18.08.2023. A special date for me as it was only one day after my late auntie’s birthday. She died too young from cancer earlier this month and she always followed my triathlon races closely so she was very much in my mind today. Below a report from this special race.
4AM: possibly the earliest I have had to wake up for a race, mostly because we had to take a bus from the city to T1 at Langener Waldsee. There was quite a bit of stress due to traffic jams so we had to miss the 6AM warm up swim and just made it on time for the swim start. The rain that morning did not stop the energetic atmosphere of the athletes and the many supporters who were ready for a long day ahead.
6:35AM: the gun shot went off and I started my first non-wetsuit Ironman swim. I positioned myself in the 1 hour 05- 1 hour 15 lane and I think I therefore was able to stay on people’s feet as much as possible throughout the swim, which made that I finished in 1 hour 12 minutes. This was exactly what my coach predicted so I was smiling as I crossed the transition line and excited to go and make her predictions for the bike and run also come through :).
7:53AM: transition was smooth as the only thing I had to do was putting my helmet and race belt on but I managed to even mess that up as a volunteer in transition stopped me to tell me my helmet was not only not fastened but also the wrong way around 😆. Once that was sorted I jumped on my bike, grabbed a bar and settled in to push hard over the super wet roads.
10:40AM: by now I had finished the first loop of the bike leg and was comfortable with all the tricky bends, cobbles and downhills. I was pushing hard to maintain my target 34 km/hr and told myself to push a little harder for the second loop. I was also enjoying the music and support crowds at different points of the course and I mostly enjoyed the long downhills where I felt I was overtaking everyone. The hills were more than I expected and I had to sometimes accept that it is ok to be overtaken…The last kilometers into town were also super fast and the adrenaline and excitement to get off the bike was high.
13:10PM: there was no need to put on my sunglasses in T2 as the rain had settled but the clouds definitely did not look like they were for moving. I do not know if it was because of the overwhelming crowds and positive cheers that came my way or the relief to be off the bike after 5 hours and 20 minutes but I had to try really hard to run slower the first 5 kilometres as I knew a pace below 5:30 would not be sustainable for my marathon. Roughly every 9 kilometres I had something very special to look forward to: both my two boys and my parents were supporting me, very special for me as my husband and I usually travel and race alone and have no support. It was such a joy to see the beautiful faces of my boys who ran with me for about 1 kilometre every loop and were able to tell me my position and pace. It became clear that the gap to the person in front of me was too big for me to fill (4 minutes) so I had to focus on my other goals: to finish the race under 11 hours (this seemed to be working out ok if I would manage to keep the same pace), to try and run the marathon under 4 hours (maybe this could work?) and to get qualified for Kona (I estimated I would have needed to be within the top 5 of my age group. My boys told me I was either 5th or 6th and they weren’t quite sure so I knew it was not impossible to get my Kona slot and I kept on saying the same mantra to myself which was something in the way of: I want to go to Kona really badly…. I want to make my husband/kids/parents/family/friends/coach proud….I am so grateful my body can do this…I trained so hard for this….I can do this….I believe in my coach and she told me I can do these times….If I feel pain that’s ok, it is my mind I need to deal with ….etc. and over and over again I went through this in my mind. Focus. Look and bend a little forward.
15:10PM: I was so happy to have made it to the 20KM point, and as a treat I told myself I was able to start my cafeïne intake now. I always withhold myself from cafeïne about 3-4 weeks before any race and the joy and ‘high’ I get from taking what I believe to be absurds amount of caffeine on race day give me wings 🪽. About 6 cafeïne gels and so many more cokes and iso water later it is becoming clear to me that I am going to make it.
5PM: I never keep a very close eye to my watch so I was not sure if I would be able to manage to finish the run under 4 hours. I pushed a little harder as I knew the end was near and there were so many emotions going through me. When I saw the red carpet I gave it all and took a last sprint and a little victory jump to celebrate what was probably my best race ever.
5.12PM: in the finisher chute I was standing right behind the finish line ready to congratulate my Ironman husband who also had an amazing race today. The volunteers had given me his medal so I was super happy to be able to give him a big cuddle and hand him over his medal in person. We are super close in everything we do in life and being able to train together is such a joy and blessing. This has been the first race we didn’t get to see each other during the race but that didn’t make it less exciting. We have a week of rest and recovery and we are coming out if this summer stronger, fitter and wiser. Onwards and upwards!
A big shout goes out to the IM race organisers, all the volunteers and support along the route. It was a fantastically organised race and I would recommend it to everyone.
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