The lead up..
After 6 months of hard training the day was almost near. We packed up everything and I flew out to Zurich early on Friday morning. The sight of many other athletes (and their bikes) at Heathrow Terminal 5 sent shivers down my spine as I knew that the day was near. I arrived into Zurich around 9am and waited for Julian (aka the Captain) and Nicole to arrive before we set off on a taxi ride to town that could only be described as a “harrowing experience”... Lets just say, just arriving alive at the start line would be an achievement in itself.
The hotel (Hotel Seefold) was lovely, beautiful tram tracks out the front, just a short stroll to the lake and right in the heart of everything… that was until we woke at 5am the next morning to the sound of industrial sized jack hammers pulling the tram tracks up to replace them.. When you’re preparing for the race of your life, nothing beats the ear piercing noise of metal on concrete. None the less, we stayed focused and spent the day on the couch watching the Tour de France before bike check in that afternoon. Once we dropped the bikes off in transition I realised there was no turning back. You would think that the sight of 2200 bikes in transition would scare some, however I just did as the Captain says and enjoyed the spectacle of it all... We had already visited the Ironman village on Friday and spent up a storm so now it was back to the construction zone of the hotel, a nice big pasta in the early evening and then off to bed around 9:30pm. Tomorrow was race day and I would be putting the past 6 months hard work into action!
The race day..
Alarm went off at 4am... bang straight up and out of bed... today was the day!! Somehow I actually managed to get a good 7 hours sleep and when the alarm went off I was raring to go. First things first, I had to slap on a few Aussie flag tattoo’s on the legs and then we were off for breakfast. The hotel we were staying in had organised an early breakfast for all competitors so we had that early and before we knew it we were in the cab on the way to the course. Still relatively no nerves… I was a little surprised but on the flip side, very much enjoying not having the “jumping out of my skin” feeling – I had over 10 hours of exercise ahead of me where I could use that all up!! The start line was busy... loads of people milling around putting on wetsuits, finalising bike setup, laying down towels and running for the long day ahead.. I just went about my business and set out all of my stuff making sure not to forget anything. Before I knew it we were getting the 15minute warning and I had my wetsuit on trying to get through the crowd to the start line – the past 6 months of hard training were all for this moment!!
The swim..
2,200 competitors all starting together in the water = chaos. Need I say more!! Well actually I have had worse in a BRW race back home with 100 people in the wave. Must be that the majority of people racing Ironman have some sort of respect/knowledge of how to swim in open water. That being said, the shear number of people swimming together meant that there was still some Argy Bargy (for those back home – a good bar in Carlise Street, St Kilda – check it out).. All commentary was in German so understanding when the starter was about to shoot the gun was almost impossible. As it turned out I just went when everyone around me started swimming... but then they stopped… then we were off again. I reckon this cost me a minute :) but we can’t be certain. Anyway, we were off and going and the long day had begun! The water was amazing – nice and clear and a great 21 degrees.. The course was a weird course – it was two laps, the first approximately 1.8km and the second 2.0km, however you had to exit the water after the first lap and run 20metres over a small island before jumping back into the water to swim the second lap. I kept looking at my watch and was reasonably happy with my progress – that was until I jumped back in for the second lap and passed a marker saying I had only done 1.5km.. this must be wrong otherwise I had been travelling a lot slower than anticipated…. A little further on came the 1.6km marker.. oh oh.. maybe I was swimming slow.. and then right behind it was the 1.7km marker… hhhmm that was a very short 100m… I think either the markers had been put in the wrong spot OR they had moved during the first lap, either way I could see the finish line as I turned around the top corner bouy and knew how far I had to go so just kept swimming.. As it turns out the markers were wrong and I finished the swim strongly in 1hour and 11minutes which was around 10minutes ahead of my expectations so I was stoked but the day was young!!
The T1..
The first transition was good – up the ramp out of the water and straight into the bike compound. I think I was a little overwhelmed with my swim time and then trying to get the wetsuit off that I missed my aisle for the bike. Fortunately I heard a yell from the crowd telling me I was one aisle too far along – it was Coops however you could be mistaken to think it was Skippy as I turned and saw him standing by the fence in a Kangaroo Outfit!! True Aussie spirit! Back around and down the right aisle and to my bike. Wetsuit off, helmet on, race number on, socks on, bike off rack and I was off. A reasonable time of 2 minutes 10 seconds for T1.
The ride..
