Ironman Copenhagen, 18 Aug 2024

Well, the day was finally here. The day I had planned in my head for about 18 months, booked almost 12 months ago and have been counting down for ever since. Ironman Copenhagen, my first full Ironman and boy, was I nervous!

Race morning I managed to get down the majority of my oats (more easily than breakfast the day before), and sorted out my drinks before getting a taxi with my brother and our friend to swim start/bike transition. We were met with the most glorious sunrise, and picture-perfect water – like a mirror! We sorted our bikes, got in the lengthy toilet queues and let the nerves dissipate as we got in to our pre-race groove.

I headed for the swim pen, and had decided to position myself at the back of the front colour-wave, knowing I had been swimming well, but also not enjoying the chaos of the very front, faster swimmer starts. They played a Viking clap which got everyone in the zone and, of course, Thunderstruck before the first swimmers were off. About 5 minutes later, it was my turn.

My main aim of this swim was to keep my heart rate low, and not over-exert myself, but also to stay safe. The swim is my best and most comfortable part of any triathlon, but I do still get nervous with so many bodies in the water. The water was flat as a pancake and I soon got in to a rhythm, turning right at the first buoy before there was more space and the packs began to spread out a bit before the first bridge. During this time I spotted a couple of jellyfish, but fortunately, they were deeper in the water and relatively small. I kept swimming, up to the first bridge, then the second, before you hit the really shallow water at the top end of the course where it suddenly felt like you were swimming through treacle! Fortunately this shallow section only lasted a few hundred metres before we were back in the deeper water. Again I was still in my rhythm and my arms didn’t ache at all, which was lovely!! Back under both bridges and all the way down to a third bridge before turning back on yourself, it was along this stretch I’m pretty sure I saw an eel, yikes! But again, thankfully, the deeper water (and number of swimmers) meant it quickly disappeared. I tend to keep wide throughout the course, to ensure I don’t get hit by people swimming in all directions, but this then means complete chaos at the bouys, so again, just kept my head and took them nice and safely. The last bit had you swimming for the black Roka swim exit, before they sneakily make you do an extra left and then approx. a 200m swim back, but by this point you know the end is in sight and my body felt good! I headed out the swim exit and checked my watch for a 1:04 swim, within my calculated time, but maybe a little slower than I’m capable of. No matter, the aim here had been to make it out safely, check, and keep the heart rate low, check.

Next up was transition where I did stop for the loo, I had tried to pee during the swim, but that is not something that I have mastered yet. I took on a gel, a bit of banana and some squash and then was off for the bike. 

Onto the bike, and time to settle in for the longest part of the day. Due to my swim being relatively quick, I knew that a lot of people would be overtaking me on the bike, so again, the priority through the first 10k of the course through Copenhagen city and out to the bulk of the course was to stay safe. I signalled my intentions on corners to other riders behind to make sure they knew where I was going to hopefully not cause any issues. I did hear a crash behind me, where someone took a corner wrong, so that kept my wits about me through the rest of the early miles until we were out on the clear roads. We had a beautiful cycle up on the coastal road, and it was delightful to see so many people being active along the sea front, no headwind either, meant that it was truly delightful. I stuck to my plan of eating approximately every 20 minutes, rotating between gels and bits of marmite sandwiches. The course has a two loop section, which has a few hills and rolling lumps. The first of these hills had an aid station at the top, and when I hit it on the first lap there was already a boom box up there playing some great tunes which massively helped up the slope. My brother caught me shortly after and we spent a couple of kilometres chatting before I sent him on his way as he is much faster than me! I stopped for another loo stop at about 80k, and felt slightly seasick as the toilet was on a slope, but it gave me a new lease of life, and so I carried on riding until we got to the return section of the first loop, and this was in to a headwind, which is my least favourite thing. But I gritted it out and made it to the second loop. Here I started to feel a bit weird, I started getting really drowsy which has never happened to me before and also started getting a headache. This made the second half of the bike course a real challenge, and saw my pace drop off. I began counting down the kms and was just waiting until I could get off the bike, seriously considering pulling over for a 5 minute power nap, that’s how drowsy I felt! I did get a major boost though when we hit the first hill for the second time, WOW! It was lined either side with loads of people, there was an MC getting the crowd hyped up and everyone was closing in on the riders as you climbed – it was epic! And something I have only ever seen on the Tour/Challenge Roth – something that will stay with me forever. I continued through bike course, eating my nutrition until we got to the last 20km back into Copenhagen, into the slight headwind. That was really tough, and it took all my mental power to just push on – changing my time goals for the day, thinking my body would only be able to complete it. A slight boost at about 160km as my friend Gareth passed me, but nothing better than hitting T2 and getting off the bike (something I would never normally say as I love cycling!). 06:32 (2 minutes slower than I had hoped).

T2 was about resetting myself and getting in to a good headspace for the run. I took on some coke and paracetamol, wondering if I needed caffeine (I can’t tolerate caffeine gels) and hoping I could clear the headache, then popped to the loo. I then still felt pretty rough, so had a quick sit down on the floor and had a word with myself. A slow, 10-minute T2 later, I was off for the final part and on my way to becoming an Ironman. 

I headed out slowly, trying to see how my body felt, and within 500m or so, my body responded to something (not sure if it was the coke/being off the bike or what), but I felt instantly lighter and settled into a good rhythm. The run course in Copenhagen was spectacular, lined everywhere you went with so many people. Even down the far end with the Little Mermaid, where I’d been told it can be quite dead, was buzzing, as several people had boom boxes blaring. I stuck to my plan of walking every aid station, taking on the water/cold sponges to the neck/coke and then either a banana/squeeze of my gels/crackers. Then in between I ran to feel, keeping an eye on my HR trying to keep it in the low 140s. A 4-lap course I thought would be horrific (passing so close to the finish line so many times) but actually, this kept me so motivated and I knew from the second kilometre that I could do this. I kept running, showing good splits and HR, and I kept wondering when the wheels would fall off. I saw my parents out on course and our family dog, as well as passing my brother several times which was just incredible. Another loo stop at half way, and I was just basking in the joy of the day. I hit the final lap of the course and was already elated, legs were starting to get heavy, but it didn’t matter. I was going to do this!I only allowed myself to look at my overall time with 7.5km to go, and could see my run was on really good form (what a turn-around from the bike!), so I kept going. The last 5km stretch back the legs were tight, but knowing you are going down that red carpet shortly, kept them going. I hit the red carpet, rang the first-timer bell and crossed the line (well jumped actually) to the sounds of ‘YOU, are an IRONMAN!’ – wow! And with a (30-second) marathon PB to boot! (04:20:24)

My goal for the day had been sub 13 hours (rough plan; 1:10 swim, 10 mins for each transition,06:30 bike and allowing 5 hours for the run (as I didn’t know what shape me (or my gut) would be in). So to come away with 12:15:55 is just unbelievable and I’m absolutely thrilled!

Tim prepared me for this race perfectly, so I cannot thank him enough for helping to get me there, and preparing me enough that I was able to thoroughly enjoy the experience!

Lottie Lindsley