Ironman Zurich

Eight days after finishing my first Ironman distance triathlon and I am sitting back at work, having ridden 85 miles of RideLondon yesterday, feeling surprisingly good. When I think back to the race it is all a bit of a blur, for various reasons.

My training had by no means been perfect but it had come together nicely over a number of months. I had learnt a lot about nutrition- something I had neglected in the past but was a focus of my attention now. I had a now-seasoned Ironman with me in TriTrainingHarder coach Philip Hatzis and any questions I had in the days leading up to the race could be put to Philip, and Fiona.

I was quietly confident of breaking ten hours. I knew it was a big challenge but deep down I wanted to break 9 hours and 30 minutes. It was all going to depend on my run split. I am capable of running a 2 hour 40 minute marathon and was hoping for a 3.10 marathon split in the Ironman in order to put me close to 9.30.

We were lucky enough to have a really good mate living near Zurich in a lovely town called Baden. Dave Eaves is a pro cyclist and I used to train with him in our Swansea days. Philip and Fiona joined Gemma and I at Dave’s flat, along with Holly Lawrence- a pro triathlete who is also ex-Swansea (Holly came 4th in the 5150 in Zurich!!!)

It seems an age ago that I was racing around the Swiss countryside but yet it is all fresh in my mind. I was extremely focussed throughout the swim and the cycle and I knew what I had to do to achieve my target of breaking ten hours. I was calm, slightly apprehensive but also hugely excited as I lined up at the front of 2,400 competitors.

Because the water was a barmy 25 degrees C it was a non-wetsuit swim. I didn’t mind, although I knew a minute or two would be added to my swim split for this reason (less buoyancy). I started steady, looking for feet in the water to sit behind, occasionally drifting onto someone else’s feet as I looked up to see the most direct route to the next buoy.

At the half way stage we hopped up onto a small island and I felt really good- stretching my legs out my sprinting across the 50 metres. On exiting the swim I felt pleased with my swim and knew I was in control of my race. I took a bit of time in transition to have a gel, shove a few more up my shorts and importantly, put some socks on.

Fiona told me as I left transition that Philip had four minutes on me. I was expecting him to be ahead but not by four minutes. Whilst my main aim was to break ten hours I did also want to beat Philip! I took it steady, ignoring the couple of cyclists that passed me early on and not racing them (like you have to on a commute in and out of London!). I got into a good rhythm as started ticking the miles off. I was feeling good in my position on the aero bars, which was very lucky given that I had ditched the Adamo saddle at the last minute in favour of a standard one and probably only had ten miles in my legs with the P5 in this position.

I passed Philip after around 25 miles, realising that perhaps I had gone off slightly too hard given that I had another 90 miles to go. I had no idea that Philip was having a few issues with his Di2 gears as I pressed on. I felt great up ‘The Beast’ on lap one and on ‘Heartbreak Hill’ I couldn’t resist attacking the few riders in my proximity as the crowds gathered in, proper Tour De France mountain style.

There were a couple of times on the second lap where I felt myself running a bit lower on energy and feeling slightly dehydrated. Regardless, I carried on, snapped out of that spell, and worked the hills again. I passed several guys that had passed me earlier on and flew down the descents much faster this time- knowing how to take the bends and knowing where to break.

Entering T2 I was as happy as I could be with my race so far. Decent swim, solid cycle and one of the top placed amateurs. I set off on the run with a stack more of gels shoved in my shorts and my legs immediately felt… GREAT!? I was not expecting that.

So, off I went at 6 minute 40 second per mile pace. This was great. I was going to smash this run, smash the field, smash this Ironman- hell- I could break nine hours! These were the first delusional thoughts I had but six miles in and I was still going for it. Yes, it was hot- it was 36 degrees C- but I would soon be an Ironman.

Then it hit me.

The heat, the fatigue, the lack of energy, the delusional thoughts and the dehydration. My body went into free-fall. I had not ‘bonked’ since a solo ride in Swansea in 2008 but here I was in an Ironman with 20 miles left to run, feeling crap.

Gemma and David soon stopped taking photos of me as they thought it was cruel. Fiona’s shouts lasted a lot longer (signalling a much longer time needed for me to pass her and get out of her vocal range). Philip was closing the gap on me from 20 minutes to 19 (he was also struggling thank god!).

I could see my pace dropping from 6.40 to 7.00 to 7.20. There were so many times where I thought ‘just keep it below 7.20 and that is still a decent marathon time’. I was grabbing water and throwing it straight back up. Energy gels were hard to swallow. The only thing I could keep down was banana and flat coke. The ice packs and sponges could not come soon enough. I was being passed by athletes on their first laps and I had no response as they un-lapped themselves. I knew that the heat would get to them later as well! I was willing myself on to the next feed station, the next time I would see Dave, Gem and Fiona, the next time I would pass the finish line to start another lap.

On the third lap I had thoughts of not finishing. That is not like me at all. I thought of sitting down for a bit to get my legs back but that would have been it for me. I had planned for something similar to this though and although I was struggling I am not sure there was ever a realistic chance of my not finishing.

I crossed the line with no idea of my finish time. I guessed at 10 hours 30 minutes. Gemma and Dave ran up and told me I had broken ten hours and out of nowhere I had tears streaming down my face (for a good ten seconds!). I was so relieved, exhausted, emotional drained and happy- too many emotions to put on the shoulders of an Ironman :)

My legs hurt for a few days after the race and the plane journey involved a lot of fidgeting. I was happy though and within a few days I was looking for my next race- Ironman, Challenge Roth, XTerra? I am so pleased with how recovered I already feel but I am going to make sure I take a few weeks off. I will then have a look at what to target next, with a lot of running races planned for the autumn.

I did not qualify for the IM World Championships, which was not a surprise given how decent the athlete’s in my category are. I was never going to go to KONA this year anyway- that is for another year.