TORTURE! That's what the race at Ironman China was today!
I had a really good start to the day leading the swim by a minute or so on the next group. The swim was pure chaos with the four lap design. From the time I jumped in for the second loop I was swimming through and over the top of poor age group athletes (sorry!)
The first 10km of the bike were into a vicious headwind followed by a 30km stretch of tough crosswind. Then a 5km hard hilly section through the towns of Da Tong and Sinshan before returning along the highway with more crosswind and finally one last 10km section of tailwind. I rode well over the first 90km and established a 5 minute lead on Chris McCormack and Marcus Fuchbach going into lap two. The second 90km seemed a lot tough than the first as I think the wind picked up even more? I was definitely happy to get off the bike!
I knew we were in for a tough one when I started the run into the blast furnace headwind for the first 5km. I had a 12 minute lead starting the marathon on Jozsef Major of Hungary. Jozsef is known for his fast run splits and I knew no lead was safe as long as he was behind me.
After the initial 5km slog to the first turn I was happy to be running with the wind for the next 10km before we got shelter from both the sun and wind in the city of Haikou. The problem was having no wind in your face made it boiling hot.I managed to build up a 13 minute buffer on Jozsef as I start the second lap but I felt like I was going up and down on the spot slogging back into the headwind for 10km. I turned at 30km and was expecting to see my lead at least halved but I still maintained about 12 minutes. As soon as I crossed paths with Jozsef I fell in an absolute heap! I was ticking over really well and then all of a sudden I was on the verge of bonking. With a bit over 8km to go I got a slight cramp in my hammy and I had to walk for about 50m. Walking was going to kill my lead and I had to try and get to the next aid station and down some fluid, salt and coke. I spent about 1 minute there regathering myself. I had lead from the gun, I wasn't going to loose this in the last few kilometers again, like I did in Louisville. Luckily I got back into a shuffle and once the kilometers started ticked by and I was finally within reach of the line I felt I had it. I finished in 8:41:15. A new Ironman China course record.
Congratulations to everyone that finished today's race. It was truly the toughest Ironman I have competed in yet. These Asian races may not be fast but they are definitely hard. Today I felt like I was racing my head rather than any other competitors. I comes down to mentally breaking through the pain barrier. I think that makes crossing the line just a little bit sweeter.
Thank you for all the messages of support. Now I am off for a beer in the bar with some mates.
Cheers
Luke
IRONMAN CHINA 2010 - TOP 10
1. Luke McKenzie 8:41:15
2. Jozsef Major 8:52:29
3. Jens Groenbek 9:17:06
4. Shingo Tani 9:19:01
5. Mike SCHIFFERLE 9:30:16
6. Eneko Elosegui 9:31:46
7. Justin Granger 9:41:45
8. Hiroyuki Nishiuchi 9:43:57
9. Brandon Marsh 9:52:00
10. David Bentley 9:52:51
1. Luke McKenzie 8:41:15
2. Jozsef Major 8:52:29
3. Jens Groenbek 9:17:06
4. Shingo Tani 9:19:01
5. Mike SCHIFFERLE 9:30:16
6. Eneko Elosegui 9:31:46
7. Justin Granger 9:41:45
8. Hiroyuki Nishiuchi 9:43:57
9. Brandon Marsh 9:52:00
10. David Bentley 9:52:51
