Swim

Temperature was fine, sea calm, buoyancy great, shoulder no problem. Only small issue was goggles fogging, which they’ve not done before. Need to try a different pair. Managed to draft quite a lot, helped by the sea being so clear. Finished in 1 hour 24 mins, which was exactly the same time as IM Portugal Cascais. Pleased with that.

Bike

Felt great coming out of T1, zipped along the Promenade and inland. Kept up a good pace for the first hour or so – trying not to overbike – and paced myself for the distance. Even so, after a couple of hours the heat started to affect me. Began to feel a bit sick and stopped at aid stations to shower myself with water. Aero helmet wasn’t best choice here, because had to take it off to cool head. Stopped for a few minutes at special needs to eat a flan, hoping to get enough carbs in me for the run. Downhill was quite fun but also tiring, because the twisty route meant you had to concentrate hard all the time. Finished in 7 hours 14 minutes.

Run

Set off at a pace of 5.45-6.00/km and kept it up for 14km, with some extra time for aid stations. During a longer break at 14km, threw up after eating a gel and took a while to recover. Pace was down after that and I struggled to eat anything. Couldn’t stomach salt tablets either. Just had to keep jogging along. Never in danger of stopping, although had a groin strain at about the half-way point, which cleared up after half an hour. Finished the run in about 5 hours 40, total time 14 hours 42.

Despite feeling pretty miserable on the run, I cheered up soon after finishing and by the next day was glowing with satisfaction. Amazing how quickly memories of pain fade. A bit like childbirth (I imagine).

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Yesterday, 2200 triathletes sprinted into its calm bay and swam 3800m out and back to the harbour, cycled 180km through a hilly natural park, around the Formula 1 track at Estoril, east towards Lisbon and back into town. Then we ran a marathon along the coastal cliffs before finishing in the packed central square, with rock anthems and the cheers of a raucous, ecstatic crowd.

It was my seventh Ironman finish and perhaps the most satisfying. After a two-year break from full distance races, you start to doubt your fitness and endurance. But once we were in the fresh (17 degrees) clear sea, with dawn rising across the bay, it became a magnificent adventure, surrounded by these thousands of athletes, flooded with adrenaline and wonder. After battling then surfing the incoming tide I finished in 1 hour 24 minutes.

On the bike, we had calm, sunny – not too hot – weather. Even so, the sharp climbs and even sharper descents took some victims, crashing at tight corners or running into walls. Altogether, 250 out of 2200 starters didn't make it to the finish. 

It was a first run-out for my new disk wheel, which definitely gave me some extra speed. And the Estoril track was a special treat, adding a video-game-like surreality. My ride time was 6 hours 1 minute.

Onto the run and the temperature started rising, the rolling course felt tougher with each lap until finally night fell. Weirdly, as soon as it was dark I ran much faster: cooler conditions, no distractions, the end of the race in sight. I virtually sprinted the final seven kms and sailed down into the cauldron of the finish line for a 4 hours 48 marathon: the best I’ve felt at any IM finish. My total time was 12 hours 32. 

Clare had been on the course all day, taking great pictures and shouting encouragement. She said it was just a wonderful day and I’m glad – that makes two of us. Her tears of joy at the finish line always cheer me up! Thank you darling Clare and thank you Cascais for the most fantastic experience.

I often dedicate a race to someone special as I’m going along. This one was for the Queen, because I was sad that she had to go to hospital and, of all British people, she is perhaps the greatest example of endurance and fortitude.

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Sapped by a 3.8km swim in an icy lake, ravaged by a 180km ride through arid, windswept canyons and unforgiving plains, circled by blood-red mountains, we faced a marathon on the baking 34-degree streets of St George, climbing more than 400m.

Before long, the course was littered with bodies lying prone by the roadside, felled by the heat and hills. Some of us ran in a subdued shuffle. Others staggered like zombies. Night fell. 

Could I finish the course? In 2018 I ended up in hospital after collapsing on just such a brutal Ironman marathon in Malaysia. The same combination of exhaustion, hallucination, dehydration, dizziness and nausea welled up as the race wore on. I could barely stay upright, my consciousness ebbed.

It was only the thought of Clare Nicholson, waiting patiently at the finish line, that kept me from collapsing in a sweat-stained heap. Up since 2.30am - and having prepared for this race for months - to deny her a photo opportunity with the medal would have been cruel. To get there, I had to stay alive.

Of the 3500 athletes who qualified for this race, only 3000 turned up on the day. Several professionals developed mysterious ailments after testing the course, then pulled out. Of the 3000, 800 athletes failed to finish - a savage 22 percent. 

My coach Rafal Medak of Triangle Sports knew how tough the course would be, having raced it himself. He instilled a sense of patience, resilience and respect for St George’s awesome forces of nature that pulled me through. I’m so grateful to him.

