A Throwback to that time I did an Ironman...
- Chelsea Knight
- Dec 19, 2021
- 8 min read
Updated: Dec 20, 2021
So I have wanted to write a race report about my experience becoming an Ironman since I did the Ironman, but while I was in Canada I recorded 2 podcasts with a good friend of mine Rhys and we talked about the Ironman and I decided then that I would wait until the podcast was released until I wrote the blog about it.. However I seemingly missed the podcast episodes being released back in November and so here we are...
I have listened back to the podcast and I am so happy with how it has turned out... it brought it all flooding back.
The journey to Ironman has definately been a rollercoaster journey, with me multiple times saying I was done. The training was getting tedious, and after being so focussed on the race last year only for it to be cancelled I went into training this year a bit half hearted almost certain as the months went on that the race would not happen... but then suddenly 6 weeks before the event was meant to take place it happened and Austria was allowing UK travellers again.. and suddenly it was on!
From organising transport for my bike *nightmare* to figuring out covid tests *more nightmare* the race was swiftly becoming a thorn in my side..
However I got to Austria on the Friday, after a bit of a rocky start with the flight being late, meaning a rushed transfer from Vienna to Klagenfurt I had finally arrived..Suddenly the reality set in... this was happening..
I felt so at ease going into this race, considering this was the biggest race of my life to date I found it profoundly odd how calm I felt so calm that I slept like a baby the night before and woke up at 4 am ready to tackle this challenge head on. Though I have to say this may have been also in part to my new found training buddy CBD Tri Iso...
We got to transition just after 5am and prepped our bags, so many bloody bags!!! set out the bikes and tried to make sure everything was there and organised... a last check of the social media and reading everyones comments and well wishes gave the boost I needed.... we walked to the swim start.. I did not anticipate the lengthy walk to the start line and I because I am used to the facilities being so close I did so with no shoes on my feet, standard pre race wee stop meant that I had to go into the porta-loos barefoot... Grim doesn't not even begin to cover it, never in my life do I want to set foot in a porta loo again with nothing on my feet... not to mention the bloody stones on the path... all I could think of was don't get injured now by standing on a rock or a piece of glass, that is not your story! A "rocky start" indeed!!
We got to the lake, the crowd buzzing.. I was struck immediately by the limited field of competitors and even more so the lack of women I said to Jess, we got to represent for the ladies! We got in the water for a warm up, it was too warm if you get my drift and tuned in to the music blaring in the background getting into the groove we had a little boogie in the water, a fellow female athlete saw us dancing and smiled.. She said to us "you two are going to have a great day"
The swim was a rolling start, self feeding in 4 person waves. We put ourselves in the 1:20-1:30 pen and awaited our fate. The swim went well, thought it did start to feel quite long after the first buoy once the adrenaline of the start had worn off and the distance of the swim felt it like sank in.. we had to filter into a murky canal from the lake and as I was in a steady and trance like rythym I was stunned when I swam into what felt like a wall.. I shook my head and looked up to see I had swam into another competitor doing the back stroke, I thought oh gosh is he ok, once I realised he was not in distress I was a little annoyed and tried to pass him with him hitting me multiple times throughout my effort...
I got to transition and Jessie as expected had finished before me and was waiting. I felt hungry before the swim so I made sure I had a cliff bar before the bike and ensured I started fuelling immediately on the bike as I have made errors before in half distances with fuelling and I was determined to not make this mistake again. My coach and I had figured out my calories before the race, so I knew what I needed to do.
