70.3 PAYS D’AIX FRANCE

Written by Justin Martin

As we all know life as an age grouper in the world of triathlon is not always testing just on oneself but also our partners that have to endure alarms going off at crazy times and the never ending washing of lycra. But just sometimes it can be rewarding for our partners too and this race report is one of those stories.

For my beautiful supporter, my wife, my decision to do a 70.3 in France and her invitation to be be my travel partner and supporter was one of those occasions. After chatting to my coach Bill Scanlan who was already in France, it was an easy decision and I registered, booked flights, accommodation and hire cars all within a week. This was also to be a big event for France as it was their first branded 70.3 and was run by the same group that organise Iron Nice. And it was also shaping up to be a huge event with 33 professionals and it was going to be live on French television. My wife Belinda now researching exactly where we were going, was very excited never having been to Europe. Now the logistics of doing a 70.3 in France and travelling from Australia is no easy task to get yourself and gear there. I decided to get to France a week early to settle in and acclimatise. Emirates was the airline of choice and it was a great decision as we arrived in Paris on the 17th September at 8 pm with no delays and all baggage intact and present.

We stayed in Paris for the evening beside the Gare De Lyon (the main train station) at the Mecure Gare Lyon and the following morning caught the TGV direct train to Marseille where our hire car from Avis was waiting. We then travelled the 40klms to Aix En Provence where the 70.3 was to be held. This was an exciting drive as I was driving on the wrong side of the road and had the gear stick was on my right side instead of my left. But after doing a few loops of Marseille whilst working out how to get out of the city, we found the motorway and within 40mins had arrived at our hotel in Aix en Provence.

Aix en Provence is a gorgeous city set in the Provence area with tiny streets and lots of heritage. We settled into quickly with our hotel once we arrived and I started unpacking my bike and reassembling to make sure there were no issues. We were also in the centre of the city so set about investigating the city and surrounding areas including a trip to Ventabren to look at an ancient roman aquaduct. I also began to get the legs moving again after the long travel by fitting a few light runs in and some amazing rides. The best way to investigate places I have found travelling is by foot. My coach has also told me a swim would be a good idea so I located the local pool and headed off for a swim. The pool in the city was an interesting place where you showered before entering the pool and then walked through a foot pool to make sure your feet were clean. Then there seemed to be no rules of slow, medium or fast lanes, but I managed to turn my arms and get 1500 meter under my belt before heading off to a cafe for a baguette and coffee.

Wednesday I took a drive out to the swim location with my coach and we did a training swim. The swim takes place in an abandoned mine that is now full of water. The swim is actually around 25 klms from Aix en Provence at a location called Peyrolles-en-Provence. A very beautiful place nestled between mountains which I was admiring until I came to the abrupt realisation I would be climbing over these on Sunday.

So anyway fast forward to registration day – Saturday as I could talk about Aix en Provence all day. Saturday, Bill, Belinda and I took the drive out to Peyrolles again to register and drop off my bike. The bike course was one loop of 90klms with 5 major hill climbs and finished at the Routonde (roundabout) in the centre of Aix en Provence. With the bike dropped off including my bike bag with all the kit I needed for the bike leg, I headed into town to drop off my run bag. With all the registration complete, I settled back and relaxed with my wife trying not to think about race day. Saturday night I found a restaurant amongst the masses located in Aix en Provence and settled into a double portion of pasta whilst watching all the other competitors with their high viz orange wrist bands doing the same.
Needless to say I was in bed by 8pm for an early start.

The alarm started telling me to get up at 5am but I had been awake since 4.30am listening to an unfamiliar sound of rain. The week we had already spent in France has been sunny with an average temperature of 25 degrees. By 5.20am I was out of the Hotel with swim bag in hand, rain jacket on heading to one of the buses the event organisers had allocated to get all the 1600 triathletes out to the swim start. Once we got there and I entered the bike transition to put gels and water bottles on my bike I was pleased to see that the race officials during the evening had put plastic sleeves on all the bikes to protect them from rain – go the French!

7.55 am I was on the start line in my wetsuit getting prepped for a mass start. The first 400meters was crazy and was just a mass of white water as the swim channel was a little tight. But within the first 600meters I was in a rhythm and pushing nicely. I had done a session with Paul Newsome at Smooth swim earlier in the year and had done some work on my technique and was feeling good. I exited the water with a 34:25 swim – 10 minutes faster that my previous 70.3. The run to transition was around 800meters and I felt good as I grabbed my bike bag, changed and exited transition.
The bike was always going to be an unknown for me as I had brought my road bike (Cervelo S2) to France and kept my standard crank but changed to a 11/28 rear gearing to assist in the hill climbs. I settled into the ride and 12klms in was into my first hill climb, which was 5 klm short sharp hill followed by shorter descent to begin another hill climb at 24klms which went for a further 16klms. I am sure everyone gets the picture as this was pretty much how the rest of the ride went. The ride is amazing though though mountains, valleys, small towns and wine country. My ride was not the best with me finishing 3 hours 58 mins and considering I normally do a 2 hour
45min comfortably I was disappointed. I did have to climb of the bike at 75 km mark to stretch the quads out.

I arrived into town and collected my run bag, rapidly changed and headed out into a reasonably hilly course. I would describe the course as hilly as the Perth City to Surf 1/2 Marathon. I felt strong going into the run but soon felt fatigued. By the time I saw my wife on the 2nd lap I had settled into a nice rhythm and was looking comfortable. The streets were closed and the run was through a beautiful parks and through the streets of Aix en Provence. I walked a little through the 2nd and third laps as the cycle definitely had
taken its toll on my legs. Finally the end was near and the crowd was great and brought me across the finish line screaming an Australian was across the line. I had definitely left nothing in the fuel tank and crossed the finish line in 7 hours 27 mins – under the 8hour 30 min cutoff. Still a little disappointing but a finish never less and injury free.

The dinner to celebrate that night for the 70.3 was at the Casino and finished the event of in style with the awards ceremony also being quite spectacular. Belinda and I headed home soon after picking up a set of rims from my coach to take back to Perth for him. We packed, hit the pillow, and was on our way at 6am the next morning back to Paris! Thanks Triangle Events for a sensational experience.

In conclusion, the 70.3 France was an amazing experience. The Europeans definitely know how to run a event. I can fault nothing with this event and would recommend it to anyone wanting a challenge and holiday in a awesome location. I found the French people very inviting and friendly especially once they realised I was Australian and not British. Now to settle back into Perth and finalise my plans for Ironman WA.

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