When John, who I had only really met a few months previously when swimming, told me he had entered the Gauntlet at Hever Castle and wanted me to train him I was a bit taken aback. Yes I could coach him, I was pretty confident of that, but could I motivate him when training got tough, could I actually turn someone that didn't even have a bike at that stage into a half decent cyclist (the Hever course is a pig), and could I get someone with a dodgy knee running consistently enough to complete a half marathon at the end of that pig of a bike. All these questions were on top of not really knowing John that well. I did know that John was doing for his friend Hayley who was suffering terminal cancer, I mean how could I refuse. I am so glad I didn't refuse as it has been a wonderful, yet challenging journey.
John was already a half decent swimmer, and another friend took care of the swim coaching and training sessions, though I always did invite John to join in with my sessions, for some reason he always declined. Obviously the first thing to sort out was getting John a bike, that wasn't a problem, John has a knack of buying stuff, and some bloody good stuff as well. We were helped along the way by Richard at Freespeed helping John out with a bike fit and then getting a frame sorted out for him, not any old frame but a lovely Cervelo P5. John also got a cheap road bike as well for training on. So bike was sorted and that start of the bike turbo sessions began. John also went and got his knee sorted by a physio friend and we started with short easy runs, everything seemed to hold up OK which was a great start.
So now we had bike, and the ability to run. I set about the training and slowly the fitness started improving, and John decided he wanted to do a local half marathon, OK no worries, but this is in March and now we are in December, this doesn't give me much time to get the training mileage up, and yet keep his knee holding together but we did it and a good sub 2 hour half marathon was a goal achieved. John did make coaching difficult, he did go on a few holidays which was challenging, but I have to give him massive credit for getting out training whilst on holiday, Ruth, John's wife, must have felt he was nuts, but the support she gave him was absolutely vital, Ruth really has been a rock for John.
Both bike and run fitness were really improving when John had some pretty devastating news, he had to go into hospital for an operation and would be out of action for 6 weeks. I just saw all the hard earned fitness going down the pan, but this is where being able to motivate and encourage your athlete comes to the fore. Chatting on a near day to day basis I kept John motivated and calm, I kept telling him we still had plenty of time, yet knowing it takes plenty of time to get the bike fitness where it needs to be, and we probably didn't have enough of that. Luckily he was able to get back on the turbo for easy sessions so that eased some bike worries. The weeks actually flew past, and it wasn't long before we were able to ramp it up again and John really got into the swing of things quite quickly.
John's plan originally was to make the Gauntlet his first triathlon, I suggested he do a shorter event first to get to grips with how triathlon worked, so he did the Tri Spirit Events Owler Standard distance race which he really enjoyed (I think). It also showed where we needed to work, which was the bike. We did a recce of the Gauntlet course together and I think John suddenly realised the scale of the challenge he had taken on, I had warned him the bike course was tough, but he said he wanted a tough challenge, this course certainly is a tough challenge. This again highlighted the amount of bike work required and I vowed to get out on the bike with John to help him get that fitness. Sadly this didn't happened as on a holiday (I did say he likes holidays) John managed to slip on some stairs and in trying not to take others out with his fall, he landing badly on his hand and managed to break a couple of fingers.
Obviously with 6 weeks to go this was a huge setback, it meant no swimming and no outdoor riding for a while, and even the runs left John with some pain as he had hit his knee as well. I did subsequently ban him from holidays LOL. John being John however was soon back on the turbo, trying to swim with paddles and the knee cleared up pretty quick, so although by no means perfect at least the fitness was being maintained, though I know he did long for the road especially after 3 hour turbo sessions.
The reason and nervous coach with a nervous John
About to enter the water
The day came however and although I had planned to race as well, I still had an injury from IM Wales so I opted for just the swim. John was nervous but excited, I was just a bag of nerves for him. The swim went well and John loved it.
Flying out of the swim
Always Smiling
After 4 hours on the bike John hobbled into T2, I told him I hadn't been able to locate any tape and I half expected him to pull out, he looked like he could hardly walk, let alone run a half marathon. But that isn't John, he got all his running kit on and went out on the run, my admiration for him went up even further, I knew what a tough run course this was and I feared it might be a very long afternoon for him.
With John out on the run course I caught up with the other Hayley's Heros supporting John, Ruth his wife, Simon, Penny and Lewis, and we made our way out to the far end of the run course, I just knew John would need all the support he could get. Surprisingly when I first saw him he was running, though struggling and was having to resort to a run/walk strategy with his knee. I think seeing everyone buoyed him up and a km into the start of the 2nd lap he didn't look too bad. As he neared 3km to the finish it was clear he was in a large amount of pain and having to mainly walk now, I told him it was only 3km to go and he was going to finish and I would see him at the finish.
Still Smiling
As the time ticked down I knew he was going to be outside the time he really wanted, but soon enough he appeared in the finishing chute to massive cheers from all of the Hayley's Heros. It was a massive pleasure to meet him as he crossed the finishline and present John with his medal. Such a huge achievement, not only to take on such a hard half ironman, but to finish it in just over 7 hours, and to have had to hobble around the last 10km. The words of never again soon faded and it wasn't long before John was trying to plan his next half ironman LOL.
At the finish, and still smiling
John raised a huge amount of money for the Hayley's Heros charity, and although Hayley sadly lost her battle with cancer before she could get to see John do this huge challenge, I know she was looking down on him with immense pride. John you ARE a hero and you really are a true inspiration.
I'd like to say a very special thank you to the Castle Triathlon Series, for making this a very special day for John, you went above and beyond your usual excellence and it really was a magical day.
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