You- Are- An- Ironman! It’s not often that you feel you transcended your abilities. That you feel like you deliver the best you could with the cards you had. For me such a day happened in August this year, the day I raced my first ironman (long distance triathlon).

Almost two years after I signed up for it, I could finally toe the start line. Between me and my goal of completing an ironman stood a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and a marathon to run (42.2km).

You can choose to watch the video … or … you can keep reading :-). Or you can do both 🙂

Ironman Copenhagen 2021 – Race report

I didn’t sleep much the 2 previous nights but felt really prepared, relaxed and excited at the start. On the morning of the race, I was really excited to see the conditions for the day were ideal: 20C, no wind and sunny. As always when I race, once I was fully prepared and in my wetsuit, I felt a sense of calm and excitement. This was the big day! I trained hard for this and my goal was to enjoy it and deliver the best I could.

Ironman Swim: 3.8km at Amager Strandpark

The swim is in a protected laguna and we were treated to very calm waters. The rolling start meant seeding yourself and I chose the 1h13-1h17 group. At 18C and with the sun rising, the water temperature was great and I was happy to feel I was swimming efficiently. The water was shallow at places, most of the course consisting of 2 long stretches so you didn’t need to sight much. Couldn’t draft off feet so much as constantly catching up. I started to be cold and feeling hungry (already?) after about a bit more than 2km. I felt I was swimming efficiently and fast, good feel for the water, good gliding. I kept it steady and tried to focus on good form.

With a total time under 01h09, I swam much quicker than I thought, which explained why I kept catching up with people and couldn’t really draft. I made a mental note to be braver next time and plan for a slighty more aggressive time as my swim has developed quite well.

I took my time in T1. I got a bit too cold during the swim and struggled with frozen hands but I left feeling ready for what lied ahead.

Ironman Bike: 180km on the coast and in the Danish countryside

The 180km course consists of 2 laps along the sea side and through rolling countryside. It is really varied and there were lots of spectators on the side of the road, some having a glass of wine in their gardens while cheering on the participants! It brought a big smile on my face and I gave lots of waves.

I was delighted to notice the body was responding well. The training had paid of and the taper as well, I felt fresh and I was pedalling efficiently, moving at a “steady” intensity. I had a blast in the first lap, and managed to hold the aero position really well. I was mostly keeping with nutrition plan (bars, around 50/60g carbs per hour). One thing I remember from the bike was that any french speaking person passing me was cheering me on -they recognized the little tricolore flag on the Bib number. On the ironman, the pace is not as intense as in other distances, and I felt more camaraderie.

By the end of first lap, it started to be difficult to eat as much. On second lap after 5h of racing I started to feel like a zombie, really sleepy. It was really strange and I feared I wouldn’t be able to complete the bike. I took a few minutes off the bike at an aid station to regain my spirits and took a caffeine gel even though I knew it will probably not work well for my stomach. This fixed the sleep problem but I started to have cramps in stomach and nausea. I couldn’t eat more so I focussed on drinking and had a gel for the rest of the bike.

I was uncomfortable in TT position due to the stomach but I thought of all the encouragements I got from friends ahead of the race (thank you all!) and decided I couldn’t take the easy way. I told myself to dig deep and try to hold the position as much as possible and continue to push steady. I was really happy to see the family on course again and just shouted to them that I had a really bad stomach. It just felt good to have told somebody!

T2 – As I reached the transition area, I was relieved to be off the bike. No crash, and mostly a bike leg well managed. I rode in 6h06, with an estimated total stop time of around 6-7min, I paced it quite well and I could feel I still had energy left in the tank. As I made my way out of T2, I just hoped that things will get better on the run.

Ironman Run: 42km in the heart of Copenhagen, with thousands of spectators cheering on

Right away, I realised the nausea was really strong and that it will make things difficult. I decided to walked all aid stations from the start and to take in nutrition in a calm manner. My breathing was calm and my muscles were functioning well, but the stomach spasms and the nausea prevented me from going quicker. I felt like puking but nothing was going out. It was uncomfortable but I was so happy to race that I could put it aside and focussed on the task.

