Turning 40 proved to be a turning point in #TeamTCUK athlete, Sandra Hunter's triathlon career: she decided to celebrate her birthday milestone by entering her first ever full distance triathlon - Ironman Switzerland. Getting her goggles knocked off in the swim, feeling like a pro on Heartbreak Hill, perfecting a new skill on lap 2 of the bike course and smashing through the marathon in just over four hours, Sandra finished a fanastic 6th in her age group!

Triathlon has been a big part of my life in recent years. I have competed in Sprint and Standard events, and have done a few middle distance events in Europe.

I knew at some point I would need to man up and go long but I was scared…scared of the volume of training (especially the long bike rides) and the pressure race day would bring.

To mark the occasion of turning 40 this year, I finally found the courage to sign up for the biggest race of my life. I decided fairly quickly that Ironman Switzerland was the event for me…scenic and perfect time wise. And not only had I lived and worked in Zurich for a year, so reliving some of those great memories would help on race day, plus, my husband had done the same race 3 years earlier so could provide good insight.

Once the race was booked, I took care of flights and found a cute Airbnb apartment near the lake – expensive but everything in Switzerland is. Fortunately, public transport is brilliant in Zurich so no real need to hire a car (unless you want to check out the bike course) and my bike is used to being ferried around in its box.

Did you feel that your training had prepared you sufficiently?

For once, my training was very consistent during the 9 months leading up to Zurich and not overshadowed by flu and colds as in previous years. I was also fortunate enough to have a lot of flexibility in my training schedule. However, the real difference to my performance was down to my cycling partner. Without him I wouldn’t have ridden as much as I did during the wet and cold winter months and therefore wouldn’t have improved my bike endurance. So if there is any advice I could give for Ironman training (besides of course having a great coach!) it is to find yourself a training partner or a group of people which motivate you to get on the road for the weekly long rides when you wouldn’t do so on your own.

Matt was happy with me doing a few races leading up to Zurich and I think that worked perfectly for me. It kept me focused and gave me confidence for my main event. I won my age group in a Sprint at Dorney in May and placed well at the 70.3 St. Pölten in Austria and Windsor Tri. All seemed to be coming together nicely.

An additional bonus were the famous TCUK training camps I went on this year. I had never done anything like this before – getting to know like-minded people as well as having a week purely focused around training (especially the rides), food and sleep was just brilliant. Lanzarote gave a welcome break from the winter training in the UK and once I came back from the camp in Morzine, I definitely felt ready for Ironman Switzerland.

Swim

Time: 1:14hr

Lake Zurich was beautiful – clear, warm and you got views of the stunning mountains in the distance.

Ironman introduced a rolling start to most of their races a little while back which makes the dreaded swim for most athletes a much more enjoyable experience.

The first 5 minutes of the swim were probably the low-point of my race. I am a fairly confident swimmer and enjoy open water swimming. Having grown up in Germany, I spent a lot of my youth in and on lakes so you would think that helped. However, I do get very anxious about the swim in every race so this one was no exception. I found myself panicking and thinking ‘Where is the lifeboat? I really want to stop…but I can’t give up now, I only just started’. After trying really hard to think positive and giving myself sufficient space, by swimming right on the edge of the pack (at this point I didn’t care about my time or if I had to swim the long way around), I finally found my stride and actually enjoyed the swim. The fact that one of my arms started to ache after 1.5km or that some guy kicked off my goggles half way around the course didn’t faze me at that point.

It was raining on and off in the morning but when I turned around the last buoy for the home stretch it was chucking it down. I could hardly see the swim exit.

T1

Time: 5:54min

I headed to the tent – a tent without a roof! Getting out of the wetsuit was easy. Drying my feet and putting on my socks, shoes and cycling gloves not so much with the rain pouring down. Thankfully, I had a rain jacket which I kept on for most of the first bike lap. A friendly volunteer took my bag and off I went to face that picturesque and hilly bike course.

Bike

Time: 6:06hr

The rain eased off 10min into the bike and I just hoped that the roads would have dried out before I hit the hills. The brakes on my bike aren’t really great in the wet – best to upgrade to a TT bike with disc brakes for next season!

