Hello out there!
I finally finished my very first Ironman which was held in Denmark: KMD Ironman Cooenhagen 2014, August 24th. I'm still very high over my performance and I've only had a few hours of sleep.
My story started at last years Ironman Copenhagen 2013. I was admirering the atlethes at last years event and had the deepest respect for what they were accomplishing. On August 26th, 2013, I signed up for the Ironman Copenhagen 2014.
At the time I had done 4 marathons in 1,5 year
(3 in Copenhagen and 2 in Berlin
) and the longest I have ever rode a bike was 80 km. Swimming? Heck, I couldn't swim AT ALL! I signed up for a half year beginners swimming lesson
(from September to December 2013
). I was a complete disaster. Couldn't even get my head under water without panicking. I thought to myself: how am I going to cover 3,8 km swim? At that moment I almost gave up before my IM journey even began. But I kept coming back for lessons. Trained swimming 3 times a week, with bike and run included.
Fast forward to February 2014, I finally got the hang of the free style swimming technique. I kept training 3-4 times a week. NEVER missed a training session. Never. I wanted to learn this so badly. Once the technique was down I could crawl 25 m.. Had a 15 seconds break. Crawl another 25 m. Another 15 seconds break. And so days and weeks went by. I was starting to improve. 50 m. 75 m. 100 m without a break! Yay. I'm getting somewhere, I said to myself and to my wife. By May 2014 I was able to finally crawl 1,5 km without a break.
On June 22nd, 2014, I did my first 1/2 Ironman. Did the 1,9 km swim in 40min:25sec. My overall time was 5hrs:25min:13sec.
This was a turning point on my journey to the full IM distance and it gave me alot of confidence and a huge moral boost. I now had 2 months to go for Ironman Copenhagen. During July and August I swam 3 times a week, a total of about 8,5 km every week. I was feeling good in the water. One with the water. Confident.
August 24th. The big was finally here. One year of training, on the bike, on the run and certainly on the swim. I was ready. Mentally and physically.
I did the 3,8 km swim in 1hr:15min:30sec. My overall time was: 12hrs:44min:31sec.
I did it.
I guess what I'm trying to say is: even if you aren't a swimmer at all. If you are a complete newbie as I was last year, just remember anything is possible! This is a lesson I will take with me through life.
Ironman has changed me.
Thank you for reading!
(English isn't my native language. Please bear with me
).