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Marc Trussell - Ironman Switzerland
Take a
comfy seat, pour yourself a large one…
Pre-Race
After one scary moment at British Airways check-in when I was told that bike
boxes weren’t allowed, subsequently very quickly over-ruled by a supervisor, I,
girlfriend Kelly and Dad were on our way to Zurich. A Gin and tonic on the
flight put me in holiday mode and after a wrong turn in arrivals we went through
security and ended up in departures! Finally navigating ourselves on the metro
to baggage collection, our cases and MIc’s trusty bike box were the only ones
left on the belt. After another panic when the bike wouldn’t fit in the hire
car, we were on our way to the city centre and found our hotel. A big party who
flew out with Nirvana Europe were already there and after some brief hello’s
(the bike box and Kelly’s brown and pink spotted suitcase being the ice-breaker)
we settled into Swiss life. The bike went back together easily but I made the
mistake of inadvertently adjusting the handlebar drop after I put the aerobars
on, not thinking much of it at the time and being quite “thirsty” I let it be…
The evening started quietly with drinks in the city centre and then onto a very
nice, but overpriced, Italian restaurant. After plenty of pasta filling my
stomach as well as just under a bottle of red wine I was feeling relaxed, very
good in fact! We took a walk to the lake where people where swimming and then
spied a lovely bar on the water itself, a rather strong bottle of beer told me
that that was enough and so we got a cab back to the hotel for a relatively
early night.
The day before
The next morning found the restaurant packed with triathletes from all nations
scoffing down muesli, croissants and orange juice. Joining them was an
uneventful task as the restaurant had run out of plates so I settled for a Go
Bar outside. Having found somewhere to park we found the expo where various
triathlon distances were taking part all day. After registering I was presented
with my race pack including a rather nice rucksack with a lovely selection of
goodies inside. Walking around the expo was nice as the sun came out and there
was loads going on. We walked around the swim route and stood on the island
looking at the beautiful Lake Zurich water. The rest of the day was spent
eating, sleeping and checking my bike in. It was nice that all the brits were
allocated close by number and therefore close by. Transition was fenced off and
it felt like the Bangkok Hilton with friends and family looking in to see what
everyone was up to. After a nice pizza and a couple of glasses of wine it was
time to turn in for the big day ahead…
Race morning
Surprisingly, I slept pretty well, the alarm went off at 4 and I was up and at
‘em, suncream and Bodyglide applied, coffee followed by 2 bananas and a
croissant. My bowels acted implicitly and I was ready to go. It was a very warm
day and was set to get warmer and was glad about the suncream application. We
got to the start after 5.30 and after pumping up the tyres and making sure all
was in order it was a walk to the swim start slurping on an energy drink. Kelly
and I were filmed applying baby oil to my shoulders and all I could do was grin
inanely, the nerves were gone and I just wanted to start a very long day. A
quick warm up in the water (warming the wetsuit in a suitable fashion!) I swam
to the far left side as it was a right hand turn, standing a bit too far back on
the beached area. The helicopter hovered overhead and the excitement mounted,
after a false start due to the pro’s going on ahead, we were off!
The Swim
Walking in over the sand, my day had started, I managed to find a bit of clean
water and my stroke felt relaxed, good in fact, I stretched out and looked for
some friendly feet to draft off, my only problem was someone seemed to be
grabbing my feet, it felt like Keith at the second from last buoy at the pit
when we practice mass starts, my kick is terrible, just a criss-cross, and they
stayed for a while until I got fed up and moved over to the right. Swimming with
that many people is strange, dead quiet like you feel you’re on own your but
then the turn arrives and there’s loads of you. Before we knew it we were at the
Island, I spied Dad and Kelly and shouted, tired to wave between strokes but
they didn’t see or hear me. The last lap passed without incident but sped by as
the massive PowerBar bottle on shore became colder and closer. Before I knew it,
I was out of the water and wrestling with my wetsuit, 1.15 and was pleased with
the time.
T1
As Keith has always said, this “is a transition sport” but on the other hand,
Gavin has quoted “the longer the distance, the longer the transition”, I went
for the latter, over 8 minutes to be precise. I don’t know what I was doing in
that time but Zurich was treated to nice view of my rump as it was completely
open. I gave a wave to Kelly and Dad and it was time for the off.
The bike
The route led us into the city of Zurich, perfectly flat, perfectly beautiful,
snaking the crystal clear waters of the lake, I was averaging 21mph and felt
great, just a niggle in my left hamstring which had been ongoing for a couple of
months but wasn’t worried about it. I had set my watch to bleep every 20 mins so
I would eat and drink but this went to pot after the first rep as it decided to
reset itself and the stopwatch too, so was left guessing. I drank water for the
first 20 mins then scoffed down a Go Bar (chocolate and orange), felt ok and
ready for the long ride ahead. After leaving the city, the route took us into
the country and the first of the three climbs: The beast… It was how you would
imagine Switzerland, cows with bells and magnificent views, it snaked up and up
and felt a bit like the Ballbuster, but prettier. The crowds had come out and
there were names chalked in the roads, ompah bands and everyone shouting hup,
hup,hup! After a nice descent it was then the Egg, a drawn out climb following
the train track and then a steep descent back into town, getting up to 44mph
which is very good for me!, Doubling back on the way out we went back to the
start where Kelly and Dad were waiting and shouting we made our way to Hearbreak
Hill. It was a steep climb but worth it, real Tour de France stuff with the
crowd on the road screaming you on and a shower at the top and a DJ pumping out
the finest in europop. On the first lap the downside was an accident at the top
which was screened off by the volunteers, an ambulance zoomed up the hill as I
was on my way down, hope they were ok. After 3 laps (each progressively slower)
I had eaten 3 Go Bars, a Twix and 2 gels, the Twix made me feel sick and I was
lucky to keep it down. My shoulders and lower back were hurting due to the 11th
hour change in bike position, as well as my feet for no real reason. I had drunk
a combination of PowerBar Orange, water and flat Coke (the best!) with one
toilet stop. I finally rolled into T2 after 6.35, saw Kelly and Dad which gave a
real boost.
