Acumen employee Warren Steele has completed the gruelling Outlaw Half Iron Man triathlon in Nottingham. The event, which consisted of a 1900m swim, 56mile bike ride and 13.1mile run took place on May 21st and was only Warren’s third ever triathlon. He finished in a very respectable time of 5:42:03.
With guidance from Team Smith and Dean and Debbie Kirkham, Warren entered the competitor zone on the race morning with Gareth reassuring him “I’ll come and see you in a bit” which true to his word he did – when he was lapping him on the run!
Despite finding himself breathless and doing breaststroke for the first 50 metres of the swim, Warren quickly settled into the first (and his strongest) of the three disciplines. Finding some space in the water he got on with job, focusing on a steady pace. Transition wasn’t great with more than three minutes spent getting out of the wetsuit and into the cycling but this didn’t bother our iron man – “I wasn’t racing for time, I was racing for the medal and the achievement! Next year I’ll race for time…”
In the words of Warren “the bike was nothing short of a disaster.” Tired legs combined with the rear brake being knocked out of alignment meant a slow start to this section. Whilst this problem was rectified – after 15 miles(!) – there were other challenges to overcome including a particularly nasty hill. By the end of the 56mile ride though Warren was looking much more comfortable, almost like he was enjoying it!
Transition two into the final stage was decent – cap on, trainers on and off Warren went on a half-marathon run. Whilst the early pace was a respectable (or in the words of Warren “delusional”) 7:30/mile this slowed over the course to around 8:50/9:30 the rest of the run. Around this time the effects of the lake water inhaled during the swim were also taking effect on his stomach!
Despite this Warren finished superbly, in well under the six hour mark and was delighted with his result. He has described the crowds as brilliant and the organisation by event organisers OSB as “unbelievable”! He says he just has one challenge left now – to try and fit his prop forward frame into the finisher’s shirt that was made for a child’s ballet class!
Warren would like to thanks his wife, Jackie and daughters, Chloé and Libby as well Allison, Gareth and Dean for preparing him for the event! He is looking forward to his next competition in July already – the Long Course Weekend, one of the most difficult triathlons in Wales!
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