Over the last few months T-Zero has followed Alex Hinton’s preparation for his first Ironman. Two weeks ago he completed Ironman France in a time of 11 hours, 36 minutes and 4 seconds. After allowing Alex some time to relax and reflect we quizzed him on his experience.

Having completed his training programme, tapered and arrived injury free on the start line we rightly expected Alex to do well. However, this is Ironman, it’s a long day and many things can go wrong from swallowing excessive water in the swim, mechanical problems on the bike to cramps, injury or plain exhaustion on the run.

To minimise risks on the bike, Alex had his steed checked over by the Shimano mechanics at race HQ, who were apparently “impressively slick.” After that, it was a case of keeping out of trouble on the swim, controlling his pace and keeping fuelled on the bike, and surviving the marathon.

The race started well. Alex’s work in the pool with Fiona from Triathlon Europe paid off and he exited the water three minutes ahead of his target time. With his weakest discipline behind him, Alex set off confidently on the bike, taking care to keep his heart rate within his target zones.

While Alex had heard and read plenty about the bike course, he’d never seen it. Triathlon Europe run a specific Ironman France training week to help competitors familiarise themselves with the route but work and family commitments prevented Alex from attending. So, while he was prepared for the amount of climbing involved, he was caught out by a couple of sudden changes in gradient. Still, he rolled into T2 in good shape and 8 minutes ahead of his goal time.

The run, unfortunately, did not go quite as smoothly as the rest. After starting at his target pace of 5 minutes per kilometre, his speed gradually declined until mile 18.

“It’s difficult to explain exactly why I started to walk,” says Alex. “I didn’t have cramp (my usual problem on marathons), I didn’t feel particularly tired or in pain, I just had an overwhelming, irresistible desire to walk, and I felt really miserable.”

Once walking, Alex checked his pace and started doing the calculations. If I keep walking at this pace, he reasoned, I’ll definitely finish. In fact, I may even break 12 hours. This thought process somehow cheered him up and reinvigorated his legs so that after just a short time, he could start running again.

Picture: www.Marathon-Photos.Com

Eventually Alex crossed the line with an entirely respectable marathon time of 4.12.56, just under 13 minutes slower than his target. He achieved his overall time goal and two of his individual discipline goals. Was he satisfied?

“Yes,” says Alex, “and no!”

“Of course, I’m delighted that I finished, that nearly everything went to plan and that I beat my target time, but it does bug me that I walked, even though it was only a short distance.”

So will he be back?

Alex smiles wistfully at the thought and looks at his wife, Jenny, who pats her expanding belly. Clearly Alex wasn’t training hard enough.

Still strong enough to carry his daughter

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