Race Report – 2023 IM 70.3 World Champs Lahti, Finland – Fiona
I was super pumped about the swim, especially because it was from a platform – woohoo dive start! Swim was delayed 30mins due to heavy fog. A late start at 09:36, I started around the 10th group of 10 in my age cat, dived in and was like ‘nailed it’ .. settled in, found my rhythm and just cruised through it. Water temp 19 deg. Out and up the stairs & into T1 – faffed about cos you could sit down which threw my rhythm.
Bike – my favourite of all 3. Simply stunning course. 1 lap 90km. Elevation gain ~800m. I enjoyed the bike course it was beautiful but couldn’t quite hit my numbers. Body Still felt ok & got all my planned nutrition in. Some Punchy hills, cross and head winds. Overall just a beautiful ride . Wish all courses were just 1 lap. Less congestion.
Onto the Run – faffed again in T2 .. run out of T2 went straight up and over a steep ramp, into the stadium and then another solid 2km hill. I didn’t feel great from the start but was moving ok. Plan was keep moving, don’t push too hard, get more nutrition in and hopefully be able to push more on the 2nd lap. Unfortunately by the time I hit lap 2 the legs were getting worse, back up the climb I decided next aid station to get more fluids and as I came in cramp hit so bad I had to stop and stretch, literally drank every fluid on offer.. this continued every aid station. Now the goal was just to get to the finish line. It was painful and heartbreaking all at the same time. My HR was through the roof all run (180’s) My body didn’t want to play. (Not sure if it was due to being unwell a week before) However, running down the finish shoot put the smile back on my face! This is worlds, it’s meant to be hard. I finished!!
To my coach @katebevilaqua@gkendurance Thanks for getting me here. I may not have pulled off my dream race but I loved the process of training with you. You are the Best!!
To @jannelieb@bryantware getting to share this day & the past week has been amazing
