Ironman Mallorca, Spain 2015 Race Report

Written by admin on November 24, 2018. Posted in Coaching From Jack, Motivation, News, Triathlon Benefits

I decided that for my 5th Full Ironman I wanted to go somewhere amazing, tropical, and beautiful. What better place in Europe than the Spanish island of Mallorca. Not only would this be a special trip but my parents would also come watch me for the first time compete in this amazing event on the island. This was supposed to be my fastest Ironman competition to date as I had gone faster and faster each time I had raced but the island of Mallorca had some special challenges on the bike along with the heat that lie ahead on race day. This was Billy’s second Full Ironman as I was helping coach and train with him for 8 months leading up to this race. At the welcome dinner, my father and I sat on the beach while the race director went over the course and told us the pros had a nickname for this race as they called it the “Kona of Europe.” As soon as I heard that phrase I knew I was in trouble with the aggressive technical climbs up and down the mountain terrain of the island of Mallorca.

For some reason in my head I was too confident for this race and I thought It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. That’s not to say that it

was easy; more than anything, I had the feeling that the hardest parts were over with my hours of training months prior to the race. I was wrong… very wrong.My family and I flew out of LAX on Wednesday on a red eye and I tried to sleep on the flight over because I wanted to adjust my internal clock as early as possible. I failed miserably, though; I can’t sleep on planes. I got about one hour of sleep on the way over. It was a long trip, and we were tired and hungry by the time we got to the house along with the fact that we had complications with the rental car company while trying to get from the airport to the house as we got lost for hours once we got to Alcudia. I had trouble sleeping for the next few nights and didn’t really get over my jet lag before the race.Swim: Ironman Mallorca utilized the new “rolling start” option that WTC has been implementing as well as an Australian exit which was cool and rare because you get the crowd cheering you on a couple of times during the swim. Wave swim starts were initiated and starting rolling out with the great success in 2014 and beyond. Now in 2016, nearly all Ironman races have wave streamlined rolling starts which are much safer and easier on the athletes not only physically but mentally. You can also plan to draft much better and effectively. I seeded myself slightly slower than what I thought I could do, r

ight at the end of the 1:30 group. I expected that 1:30 would be a good time for me. I never dreamed that I could do 1:14! That would be and still is my second fastest swim split time in any Ironman event I have done in the past 10 years. The water was pancake-flat, salty (i.e. buoyant), and clear, just barely wet suit-legal, and the rolling start ensured that I got to swim the whole 2.4 miles in the draft. Coming out of the swim and into transition I saw my father cheering me on for the first time during an Ironman which was very cool and he yelled out my swim time trying to help keep me informed on my pace.

Swim time: 1:14:35

Bike: As I pulled out of transition my plan was to attack the first 50-60 miles on the bike in order to make up for the mountain climb lying ahead at mile 60-70 which had nearly 7,000 ft of climbing at 5-7% grades. The scariest and most challenging part of the bike other than the very long 10 mile climb was the steep and hairpin turn decent which had you laying in on the brakes hard when you came down the backside of the mountain. I haven’t done switchbacks on a steep downhill in years, and I descended very conservatively. Mallorca is a beautiful place, and the bike course was equally beautiful but the weather was typically hot and sunny with some gusts of headwind wind and a very hilly bike course. During the bike ride I can still picture clearly in my mind the coast, countryside, mountains, and the whole experience of getting to ride 180 km in paradise. The roads were mostly really nice, with a few rough stretches and was able to hold a fast pace but for this race I was happy to take it slow on the decent and make it down the mountain in one piece. In short, the bike was tough but really enjoyable and an experience I will treasure for the rest of my life. I made the mistake of not eating enough calories on the bike and

ultimately went hunger flat as I progressively got worse as the bike went on and then into the run. I had a disappointing bike split as I was fighting the entire 2nd half of the bike course after stressing out a bit of the mountain climb. I finished with a 21.3mph average split on the bike and felt sick coming into T2 because of mismanagement of nutrition.

Bike time: 5:38:38

Run: I took my time in T2 and sat for a little longer than I needed to, commiserating with the other men about the pain we were about to experience. But I headed out of transition on the run, with a smile on my face. The smile soon turned to a grimace, however. I had horrible pain in my abdomen and I figured for sure there was something wrong with my nutrition and knew immediately I had not consumed enough calories throughout the day. Emily met me at the first aid station, where we could get outside assistance in lieu of special needs. I hurt so bad at one point that my father who was watching told me that a competitor had given up and looked grey in the face with his eyes glassy and he said I looked worse than he did. It made me laugh but the sense of humor turned into anger and anxiety as I knew the race was lost in terms of improving my overall time. We did 4.5 loops on a perfectly flat course through crowds of spectating tourists. I got extra cheers on the run because I was one of the biggest athletes on the course standing at 6’3 and 220lbs. The only disadvantage to the crowd support was that it was difficult to execute my pacing plan. I’d planned to walk for 30 seconds at every aid station but it’s hard to walk when people are yelling “Go Jack!” in half a dozen languages!Run time: 4:45:46

Finish: Hunger Flat (Not enough calories consumed during the entire day) One of my slowest finish times at 11:50:40

I expected a very different race in Mallorca as I had no idea the reality of the toughness the course had to offer. With its heat, mountain climbs, and swirling headwinds on the backside of the bike course it definitely lived up to the reputation of the “Kona Of Europe.” I ended up having one of my slowest Ironman times to date and was very emotional as I ran down the last stretch of the run course and knowing that I was going to be more than an hour off my goal pace but it didn’t matter anymore. All that mattered was getting to that finish line and being able to share this experience with my family and with Billy’s family and friends was the most amazing experience of all.

Thank you also to the awesome volunteers who braved the weather to ensure we athletes could finish the race. Finally, to my awesome sponsors at Red Ace Organics/Beets, Rudy Project, Juice Plus, MG Sport, and Honey Stinger for your continued support, as none of this would be possible without you.

I do also offer personalized coaching for Triathletes looking to get better times in each discipline on the swim, bike, and run. There are no long-term contracts! Whether you want to jump-start your triathlon training with an expert consultation or hone your fitness with

ongoing coaching, the best commitment you can make is to yourself.Triathlon Training by an expert: Jack Nunn is the ‘unconventional’ triathlete – standing 6’3″ tall and weighing in at 220 pounds and was the 2015 Olympic Distance USA Triathlon Clydesdale Champion while still holding the fastest time to date at 2 hrs and 15 minutes in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Since 2008, he has competed in 14 Full Ironman competitions around the world and in August 2017 Jack recently completed the Isklar Norseman Xtreme triathlon in Norway. This race bills itself as, ‘simply the ultimate triathlon on planet Earth’ and is regarded by many athletes and pros as the hardest Ironman distance triathlon in the world. It’s a total of 226km spread over a freezing cold swim, a brutal bike ride with 17,000 feet of elevation, and a seemingly impossible marathon footrace up a mountain. In 2013, he also began racing shorter sprint triathlons, winning his age group in almost every event and has now raced in over 100 events aroun

d the world.

Special mention to Billy Panter and his incredible family including Bob, Nancy, and Libby for helping us along the way because if not for you I would not have visited the beautiful sights of Mallorca, the castle in downtown, the cathedral with my parents, and more. Although I did not perform well in this Ironman due to the extreme heat and very challenging/technical bike ride I’m very proud of my friend Billy Panter. He did extremely well and fought adversity on the bike as he passed me with less than 2 miles to go in the race and finished well under 12 hours which was a PR for him by over an hour from Ironman Cairns, Australia the previous year.