I wanted to do my first pro race on home turf so my family could come and watch, so Ironman 70.3 Kraichgau was a good pick, but I knew it was going to be a strong field and not an easy first pro race. I started racing quite late this season due to my new job in the uni starting in January and needing to settle in (I’m currently racing professionally and working full-time as an environmental scientist …). So the race nerves were big and I new I was going to get some things wrong after an 8 month race break.
The lead in to the race was difficult with a calf niggle that came from driving a minibus during a field trip (of all things to get an injury from….). So it was minimal running the 15 days before the race, with the only run being a small loop with Kevin Prevel where I had to tell him to slow down . But I had to recover the calf to give myself a chance to race. We arrived in Kraichgau on Friday and did half a course recce and Oli and I both loved the bike course! Fun rolling hills, fast sections and good roads. Oli also spontaneously signed up for the night run at the venue - a great community event where he placed second.
The day before the race there was the pro briefing where I got to meet Jess Learmonth and some of the other celebrity triathletes. In the briefing I realised how ridiculously complicated our sport is - literally requiring a 50 page PowerPoint presentation to explain all the rules and processes.
Oli and I took our green van and camped on the Ironman camp site right by the lake which really made things easy. However the night before the race there was a concert nearby until midnight and we barely slept - don’t know what Ironman was thinking there… luckily adrenaline can get you a long way and I didn’t worry too much about the lack of sleep.
Race Morning - we lined up after the pro men and off we went after a short presentation. I knew I had good swim form so decided to go for it as I can sustainably maintain high pace in open-water. I loved the swim and could really feel the improvement in efficiency and breathing in my race pace swimming (cheers to our swim coaches Steve, Kirsty and Jo!). I came out of the water third, but also dragging three more pros (including Laura Phillip) on my feet...
Transition 1 was properly rusty and I stumbled around a bit trying to juggle taking my wet suit of, not loosing my timing chip, not being in the way of all the other pros coming in. Luckily once on the bike I managed to settle a bit and started pushing some watts. I was also overly conscious of not getting any drafting penalties as I had a motorbike next to me half the ride. The first 20k were fast and flat and I was still in 3rd. I got caught by some of the girls behind me just as I was slowing down at the first aid station trying to grab a bottle. From that point onwards I was caught a bit in a pack dynamic where I wasn’t really benefiting when we were ‘taking turns’ as I really struggle to judge 12m and turns out I was always around 50m behind the girls scared of any penalties (5min penalty for being within 12min without overtaking). My watts on the bike were a bit low on the second half and for the next race I need to crack on a bit more by myself. But ultimately I had to race the race I was in. What was positive was my plentiful fuelling and efficient hydration on the bike, making me enter T2 feeling energetic and excited to get vertical. At the same time I was noticing some swelling in my feet - I recently got some custom made cycling carbon soles but turns out they make my shoe about a size smaller… (not really an issue in the cold UK…).
I came into T2 in 4th position. And surprisingly did a very fast transition, getting into the run in 4th. The first few km I felt elated and it also went downhill. Then the foot pain started and my feet started getting really badly swollen and blistering in the soles. I was still running with two other girls up to km 3 when I accidentally dropped my gel flask and had to stop to pick it up because of strict littering rules (you get disqualified !). So Position 4&5 we’re gone as the girls used that opportunity to run away. I tried to get myself back together and to find my own pace around 4min/km as discussed with my coach. It was a three lap course and each lap my feet got worse and several times I thought about pulling out as I wasn’t sure what damage I was causing to my feet. But luckily seeing my family each lap and having little things like aid stations to focus on, made me just take the race in little chunks and tell myself I could make it to the line. My pace faded slightly, and I had to let Diede Diederiks pass, but I managed to put together a 1:28h half marathon, the same I did in Weymouth last year but this time on a much hillier course and with sore feet - so all in all still a decent run reflective of an increase in fitness. Knowing that so many people from our club and friends followed the race on the live tracker and the nice messages I got and knowing that you’re behind me cheering did help me through some tough times in the race.
I crossed the finish line in 4:31 and the relief was unreal. For about 10min post race I had a little tantrum of wanting to quit triathlon altogether because I was in so much pain. Shortly later, I calmed down, hobbled to the recovery area, met some of the other girls, had a good laugh, was told to get myself bigger running shoes and started putting things into perspective.
I realised I’d actually done exactly what I could have asked for - raced the race I was in, ticked lots of process goals and overcome some adversity. I couldn’t properly walk afterwards and was struggling even moving through transition to pick up my equipment as the sole of my right foot was fully blistered (and one foot hopping wasn't an option either :-) ). I had some thing to look forward to though as in the pro field you’re part of the flower ceremony if you come top 10. Standing on stage with everyone and getting my first ever prize money was a cool end to the weekend and definitely makes up for a week of limping since the race.
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