Every now and again, we will be asking a member, a few questions about their running, and being part of the club
Won’t be any particular format or how we pick the individual. Everyone is a success, and it’s good to cover all aspects of the membership
The first member was easy to stitch up as the guinea pig for this new feature
After Carly Louise Wardle Ironman achievement, it made it an easy choice to find a volunteer, while she was still revelling in her success, there was less chance of her saying say no 😎😎
Enjoy her story, and if anyone would like to volunteer themselves, or someone else, message directly. The plan is for all the highlights to go up on the website as well
Q. Having already completed it before, what made you decide to do another Ironman? Why Copenhagen?
Carly.
I always knew I wanted to do another, I just needed a break after the last one. The intention was always to better my time and recover well afterwards.
I transferred from Lanzarote Ironman to Copenhagen because my fitness levels were ahead of where I expected them to be and a fast and flat course would put me in the best position to better my time.
It’s important to understand that you need family buy in. As much as training and competing is on you as an individual you need family on side because it will absolutely impact them. Olly took on a lot more at home such as walking the dogs during the week and cooking dinner most nights. He understood and accepted that I was tired and needed early nights. We sacrificed date nights and he attended social stuff without me due to this. He was also hugely important during race weekend in helping me cross check my packing, lists and ensuring I had all I needed. It was also a huge boost having him on route on race day.
Q. What lifestyle changes have you had to make for the training, especially seeing how dedicated you were to your plan.
Carly.
I committed to it 100%. I told myself I was going to go all in and I stuck to it. Once I’d done this everything else falls into place a little easier. I can be super disciplined and determined when I focus.
* I didn’t drink any alcohol for 30 weeks.
* I didn’t attend a lot of social events.
* I was in bed by 20:30pm most days.
* Up at 5am 6 out of 7 days a week, this why by choice to fit the training around work but also to allow time in the evening to have dinner with Olly and spend time with dogs.
* I did double and triple training days 5 out of 6 training days.
* I planned out my nutrition and prepped meals and snacks every Sunday for the week to save time and save me snacking on junk.
* I was strict with supplements.
* I had a sports massage monthly.
* I prioritised mobility and stretching.
* I prioritised warm ups and cool downs.
Q. What were the highs, lows, favourite and worst bits of the training?
Carly.
Lows: It’s very lonely training for an Ironman as most of the training you are on your own. So you have to get comfortable in your own company. I was lucky to have company for some longer rides which really helped.
You also have to manage fatigue and that was hard to juggle when working full time and sometimes it spilled over.
Highs: I love the routine and structure and I love seeing the progress week on week. I love to push myself so enjoyed the challenge.
Q.How do you manage the mental side of the challenge?
Carly.
I truly believe your mindset needs to be right going into it. I’d done a lot of work for nearly two years before hand with my strength coach who helped me have a better relationship with food, she helped me build healthy lifestyle habits and provided mindset coaching. Which was mostly focused around limiting beliefs, accountability, reflection and habit change.
Q. What’s it like arranging the logistics of the event, booking all your travel, getting there etc? Cost?
Carly.
I used a few forums for advice and guidance as well as the routes on the Ironman website to help inform me on the best place to stay. Once I’d sorted accommodation I then booked flights but realised I should have done that the other way around because flights are on specific days. I ended up having to add an extra day onto our hotel booking.
I wanted to be near the start the minimise travel on race morning and Copenhagen public transport is so efficient that getting back after was straight forward.
There’s a lot of prep beforehand, I had a lot of packing lists for each discipline as well as all the adhoc stuff I needed like chargers etc and holiday wear.
It was nerve wracking travelling with my bike but I’d borrowed a bike box and it’s worked out perfectly.
Q. Tell us about the race day itself, waking up, to crossing the finish line. Were you aware of all the Muskie support following your race progress
What happens after?
Carly.
I woke up at 3:45am after around 3 hours sleep to have a coffee and some porridge which was incredibly difficult to stomach. I’d already laid my gear out the night before so that was all prepped.
I had all my fuelling ready to load onto the bike when I arrived at the start. I spent time checking my bike, pumping my tyres and testing gears etc.
I had a very strict fuelling plan so I had a banana around an hour out and then a caffeine gel 15 minutes before I started.
I’d had a lot of really nice messages a few days before the race from lots of people which was really lovely and a lot of people regularly commented on my training via strava which was a real boost.
My phone was off for the whole of race day and I didn’t switch it back on until late in the evening. I spoke to some close family members and friends but didn’t realise the extent of support until I sat with a coffee the next morning and worked my way through countless messages and comments on peoples posts, within group chats etc. it was extremely overwhelming, lovely but oh so overwhelming.
Q. It’s been nearly a week since the Ironman, who are you feeling, physically and mentally?
Carly.
I have a strict recovery plan from my Coach that I am sticking to. I feel extremely tired physically and mentally as sleep has been quite poor since before the event. I’ve had a tight chest and a lot of blood coming out of my nose when I blow it 😂 I’m being told it’s just the exertion that I have put my body through.
Right now I feel like I could exercise but it’s likely the adrenaline is making me feel that way. I’m slowly introducing light stretching and I will go back to gentle training a week after racing.
Mentally I am trying to remain focussed on my achievement. I am trying not to grieve my training plan and structure 😂 which sounds silly but is very true. I’ve done a lot of reflecting on the race and the training and already started to overanalyse things so doing my best to stop that!
I’m also trying not to get too ahead of myself.
Q. What’s next for you, will you be doing another Ironman?
Carly.
I’m not entirely sure right now. Triathlon is definitely my passion as it gives me the level of challenge that I need.
I know I need a challenge because I like having a goal to work towards and something that gives me focus.
After a debrief with my Coach and a look at the data it’s clear there’s more in the tank. I think I can definitely improve on time so there may well be another Ironman in another location on the horizon 😂 especially considering I wasn’t far out of being able to apply to represent GB in triathlon. This would be such a privilege and a huge motivator for me.
Plymouth Musketeers Running Club