What's It Like Doing Your First Full-Distance Ironman?
Just a few weeks ago there was an epic weekend in the Scandinavia, with IRONMAN Kalmar in Sweden on Saturday 22nd August, and then just a few hours down the road, IRONMAN Copenhagen in Denmark on Sunday 23rd.
For Parcours, we had three of our Parcours Ambassadors who had decided to do an Ironman for the very first time, and they’d all chosen by chance, IRONMAN Copenhagen. They can all proudly say… they are an IRONMAN after successfully crossing the line.
Jonathan Gleeson-Smith, Jess van Droogenbroeck and Anya Cullen all had amazing days. That’s not to say it didn’t come with ups and downs, but they all crossed the line have exceeded their pre-race expectations about the event.
An Ironman is no easy event. A 2.4mile swim, 112mile bike and finishing off with a marathon, 26.2mile run. It’s a massive achievement to even just sign up for a race, let alone get to the start line AND then to the finish line on the day. But it can be a life changing experience, and so many are drawn to it for the challenge, the fear but exhilaration, and of course then the incredible sense of achievement and accomplishment crossing the line.
An Ironman definitely isn’t for everyone, and that’s ok! Completing any triathlon, or even your local Park Run can be anyone’s own version of an Ironman, depending on where they have come from and their background. We asked Jonathan and Jess some questions on advice for someone thinking about signing up for their first Ironman, and any learnings and what they would perhaps do differently – after of course their emotions crossing the line!
You've had a week to let it sink in, how's the body feeling? How's the mind?
JGS: I'm not sure that the whole experience has sunk in yet. The body is gradually returning back to normal (except a small knee injury that I've been rehabbing). The mind has been great. It has just been incredible to achieve something that I'd worked towards for such a long time.
JVD: Mentally, I think it took a few days to properly process it. You spend months with this one date in your head and your life is structured around training for it, and then suddenly it’s done. There’s a mixture of being incredibly proud, relieved and also slightly lost because this huge thing you’ve been working towards is over
AC: I’m surprised by how quickly I’ve bounced back considering what I asked my body to do. My
wearables said on race day I was in a state of high stress for 12.5 hours. Weirdly or maybe
obviously, it’s more my nervous system that is still in a state of stress whereas my muscles feel okay. No one told me that after the ironman simple bodily functions might be affected, a week on my sleep is still bad, I am ravenous, my temperature control is out of whack.
Mentally, I think I’m still processing it too. I spent so many months thinking about Copenhagen,
training for Copenhagen and worrying about whether I’d actually be able to do it, that it’s strange to suddenly have nothing to train for. I think the biggest thing I’m feeling is pride. Not necessarily because of the time, but because of the whole journey to get there. I started this knowing absolutely nothing about swimming or cycling, and somehow ended up completing a full Ironman.
Is there something you know now or learnt, that you wish you'd known pre race?
JGS: I think just knowing that I was capable of completing the event. Knowing that I would get to the end would've given me the opportunity to enjoy the day even more.
JVD: I kind of knew this already, but just how much the day changes. You can have a perfect plan, but over that many hours something will almost certainly not go exactly to plan. The important thing is not letting one bad patch convince you that your whole race has gone wrong. And also: the bad moments pass. When you’re in one, it feels incredibly permanent. Twenty minutes later you can feel like a different person.
AC: I wish I’d known that you can never feel completely “ready” for your first Ironman. There are always going to be things you haven’t experienced before because you’ve never raced for that long. I spent quite a lot of time wondering whether I’d done enough, but eventually you
just have to accept the unknown and be excited for it.
What would you do differently (if anything)?
JGS: Nothing. I loved the day.
JVD: I am a pretty analytical person, but I do not think there is much I could have done differently on race day. I executed pretty well against the plan discussed with my coach. Part of doing your first Ironman is learning things you simply can’t completely understand until you’ve actually experienced one. In terms of training, I have had a few imbalances on the bike which ultimately led to pain on race day over the distance and I wish I started working on those with a bike fitter earlier but it is difficult to juggle everything around a full time job!
AC: I’d probably be a little more brave, particularly on the bike, it was my first one, so naturally I
was quite cautious about everything - especially in the cross winds - I definitely wasn’t
prepared for those. Now that I know what an Ironman actually feels like, I think I’d be more confident in pushing certain parts of the race and seeing what I can really do.
Any advice for someone thinking about signing up for their first Ironman or unsure if to do one or not?
JGS: If you can commit to the training, just do it.
JVD: Don’t wait until you feel like the sort of person who does “Ironmans”. You don’t need to be the fastest person, and you definitely don’t need to have been doing triathlon since you were a child. You just need to respect the distance, give yourself enough time to prepare and be willing to be consistent. I’d also say make sure you actually want the process, not just the finish-line photo. Race day is one day; the training is months of your life. But if the idea scares you and excites you in roughly equal measure, that’s probably quite a good reason to do it.
Equally, if you’re getting into triathlon, Ironman doesn’t have to be the end goal. Start with a sprint or Olympic distance, see whether you enjoy it, and choose the distance that excites you most. I think social media has created this idea that you always need to be going longer or chasing the next extreme challenge, but that isn’t really the point. Racing a sprint or Olympic distance well is incredibly hard in its own way and can be just as rewarding. Do the version of the sport that you actually enjoy, rather than feeling like you have to keep proving yourself by going further.
AC: Do it - but don't think you need to have everything figured out before you start. I was proof that you don't need to be an experienced triathlete to begin. You need to be motivated, consistent and have a willingness to learn. I started with a running background, a second hand road bike and very limited swimming ability. Respect the distance, but don’t be intimidated by it. When you look at a 3.8km swim, 180km bike and marathon run written down, it sounds ridiculous. But you don't train for an Ironman by doing an Ironman every weekend. You build it gradually, one discipline and one session at a time. It’s all about having patience and trusting the process.
