Ironman Switzerland Race Report

As most of you are aware I headed to Switzerland last weekend for the Ironman so I thought I would post a short race report in case any of our members ever fancied taking on the challenge of an Ironman. 

This race was originally in Zurich, but it moved to Thun only a few years ago, so having raced in Zurich I was keen to try the race in Thun. I was originally meant to be racing Ironman Wisconsin this year, but I had to defer this to 2023 due to another commitment and the only options left were Switzerland or Ironman UK. To be honest I have just never fancied Ironman UK given the split transition, the very hilly bike course and the poor road surface, so Switzerland it was.

As always, I try to strike a sensible training balance averaging around 10 hours per week increasing to around 12-14 hours per week during the build phase three months prior to the race.

The race started with the swim in lake Thun. This lake is just beautiful with crystal clear waters and a perfect water temperature of 18 degrees so ideal for a wetsuit swim. The plan was to swim within myself and just enjoy the first part of the race. I started at the back of the 1.05 pen and came out of the water in 1.07 so pretty much as expected. The transition from the swim exit to T1 is about 300 meters but before I knew it I was out on the bike. 

The plan was to try and ride at an average of around 190 watts and keep my heart rate as close to 140 bpm as I can. Bike pacing is so important in an Ironman, but even experienced triathletes can get in wrong that’s why it is so important to have a plan and try and stick with it. The bike course was two laps, and the first part of the lap is rolling with just some short climbs, however at the halfway-point you turn and start heading uphill. There are two significant climbs from this point around 4% to 5% so nothing too steep but they are both 20-to-25-minute efforts. The descents from each are just incredible and very fast so you do get a chance to make up some time. I felt pretty good come the end of the first lap but once we hit the two long climbs on the second lap my legs started to sting, and I just could not keep my heart rate down. 

The good news is that the last 5 miles is all down-hill, so it did give me a chance to rest up a bit before T2. Unfortunately, I was having trouble getting my nutrition down on the 2nd lap of the bike and my energy levels had started to dip. I came off the bike in 5.58 slightly slower than I was hoping for. My average power was a little lower than planned although this was probably due to the hilly nature of the course, however my heart rate was 147 so quite a bit higher. I had to work harder than expected on the climbs but it also started to get hot especially on the 2nd lap.

I was quickly through T2 and to be honest I really didn’t feel great. In all my Ironman races I have come off the bike in varying degrees of fatigue, but I have mostly been able to run consistently. This time my legs felt terrible, and my energy levels were low too, so I needed to get some sugars down very quickly. I decided to start drinking coke pretty much from the start of the run (normally I would wait to the half-way point) and after about 30 minutes I did start to feel better. I just could not stomach any gels or energy drink as they just made me feel sick. Unfortunately, at this point I then had a nasty bout of cramp and had to stop for around 5 minutes. I couldn’t even walk and was concerned that I may have to call it a day. Luckily though it passed quickly and that was the only cramping episode I had all day. From then on, I was walking through most of the aid stations to make sure I was topping up on coke, water and salty soup. Come the half-way point though I had started to feel much stronger and in fact I ran pretty much all the last lap. The run course was 3 laps on a mix of tarmac, a lot of gravel and cobbles. Each lap also included a lap of the local athletics track. The course was around the lake and through the heart of Thun where the crowds were just incredible. 

I finally crossed the finish line in a time of 11.38 with a marathon time of 4.21. I was hoping to run comfortably under 4 hours, but it was a slow course and all things considered I gave it all I could on the day. 

Getting to the end of the run and taking the right turn on to the finish carpet is an incredible feeling. It’s a mixture of pride, joy and sheer relief.

Posted: Fri 15th Jul 2022