The course is in the heart of Copenhagen with many many spectator lined up which gave a massive boost. I was smiling all the way. My family was encouraging me of course, but also perfect strangers. There were unfortunately not so many women out there so I think I received a little extra cheer!

Things can get pretty scary during the run of an ironman. I saw a guy who looked badly dehydrated and as I offered help, he stumbled and collapsed on the ground in front of me, as his legs didn’t function anymore. A woman assisted by medical staff had blood on her face, she probably stumbled as well. I reminded myself that nutrition was key. At every station, I had a sip of water and a sip of coke (earlier on I had Gatorade but realized I didn’t digested it well). I also had a Maurten gel every 40min.

It is often said that the real ironman starts after 21km in the run. I saw it around me, other participants were slower than before, I was catching up a few people. I was grateful I took things conservatively during the day. At kilometer 30, things started to get quite difficult. The calves started cramping badly and I had to grind my teeth a bit.

A marathon is a long way. But I never focussed on the marathon, I only focussed on running one lap at a time, I do that in the best way I could. I had a really strong mindset and never got overwhelmed by the distance. Overall, I am Super happy with the running time (4h17) and I didn’t slow down that much (1h01, 1h03, 1h06, 1h08 for each lap), good pacing. I managed to enjoy it and savour it, especially on the last lap. It was a really strange mix of working through the pain to try to make it below the 12h mark and the enjoyment of the race.

The finish line I will never forget – 11h49min

And then, you turn to the finish line. It’s difficult to describe what you feel. I remember seeing the speaker, I started running on the red carpet, the noise was defeating with the spectators slamming the barriers like in a stadium. People cheer you on, you feel like a rock star. I see my family. It’s 50m left and you see your name and your current racing time, ticking along. I think it’s there it really hit me, I saw the time starting with 11h, I thought about all the hard work and became just overwhelmed with emotion. I screamed. Everything happens in a few seconds, and I don’t even remember hearing “you are an ironman”, but it didn’t matter – because I knew I was. I became an ironman and I was left with an amazing feeling of pride and accomplishment.

This day was everything I could have wished for. Ok maybe I will pass on the stomach issues and the visit to the medical tent after 30min after the finish, but I think it is only a testimony of how hard these events are on your body.

Q&A

An ironman is a long day out, did you get bored?

No. Through out the almost 12h it took me to complete the race, I didn’t get bored a single minute. Consistent training and learning to swim, cycle and run longer and longer distances every week helps to adjust your mind to what is long or short. Plus, they are many things to think of: remember to eat and drink regularly, holding the distances to avoid drafting on the bike, focus on the right technique and the best gearing. And last, but not least, spotting your friends and family on the course and reading the banners they wrote for you!

Is it hard to finish an ironman?

Of course it was hard. Staying focussed on the task at hand for such a long period is really hard. Continuing to run on the marathon when your calves seize up and scream you to walk is hard. With the ironman, the paces and intensities are relatively low, so you don’t feel like you are on the edge for the full race, as if you were running a 5km race at full speed. The tiredness creeps in slowly. You may feel you still have energy, but you just can’t go faster as your body is protesting (nutrition issues, muscle fatigue etc).

But I want to say that relatively, the race day was easier than training for many hours week after week for such a long period of time. I guess that’s why they say: “Train hard, race easy”. A serious training will make the ironman doable, if not almost enjoyable!

Will you do it again?

Definitely. The feeling of accomplishment for this race topped everything else I felt before. It was stronger than graduating from high school or university or any other event I have done before. The journey learnt be so much.

But the ironman broke me a little bit as well. Two months later, I think I am now more or less fully recovered. I dug deep physically and mentally and the recovery was long. So I won’t do another one tomorrow.

See the full course of the ironman here