Introductions

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Hello, I’m Chris Hutchinson and this is my Ironman training blog. I’m going to try and document my training from now until the big day, which is 7thAugust 2021 in Tallinn. In this blog, my aim is to take you through my journey from start to finish. I will discuss, nutrition, training plans and triathlon kit, as well as the actual ups and downs of the training itself. I plan to put out posts every 1-2 weeks depending on how hectic life gets.

Just in case you are unfamiliar with the Ironman, it is a long course triathlon race. It consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile marathon run. My personal goal has been to complete this in under 12 hours. For me this means a 1hr 15min swim, a 6hr 15min bike and a 4hr 10min run with about 15min transition. This is the hope any way, I’ve got to get there first.

This will be my 3rd go at the Ironman. My first event was my home town of Bolton in 2017. I came in at 12hrs and 58mins. Let me tell you, this was one of the hardest and most rewarding things I have ever completed. I don’t like to admit it but there was a small tear when crossed that finish line. After 7 months of training, I had finally achieved something I once thought was impossible for me. It was a great feeling.


My second attempt was in Hamburg 2019. This is a bit of a dark day for me. The heat in Hamburg on the big day was too much. The organisers nearly had to cancel the swim due to algae in the water and there was talk before the race about no wet suits due to the heat. I had been training in Northern Ireland where the weather is less than agreeable. Then I came to Hamburg where the weather was hitting a blistering 30 degrees without a cloud in the sky. Great for sun bathing, not so good for a 12-hour race. During the race, I completed the swim in a strong 1hr 10mins and the bike in a personal record time of 5hr 53mins.

However, during the run, the weather and the heat became too much for me. I stopped 14 miles into the run for a rest and a quick sit down and I never got back up. Cramp hit with a vengeance and It turns out I was severely dehydrated. I ended up in the back of a St John’s ambulance then I was taken to hospital. Race over.


Before my Ironman fever, I was once in a rut of going the pub every weekend with friends. One Sunday I was stood outside one pub in Bolton having a cigarette when I saw these guys looking absolutely drained running in some kind of race. After doing some inquiring, I learned about the Ironman. I was interested but I was convinced by peers that I would never be able to complete one. To be honest, I smoked, I ate poorly, did no exercise and I drank every weekend. That was 2015 and the feeling that I wanted to take part in this even never left me. I wanted to do what seemed so impossible, I needed a change, I needed something to give me a little discipline and purpose.

At the end of 2016, I had decided to go for it. I got a training plan, I changed my diet, I stopped drinking, completely, I eventually gave up smoking and, on the 1st January 2017, I started training. 30 weeks later, after the hardest training and by far the hardest race I had ever done I crossed the finish line of the Bolton Ironman. I will never forget that feeling.

Currently I am a little nervous about going through this journey for the third time but I have a goal of finishing the race in under 12 hours. I think I am also chasing the feeling I had when I finished Bolton.

Location: Belfast, UK

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