The few days before going to Copenhagen felt manic. Being at work and not being particularly busy felt like a complete waste of time as it felt like I had a load of things to do and think about before flying out. I'm not really sure what those things to do and think about were but I sure felt a little stressed! Add to that organising the club supporters t-shirts and co-ordinating their distribution before leaving and it all got a tad too much. Anyway, packing, t-shirt distribution, bike sorting etc all went relatively smoothly partly thanks to the endless lists I'd written.
It was fun getting to Heathrow as one by one, fellow Copenhagen bound Bad-triers started to appear, all looking apprehensive with friends and family in tow. After a wobbly take off, we were on our way.
Arriving in Copenhagen on the Thursday evening meant there was ample time before raceday to settle down, register, peruse the race expo and stroll around the seemingly calm, pretty city. On the Friday morning, after the race briefing, a few of us went down to the lagoon to do a recce swim. We considered ourselves brave souls for going in without wetsuits, especially when several jelly fish were spotted! Martin even got stung on the leg! Friday evening was spent making sure my bike was ok and a final practice with changing a tyre tube (something which I'd previously had tantrums over!).
I started Saturday off with a gentle 20 minute run along a part of the run course (followed by an enormous hotel breakfast). In the afternoon, almost all the BADTri crew cycled together down to rack our bikes. Half way there it started to rain and the wind picked up....ugh, I hoped it wasn't going to be like the next day. Leaving the bike on the outside rack in the howling wind left me feeling quite nervous and the reality of what I was about to undertake was really starting to dawn on me.....I think I remained calm though. Late Saturday afternoon saw a surprise visit to the Aussie pub next door to watch Wales v England rugby......I hadn't envisioned spending the afternoon before undertaking my first ironman in the pub but it was a welcome distraction. The rest of the day flew by, and after an ample dinner at the hotel's "light buffet" it was time to retire to the room, eat the tub of ambrosia rice I'd bought with me (a tradition of mine before races) and start to really fret. Dan and I must've watched ten episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm before it was really finally time to switch the light off and try to sleep (I think I was putting it off). It took about an hour but I did get to sleep albeit one of those annoying 'I-keep-waking-up-to-check-the-time' sleeps but at least it was better than the half hour I'd got before my first marathon.
The alarm sounded at 3.50am. Eek. I had a shower to wake me up and feel as fresh as I was going to feel that day. I ate my lovingly prepared slop (soaked museli!), a banana, half a bagel with peanut butter and necked a coffee and bottle of lucozade sport (another pre-race tradition). We left en masse at 5am and made our way through the Copenhagen streets to the metro whilst being watched with bemusement by local drunk revellers. By the time we got the the race start, it was light, the temperature was agreeable and there was minimal wind. It was still only around 5.45 so there was ample time to faff around before race start at 7.15.
I got to my bike (which thankfully hadn't been blown away) and started to dress it with food, water bottles and my garmin. I pumped up my front tyre. I walked around to my rear tyre and found it to be as flat as a pancake. Hmm, weird.....I pumped it up regardless and hoped for the best. Within about a minute, Nina, who was racked next to me went "Errr Lowri?" and pointed at a piece of infamous sharp Danish flint sticking out of my brand new Michelin tyre. ARGH I had a puncture! Cue a mad panic. I'd had a huge fear of puncturing during the race and not being able to fix it but I hadn't expected this predicament. In my panic to turn the bike over to take the wheel off, I managed to spill a load water from my aero bottle. Thankfully, Andrea was at hand to calm me down and the angel who is Will took over and fixed the thing in 2 minutes. Phew. Goodness me. I really hoped this wasn't how the rest of my day would pan out.
Panic over, it was time to make a final trip to the ladies (well, smelly unisex portaloo), do a little more faffing at the bike then get into the wetsuit. I handed my rucksack over to Dan and did well to hold back tears as he gave me a little pep talk. My emotions were all over the place at this point - a mixture of excitement and terror - and I just wanted to get the damn race started.
It was nice to wait in the starting pen with my club mates. It wasn't a 'ladies only' start so myself and a few other Badtri ladies positioned ourselves towards the back of the pack. A quick rendition of what is quite possibly the cheesiest song I've ever heard (the Challenge Family anthem) and a scary siren sounded. Some "arghs" and "good lucks", a little trot and I plopped into the water. The race was finally here.
