After Kona, i always find my body dislikes me for the following year. I’m not sure if it’s the relentlessness of building for the biggest race or the race itself. To try to combat this, this year i decided i was going to have a year out. By January I realised i needed something in the diary, something to motivate me to train and be a part of the sport i love, i decided i would have a bucket list race year. Ironman Austria had always caught my eye, the pictures of the swim, the stunning views and the hype had it right up my list.
This race comes with a lot of hype and I’m always nervous of that, needless to say from the moment we drove into the mountain i knew this was a one of a kind venue. Every part of the build up to the race felt spectacular, the buzz around the lake with the stunning views i knew i had made the right choice!
As i alluded too at the start, my body seems to disown me post kona and this year was no different. I tore my calf back in February and really struggled to get any consistency in my run. I had minimal volume in the legs and zero speed work and 5 weeks out i tried to pull out but missed the cut off my 1 day. F**k it, it’s the bucket list tour and as long as i think i can get around i decided i was going. 2 weeks before i booked my flights and here we are – writing a race report!
Swim
The photos of this swim do not do it justice, the water is amazing (everyone laughs at me but it feels so soft!). You swim out into the lake before cutting across and heading back down the canal which is just wall to wall of people. It’s not very often in the swim you get goosebumps from the noise. I worked really hard the first 400m and got on some really good toes which I kept in touch with all the way to the swim exit.
Swim time of 1:00:46 which for a non sea swim is a decent PB and set me up for a great day!
Bike
Just going to start this with – wow what a course! It’s stunning, it’s fast in places, and extremely fast in others with 2 noticeable climbs in each lap. Two 90km loops of stunning scenery, at times it was hard to stare at the white line in front of me knowing what was around me. By the time we started the bike the temperatures were already into the high 20’s so i knew playing the long game was what was required. Having not been running i had been cycling so i knew i was bike fit. The plan was to let the manic’s go off and reel them in later in the day. I pretty much managed to even split the bike and the watts were some of the best I’ve done in a full Ironman. Of course i thought i could have done more (thats the competitive athlete in me) but it was a solid ride and set me up for the run.
Run
The run is made up of 2 loops, however its broken up my a midway party, so its basically 5km out and back one way, then another 5km out and back in the other direction. It’s really well spectated either by family members, members of the public, old people homes and the fireman! By the time we hit the run it was hot – careful monitoring my core body temperature which was rising quicker than i would hope i set off being ever so optimistic. I knew I didn’t have my normal 3:00 marathon in me, but the same time maybe miracles could happen? As always you start the run feeling good and the pace is where you want it to be. My legs didn’t feel the best but each KM the pace was where it should be. Maybe miracles can happen after all? By 25km, a combination of the heat and lack of fatigue resistance my legs started to show the cracks that deep down i was expecting. My pace slowed, my HR was dropping i knew this was going to hurt. Narrator “And hurt it did”
I managed to keep myself going, walk the aid station run in between. I’ve never felt discomfort and soreness like it but i knew if i could finish this race without walking the mental gains would be massive and I’m pretty pleased with that. PB run mileage for the year – no wonder it hurt – you muppet!
Once back into the party area i headed to probably one of the best back drops of a finish line, with a huge stage and plenty of people cheering. It might not have been the race i wanted but it was certainly the bucket list race i had hoped for.
This has to be on everyone’s list – It lived up to its hype!
On to the next race of the tour – any guess where?