Ironman 70.3 Switzerland - Triathlon

Start was very slow with so may people in front of me. Found it hard to get any rhythm. Took about 400m to really get into it.

I tried to draft off a couple of people but didn't do a great job. I found they ended up swimming just a little too fast, too slow, or in a strange direction...

The swim was effectively an 'out and back' which made it seem like ages to get round the far buoy and back in. Lovely course though - nice simple clockwise direction with buoys about every 100m. Lake was beautiful too. Another competitor told me they drank the water - not quite sure I'd do that but it was certainly clean.

Started a little too far back in the pack. Should have started further forward even if not the fastest swimmer, and held my ground.

Should have hugged the buoy line a little closer. Swimming the most congested line would have made it easier to find people to draft off. I was a good 40 m over near the boats on the way back...

Wasn't really possible to do so, but a good 300m warmup would have been handy.

First IM style transition with the blue / red bags. Took far too long. Could have had a cuppa in that time!

Get some tri shoes to leave on the bike so less faffing around.

Practice T! in training with all the stuff IM make you stick in your blue bag instead of next to the bike.

Given i was on a road bike with no aero bars and everyone else was on TT bikes complete with carbon wheels and alien helmets, I was very happy with my time.

I overtook most people on the climbs, then was overtaken by most of them again on the long descents with their graceful TT bikes effortlessly overtaking me above 40 km/h.

Even so, I held a great pace until the last 20 kms when I found my tri shorts just weren't up to the task to let me be on the drops. The pain was indescribable and slowed me down considerably. Had to stand on the peddles for much of the last 10 kms as a result to try to stretch my glutes. Was such a relief to reach T2!!

2 x SIS Energy drinks really helped take on carbs and was just the right amount of fluid. Any hotter and would definitely have need to pick up another bottle.

Being on the drops for most of 90km with some big climbs is just unrealistic.

Get some aero bars! Hopefully a shiny new tri bike next year. Could help me shave up to 10 mins off my time.

Wear some decent shorts!

Don't go out with 5 Apple Powerbar gels. After 2 I couldn't manage any more...

Straight-forward transition. I was careful to dismount in time. Apparently many weren't as there were quite a few taking a penalty...

Took 20 second to stretch which was well worth it. Helped to alleviate gastric problems - even if for just the first 15 mins or so.

Took feet out of shoes a little too soon. Should have tried spinning in a faster cadence towards end and stretching on the bike before dismounting to get my legs ready.

Given I had only managed one run more than 12km in training due to injury and this was only my second half marathon I was incredibly pleased with the time.

I'm really not a runner and was just hoping for something around 1:50 to 2:00 hours. So I was exstatic to get a PB of well under that.

Taking running bottles attached to a belt was a great idea as they were very easy to drink from instead of the plastic cups. Even though they only lasted me 7kms they also avoided having to slow to pick up drinks too.

Jabbing my stomach with my finger every 5 mins helped to get rid of the usual gastric pains which was a real plus. Normally they're much more stubborn and prevent me from going at any pace. Was pretty bruised after as a result but it was certainly worth it!

Get a better GPS watch. My Garmin 310XT told me I was running at 5:14 / km for the last 5-10km when I was actually under 5:00 / km. Its total distance was also over 1.5km out towards the end which meant keeping motivated for the final couple of kms was incredibly hard - not knowing just how far I had to go. Psychologically I was broken at the end because of it.

Should have tried to locate the cola stations in advance as was really tough when I needed the caffeine but couldn't find any...

Should have taken some SIS gels for the run as I found Powerbar gels too gloopy to stomach at that stage in the race.

None really. Too exhausted. I was like a big girl at the end I was just so broken!

Pasta, beer, sunshine and some great memories.


Just one chance to practice in a new wetsuit before the swim was terrible planning.

My £400 second hand Boardman just didn't let me compete on the bike. Even though it was very motivating to pass people who were on beautiful looking machines on the climbs. I just got nailed on the descents.

Lack of run training.



I was really pleased with my time given it was my first half IM and I had a modest bike.

Would love to return to try to beat my time next year and it's a beautiful setting for a HIM. Though I suspect I'll try something different as there are just too many great races out there.

Great motivation to tackle a full IM next year!