We all love a good success story and we have a great one for you here.
Fresh from her recent success at the Boston Marathon, where she clocked a very impressive time of 3.29.09, Danielle Scott talks us through her Ironman debut at IM Hamburg on 4th June ’23.
I’d been following a structured training programme since October and was feeling confident in the lead up to the race. My last big week was 14 days before the race and I was relieved it was over. Balancing training and work had taken its toll and I was feeling drained. The 2 week taper was a welcome break, and I was looking forward to a holiday in Hamburg! Looking back, if there was anything I could change in the taper, I would have made healthier food choices. I was continuing to eat like I was during my big training weeks.
Coach Bry made sure that I had done my homework and completed a race plan prior to arriving in Hamburg. I made sure I gave myself plenty of time to register, buy an Ironman hoodie and check out the race routes. I really wanted to make my international Parkrun debut, which also ran alongside the run route. I have a feeling I may not have had Bry’s blessing for this, but I did it anyway and now I’m an international Parkrunner!
After Parkrun, my bike was racked and I had one final currywurst (not per the race plan). I spent the afternoon in the apartment to relax and make sure my nutrition was prepped for the morning. I was in bed early but was too excited to sleep. My alarm at 0410 came round far too early. I reluctantly got out of bed and realised how much I miss being a runner, you never have to get up at this time! Morning admin completed, we left the apartment about 0500 and the sun was already coming up. We walked briskly down to transition, I was feeling quite relaxed, but also aware I would need to join a portaloo queue before starting.
Final checks complete, wetsuit donned and lube liberally applied. We dropped off our bags and went in search of the swim start pens. Matt found his pen, wished me luck and gave me a kiss. I wandered off in search of my pen, but could only find spectators getting in the way. I was aware the race had started and the pros had set off. I decided I needed to get into a pen quickly and walked into the nearest one. I had a feeling this was Matt’s pen, but couldn’t see him.
After the build up in Ireland for my 70.3 last summer, I felt this swim start was slightly anti-climatic. I missed the pro start and didn’t hear the usual ACDC Thunderstruck. I then queued for what felt like forever until I was standing in front of the guy with a red flag who waved me into the water. While swimming, I felt calm and controlled, focussed on taking nice big strokes. Sometimes I’d lose this focus and start repeating ‘just keep swimming’ in the voice of Dory. When approaching buoys, I remembered to sight and pick my line, and accelerate out of the turn to avoid any potential trouble. The swim was consistently paced, uneventful and over quicker than I expected, as I had planned for a 2.8 mile swim – I only found out the swim was 2.4 miles a few days prior!
I made my way out of the water and up the ramp to begin my journey to transition. I was buzzing with my time of 1:19, as I wanted less than 1:20. On arrival to transition, I got excited when I saw Matt; we had a quick catch up while sorting our kit out. He ran off and I went to the portaloo before heading out on the bike. I instantly regretted this as it took me 5 minutes to get my wet tri suit back on. I grabbed my bike and headed out for what would be my longest bike ride to date.
I felt confident about completing the ride and was targeting a pace above 15mph. Once I was on my bike, my hamstrings felt really tight and I was struggling to maintain a pace of 14mph. I was uncomfortable and kept standing to change my position on the bike, in the hopes it would ease off. After about 10 miles, my hamstrings felt fine and I was relieved.
The ride was going very well, the tarmac was beautiful to ride on and miles were ticking away. I saw blue flashing lights in the distance, we were diverted off the road and pushed our bikes up a grass verge to avoid what looked like a significant incident. I took this opportunity to take on some food before setting off again. Later on, I saw Matt coming in the opposite direction and was relieved to see that he was well. I timed how long it took me to get to where he was, and was surprised that I was just less than 20 minutes behind.
Approaching the second loop, I was feeling strong and my average pace was over 17.5 mph. A quick loop of the city, and I was heading back out on the open roads. I collected my personal needs bag at about 70 miles; this was my opportunity to top up sun cream and visit the portaloo again. This stop resulted in my average speed dropping to under 17 mph which spurred me on to work hard and increase my pace back above 17.5 mph. I was feeling good and enjoying the ride, so I didn’t feel like I was overexerting myself. Another detour and nutrition break over the grass, and another pass by Matt before the final turn around.
The last 20 miles were uncomfortable, there was a strange burning sensation in my feet but everything else was fine. I was relieved to come into transition and take off my shoes before starting the long walk to my run bag. I was unable to run with the pain. I looked down to my watch and saw that the ride was completed in 6:17 with an average moving time of 18.1 mph. I was elated, just one more discipline to go. I was confident that I could complete it, but the thought of running a marathon in this heat would be a chore and not enjoyable. I put my cap on and headed out with my head down, just wanting to get the job done.
The pain in my feet seemed to settle in transition, but soon I had an achy pain in my lower abdomen. I wasn’t sure if this was a GI issue, or pain from my hip flexors after spending so much time in aero on the bike. The first mile of the run took about 8 minutes, I could almost hear Bry shouting at me so I thought I’d better slow down! This was a welcome relief and I walked through aid stations, drinking water and eating apples, oranges and salty pretzels. As a runner first, I’d normally stick to gels, but I wanted to get my money’s worth from Ironman!
I found myself in familiar territory in the Parkrun park, there was good support scattered throughout the course and at times I felt like I was in a German ‘diskotek’. I first saw Matt after one of the turn around points and thought he was a whole lap in front of me! It was only later I noticed he had the same wrist bands as me. I loved the novel concept of collecting different coloured wrist bands each lap, with one arm extended like Wonder Woman as the volunteers stretched them over your wrist.
I was finally on the last lap and caught Matt with about 4 miles to go. We exchanged a few words and cracked on at our own speeds. It didn’t feel like a race or a competition, just a journey to get to the end. I collected my forth and final wrist band which gave me a boost for the last kilometre. I pushed on until I saw the ‘first timer’ bell at the top of the red carpet. I gave this an enthusiastic ring to which the crowd cheered. I had the carpet to myself and ran straight down, focussing only on the arch, while listening to the voice on the microphone booming ‘Danielle Scott, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!’
