Sara’s story of preparation, belief, and executing a great race on one of triathlon’s toughest courses.
Ironman Lanzarote has a reputation. A reputation of a difficult course and conditions; a reputation for attracting the bravest and boldest of athletes to take it on. It is a big test of strength, fitness and courage.
Reading Sara’s report, what stands out isn’t the result itself – impressive though it is. It is the calmness with which she approached challenge after challenge. A disrupted final week, a difficult swim start, relentless winds, intense heat, blisters, dehydration and eventually an infection serious enough to require hospital treatment afterwards. Yet throughout the day she kept making sensible decisions, adjusting expectations and finding ways to move forward.
This report reminds us that successful Ironman racing is rarely about everything going perfectly. More often, it is about how you respond when things don’t go to plan. Sara’s race is a brilliant example of exactly that.
Preparation
Booking IM Lanza I didn’t quite realise that it means that most training will be over winter. Miserable weather meant that a lot of my main sessions were on the turbo and alone (as most of the Squad aims for events later in the year) – 5h on a turbo can sure test you in a whole new way. I was made up to realise Kevin is also doing Lanza – rides with Kev were significantly better, even if we only had one ride where it didn’t rain/ snow/ hail.
Despite the challenge of many solo sessions and a lot of time on the turbo, the training couldn’t really have gone better. I did have niggles in my calf, back, shoulder and plantar fascia but kept at S&C and none of these turned into an injury. Nothing can beat consistency and I could see the consistency reflected in PBs in training. For the first time I also include heat prep (perhaps not enough)!
Days Before
Annoyingly, I picked up an infection a week before Lanza which left me tired and with fever – so I spent much of the week mostly stressed and questioning if it’ll shift it time – it did!
We flew to Lanza on Weds. On Thursday, we went on a little ride – it was hot and mostly uphill 🤣
On Friday we were reunited with Lanza veteran Nick – and went for a swim. The swim was absolutely gorgeous – top 3 swims of my life. Great to catch up with Nick there too. We racked the bikes in the afternoon – I had a quick catch up with LCB (Lucy Charles-Barclay) – we’re so lucky that pros race with age groupers in triathlon! After racking I went for a short run and continued with carbloading.
Race Day
Slept surprisingly well, felt quite calm. My taxi to the start line didn’t show up, but the hotel receptionist gave me his bike, so I rolled to the start like PeeWee – on a bike with a panier, low saddle, knees near my chin, but at least I didn’t walk.
Topped up tyre pressure and added ice cold nutrition to my bike, went to the swim area and, saw Nick.
Swim
Nick pushed me from 80 min to 70 min zone. Nick was so calm, his quiet confidence rubbed off on me and I felt focused and ready
Me and Nick went off together and I lost him as soon as we started swimming. The swim was from the start surprisingly physical – I was kicked, swam over, pulled. I really wasn’t fazed by that though – felt quite confident in what I was doing, in control of picking my lines and trying to get a lift on peoples feet where I could.
I was grateful for reccing the swim the day before because I couldn’t see much on the main straight, but I did see a lot of people going very wide into the sea. The first lap went quickly, was quite surprised with how many people I overtook, I was still moderating my effort, just focusing on strong catch, swimming straight and keeping my head low when sighting. The swell definitely picked up on the second lap, it felt very different to the practice swim and first lap, I started to put more effort in (but actually swam slower due to the swell). I was surprised (and delighted) to see I got out of water in 1:04! 3 min PB.
Bike
Into T2, put cycling socks on and a ridiculous amount of sunscreen. So much I was sliding in my arm rests for the first hour.
Onto the bike, started nutrition right away as the bike starts with a climb. Had 90g per hour the whole race and stomach issues were not a problem. I reccied the bike course in March and was windy, my back hurt from tt position and I chafed so I was expecting the bike to be hellish. Before I knew it I was 30km in – feeling good.
Realised I didn’t have speed as one of my screens on Garmin and actually felt like that was a strategically good thing as I would be frustrated seeing how slow I was. Instead I was able to focus on riding to Normalised Power and HR. My HR got where it needed to be quite quickly, my normalised power was higher than planned – but given the HR was low and there was a lot of occasions to rest on descents I decided it was fine, as legs will have time to freshen up.
