Thun lies at the north-western end of Lake Thun, and is the gateway to the Bernese Oberland. The River Aare, flows from Lake Thun to Bern, with glacial blue clean water. Lake Thun on the day of the race was slightly misty, however the days leading up to the race were warm with temperatures of around 25-28 degrees. Race Day – Up at 4:30 a.m. I prepped my nutrition for the race and had a last-minute check over the course plan. I don’t like to worry about cut offs at this point, as I had put my faith in last 10 months of my Athletica training plan. I have previously opted for a local coach, so this was the first time using an app without guidance. I am also a new Level 1 World Triathlon Coach, and will look to use the Athletica.ai Coaching programme in the future.
Swim – Beach start with 4 starters every 3 seconds. After a short delay due to visibility, It was announced at race start that the swim was going to be 3,800m due to temps rising to 16 degrees after the previous days briefing advising us that the swim distance might be reduced due to it only being 15 degrees. I put myself in the second pen 60 mins – 75 mins predicted swim time. My intention was to be with the better swimmers, and I could use some good feet to keep the effort light. My training pace worked out about 2 minutes 5 secs per 100 consistently throughout the year. Transferring this training pace to the race resulted in a swim of around 1hour 21 mins with an average pace of 2 minutes 6 seconds. Visibility wasn’t that great on the lake and a slight swell nearing the end of the race appeared to push people into a longer swim. I was able to jump out of the water and run to T1 with a wee bouncy stride to get the legs working. I had plenty of energy left and was happy with my swim.
T1/BIKE was uneventful, and prep was spot on. We were given bouillon soup, and I took my time to get changed. I intended to keep the heart rate to a good average of around 135 bpm. There is a specific reason for this and is unique to me. I was happy with the bike and enjoyed the very fast descents which played to my strength on this course. I ensured I got most of my solid nutrition into me during this stage.
Some stats on the bike:
HR average: 135 bpm
Speed over 112 miles: Average 23.3kph (About 14 mph)
Total elevation gain: 2,200m – 7,200 ft approx.
Maximum speed: 62.5kph (Obvs on the downhills)
Calories burned on bike course: 2,800
Total time taken: 7 hours 38 mins.
T2/ RUN Came back from bike to T2. Much of the pack was back and most people already on the run. This is the part I dread and had to do lots of positive self-talk. I kept to the pacing I had trained at. I maintained a steady eddie pace, feeling quite bouncy on the first 14km. The next 14km my legs started to get a bit tired. On the last 14km I met a walker. I decided at this point by doing a power walk, it kept my heart rate much slower, therefore having less stress to my system. Shane from Waterford was a talker. Exactly what I needed. We had a bit of a laugh on the last 14km. I also saw another girl that I ended up with at Ironman Wales a few years ago.
Finishing at 16 hours 6 minutes saw the completion of this great race.
The following day I received a message from a friend who was at the awards ceremony saying my name was called out in the rolldown for the World Championships. To put this in perspective, this is not my goal and never will be. I enjoy my sport and do what I do to have fun and race in beautiful places around the world. When you have an extended family with 3 grandchildren,1,500 Euro Entry plus all the other bits and pieces would be better spent on them!
Out of the 8 Long distance races, I would put this one to the top half of the 8. The plan worked and I have recovered well with no injuries or issues. Yes I could have aimed at a faster time, but that was not my goal. Extremely happy 
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congratulations - sounds like a great race!
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Congrats! Looks amazing!!
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What an amazing day on the course. You should be immensely proud of your work and your training!
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