Martin Cain's Ironman UK 70.3 report 17 June 2012

On the 16th June I set off in the pouring rain to Somerset praying that the weather would pick up. As I arrived at Wimbleball Lake it had got worse, the camp site looked more like a scene from Glastonbury.

I went to the Pro race briefing where all the top names were gathering and felt totally out of place. After getting the low down for race morning I decided to have a drive around the bike route, which as it turned out was a very wise move as it is quite a technical course with some nasty climbs.

In the morning I did a small loop of the run route and luckily decided to go for my road shoes rather than my racing flats which would have been disastrous.

As we entered the water my heart was racing and all I could think was who’s feet am I going to follow, I needn’t have bothered as I got dropped in the first 200 metres. I did manage to stay with one though and got a tow all the way round and put a PB down for my swim of 26 mins.

Exiting the water there was a short run to transition through the mud, out onto the bike I started well and caught the next 2 ahead of me with a clear road ahead I put my head down and pushed as hard as I could.

When it came to the back side of the first loop the hills welcomed us these were short sharp energy sappers and they took their toll on my legs, being better prepared the second time around they didn’t seem as bad but they took a lot out of me.

Knowing there was another two in front of me within touching distance I tried to set off at a good pace, it took a while to get my legs going after the bike but I managed to get down to about 6 minute 30 second milling on a tough course. This pace saw me catch the next two and put me in 10th place as there were 2 out and back sections there was the opportunity to see your rivals. The next ahead of me was Harry Wiltshire and I was catching him, as I got closer to the finish I thought I may just catch him but he put in one last kick and maintained a gap of 50 seconds to take 9th place.

 Over all I was pleased with the result I had set myself a target of top 10 so job done hopefully I can take this form to Ironman Bolton and improve on my position.

Many Thanks as usual to my sponsors www.redvenom.co.uk, http://www.cnpprofessional.co.uk/, http://www.surosa.co.uk/