Ironman Wales course preview - Part 1
Not long now until Ironman Wales. If you're racing, best of luck! But you'll need more than luck, so I've prepared this two-part blog series to give you my best insights into this tough, challenging but beautiful course.
Ironman Wales is my "local" Ironman course and I know the terrain as well as anybody. It certainly helps that I was born and bred in this part of Wales. I've swum, ridden and run the course many times, and helped dozens of clients prepare for the challenge in my years coaching endurance sport.
Here's my best advice to anyone taking part in Ironman Wales 2018 (look out for part 2 coming soon!)
If I can help you with any aspect of race preparation, training or post-race recovery that's not covered here, get in touch with me via WhittleFit triathlon coaching.
Ironman Wales: the swim
As you know by now, Ironman Wales is a sea swim. I'll let that sink in……. a sea swim……. in Wales! Yes, you need to be prepared for low water temperatures, low air temperatures and challenging sea conditions. That said, it's perfectly possible for the water to be up around 18'C and for you to have a still, calm day. But prepare for waves, chop and changeable sea conditions.
Swim tip 1: as you stand on the beach waiting for the swim start, take a moment to soak up your surroundings. Look back inland, and you'll see one of the most iconic views of the entire race: the Tenby shoreline. Take a breath and soak it in: you're about the start!
Swim tip 2: it's a two-lap triangular swim course, so you'll need to be prepared for water conditions, spray and chop, and wave direction changing as you make your way around the triangle. If you're not familiar with swimming in the sea in a wetsuit, you must practise sea swimming during training to get used to all very particular sensations that you just don't get in a lake or even a river. On the plus side, sea water makes you that much more buoyant, so you may find yourself swimming faster and with less effort as your body is held in a better swim position!
Swim tip 3: in training, get used to breathing to both sides (bilateral breathing) and on your less-dominant side. If sea conditions are such that the waves or spray are coming at you from one side, it will really help you to be able to breath to the other side.
Swim tip 4: get into a relaxed swim and breathing pattern as soon as you can between the start and the first turn buoy. The first turn buoy is quite a long way from the start, so this initial stretch is time to get used to swimming with the group of athletes immediately around you.
Swim tip 5: from buoy 1 to buoy 2, you'll be swimming parallel to the coast (with the beach on your right). This is another long stretch, so you'll need to breath to the right (and/or bilaterally) to keep visually markers in sight. If this stretch is choppy, use a longer and higher recovery arm stroke so you can ride the waves and still be able to sight (use the lifeboat station to your front to sight off).
Swim tip 6: after turning at buoy 2, you will be heading for the beach to start the 2nd lap or to exit the swim. Use Goscar Rock to sight on for this section. Hopefully you'll get a little push from the sea as you head into the beach, so you can relax a bit.
Ironman Wales: the transitions
Ironman Wales is set amongst stunning scenery, but those beautiful hills and wild vistas don't come without a price! Enjoy the views during transition...
Swim to bike: you exit the swim onto the beach, and run up a long ramp to the road. Take it easy on this stretch and think about getting to T1 safely rather than trying to overtake anyone. Plenty of time for that later. The ramp is quite steep and you'll just risk getting out of breath trying to overtake here. Keep calm and concentrate on yourself.
T1 tip 1: Once you're on the ramp, you can collect a pair of pre-placed running shoes so you can make your way more comfortably to T1. It is about 1000m away through Tenby itself.
T1 tip 2: take it easy on the 1000m run to transition, and soak up the atmosphere. Ironman Wales is well known for its fantastic local support, and here's where you'll experience it first.
That's more than enough for you to think about for now. If you'd like my best tips for the Ironman Wales bike and run, check out part 2 of the Ironman Wales course preview HERE now!
