally rolled into T2 after about 2h52, again about what I expected.

After getting my run gear on, I left transition and began moving my feet. It was now a fully hot afternoon, but I felt great during the first of five laps. I had my flask of gels, a sponge, white shirt, white hat, everything good to go. By the second lap my 4:30/km pace was at 4:40/km, and my shoulders were really hurting. Strange, as my legs felt fine. But it was really sore when my arms were swinging, to the point where I had to stop several times to stretch them. But I plodding on.

Third lap, I felt like I was hitting the wall. I had to walk a few times, and at the aid station I had multiple cups of water to drink, another for my sponge, and then a cup of coke as well. I was done with the gel flask, but I needed more energy. Fourth lap as well was tough, but the end was in sight, kind of. By the fifth lap the worst had passed and I was feeling better again. I think at this point I was at a 5:00/km pace, after doing slower than this for a bit. I crossed the link after about 1h54, slower than expected but ok by me on such a hot day.

My overall time was about 5h38 minutes, which gave my 6/23 in my 55-59 age group. For my first race back from surgery, ok by me. I could have been a bit faster in transition, and the bike issues also took a few minutes, but I was happy with the effort. This was my first race where I really watched my blood sugar preparations in the morning and it felt like I started the day in a good place. Of course, throughout the day nutrition and the weather played a big role, but I felt like I was on top of things as much as possible.

Hopefully the lead-up to the next race will be a bit less chaotic, but overall it was a solid effort about which I feel good.

I’ve written this a few days after the race. As any of you who have raced before can understand, my legs feel fantastic now! I went for a ride yesterday (race +4 days) and I felt like I could fly. I was sore for a couple of days, of course, but then I needed to get back into it, and my body was still riding the race high. So my usual out-back ride of 58 minutes each way took only 52 minutes each way yesterday, most of the time in the big chain ring, endless amounts of energy. Time for a swim and run today, to loosen up the rest of the muscles. And to dream of the next race.