The Swim - and so I started swimming and immediately noticed the wetsuit was chaffing my neck despite lubing up with bodyglide. Ah well, the discomfort soon went (numbed?). I noticed that Gill was swimming alongside me, which was kinda comforting and there wasn't much of a scrap for position. The lagoon was fairly clear so there was plenty to spot in the water, especially the jelly fish which were lurking beneath in places. There were 3 spectator lined bridges across the lagoon and I soon spotted some Bad Tri supporters, Gill's family and finally my sister and parents. I gave them eye contact, a smile and a wave. After this, just over half way into the swim I lost Gill and ended up around 30 metres away from her (how the hell does this happen?!). It was at this point too I started to feel a little bored and that my form was slipping but tried to maintain a strong steady pace. People from the next wave had started to overtake. Beyond the final bridge was quite a narrow section of lagoon and it got quite scrappy and crowded here.....I love a bit of a scrap though. I saw Dan going under the last bridge (gave him a wave too) and the finish and transistion tent was soon in sight. I marched out of the water in 1h17 which I was kinda happy with (I'd hoped for 1h15). I spotted Elin then noticed that my calf muscles were a bit crampy.
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| I'm sighting here, honestly. This isn't how I swam the whole thing! |
T1 - I really hadn't expected to see naked men in transistion especially as we were told in the briefing that the tent would be divided to male and female changing. Ah well, this was no time for gawping and tutting. One thing I learnt from this T1 is that I really should have decided exactly what was going into each jersey pocket rather than having some 'optional' items and having to decide what to take with me. 9 minutes later I was clip clopping my way to my bike, praying my tyres were still inflated. They were.
The bike - In my excitement, I immediately got onto my bike once I'd taken it off the rack, rode about 2 metres then realised this was definitely not allowed. I sheepishly got off and hoped no one had seen. It was a nice feeling to get out on the bike. The first section was flat and fast with a tail wind. I overtook a few (but got mainly overtaken) but I tried to remain calm and made sure my heart rate didn't shoot up too much. Once we'd wound our way through Copenhagen's streets the route followed a flat coastal road north before making a left inland on a rural, indulating road. It then turned onto a dual-carriage way where there was a TdF style spectator filled hill (a very small hill in comparison), which was fun. By the second loop, Dan had made it to the hill and offered silly but funny encouragement. I took this opportunity to offload surplus supplies from my pockets. Before the end of the loop was a mile long cobbled section which took me by surprise. I didn't like it and worried it would cause a puncture. Taking in plenty of nutrition and fluid has never been my strong point but I thought I managed it well, eating 3 energy bars, a pitta bread with hummus, some crystalised ginger (to help settle the stomach) and 2 gels (some would say this isn't enough). Thanks to my aero bottle, I managed to take regular sips of water and energy drink. It was around 85 miles I started to feel like I really wanted the bike leg to be over. I was imagining what rides at home I'd need to do to cover the remaining distance and how long it might take....I worked out I should make it in under 7 hours, which egged me on. Finally, I was back in the city centre and handing my bike over to a young girl. 6h37, very happy with that.
T2 - I remember feeling very relieved at seeing my trainers. Although I'm not particularly strong at running, it's the discipline I feel most comfortable with. I stuffed my tri top with shotbloks, put on my visor and glasses and started the ironman shuffle. I'd decided to take a packet of plain oatcakes with me but they wouldn't fit in my pockets. As soon as I left transistion, my parents and Elin were there, shouting their heads off. I handed the oatcakes over, had a little chat then headed off on the run.
The Run - The run was 4 laps and at the start of each lap you got a coloured band (hairbands, which I'm now using!). My strategy was to run as much as I could, walk the aid stations and any inclines, of which there were around 3 short ones. Out on the first lap and the support was amazing. My parents and Elin moved to another point so I spotted them again. I started to spot other Badtriers running. Some had the coveted green band already which meant they were on their last lap.....being on my first lap, this depressed me somewhat but I knew I'd get there eventually. I got to the first aid station and took on some water. It was at this point I noticed I was feeling a bit sick. I took a shotblok and plodded on. The sicky feeling remained and I noticed salt deposits on my tri shorts. It didn't feel like I was sweating but it didn't really occur to me that I'd be losing salt. Duh. I passed Andrea and told her I felt sick and she suggested taking some salt tabs. Best advice of the day. I took a salt tablet at the next aid station and started to feel better. I don't think it particularly sped me up but I certainly felt better. Nadia was on her last lap when she gave me a little pep talk which made me smile. One by one, I collected the wristbands and I finally got the green one. One lap left. It was starting to get dark and drizzly and spectators were thinning out but I saw Dan who walked with me for a while. I was slowly realising that it was likely I'd get in under 14 hours. I developed a mantra "let's work really hard for this", simple but effective. There was more walking in the last lap but I managed to run the 2 long straight sections towards the end of the loop. I could eventually see and hear the finish. I wanted to walk but my legs wouldn't let me and I picked up the pace a tiny bit. Into the finishing shoot and I saw Dan and my parents (Elin had left by now to fly home!) and heard the commentator say my name amongst all the disco lights and bad European dance music. Over the line, arms up and I could finally stop moving. Medal around my neck....Aaah. What a great feeling.
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| Lead legs but all smiles |
