Ironman Malaysia 2014 🇲🇾

Langkawi, Ironman Malaysia 2014 🇲🇾

Friday before the race Mark, a recruitment consultant, and I had prepared well. Bikes were in, a good lunch and dinner a 90min massage and some chill out time.

Saturday morning, race day. Awake at 5:15am and down at breakfast 5:30am. A small breakfast of porridge which Elle had packed for me and by 5:45am we were walking to the event.

Arriving I was relived to find my tyres were both still inflated, no small thing given recent history. Some last minute tasks, nutrition packing, computer mounting etc and soon I was ready. Mark was already soughted.

It was still dark, the sun was starting to peak through the clouds as everywhere were nervous athletes thinking through the day. Most were pretty serious, opposed to Japan there was a lot of fuss over small technical things. No access to the transition bags, no compression wear in the swim, no covers on the bike and on and on it went.

The swim would start as a self seeded wave start. I went in the fast group 1:15hr swim and under, it scaled back 1:15-1:30, 1:30-1:45, 1:45+ and the start was rolling. Four competitors at a time would go over a timing mat, of a pontoon and into the water, times allocated by the timing chip.

The sun rose and at 7:10 the pros went of, followed by the age groupers. About to jump in I tried to pull down my sleeves for sun protection and then I was of! The water at the start was near pitch black.

As I swam out it began to clear a bit, still it was low visibility with mainly sand and salt to see. Navigation on the course was pretty good however, every 20 meters or so was a buoy with a flag and then big ironman buoys every 500 meters. It was 1850 meters out with red flags a short cross and then 1850 meters back with green flags.

Overall the swim was pretty good and I finished with a time of 1hr 10mins. The sun was high overhead and I was even passing people with was great. Despite the well marked course, I still managed to go off-track a couple of times but was quickly brought back by the life guards.

The transition to the bike was a fairly long run. I felt pretty good and used the suncream provided to top up a bit. Already I could see it would be hot. Gear on I ran to the bike and soon I was on my way.

A short flat quickly changed to a climb. A real steep climb that was a big shock to the system. My heart was pumping hard and I put the bike in a low gear and climbed. There was then a down hill which I did not feel safe to take on at full speed, then another tough hill. At this stage I was a little shocked.  This was going to be very hard.

Following those first two surprises things calmed down, with smaller rolling hills and a mainly shaded  course. It was by no means easy. Rolling hills and some climbs coupled with hot weather assured that. As did my bike, like in Japan I was not entirely comfortable. The aero bars were hard to hold for extended periods, my lower back was sore, right foot and left knee. The ailments came and went but did make it harder.

At the end of the first lap was feeling pretty good and to my surprise suddenly found myself at a good speed. This would be different on the second as I limped in begging for the line. I did not hit my target of 6hrs, rather was 6:20, thoughts I could have been faster but not to be. Was really happy to be of the bike and walked transition and had a rest there, it was about 3:00 and so hot.

The final leg, the run, I did not know what hot was till now. A four lap run, the first in particular was brutal. There seemed to be no shade at all. People were throwing up on the side of the road, some were in stretchers and others walking barely standing. It looked like a war zone.

Each aid station I would pour ice water on myself which would sting the chafing grazes on my neck and under my arms. But I knew I needed to keep as cool and hydrated as possible.

At the half way mark of each lap, there was a weird section I called the Japanese concentration camp. Highly exposed and behind wire fences it was a zig zag though the field.  It was a hard bit.

The second lap was still very hot, by the third things were cooling down and the fourth it was night and much better. It was on my fourth I caught up with Mark, who impressively was still running. There were a lot of people walking. We had a brief chat and then I was off.

Under 13 hours was still in sight. At 38km I picked up the pace and at 40km put in a solid push too finish it of, skipping the last drink stop. Run, run, run. It looked doable. Through the red bull zone, the eagle and at 12:59 into the chute. It was lined with people and I ran hard down excited and strong. Benjamin Vella you are an Ironman! There it was another one done and two for the year, a great accomplishment.

Woozy I had a picture taken, a moment in a shower then some food which was spaghetti, soup, pizza and ice cream. It was hard to stomach it all, but it was nice.

Picked up my finisher shirt and then managed to hitch a ride on a motor bike back to transition where I picked up my gear and bike headed back to the hotel and packed up.

Elle was very supportive when I called and all day. I also had a text from Chris which was nice. Mark finished about an hour and half later. He went and watched a ManU game which I did not join him for.

As I looked online the race was particularly slow. 10:30 would have netted you second in my age group. It was impressive to see some of the family support. Kids walking with their fathers, wives pushing their husbands, even running with them on the course to help them. This despite some hostile guys who took out their pain on them. It was a day that showed the best of a lot of people. It was a truly special day.

Tomorrow I will be up at 6:30am for my flight home to be with Elle and Orlando as Elle could not fly due to the pregnancy. It will be good to see them.