First IM distance and 8th overall. Well done Adam!

Huge congratulations to Adam R for completing his first long distance event – The Bastion last weekend. What an excellent results as well, 8th overall! A well executed race! See below Adams race report. I am sure there will be more to come

So I travelled up to Kent early on the Saturday morning, nervous about what Iv entered for many months ago. Wasn’t sure if I put in enough hours in the pool, on the bike or out running. But for now, it was too late to think about what I should have done and just needed to concentrate on what exactly I needed to do come Sunday.

Bike racked, and all registered we headed off to the lake for the practice swim. Water was around 22-23 degrees so only 1 degree away from a non wetsuit. The race director also joined us in the water to show us the route and we stopped around the Japanese tea house to discuss the route of which we will have to follow come early morning Sunday. All pretty straight forward but with some of the river pretty shallow at the edges it was important to stay central other you might run aground. It certainly helped settle some nerves I had about the event.

I headed off back to the hotel for a last min carb load and early night.

Sunday started at 3.30am and It began with me trying to force my porridge down, getting ready and in the car for 4.15. I arrived at transition to hand my personal need bags in and transition bags loaded into the tents. Loaded the fuel up on my speed machine, and a last check round.

The swim start was delayed by 20mins as there was a heavy fog laying on top of the lake and you couldn’t even see the first 100mt bouy. Gave us plenty of time to relax abit before and have a good chat. Then it was time to head in.

Swim started well, I made sure I paced myself today as yesterday I swam a lot harder than I would have wanted and ended up knackered after just 1500mts. Slow and steady and got into a nice rhythm as the main aim for today was to finish my first full.

Swim came and went pretty quickly in a respectable 1.15hr without any hiccups. I got helped out the water and calmly made my way to the T1 tent.

Running out of T1 with my bike and ready to head out onto the hilly bike course for a tough 3 x 60km laps. My pacing worked well with each lap being that min or so quicker than the last and certainly felt strong throughout. Taking a few people on both the accents and descents. Fuelling was difficult after a few hours of the same old bland flapjacks and sweet energy drinks but I had to force myself to keep on eating and drinking otherwise I knew I wouldn’t make it too the end.

The last 10miles on the bike the legs started to feel like they had ridden 100miles previous but we pressed on and I was looking forward to getting off the bike and onto the last leg. Bike done in 6hr 21mins

Loads of support coming in from the bike and into the T2, the transition help took the bike and helped me get ready for the run. I then headed out for the final leg. Which luckily is one of my favourite, the run. I hadn’t looked at the elevation before of the run course but wasn’t quite expecting so many hills, especially not loose gravelly and sandy accents but this just added to the epic ness of course. The run consisted of 4x 10.5km laps and was pretty much 90% off road.

The run again was luckily very uneventful and my legs felt good. I run best when I’m alone and that’s exactly how it was, hardly saw a person for a good couple of kms at a time. Great support at the aid stations and I made sure I kept myself cooled off and well hydrated.

Onto the last lap and the legs started to feel a little tired but I soon caught up the leading pro lady so I had to dig in deep as I knew with only less that 6miles to go I would be crossing that line to finish my first full iron distance. I had no idea how I was doing with placing but with my watch ticking at 11.28 I was hoping I could cross under the 12hr mark but the legs couldn’t give much more so I ended up crossing the line at 12.02.08

Upon crossing the line I was inform I was 8th overall and I couldn’t believe how I had just done what I’d done. I knew I could do it and thought i should be around the 12hr mark but I couldn’t dream of actually finishing at that time and certainly not 8th overall with 7pros racing too. I felt pretty good especially compared to the other athletes that were receiving medical help whilst be zonked on the floor.

A couple of days rest needed for the head and now thinking about what to do next. I have challenge Majorca in oct to finish my season but need to fit one more in before then to complete this year. Maybe another Castle Tri Series as they are well ran, great value and have a personal touch.