I got in the same chute as Sam who was in the 4th wave into the water (they start 6 athletes every 6 seconds) and I counted that I was in the 11th wave. I was then looking for a way to get out of the line and move further back. There were far too many good athletes around and I couldn’t help think that I was very much in the wrong place.

But before I knew it, the countdown had started and it was go time. No going back now! As I ran into the water, any nerves disappeared and as you can see from the second picture, I was so happy to be getting in for my swim! With what felt like a lot of testosterone at the start, I decided to completly swim my own race, find my own line and focus on my stroke while trying to take it in as much as I could.

I was so glad I’d done the swim familiarisation a couple of days before so the reeds and jelly fish didn’t freak me out too much. Even though it was in the sea, it wasn’t very salty (that I can remember) but was so buoyant which made it feel fast! Picking the athletes off in front of me made me feel I was going even faster and gave me that little boost.

Once we’d hit the far end turnaround buoy, it was time to have the bit of current behind us and head back. I could feel I’d got a couple of people on my feet who weren’t keen to come past at any point. That suited me as I could still swim my own race and line.

Coming round the final buoy, I began kicking that little bit more to wake my legs up, ready for the bike…

Bike 6:12:53

180km bike, let’s go

Having seen it was a relatively flat course, I was even more excited to get my @ribble_cycles bike to ride it on!
Sam and I had spoken about taking on food and nutrition every 10km, this was a great way of ticking off the distance, getting fuel in, and in my own head, feeling like I was conquering the longest part of the Ironman. For me, it’s much easier to break down goals like this into achievable chunks, however after realising 5km in that I needed to repeat that 35 more times, I’m not sure it was the best motivation at that point!

Coming out amongst the leading men, and ahead of all the women, it’s difficult not to feel overawed by the cyclists coming past me at speed. I tried to ignore them and the big packs coming past drafting  But after 100km + it was getting quite hard and I really had to just focus on me.

2 laps meant I had plenty of time to take in the atmosphere and the scenery. It really was beautiful and the support around the aid stations in particular was something else. I couldn’t help but think back to the miles done out on the Cheshire lanes!
However, the headwinds along the coast were less than welcome. And doing those twice made it that bit harder! But once I’d made it to 160km, I knew I was going to make it! My main worry on the bike is always the prospect of a mechanical and I knew if anything happened now, I’d be running it back to T2!

Into T2; it was a bike PB! As I came in, it started to dawn on me that I now had to run a marathon…

Run 5:43:20
So, time for a marathon…

I’d tried not to think I was doing a marathon at the end of this… More just 4 laps that happened to make up 42km

With the lead into Copenhagen less than ideal for my running, I was feeling slightly apprehensive as to how it would go. For the previous 3-4 weeks, I’d been pretty much unable to run without pain in my left leg. However, when I was doing my brick runs, it was slightly less sore (it must need some warming up!)

When I was younger, I had a loose piece of cartilage removed from my left knee and I can’t help but wonder if this is linked… Since this, I’ve been looking at my leg and notice I lock my left one out. So whether that is causing my pain by over extending it, I’m not sure…

As I started, I was totally amazed I felt alright. 180km must be a good warm up for my leg! I tried to control my pace, but couldn’t help but feel how good I felt. Plus the thought of seeing Sam somewhere out on the course definitely gave me a boost.

The crowds out on the run course, really were something else, I couldn’t help but smile my way round the laps  To start, I kept with the run:walk plan for nearly the first 2 laps and was starting to feel like I was going to be able to do it.

Then the wheels fell off.

My stomach decided that everything in it, wanted to come out. I couldn’t get any water down, my gels were making me heave and I had to make one too many toilet stops

But once I’d made it onto that last lap, and had about 5km to go, I got talking to another athlete who was on their 3rd lap. They reminded me that I could do that in just over 30 minutes and that was just the bit of motivation I needed to get me to that finish line.

I ran/jog/shuffled my way round to loop round near the palace to come onto the red carpet. I’d got my foot down so much that neither Sam or Ellen realised I would be there so soon!

Turning onto the carpet, ringing that first timer bell and hearing those words ‘Sarah, you are an Ironman’ was amazing!

To miss out on sub 13 hours by a couple of minutes was a shame but coming into race day, I’d been aiming for sub 14 hours