The views were unreal, I stopped paying attention to how far I had to go about 60km in and just admired the vistas, quite emotional. My bum wasn’t chafing and my back was manageable. I was tucked in tt position for the whole race aside for hills and descents that included corners – more time than in any previous race, really pleased with that. I was looking forward to hills as this was when I could sit up and rest my back, change position. I stopped for a wee once and picked a bottle or two every single aide station – 11 in total by the end.
I chatted with a lady in 60-64 age group who was overtaking me (and all the men on expensive bikes) on every single hill. Felt so inspired by her and proud to be a woman on that course. Out of blue, I had 20km left, including a very hot there and back stretch through lava field. It was pretty hot there. I started making songs in my head and counting down how far was left – the last bit flew by quickly.
Run
Got into T2, feeling good, changed socks, re-applied sunscreen, grabbed my bag of gels. The tent was unbearably hot, felt my feet burn on plastic. I started on the run and felt hot, swollen and like I had blisters from the start. Roughly 2km in I concluded that “Plan A” for the run can be binned. The focused switched to finishing it. At 2km I couldn’t imagine spending 4h + on those streets so honestly wasn’t sure if I will finish it. On my way to the first loop I saw LCB finishing her last loop.
I walked each aid station, poured 2-3-4-5 cups of water on myself, put ice on my neck, back and stomach. Drank a cup of water and one of electrolytes. Later I developed an ice circulation system – putting the melted pieces under my hat (big ones wouldn’t fit). I was quite proud of this system. The route offered no shade and for most part no wind. The thermometer above the pharmacy was showing 41C in direct sun and I could feel the heat radiating from the tarmac. The next thermometer was showing 38C.
My shoes were making splish splash sounds, and what I thought was maybe a blister to start with was a certain blister at 10km. In the end I had 8 blisters on my L foot, 4 on my R including 2 blood blisters under my nails. Note to self- make sure water doesn’t get on your feet next time, and don’t step onto boiling plastic in transition.
Stopped for a wee 5km in and nothing was coming. Huh?! I was drinking like a camel so this was troubling but at the time I thought maybe iI was ‘portaloo shy’, or just sweating so much I didn’t need to wee. Struggled back into my wet trisuit and carried on. Stopped again 25km in and again had no luck, but assumed my bladder got confused because I drank too much / had too much electrolytes / sweated too much.
I was over the mid-way point and thought its worth going, I didn’t feel ill/ dizzy. I added walks when there was a hill. Spotted Tom on my way back from the first big loop and on the two small loops. High fived Nick and Kevin, who were passing me. The run kept dragging and going really slowly. Felt some relief when I was on the last loop, but only perked up on the last 5km, started to feel like I will finish it.
And I did! Got to the finish line, feeling quite overwhelmed – and delighted to have finished!
The Aftermath
Next day I went to hospital – raging UTI, 3 x antibiotics 😵
Fair to say that I don’t think I’d have done that without Tom’s support on the course – seeing him perked me up so much. And off the course – getting me to the hospital afterwards and taking care of me!
I’m excited with this result. I know I could have gone faster on the run in a bit kinder weather and I can see potential to get stronger on the bike and swim, but happy with how I paced it.
Finish Time & Splits
Swim: 1.04.49
Bike: 6.51.11
Run: 4.19.10
Overall: 12.27.35
As coaches, we often talk about trusting the process. Sara’s race is a great example of why that matters.
The swim PB, the confidence in the water, the ability to stay aero for almost an entire Lanzarote bike course, the controlled pacing and solid nutrition plan were not things that appeared on race day. They were built during months (and months) of consistent training, often in less-than-glamorous conditions. Long hours on the turbo, solo sessions through winter, strength work to stay ahead of injury, uncomfortable heat-prep work, super cold open water swim sessions, and the discipline to keep going all left their mark.
As well as being a great insight into a very well-executed race, what stands out in this report is the way Sara adapted when Plan A disappeared. The skill to recognise when circumstances had changed and then to make good decisions anyway. The marathon became a battle of cooling strategies, aid stations and persistence, yet she never stopped solving problems.
Sitting here, it’s easy to look at a race like this and wonder what might have been possible in cooler conditions.
But what stands out to me is how much Sara got absolutely right.
The swim was strong and controlled. The bike was disciplined and well-managed. The nutrition worked. And when the run became a battle against the conditions rather than the race she’d planned for, she adapted rather than unravelled.
Ironman – and Ironman Lanzarote in particular – has a way of exposing weaknesses. Instead, it highlighted the strengths that months of consistent training had built.
A super performance – and a performance that offers plenty of reasons to be excited about what’s ahead.
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