The bike course was absolutely beautiful with fields of sunflowers, corn and logs freshly stripped and filling the air with that fresh cut wood smell. the Sunflowers brought me much joy in the darkest of places! I knew Stephanie was with me and keeping me safe. We stopped at the aide stations and the volunteers could not do enough for us, stuffing gels in my jersey pocket and filling my bottles, one guy even gave us a push start. The locals shouted Hopp, Hopp Super.. and their energy was so uplifting you could not help but smile. We were acutely aware of the drafting rules and so we ensure we kept a wide gap between us, especially given a particular Polizei kept a very close eye on us through the ride, one other athlete said oh that marshal has taken an interest in you two, I was immediately paranoid about penalties. The bike was lonely at times, I sang songs to myself, thought of messages people had sent before the race and focussed on all the good vibes I knew people were sending to us tracking us and willing us along, this really helped me push on, especially when I had awful back pain from about mile 40-mile 90 and a very sore bottom. I just kept focussing my mind on eating every 20 min and breaking it down into 10 mile blocks, as a humorous nod to Austrian cuisine I had taken a pretzel for some fuel which I hung on my tri bars however I did not pay attention to where had taken a bite, and had bitten the pretzel so it had no closed pieces at one point which meant that I could not hang it back on my bars.. Crap... Couldnt get it back in my jersey pocket either and nearly fell off trying, so I proceeding to ride with a pretzel in my hand for about 5 miles before eating as much as I could and then throwing it in the bushes nearby because at one point trying to negotiate the pretzel and the relentless hills this is where I just about fell off my bike... not ideal at all. The last bit of the bike is where all the climbs seemed to be, but just focussed on my watts and heard Peta in my head "floaty floaty". Once we got to 100 the miles suddenly flew by.. I had eaten all the fuel I packed, and felt good.. mission accomplished
Now On to the run.. my back pain went immediately which was such a relief, because in training on some occasions off the bike I did have a waddle, I shit my pants type running form for a good 10 minutes until my back eased but thankfully I managed to avoid this this time around LOL. We had a 9/1 run/walk strategy. We stuck to this religiously only walking through the aide stations and up the couple of ramps. The first 10km went by in a blur, feeling strong and positive but then it got to that point in every marathon where your knees are aching, and your counting the miles down.. it started raining heavily which was a godsend and felt fresh. the aide station volunteers offered us rain ponchos on a few occasions, and we declined, after about the 3rd time we joked to them that we are from England and rain is standard, they laughed. We saw our loyal sherpa Mike *Jessie's husband* on a few occasions which always perked us up, and a couple dance parties with some happy locals.. I had 4 gels through the run, and a very well timed pack of percy pigs that I had left for myself at the personal needs station *Thanks Michaela* with the addition of Iso at most of the aide stations, we were aptly warned about the aide station red bull so we stayed away..
Finally that moment came where the finish was in sight, and it dawned on us that we did it, we grabbed each others hands, threw them in the air in victory and crossed the mat Iron-Women! That moment I had dreamt of for over 3 years from when Zerrin first suggested we sign up for an Ironman, and a frenzy of entries swept through 3CTri club like wildfire, the FOMO getting the better of me before I had time to stop and think about what the hell I was doing, as at that point I had not even done a middle distance triathlon, I had no business signing up for a full.. but I did, and it was the beginning of an epic journey for sure!!
The day felt so long, but at the same time it flew by. The realisation of what we had accomplished hit me and I cried. I still can't quite comprehend what we did, in some respects it just feels like another race and then on the other hand I know what it took to get here, the relentless training over 2 years, the frantic post work evenings and sacrificed weekends and my long suffering kids and husband.
The race went %100 to plan, despite best bike split not quite calculating the bike the way we thought which we have subsequently found out it is because we didn't go like the clappers down the hills, and to be honest I am ok with that, on a course that you don't know in at times wet weather and slippery road surfaces it was best to be cautious and avoid disaster.. but even finishing 50 minutes later than anticipated I felt great and my fuelling for the first time ever was absolutely spot on!
Finally the time came, I had booked and rebooked my M dot tattoo so many times, Cruze was probably thinking I was just being flaky.. with the help of Lucijia and Bryony I was able to put my vision into reality. I wanted it to be personal to me, I had seen so many standard M dot tattoos and they just didn't do it for me but I knew I wanted one...I wanted to incorporate Edelweiss to commemorate Austria and I think they did a phenomenal job making my vision happen!!
So now I am focussing on my next challenge, which is not so much as a challenge but a passion. I am doing my Triathlon Coaching qualification, and my Level 4 qualification in nutrition to help and guide people, but with a particular focus on women to realise their goals and help them to achieve them.. I didn't feel I could do this until I had done an Ironman because I wanted to come from a place of authenticity, I believe to be able to coach someone you must be able to fully relate to them and what they would be experiencing and now that I have done the distance I feel I can put my money where my mouth is..
I am so excited to share the two podcast episode's I did and I hope you love them as much as I do!!
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