T2
If T1 was slow then T2 was slower, Kelly and Dad were at the fence and I stopped
and had a chat, smearing suncream on my lips in the excitement. My back was
hurting so I popped a couple of Nurofen (thanks Woody), got changed, fiddled
about a bit more, had a chat with the Serpentine runner next to me and was on my
way.
The Run
More of a run/walk/walk. I started off as planned running 8 mins then walking 1,
but then kept on walking. My back was killing as the tablets hadn’t yet kicked
in and then got to the first aid station. What a feast!, it was like a buffet, I
went for a party sausage and discovered it was a prune and then snacked on
apricots, slices of apple and banana and pretzel sticks. There was even pasta
being served in cups! Apart from the flat coke I found a real boost was bouillon
(clear beef soup), the taste of the bouillon went from bad to lovely depending
on which aid station you took it from but it did the job, a welcome change from
the sweet drinks. Half way through the first lap I received my first coloured
band and also discovered the joy of sponges, 3 in total, 2 on the shoulders, 1
on the neck.
The run was getting painful at this point as the water from the sponges was
seeping down into my shoes making them squelch and subsequently causing
blisters. By this time in the afternoon, Zurich’s finest were out in the park
where the route followed and the support was awesome, frisbee on the grass,
girls in bikinis and generally Zurich making the most of a sunny Sunday
afternoon. Our names were on our race numbers which was a great touch which made
the support all the more personal. I was very confused at one point with the
time as my watch conked out and thought that I could break 12 hours according to
my Garmin, only to realise that we were an hour ahead and it would be 13 hours
was the aim, a lot of counting on fingers preceded this point. At one point that
on the penultimate lap seeing Kelly and Dad I sped up overtaking a couple of
people only to slow to a walk once out of sight, there was a lot of that going
on with my legs in the quieter areas of the route! It is a true fact that on a
looped course, everyone that runs with you possesses more coloured bands than
you do, that is until the last lap. It didn’t come round soon enough as the
blisters were rubbing and the feet were sore. Instead of doubling back I was
allowed down the finishing stretch where the most amazing and welcoming sight
awaited…the finish! I remember high fiving the crowd and a huge jump at the
finish line, then it was over, 12 hours 33 minutes and I was an Ironman! The
staff were so nice, draping a towel over my neck and asking if there was
anything they could do for me, in my confusion all I could think was, brilliant,
a free towel! It was a very emotional moment, I hugged Kelly and Dad who were at
the finish, got my medal and photo taken and hugged a French guy who finished
just after me as we were encouraging each other in the last few miles. After
having a beer (non-alcoholic), collecting my certificate and finishers t-shirt,
I went out of the finishers area and lapped it all up, hugged Kelly, Dad bought
me a proper beer and all was well in the world, it could not have been better, I
felt fantastic!
Post Race
After collecting the bike and kit, we went back to the car and back to the hotel
for a nice meal. I slept very well on Sunday night and woke surprisingly early
on Monday morning, very sore but worth every twinge and niggle. The finishers
t-shirt was on and down to breakfast with wry smiles from everyone in the
restaurant, not many words, but knowing smiles and walking in a very strange
manner! The day was spent driving the bike route so I could brag about the hills
and visiting downtown Zurich before our flight home to England, a fantastic few
days.
Epilogue
I’ve learned a few lessons over this 30 week journey which, if you’re still
awake, are as follows (in my novice opinion!):
Don’t fret about missing a few training sessions in the lead up to the race
The long bike, run and swim sessions are the most important, in that order
Don’t change your bike set-up, know what goes where and at what height, before
you take your bike apart
Don’t worry training in the last week, you can only do too much (I was getting
over a cold!)
Enjoy your day, it’ll pass too quickly if you don’t take a step back and take it
all in (Re-iterating Woody and Tim’s words, thanks fellas!)
The last piece is something overheard on Saturday before the race, “You’ve done
all the hard work, treat it as a long training session”, fantastic!
I would highly recommend this race, absolutely, without doubt and Zurich is a
wonderful place to experience it. The longer it’s been since Sunday the more
it’s affected me, but in a really positive way.
Thanks to the club as a whole for the training and especially Keith and Mic for
their words of wisdom and much appreciated loan of the bike box. Rob for
starting the thread off for the race and support from Mark (thanks for the
splits!), Simon, Tim. Jax and Mark (Lanzarote’s looking more and more tempting).
It’s been emotional!