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I took up Triathlon when I was 37 - I'd been pretty much a couch potato for over 15 years but was inspired by wathing a friend do an Olympic distance tri. I did my first sprint distance triathlon within a few weeks, moved on to Olympic distance the next season and did my first Ironman distance event in 2000 aged 40.

I did The Longest Day in August 2000, Ironman Lanzarote in May 2001, The Longest Day again in August 2001 and Ironman Lanzarote again in May 2002. The last one was Ironman Austria in July 2003. My wife hates me doing them so I took a break in 2004.

The official Ironman races are qualifiers for the Ironman World Championship race in Hawaii - it's very tough to get in it, basically I'd need to be placed in the top 1 or 2 in my age group, and there's bugger all chance as I'm not prepared to give up enough of my life to get fit enough. This year sees the first ever official Ironman race on British soil. My friend, Steve, and I entered in September last year, but he unfortunately injured himself fairly badly in a bike crash early on in this year so had to pull out. On the face of it August is a good time to have a long race as it means the bulk of your preparation is in the summer, unlike Lanzarote where you have to be out on the bike for long hours in February/March. For me though the summer's a busy time with conferences and my examining commitment, and I was basically away for much of June and early July. 4 days on the p**s in Le Mans mid June probably wasn't exactly ideal preparation either!

Anyway, in recent weeks I picked up the training and felt confident of my cycling and swimming, less so the running. I had a week training in Lanzarote in late July which went well, but the day after I came back I injured my calf running. Not good with 2 weeks to go to the race. I tried to keep an open mind, and it was only on the Thursday before the race that I could walk without it hurting. I went out for a shakedown ride on my race bike and felt really good, so decided I'd give the race a go.

The race is based in Sherbourne in Dorset, and my brother Andy lives about 10 miles from there, so I went over with the family and stayed with him. He and I rode round most of the bike course about 4 weeks previously, and it's a bit of a stinker - highly undulating to say the least, and with a few climbs long and steep enough to punish the unfit or those inexperienced enough to attack them a bit too hard.

Race morning meant a 3.45 am start to get to the start, check my bike etc. and get into the wetsuit for the 2.4 mile swim in the lake. The start was scheduled for 6am, but there was a heavy bank of mist which meant it was unsafe to let 1500 athletes out until it cleared. They kept us herded in the transition area for an hour, by which time most of us were getting cold. You also gear your hydration and nutrition round the start time, so a delay isn't a good thing. At 7 they herded us to the start area, but another bank of mist came in and we eventually got in the water at about 8am. Unfortunately they hadn't briefed us properly about the race start, and most of us weren't fully aware that we had to swim out for over 200 metres to get to the start, then wait around while we all assembled there in the water. By the time we were all ready I was getting really cold, whihc wasn't helped when there was a false start and we had to wait while they were pulled back. We eventually got away at about 8.10. An Ironman swim is generally a pretty physical affair, lots of jostling etc - it's actually difficult swimming in a straight line in murky water and you end up swimming into people. The swim went fine and I felt I'd gone fairly well, but was a little disappointed with my time out of the water - 1 hour 16 minutes.

The jog from the lake to transition was the first time I'd run for over 2 weeks, but the calf still felt OK. A quick change into my cycling kit and I was off on my tour of Dorset and Sherbourne. My relatively slow swim meant I was catching and passing lots of people on the bike. The key thing is to judge your pace right - go a bit too quick early on and you suffer big time later!

I was feeling OK on the hills - I'm skinny but at 6'5" tall I still weigh almost 14 stones, so I'm relatively slow up the them. Downhill's a different matter - my weight combined with a good aero position on the bike and a love of going fast meant I was flying down the hills. I was still feeling good as I passed sherbourne Castle to commence the northern part of the course at about 67 miles. I knew this part of the course was what would sort the men from the boys as it were - even more hilly than the first part and your legs are starting to suffer after 4 hours in the saddle. I used my gears sensibly and found I was passing more people in the latter stages, again being careful not to overcook it. Jen and the kids were on the course, as was Andy and Steve who'd come over for the day. Seeing friends and family is always a big boost, although it has to be said that the support for the race for the locals was terrific all day. In the last 10 miles I took it a little easier and made sure I drank plenty.

After a really quick descent back down int Sherbourne dump the bike and another quick change into running kit. After six and a half hours in cycling shoes cushioned running shoes feel like real luxury! I felt fine starting the run, no calf pain, felt well hydrated and jogging along comfortably at about 10 minutes a mile. Sound slow but it equates to sub 4:30 marathon pace which is fine for an old donkey like me! At about 2 miles my calf started hurting, but I decided to carry on. It didn't really get much worse, and I reckoned I could probably just put up with it. I was still going well until about 8 miles. I was walking up the hills (as were many) but I then started to feel sick. This gradually got worse and forced me to walk more as the run progressed. By the time I reached the turn at Montacute House where my folks were waiting I felt (and apparently looked!) awful. As I left the House gardens trying to convince Jen and the kids that I was OK to carry on I had to stop to throw up, which didn't exactly augur well. As soon as you start to lose the hydration/nutrition battle you're done for. It isn't like a marathon on its own, I'd been exercising hard for 8 hours before I even started the run, so you need a constabt input of fluid and calories to survive. I started to feel a bit better after emptying my stomach and decided to press on and see how I felt. I did feel a bit better, and ran some of the next mile, but the nausea returned and by mile 15 I had to stop and sit at the roadside for a while. Another competitor stoped to ask how I was, he's also got to the stage he couldn't run any more, so he suggested I walk with him. We had a chat and made what progress we could, but I still felt pretty ill. As we got towards mile 17 I realised that because of the delayed start it was going to be quite late - I estimated I could walk in by about 10pm. It was already gone 7.30 though and it was a clear evening and cooling down fast. I was starting to feel cold, and by the time I got to mile 18 where my folks were waiting again I realised that although I could carry on and finish hypothermia was more or less inevitable, along with dehydration and a spell in the medical tent. If it were my first race I'd have carried on, but I simply didn't want to pay that price just to be able to say I'd finished. I decided the smart thing to do was to pack in, so I did.

Funnily enough I don't feel as bad about it as I thought I would. My fitness for the run was marginal, but I've plodded on through Ironman marathons before when the legs don't want to work. I'm sure that had I not got sick I would have finished. Even though I struggled in the latter part of the first half I still did it in 2:26. I'm not really sure why I did get sick, but I don't think I really did anything wrong on the day. These things just happen sometimes. I'm pleased with my bike split on what was a really tough course - the pros times were about the same as in Lanzarote, but I'd beaten my best Lanzarote bike time by about half an hour and finished 472nd out of 1500 having passed 330 triathletes out on the bike course.

Now, which one to do next ...