9:12; 29th; 25th; 5th. Emotional day as always.
Positives:
10th ironman done!
Swim - they had a sub hour swim wave, which made a big difference. Beach start, nobody else knew how to do dolphin dives, so I was briefly leading the entire race! For the first time ever I found a draft where I was working solidly to stay on their feet. Had to swim too hard for a few minutes to make a decisive bridge but it was completely worth it. Pb swim time 52.xx (wetsuit, fresh water, accurate course)
Bike - the time was quite weak but the execution is something I am proud of. Had to hold the power down on the climbs and lost many places, but it was in line with the plan. More on the bike below.
Run - super pleased with the run. Gained a lot of places, and it was paced well. Run time 3.03 but it was short, I'd say 3.10 for comparison purposes. That's still at the upper end of my expectations, very happy. Last 2km were at 4.10/km pace, not that it gained or lost me any places!
Attitude - honestly, during the bike I gave some thought to pulling out either at T2 or at 20 km. If anyone had told me a position it could have been a different story. But I stuck with it, and rescued both the race and my 0% dnf record.
Also my high five with my club mate was so strong that it practically drew applause. (And really hurt my hand.)
Less positive:
Major mechanical problems. It's not an excuse, and fully my responsibility. 1. Wheel became dislodged after about 2km and rubbing. Took me many stressful attempts to get it right. This didn't happen in my prep ride or at any point during training! 2. Some kind of creaking and grinding developed, I couldn't isolate the problem and can't even replicate it now. Competitors and even spectators were looking at me quizzically. 3. Broken chain! 10 ironmans and I'm still an beginner. Stop time of 10 minutes, plus unknown amount of time lost to inefficiency. Very galling to view the results sheet with this in mind.
Aftermath
The roll down was quite awkward, the 75-79 slot dropped into the 45-49. however they could barely give them away in that category! It rolled and rolled until the announcer said (at 25th place with two slots left!) that if it gets to 30 he will just call everyone forward who's still in the building. The last slot was given out in this way. Very embarrassing moment for all concerned. Meanwhile I was in the top 30 overall and still crossing my fingers for just one roll. I was 5th. I knew 4th would take it. 1st took it. 2nd took it. I was ready to faint. 3rd declined... it turned out he was already in...
Positives:
10th ironman done!
Swim - they had a sub hour swim wave, which made a big difference. Beach start, nobody else knew how to do dolphin dives, so I was briefly leading the entire race! For the first time ever I found a draft where I was working solidly to stay on their feet. Had to swim too hard for a few minutes to make a decisive bridge but it was completely worth it. Pb swim time 52.xx (wetsuit, fresh water, accurate course)
Bike - the time was quite weak but the execution is something I am proud of. Had to hold the power down on the climbs and lost many places, but it was in line with the plan. More on the bike below.
Run - super pleased with the run. Gained a lot of places, and it was paced well. Run time 3.03 but it was short, I'd say 3.10 for comparison purposes. That's still at the upper end of my expectations, very happy. Last 2km were at 4.10/km pace, not that it gained or lost me any places!
Attitude - honestly, during the bike I gave some thought to pulling out either at T2 or at 20 km. If anyone had told me a position it could have been a different story. But I stuck with it, and rescued both the race and my 0% dnf record.
Also my high five with my club mate was so strong that it practically drew applause. (And really hurt my hand.)
Less positive:
Major mechanical problems. It's not an excuse, and fully my responsibility. 1. Wheel became dislodged after about 2km and rubbing. Took me many stressful attempts to get it right. This didn't happen in my prep ride or at any point during training! 2. Some kind of creaking and grinding developed, I couldn't isolate the problem and can't even replicate it now. Competitors and even spectators were looking at me quizzically. 3. Broken chain! 10 ironmans and I'm still an beginner. Stop time of 10 minutes, plus unknown amount of time lost to inefficiency. Very galling to view the results sheet with this in mind.
Aftermath
The roll down was quite awkward, the 75-79 slot dropped into the 45-49. however they could barely give them away in that category! It rolled and rolled until the announcer said (at 25th place with two slots left!) that if it gets to 30 he will just call everyone forward who's still in the building. The last slot was given out in this way. Very embarrassing moment for all concerned. Meanwhile I was in the top 30 overall and still crossing my fingers for just one roll. I was 5th. I knew 4th would take it. 1st took it. 2nd took it. I was ready to faint. 3rd declined... it turned out he was already in...