I had heard so much about the washing machine style IM mass starts that I was really nervous about this but I was pleasantly surprised. Everyone seemed to self-seed really well, and although there was some knocking it was nowhere near as bad as I had expected. The start was a bit rough but people soon settled down, and then the swimmers began to stretch out by the first buoy (of three). The rest of the swim was good. The lake was too murky to even see my own hand, let alone anyone else's feet, so I tried to keep to the edge of the field and swim my own swim instead of drafting. I went off course a bit but not too much. I stayed calm, didn't get sucked into trying too hard and felt fantastic. It was really enjoyable, one of the best triathlon swims I've ever had. Ended up 19th woman out of the water.

Not a single thing.

I took my time, made sure I had what I needed, handed in my bag and thanked the volunteers, and then jogged out to my bike.

Nothing. It was slow, even by IM standards but I wasn't aiming to break any records - it was more important to me to get what I needed from my bag and stay steady.

Having cycled the course in segments several times beforehand I was worried I might not make the bike cut-off so, despite having a good swim, I came out of transition knowing that I would have a long bike ride ahead of me. I waved to my wonderful supporters and went out on to the course. On the first section I kept it easy, making sure I ate and drank and being careful to pick up the right liquid at each aid station. I was slightly ahead of pace after 30 miles which worried me a bit but I decided against slowing down, as it felt very comfortable, and decided instead to keep to perceived effort as the best judge of what I could do. My average pace dropped on the tough section between loops and then picked up again on the north loop. The spectators out on the course were great and from about the 70 mile mark I seemed to get stronger and started to pass people. I had been worried about fading but I felt better and better as the miles went by. The first 70 miles were good and the next 42 were better and I came into transition feeling great and delighted that I had beat the cut-off.

Again, not a single thing. I kept to my nutrition plan, kept to my pacing plan, stopped to put on more sunscreen when it got really hot at midday and didn't worry about being overtaken by so many people in the early stages. I felt good for the whole of the bike ride.

My treat on the bike was a packet of croutons to break up the sweetness of Gatorade and energy bars. I took the time to get the rest of these from the bike before I handed it over to the grabbers and went into T2. I put everything on the floor, took my time getting dressed, putting on more sunscreen and choosing what to take out with me on the run.

Nothing, despite having the longest T2 time of everyone in the race! It was very slow but I had what I needed out on the run.

I saw one of my team mates walking and looking bad at mile 3 so I walked one hill with him and got him running again. Then for the rest of the way to the half way mark I only walked through the aid stations and to eat (the croutons again working wonderfully to break up the cloying sweetness of gels and Gatorade). I took a couple of pain killers at the half way mark as a precautionary measure, drank a good amount of water and then ran every step of the way back, not bothering with aid stations (unless, every third or fourth station, I could pick up a half banana on the way through). I kept to a steady pace, felt strong and enjoyed the run. Because of the late start it started to get dark about half way through the return route and the course was unlit so it was difficult to see the road (and a bit scary through the park part). There was a long steep hill on the way back but my eagerness to get back resulted in a negative split (in my first marathon).

I had no fixed nutrition plan for the run, and although I had practised taking all the gels available in training I could have been a little more organised about what I would take at each stage. But the eventual strategy, imprecise as it was, worked well. I had a great run.

Found my boyfriend and friends, ate some pizza and remembered to stretch.


My transitions were very, very slow but speed was only an objective insofar as I had to make the cut-offs.


I had three objectives: to finish, to be able to smile at the finish, and not to destroy myself in the process. I was delighted to achieve all 3. Afterwards I found out that the bike and run sections are both reckoned to be the toughest anywhere, harder even than either Lanzarote or Kona so I feel really proud of myself for having got round. Everything went well and I had an absolutely wonderful day.