Coach Matt couldn’t emphasis strongly enough in the weeks leading up to race day (pretty much drilled it into me) how important it is to be conservative with my efforts and pace in the first 30km, which were slightly downhill, and don’t worry about people coming past. So that’s what I did. I stuck to the plan. I got my HR under control and concentrated on fuelling. All worked perfectly and time passed quickly.

I made sure I took on solid food every 30min, including homemade peanut butter balls and a pâté sandwich that I had taped onto my frame. I used the feed stations to pick up water bottles and bananas. And although I prepared an emergency food bag (which included a Snickers bar), I didn’t need it. The thought of it being there, however, was comforting.

During the second lap I tried to push harder but my power stayed pretty much the same compared to the first one…well, at least it didn’t drop off! I felt strong and particularly enjoyed the climbs – I flew passed a number of guys on their fancy bikes (who eventually caught me on the flat again) and up The Beast and Heartbreak Hill which was great fun. The crowds, particularly, on Heartbreak Hill were amazing…I felt a bit like a pro in Tour de France.

Despite feeling good, I wasn’t too pleased with my pace, and consequently time. The bike has always been my strongest discipline so ‘I should be faster’ I thought ‘or should I save myself for the run?’ There was no way I would stop and “waste time” for a much needed wee…so I did the unthinkable – I peed on the bike! Oh man, that is definitely a skill and takes a lot of concentration! They say don’t try anything new on race day but somehow it worked out for me. (Having discussed this topic extensively during my last training camp I had the confidence to give it go.)

T2

Time: 4:34min

T2 was straightforward. Although for the first time in a race I changed my shorts (much needed for sure! and I wanted to be as comfortable as possible during the hours to come). I should have taken the time to apply sun lotion but somehow that was not a priority…something I regretted the next day.

Run

Time: 4:01hr

I couldn’t wait to get off my bike and start the run…but I was also most worried about this last part of the day. I really wanted to do well without injuring myself. Though I had run a couple of standalone marathons 8 years ago (best time was 3:56 in London) I had some idea of what to expect on race day.

When talking with Matt, I asked if I could do the 42km close to 4hr. He thought I could but I thought it was a bit unrealistic given that I had only done a couple of runs longer than 20km this year. I had, however, run a lot more frequently than I had ever run before which proved to be the key to success – so do trust your Coach…he/she seems to know best!

I started the 4-lap course strong, trying hard to hold myself back, control my HR and focus on a light, upright position (well, looking at my race photos, the latter didn’t last long).

I usually don’t like lap courses but this one was great. It was quite varied, taking you through the race venue, into the pretty old town of Zurich and along the beautiful lake. During the run I looked forward to passing the places that reminded me of special occasions or people. This definitely made the time go by quicker than usual. The support out there was great too, and the volunteers at the feed stations were all joyful.

I consumed 3 gels on the run (which I carried in my hands…plus a water bottle I had in my T2 bag that got ditched after the first lap), one every 10km with the last one being a caffeine gel. I used the feed stations to alternate between taking on board water and coke with Salzstangen (pretzel sticks). It kind of worked but I struggled to get up my HR after the first 20km – maybe a sign I hadn’t taken in enough fuel? Also, my ITB gave me some troubles from there onwards but it surely didn’t stop me from running. I fought through the pain, and having family and friends cheering me on during the run was a big motivator for not giving up but instead pushing on.

I managed to perform quite a consistent run and even increased my pace during the last couple of kilometres. I felt great when I crossed the finishing line (to my surprise the emotions didn’t kick in until a few days later) and was super pleased about my run and overall performance. I was hoping to complete my first Ironman in less than 12 hours so coming close to 11.30 and 6^thin my age group was just bloody amazing!

2019 has been a great year of racing for me, and Matt has played a huge part in what I have achieved. The structured training and self-inflicted mental pressure, knowing that someone tracks your weekly progress, seems to work for me. Of course, anyone could download an Ironman programme and complete the race, but probably won’t reach their full potential and/or get injured in the process. Having that sounding board to discuss what and what not to do during training and race day, as well as getting to know some of the incredible TCUK athletes and their stories during training camps, has been invaluable to me.

This year was the last time for Zurich to hold Ironman Switzerland. From now on it will take place in Thun, not far from the famous Eiger and Jungfrau mountains, and you never know, I might find myself on that start line there to experience yet another well-organised, scenic race…I have way more to give and feel my Ironman journey is far from over.