Ironman promised us an epic challenge. As I ran down the finishers’ shute, with Clare and her lovely friends Michael and Anna screaming in celebration, it felt like a triumph over death and an extraordinary crystallisation of what it means to be fully alive.

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Swim

Seeded myself on 1.10. As soon as I hit the water, I felt relaxed and powerful, swimming fast and with a strong stroke, no concerns over temperature, sea conditions or other competitors. Was happier to swim on my own rather than draft because I trusted my sighting more than theirs and felt my speed was good enough.

The first buoy arrived quicker than expected and then the current took me across the bay, finishing the first loop in 36 minutes, so around my fastest 70.3 swim time. Could see I’d swum just over 2000m but I knew I’d kept to the course, so figured it was a bit long. 

Same story on loop two, all fine. Came out in 1.13 feeling great, ready for anything. Several other people on Facebook said they registered 4.2km for the swim, despite keeping to the course. 

What’s really pleasing is my average speed, which was 1.47/100m. Maybe this was helped by the current, but I’m super happy to feel that my swim is improving, and the many kms of training over this summer are paying off. Big bonus for the future.

Bike

Started off quite conservatively, feeling my way into the course, trying not to race other people (sometimes hard to resist). Thighs burned a little on the early climbs, so eased off a bit. Gradually picked up speed and confidence, helped by riding with some strong people. Looking back to IM Lanzarote this year, it was quite a contrast. There, I was surrounded by weak riders and felt they were holding me back. Here, we supported each other, pushing up the hills, speeding down the descents, great bike handling and intensity.

Pleased with average speed as we came up to the end of the first loop, not much below 30kmph. Hoped to be on target for 6.15 split. Although average speed dipped slightly on the second loop, I was noticeably stronger than the riders around me. Burned off a couple of 55-59 AG men who had been buzzing around me all day. Flew up Wisemans Bridge and the other late climbs and into Tenby feeling fine. Nice to see plenty of empty racks in transition! Discovered I was 10th in my age group out of 120.

Run

Quick T2 then out into the screaming crowds. Pleased to find that the top pros were still running: they’ve usually finished by the time I start. Trotting along nicely, averaging 6kmph, body relaxed, plenty of energy. Definitely not pushing too hard.

Completed first 10.5 loop in an hour, which was my plan, and ran back up the hill still feeling good, pace almost the same as first loop. Back down in town, approaching 21km, two things happened. My heart started to ache every minute or so and my groin started to seize up. So I eased back and the heart issue went away but the groin and upper thigh tightness carried on. What to do? I’d already eaten 4 salt tablets through the race and was concerned that taking any more might not be good for my heart. I’d drunk at least 7 or 8 litres of liquid, so I wasn’t dehydrated. 

Anyway, this tightness carried on pretty much throughout the rest of the race – slightly less going downhill. Basically slowed me to 9 minutes/km and meant I ended up running 5.20 for the marathon to end on 13.33. 

The second half of the run was my only frustration and regret of the race. I had plenty of energy, motivation and intensity left, but my body was unwilling to cooperate. 

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We were half-way through the roughest swim in a New Zealand Ironman for 20 years and a fellow competitor had just thrown up over me. I’ve no idea whether he made it back to shore.

More than 120 people had to be rescued from the waves, battered by the storm which broke over Taupo, the normally placid lake town in New Zealand’s North Island early on Saturday morning, as we prepared for action.

Some of the time it was scary, sometimes frustrating and slow, other times I just thought “Wow this is exciting! It’s really adventure sport!” as another massive wave smashed over me. And as we met the full force of the storm at the turnaround point I thought “This is like Deadliest Catch!” (the TV show about crab-fishing trawlers in Alaska).

There were swimmers fighting one another, others treading water and looking lost and afraid. Certainly very little of the calm, clear, clean waters which the organisers had promised.

Ironman racing is about dealing with the unexpected. So we 1,270 triathletes duly re-set our expectations amid this wave-tossed 3,800 metres and ran up the hill to transition. My swim time was 1 hour 29 minutes.

Out on the bike course, the plus side of the storm emerged: we had the wind at our back for the 45km mainly downhill ride to Reporoa. What fun! 

I completed this bit in 1 hour 13 minutes, so if I could ride this fast for the rest of the bike leg, my split time would be under 5 hours. 

No chance. Getting back up the hill against the fierce wind took much longer. But I passed other competitors consistently throughout the ride. 

In fact having finished the swim in 636th place overall (exactly half way through the field) I rose 249 places to 387th by the end of the bike. It’s always encouraging to overtake people, especially tough-looking younger guys in aero helmets…

There were some gruesome sights out here too. People grinding slowly and noisily up hills in the wrong gear. Others standing around at the side of the road, pale and exhausted. Larger riders hauling themselves up the road, pain distorting their faces.

