Now that I’ve had a few days to decompress – all things considered – IRONMAN 70.3 Valencia was a good day out. Not as competitive as hoped when I signed up in October, and a bit disappointed to go over 5-hours, but nevertheless a decent performance considering the amount of training under my belt.
My last race was in September 2024, Poznań 70.3, where I was in a good position until melting on the run. After that, triathlon had to take a back seat as life took priority. Work was the major focus in 2025, renewing my research funding. Fortunately this went well so by October 2025 I was back at it with a great week’s cycling in Mallorca.
But then, unexpectedly, I had to step back again and focus all my energy on supporting Jacky as she underwent major surgery in January. Fortunately, this also went well but now I had to switch to the DWYC training plan – Do What You Can.
The club duathlon in late February was a good boost – there is still some speed in the legs, at least over a short distance, but now it’s March and the clock is ticking. A few days R&R in Anglesey kick-started longer rides on the TT bike, then a sneaky week off work for some last-minute cramming.
All things considered, ambitions were put to one side and my goal was to get around, hopefully with a bit of style: execute all phases well and no capitulation on the run. To give Jacky some idea of where I would be when, I suggested splits of 35 mins for the swim; 5 mins each for T1 and T2; 2.5 hrs on the bike and a 1:45 run, to finish in about 5 hours. In the end, I wasn’t far off expectations, but at 20th in my age group, I was a long way from the front. You still need to deliver a ~4:30 to get near the M55-59 age group podium. Indeed, I was super-impressed with my speedy peers, the winner finishing in under 4 hrs 17 minutes.
| Poznan 2024 | Estimates | Actual | 3rd 55-59 |
Swim | 31:43 | 35:00 | 34:30 | 30:36 |
T1 | 4:05 | 5:00 | 5:37 | 4:42 |
Bike | 2:29:01 | 2:30:00 | 2:34:33 | 2:21:09 |
T2 | 1:55 | 5:00 | 4:44 | 3:32 |
Run | 1:44:02 | 1:45:00 | 1:47:20 | 1:32:52 |
Total | 4:50:46 | 5:00:00 | 5:06:42 | 4:32:49 |
Splits
And so it begins: Sunday morning, 19th of April 2026 and I’m standing on Malvarrosa beach with the sun coming up over the horizon. It’s going to be another beautiful day in Valencia. For the third edition of this race, they moved the swim from the harbour to the open sea. Thankfully there is no wind so the water is calm.
The PROs go off in mass starts at 7:15 and 7:25, with the age-grouper rolling starts kicking off at 7:40. I’m confident in my swim, so self-seed towards the back of the first pen, the “30 minute” wave. Good call, the 35, 40 and 45 min pens are rammed.
The DJ starts blasting out AC/DC’s Thunderstruck and it does the trick – finally I’m feeling pumped! At 7:47 I’m off. Not swimming just yet, it takes a good 45 seconds to cross the sand and shallows to get to deeper water.
I can’t see a thing! We are swimming directly into the sun and the water is almost opaque due to the churning sand. But no bother; focus on relaxed breathing and looking for that first turn buoy. Smile to myself – this is what it’s all about! After that, plain sailing and I’m out of the water in under 35 mins.
Out of the water - job done
T1 was long! 650 meters from standing up in the shallows to the mount line. But it went smoothly – a big advantage of getting into the water early. Found my blue bike bag easily enough, wet suit slipped off nicely, then found my racked bike just fine, aided by Jacky standing right next to it on the other side of the fence, shouting encouragement. The surface is nicely matted so running barefoot is no problemo! Indeed, overall organisation of the race was fantastic, as you can expect from IRONMAN. Scoot mount, feet in and we’re off.
The first 1.4 km takes you away from the beach to a 180-degree turn, providing an opportunity to tighten the shoes, adjust the helmet, put the visor in place, and get some fluids/nutrition onboard. Then it’s TT heaven: 10 k of glorious flat tarmac running straight up the coast, perfect for getting in the mood.
Then a turn inland to start a 20 km section that gently rises ~300m to the highest point in Nàquera. Apart from a few very short sections near the top, it’s not steep so it’s aero action all the way.
This was the first time racing my 1x12 SRAM set up and the gearing was just fine. Indeed, the bike was a joy to ride, thanks to a lot of tinkering and upgrading over the winter: a freshly waxed RED chain; a swanky new Parcours disc wheel; new tubeless Corsa Speed Pro tyres. I also installed a nice TriRig between-the-arms system to get two bottles up front. To keep up with the Joneses, I just had to get an EZgains behind-the-saddle system, using it to stash my flat kit.
Over the top at Nàquera, caution on a few hairpins, then let rip on a wonderfully long, sweeping descent – living the dream! This was awesome: it was warm, but not too hot, and zero wind; the roads were smooth, all closed to traffic by law in Spain; and not congested thanks to the rolling start and being out on the course relatively early.
On the final 20k stretch back into town, I was overtaken by a few grupettos. I get it; towards the end of the bike leg, people are tired, and with a few thousand participants a bit of drafting is inevitable. But I didn’t come here for a group ride. I had to stop pedalling several times so as not get sucked along, which was rather irritating when the packs then slowed down!!
One particularly egregious case of drafting prompted me to suggest that the offender might like to suck something else belonging to the guy in front of him, not just his wheel. Eventually I’d had enough so put the hammer down to break away. It worked and the final stretch was an enjoyable solo ride in T2.
The lack of course knowledge meant that the dismount line caught me by surprise, so I didn’t have time to get both feet out of my shoes on time. No bother, safely off the bike in just over 2.5 hrs.
Transition was quiet so easy enough to find my racking spot, red run bag and clear bench space to get into my Hoka Rockets. With the swim and bike legs safely navigated, most of the unknowns are behind me. However, the hardest part is still to come.
The Turia river used to run through the centre of Valencia out into the Mediterranean. But after a major flood in 1957, it was diverted to the south. The old riverbed then sat fallow until 1986 when it was turned into a park rather than a transport corridor. Now an amazing 10 km long public space runs through the city, filled with exotic trees and lots of spaces for walking, cycling, outdoor sports, morning yoga etc. When I visited Valencia some 10 years ago, this park blew me away and it was a major motivation to sign up for this race.
Race course
The legs felt ok, but it was going to be hot so the number one aim was a cooling strategy. At the first aid station, I grabbed multiple cups of water, pouring most of it over my head and down my tri suit. Later I also started shoving ice cubes down my tri suit. At the second aid station, same again but also a Maurten gel for carbs. This alternating routine worked well, but eventually my limited training got the better of me.
Part 1, for the first 9 k, I held an average pace of ~4:50 mins per k, not great but not too bad either. Part 2, over the next 5 k it started to get hard and my pace dropped to ~5:00. At the end of the first lap, it was great to see Jacky cheering me on, so stopped for a quick kiss and then back at it. Part 3, the last 6-7 k was a slog; I kept moving, cooling and fuelling, but my average pace dropped further, to 5:30.
Across the finish line, I was pretty trashed; had to sit in the shade for a good 10 minutes before I could move again. Fair to say, I gave it my best, and I’m pretty happy with the overall execution. I swam, biked and transitioned well. The big lesson from Poznań was the need for a cooling strategy on the run, and that worked well. I just didn’t have enough credit in the Bank of Fitness to hold it together for 21k on the run. But again – all things considered – a respectable performance at a great race.
Immediately after, my thoughts were as they always are: it’s finally time to retire, I’m getting too old for this. But a few days later, I’m not so sure? There is still some fire in the belly and I’d love to see what I can do with a bit of consistent training.
