Ironman Copenhagen 2017
Competing in Ironman Copenhagen, Dundalk athlete Paul Savage Cairlinn Triathlon Club completed the full Ironman distance in a finish time of 10 hours 19 minutes.
“On the morning of the race I was up at 3.50am, breakfast done and bags packed before heading to the swim start. As usual the music was loud at the start line and the atmosphere was electric.
At 7.30am it was time to begin.”
“Positioning myself in the second swim group, the three beeps sounded and we were off. The first two hundred metres were hectic with the usual arms and legs everywhere, but eventually things settled down and I found some feet to follow, settling into a steady rhythm while trying to conserve as much energy as possible. The swim went smoothly until around 3,300 metres when we passed under the third bridge and reached the turnaround buoy. A backlog of swimmers created chaos in the water.
As I approached the buoy I tried to give space to those around me, but just as I went to turn I felt a hand push down on my back which left me upright in the water with swimmers coming over the top of me. As I tried to regain my position both calf muscles cramped. Staying calm, I gradually worked my way back into clear water and eventually got moving again.
Soon afterwards I reached the swim exit and headed into transition. Swim time was 1 hour 16 minutes.”
“The bike leg started well and I set off feeling strong. Adrenaline was high and after checking my Garmin I realised that both power and heart rate were well above the planned levels. I quickly settled things down and focused on keeping the effort controlled so that there would still be something left for the run.
That became the theme of the bike leg, keeping the numbers steady and staying on top of nutrition. The winds were strong and seemed to come from all directions, with a few downpours along the way, but overall the conditions were manageable. At around 160 kilometres I remember thinking how crazy the race was, realising that in twenty kilometres I would be getting off the bike to run a marathon.
The 180 kilometre bike leg was completed in 5 hours 27 minutes.“
“Transition went smoothly and it was time to start the marathon. The first thing that stood out was the atmosphere around the city. Large crowds lined the streets with music playing everywhere and spectators cheering and dancing.
I settled into the planned pace and focused on reaching 30 kilometres before reassessing how things felt. The pain began to creep in around 32 kilometres in the lower abdomen and then in the quads at about 36 kilometres. I knew that if I stopped running it would be difficult to get moving again, so I dug in mentally and tried to distract myself from the discomfort. Nutrition became a challenge as my stomach could no longer handle gels, so I switched to cola and poured water over my quads to ease the burning muscles. As I passed a group of dancing spectators I realised there was only about one kilometre left.
The finish line appeared ahead, crossing the line was an incredible feeling and all the early mornings and long training sessions suddenly felt worthwhile. The marathon was completed in 3 hours 25 minutes”
Read more race reports from Cairlinn Traithlon Club