My first IRONMAN 70.3: not quite the race I expected
Months of worrying about cut-offs, a cancelled swim, 33°C heat — and a finish line in Luxembourg. My first IRONMAN 70.3 wasn't the race I planned for.
After months of talking about it, worrying about cut-off times and questioning whether I'd trained enough, I finally arrived in Luxembourg for my first IRONMAN 70.3.
The challenge should have been simple to describe: a 1.9km swim, followed by a 90km bike ride and a half marathon.
Unfortunately, race morning had other plans.
The swim that wasn't
Shortly before the event, the swim was cancelled due to blue-green algae in the water. It was absolutely the correct safety decision, but I was gutted. Only days earlier, I'd completed the full 1.9km swim distance in training. It had taken me around 45 minutes, and while I wasn't particularly happy with the time, I knew I could cover the distance.
Instead of starting in the water, athletes were released onto the bike course based on their predicted swim times. The delayed start also meant standing in the sun for well over an hour. By the time I started, temperatures were already climbing and a headwind had begun to develop.
Still, I finally got onto the bike.
The bike
The 90km bike leg was probably the highlight of my race. My nutrition strategy worked, my legs felt strong and I finished the course in 3 hours and 39 minutes.
Considering London to Brighton had taken me 3 hours and 42 minutes just a few weeks earlier, I was incredibly happy.
The run
Then came the half marathon. Temperatures eventually reached around 33°C, and the run became less about pace and more about continuing to move forward.
My biggest limitation wasn't pain or an injury. It was simply stamina. I drank regularly at the aid stations, ate whatever snacks my body would tolerate and focused on continuing towards the next checkpoint. At one stage I actually had to stop drinking because I felt completely full from the amount of fluid I'd consumed.
The run took me 2 hours and 46 minutes.
Mixed feelings about the medal
Eventually, after 6 hours and 44 minutes of racing, I crossed the IRONMAN finish line.
I have mixed feelings about the medal. I'm incredibly proud of finishing the event, especially given the heat, but part of me still feels like I have unfinished business. I trained to complete a 1.9km swim, 90km bike ride and half marathon. Through circumstances completely outside anyone's control, I didn't get the opportunity to complete that full challenge.
But the weekend also proved something important. Before the event, I was genuinely concerned about being cut off. My preparation had been inconsistent, I'd never completed the three distances back-to-back, and I'd never even run a half marathon during my training.
Yet I finished. The bike was stronger than I expected. My nutrition strategy worked. And despite the heat and lack of run endurance, I kept moving until the finish line.
So while this might have been my first IRONMAN 70.3 event, I don't think it will be my last. Next time, I want the swim too.