IM Switzerland

Back home after successful first IM in Zurich last week.
Achieved aim of beating 10 hours with a finish time of 9.37.
Swim start was really chaotic. I was still standing in the crowd on the shore as the first swimmers were pulling out. It seemed a much too narrow start for 2200 athletes and we were bumping and thumping all the way round. The funnel in to the island at the end of the first lap was so crowded we were wading through the waist deep water. The second lap was slightly better but still busy at the bouys. 1.11 swim time was slower that I'd hoped, but at least I didn't dig too deep.
Glad to be on the bike and the pace was 40k+ for the first flat 30km but slowed a bit after that as the course went inland and got hillier. Lost my seat bottle to a pothole in first 2km so had to rely on feed stations for drink but they were good so no problems there. Realised I didn't have a disc valve adapter so would have been in trouble if punctured but luckily didn't. Got back ache after 140km so had to keep stretching it out. Glad to be off the bike in 5.05.
Took time in T2 to prepare for the run with some compression socks and some vaseline under my arms. Felt OK at start of the run but opted for a tactical toilet stop as I felt I may need one later. Took a while to get my bearings on the 4 lap figure of eight course, but kept the gels and fluid going in and never really had any bad moments. Had enough left to raise the pace in the final mile to finish in 3.14.
Final time was good for 24th in my age group and 3rd brit. I felt like I had a good race, but I've obviously still got a way to go to make the grade at IM distance.