Ironman Nice - A big race and outcome

Last Sunday I raced Ironman France in Nice. It was a long, hard, hot day, but a wonderfully rewarding one: the culmination of 7 months specific training and a big objective of mine, to finish in the top 10 on this tough and super competitive course. So the summary; 

Swim  1:01, 8th Pro F
Bike    5:32, 6th Pro F
Run     3:41, 9th Pro F

Total  (incl transitions) 10:22 9th Pro F

The calm before the storm



My overall finish was 9th pro female, finishing less than 2 mins behind the legendary Alexandra Louison and 4 mins behind the super experienced and multiple IM winner Heather Gollnick. I was 10th overall woman as one really lovely and very strong age grouper from Brazil (but Finnish heritage) passed me at the back end of the run.



Two weeks ago when I downloaded the list of the pro women and looked at their stats I thought I may have been expecting too much. Most were super experienced, had multiple podiums at big races and all had sub 10hr PBs on faster courses with a number sub 9.5hrs. It seemed pretty unlikely that I would be able to mix it with these chics, given I started triathlon 2 and a half years ago, have completed exactly 1 ironman previously and am 41 with two kids and a background in corporate roles in the banking industry. Not entirely relevant on the rocks of  the Med at dawn, racing through the hills behind Nice or pummeling pavement along the Promenade des Anglais! Most of the amateur athletes there would have as much or more experience in tri as me let alone these pro ladies. I am delighted to have been able to realise what I felt was a pretty ambitious goal.

So to the race day itself.

Let the games begin!



SWIM: The swim was just nuts! Beautiful, calm, azure Mediteranean at dawn one minute. 2,600 swimmers running over the stones, diving in and beating each other up to find their way through the crowds and out to the first buoy the next. The first 450m or so was more like rugby than swimming. 



Grateful for a hand
exiting the swim over the rocks

We started in the pro box in the middle of the fastest men so were surrounded by aggressive blokes. I swam people not water for the first 450m or so before I got any blue water opening up. I was pretty worked by the elbows, hands, feet etc of those around but I must be getting more used to French starts (in Oz it is usually waves a few mins apart) as this time it didn't knock me around either mentally or physically too much. I found some good feet to follow most of the way and by the end of the first lap I was well placed and holding a nice rhythm. The second lap was much calmer and I exited the water just over the 1hr mark for the 3.8k, in 9th (8th after the race as Britta Martin was DQed).




View out over the bike course near Col D'Ecre



BIKE: My favourite part of the race. They say this is one of the most beautiful bike courses in any tri in the world. I would believe it. It is one of the most challenging too as it climbs >2200m up into the Provence Alps before descending it all back down into Nice again in one 180k lap. I loved every minute of it. I rode into 7th place by T2 with the 6th fastest split on the day.

Heading uphill, with an audience

My favourite moment was out descending Martina Dogana, the women's favourite at the 45k mark just after I had passed Kim Loeffler and Heather Gollnick. I didn't see Martina and Heather again on the bike although Kim and I tick tacked most of the course with me finally getting the better of her in the last 20k home but by a small margin. The excitement for me on this is that last year I had a much weaker swim and when I arrived in France I wasn't very good at descending. One year on and I was up there with the best in the business after the swim and on the bike including the descents.



Still heading uphill. Not a bad view.
I seem to be enjoying it anyway.

 I rode hard but at a fairly steady effort and within myself on the climbs and undules on the high plateau and then descended cleanly and fast. If anything I held back a bit as I was concerned about overcooking it on the bike and coming off too flattened to run well. I absolutely loved the descents, not too technical relative to the cols around the Haute Savoie, so you could really get some speed in and take the time to have an aerobic break. I was worried about getting penalised for drafting on the way back into town as lots of groups were forming once we got back to the flats as there was a good headwind so a clear benefit. I backed off and held a good wheel at the 10m mark. I'm very glad I did as the group in front of me that had bunched up were all penalised a bit down the road. Besides being a beautiful ride there was lots of great support on the course through each village (loads of stunning little ones) and on the big climbs where a number of supporters had driven out to cheer on friends and anyone else going by.

RUN: I came off the bike feeling strong and ready for the run. It was heating up and was above 30oC for the 4 laps of 10.55km each on flat bitumen along the promenade. My first lap was on pace for a 3:20 run but between the heat and possible nutrition / hydration deficit or lack of race conditioning I couldn't hold what I really feel should be a good pace for me for the 2nd and 3rd lap. By the 4th lap I was still a bit slower than I would have ideally liked but was beginning to come good without so many flat spots. I know I can run better but just need to learn how to access it and hold it more consistently off the bike.
 

Hot and flat, out and back, and back and back!
Enjoying seeing the boys on the run.

Martina and Kim both ran past me on the first lap. I may have been run past, but given the quality of their running, I actually just enjoyed watching them fly by. They both run beautifully and faster than my race pace. Martina ended up running a 3:04 marathon into 2nd place, Kim a 3:10 into 3rd.
 
So my only dissapointment with my race was had I been able to run a bit more consistently in the middle few laps where I had some energy lulls I would have got both Alexandra Louison who was fading fast and held off Heather who passed me at the pace that I feel I should be able to access. Anyway no regrets really, just opportunities for the future. I know I raced my heart out and put down everything I had on the day. The good news is I feel I have the form and just need a bit more strength-endurance &/or race day nutrition / hydration to finish a little further up the field again.

For now though, time to kick back and enjoy life without such a high focus on training for a week or so. As the boys just started school holidays (Les Grand Vacances) today I have the perfect excuse for some downtime. Tomorrow my swim will consist of jumping off  the diving board at Menthon with Liam and paddling back to the stairs!