And we’re off on the bike… the crowds were amazing along the track. I got up to speed and slid my feet into my shoes and we were off! The route was a nice 2 lap, 90km course with approximately 100km of flat along the lake and 80km of hills (1400m of climbing up!). The first 30km was dead flat and fast.. it was a lot of fun and getting the body into the swing of cycling after an hour in the water.. I rounded the corner at the 30km mark and the climbing began.. it wasn’t too bad however all of those big monsters who were flying past me on the flat were going almost as quickly backwards as I got out of the saddle and danced up the hill. I felt at home on the first climb of the day – the light weight and skinny legs were all very quickly becoming my biggest asset. The scenery was amazing... rolling green hills filled with cows and crops… little towns with all the residents out ringing their cow bells as we rode through.. it was amazing and kept a big smile on my face for the entire 180km… I knew I had a climb to come that the locals called “the BEAST”…….. I was a little hesitant until I had reached this as I didn’t know what I was to encounter... and then it came – it just kept going. Again, this was my opportunity to overtake people and buzz up the hill – make up the spots I had lost on the pure flats…finally I reached the summit of the BEAST and started the long decent down into the village of Egg. The rolling hills continued, the sun started to come out and the winds picked up a little – but still I was smiling and loving every minute of the day!! We travelled across the top of the mountain range and back into town to the start / finish line but this wasn’t the end of the first lap…. We still had HEARTBREAK HILL to contend with!! This is nothing like anything you’ve ever done before... it wasn’t the steepness of the hill that make it so special – sure it was steep but it wasn’t a long lonely slug up a mountain – it was relatively short and sharp… but you would never have known this given the crowds 5 deep on either side of the road cheering us on... music was pumping and the crowds were going nuts – for a brief moment I felt like I was in the Tour de France! It was amazing!! Once over the top we descended and circled back past the Lindt factory and to the start line – One lap down in 2 hours 43 minutes, one to go! I now knew what I had ahead of me and it was both a good and bad thing. Regardless, I pressed on and although the speed dropped and I was a little disappointed with my second lap I finished it in 2 hours 57 minutes and that gave me an overall bike of 5 hours 41 minutes (average of 32km/hr)
The T2..
T2 was a little slower than T1… I think 180km on the bike had something to do with this. I jogged with bike in hand down and actually got my aisle right this time thankfully. Although there was 2200 competitors out there, I managed to come back in after the ride at the same time as the guy next to me so it was nice and cosy getting changed for the run. Anyway, the bike was racked, the helmet off, socks off and changed into the sexy knee high compression socks, then new ASIC DS Racers on and I was ready to go… Actually wait – being a ginger I had to put suncream on. Quick spray (and as it turns out a little too quick) of the SPF 30 on the arms and face and I was off and running.. Wow the legs felt a little heavy!! Now just a MARATHON to go.. T2 completed in 3 minutes and 11 seconds
The run..
The run was a scenic 4 lap course following the lake and was littered with spectators constantly cheering you on. Unlike the bike course, it was dead flat and in most cases would be a very fast course.. I took the first lap reasonably slow knowing I would have to get through another 30km after I completed it so didn’t want to spend all my pennies.. I didn’t want to be the person who could say I ran a 1hr45 first half marathon but then took 3hrs to do the second half – this was a full marathon and needed to be treated as such! I remember running past the Team Crank It cheer squad and telling Julian I was feeling good and I wasn’t lying – 8km I was feeling great. The legs ticking over nicely and the nutrition slowly going into the body... I finished the first lap in 57minutes – this was good – if I kept this pace (which I thought I could, I would finish my first ever marathon in sub 4 hours and would look to break 11 hours for my first ironman!!!! Unfortunately it all came unstuck around the 12km mark… the legs started to get heavy... the stomach started to complain (In hindsight I think I may have over done the caffeine on the bike – 3 red bulls and three 200mg caffeine tablets... mmmm)… either way it was all starting to come unstuck and as I near the support group I motioned to them that I was eating the famous “pain sandwich”… another 25km to go! Wowee that’s a long way in your mind when you think about it and that brought me undone. I finished the second lap in 1 hour 10 minutes which would have been ok if I could manage to hold 1hr laps however it was not to be. My mind had started to fade and the 9+hours of exercise was starting to take its toll. Regardless of this I pressed on – I was going to finish this race no matter how long it took me.. The third lap was a disaster – despite there being 140,000 spectators on the course that day, the third lap was very lonely and dark... it was as if I was running in a deserted run down town... I had blown! I kept telling myself to just put one foot in front of the other and I would get to the finish line and that’s what I did. The third lap finished in 1 hour 18 minutes and then the town came to life again!! I could see the finish. All I had to do was get through 1 lap... 10km. 3 laps of the local park. 60 minutes of running. I could do this! The crowd was cheering and I started to pick up the run again. I now was looking to break 5 hours for the marathon and 12 hours for the race. This was outside my hopeful time, but still within my initial expectation and personal goals… but I couldn’t get there walking – I had to run... I am still unable to explain how it is I ran those last 4kms or where the energy came from and I don’t think I ever will be able to… I rounded a corner and I could see at the end of the long straight, 1km away the big blow up powerade bottle which was the entrance to the finish line – I was almost there!!! I didn’t pick up my speed, I couldn’t but more importantly I didn’t want to – I wanted to enjoy this moment and the crowd and the cheers. I turned the final corner and entered the finishing chute – people cheering and looking for high 5’s... I really don’t remember the last 100 metres but I do remember it being amazing!! I crossed the finish line 11hours and 48 minutes after I started!!! I was an ironman!!
Post race..
That night I was a little delirious… dehydrated and out of it, I spent the evening curled up under blankets trying to keep warm but at the same time sweating like I was in the middle of the race! I couldn’t eat but I was starving. I couldn’t sleep but I was tired (I think the caffeine had something to do with that). Finally I got to sleep and woke very very sore. The legs were tight and the sunburn set in. I spent the next week hobbling around like an old man and lying on my stomach because my back was sore and burnt but then I slowly came good and I am now back out on the bike exercising for enjoyment. Now I have to decide where the next race will be – that’s right, I learnt so much on that day in Zurich and I had so much fun that there will be a next one and then no doubt another one after that.
Oh and for those who are wondering what those magical six words are that were said when I crossed the finish line in Zurich….
ADAM TRAEGER – YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!