In the absence of war, Ironman races provide some of the most extraordinary scenes of human suffering.

Flush with energy gels, coke, coffee, Powerade and Ensure Plus (a liquid food designed for terminally ill people - works miracles in these races), I plugged away for 180km in 6 hours 12 minutes and made it back to transition. 

The race had been going for just under 8 hours, so I was an hour behind my hoped-for schedule. The goal of beating my previous time of 13 hours 1 minute (Ironman Austria 2016) was looking very distant. It would mean setting a new Ironman marathon PB by at least 20 minutes.

With the remarkably efficient and cheerful help of the Taupo volunteers, sorting out my kit, lathering on sunscreen and generally doing everything to make me feel great, I ran out of T2 in excellent spirits, so full of caffeine, sugar and energy-producing chemicals that I was bounding like a springbok.

Much to my pleasure, the first couple of kilometres of the run were downhill, next to the lake, which by this time was a bright, luminous blue, with sun glistening off its gentle waves, now the wind had subsided.

And for the next 4 and a half hours I had the most delightful time, running at a brisk 5 minutes 30 seconds per km, then 6 per km, then 6.30 but never quite 7. And then speeding up for the final few kilometres to the line.

Along the way were men in grass skirts, women in pink and purple tee shirts, men with a giant stack of beer cans, families with children, women with garden hoses, picnickers, walkers, cyclists and crowds of well-wishers, all shouting and whooping and calling my name and saying “awesome running!” and “great pace David, keep it up!” and “you’ve got this!”

There are always crowds at Ironman events but I really felt that here in Taupo they meant it more. They just love this event. The man in the butchers asked me about it, the physiotherapist told me her husband had done it, the waitress in the restaurant wished me good luck. 

The event’s been held in New Zealand since 1985 (in Taupo since 1999), longer than anywhere except Kona in Hawaii (1978). And the love affair is mutual. Ironman competitors voted this their favourite event of 2016, above 39 rivals.

We met Meredith Kessler, the woman’s winner for five straight years from 2012 to 2016, training at a local pool before the event. She was incredibly friendly and just bubbled over about how much she loved the town and the event. “It’s my favourite place in the world,” she told us. 

Then, during the run, Clare spotted her and cheered. “How’s David getting on?” asked Meredith as she went past. That kind of sums up the warmth of the atmosphere. Multiple Ironman champion concerned about an age grouper’s progress! 

Never before have I contemplated a run and thought “can’t wait to go down that stretch again, it’s so beautiful.” The combination of elation and enthusiasm from the crowd and the stunning scenery definitely help to overcome pain and exhaustion.

Whereas in Austria I faded quite badly halfway through the run, I kept up the pace this time. Training in Portugal a month ago with Embrace Sports certainly helped, with coach Graeme Buscke competing here and finishing in an incredible 9 hours 41 minutes. Coaching from Rafal Medak at Trisutto was absolutely crucial, teaching me how to conserve strength and energy through the swim and bike and how to fuel throughout, along with countless lessons on mental strength and resilience. 

And having wife Clare on the course, cheering every lap, knowing that this race means as much to her as it does to me, that she is willing me onwards through each turn of the wheel, each step, was an amazing feeling. 

Great to be part of such a team. 

Finished the run in 4 hours 45 minutes, a new personal best for an Ironman marathon by 39 minutes. New overall IM personal best time by 20 minutes (12 hours 41 minutes) and a top third finish for both my age group and the race.

Happy days.

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Yesterday grown men and women sat by the wayside howling in grief. World Champion athlete Emma Pallant pulled out injured during the bike leg. Others crashed into lava fields or stood holding their messed-up bikes in despair. 

Earlier, many were pulled out of the swim, defeated by the swell, currents and aggressive competitors (I was punched and kicked several times). 

It was similar on the run. After eight or more hours on the bike labouring up 2660m (8700 feet) of Lanzarote’s merciless volcanoes, battered by vicious, blustering gales and roasted by the fierce heat, dozens crumbled. Hobbling, hamstrung, doubled over in pain, they littered Puerto del Carmen’s smoothly paved promenades.

Frankly, it was a harrowing, daunting, terrifying experience, though I’m pleased and proud to have done it. Very grateful for the selfless, loving support of wife Clare Nicholson and the dedication of coach Rafal Medak of Triangle Sports, whose excellent preparation meant I still had enough gas to finish the bike and run at a good pace. 

My splits were 1.24 for the 3.8km swim, 7.34 for the 180km bike and 5.12 for the marathon. Total time 14.32 (quite a contrast to my best time of 11.49, in Mexico).

Congratulations to everyone who took part.

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