I had done a triathlon sprint in Berlin in 2023, which corresponds to 750m swimming, 20kms cycling, 5kms running. And apart from that, I do a lot of cycling and dancing in general. So triathlon is clearly not my main sport range, but I can also swim freestyle well since I learned when I was 6 years old, and I run ocasionnally, with some years in my life where I trained more or less, for 5kms or 11kms races, or other occasional events.

But when a friend proposed to my partner to join him on the Ironman 70.3 in Tours, I was like “hell yes, if I come, I’m not gonna be a spectator”. So I decided to register as well.

Budget

Let’s be honest. Triathlon costs 3 sports. And it’s not even true. Because you need specific expensive gears for the triathlon, on top of being equipped for the 3 sports. For example I already had a good road bike, but for triathlon, you are not allowed to do drafting. Which means that if you want to perform well, you have to equip your bike with handlebars or buy a new bike. Guess what, as I have an aero cockpit from Canyon on my bike, which is not a regular rounded handlebar and which is made of carbon, the constructor strongly advise against mounting aero bars on a carbon cockpit. So I had no choice but to buy a bike equipped with aerobars. I decided to use the app / website BuyCycle to find a second-hand triathlon bike. I found a Canyon Speedmax from 2021 (second-hand price: 2100 euros), well equipped. It came with nice aero wheels: the carbon Falcon 2 spokes rim brakes rear wheel, and a carbon Reynolds AR58 rim brakes front wheel. It came also equipped with Deda Jet One aerobars, which are super expensive (600 euros new) and comfy: you can basically not hold the bars and just drive with the elbows, because it holds you very well from the elbows.

Also here I want to say that I saw so many women not properly equipped on the race day. Usually men put everything they can into their gear and less into training, whereas women tends to do the contrary. I put my 50cents here to say that I think that it is linked to the fact that on average women have less income than men, which leads to that situation + culturally men tends to take care of the technical and gears stuff, whereas women prefer to rely on a simpler gear set. I felt it too, that having another bike was adding maintenance and cleaning to my schedule and if you are not into repairing, taking care of your machine(s), it can be overwhelming. But here is my call to women to equip themselves better because on average their equipment seems less good than men, and it doesn’t help them getting better at cycling if they are not well equipped. For me, one secret in triathlon is to understand the differences between the sports and to put the effort where it is the most needed. For swimming, it’s 50% technique, 10% gears, and 40% training hours. For cycling, it’s 50% gears (I mean if you go from a city bike to a fully equipped triathlon bike setup, it’s more than 200% probably), 40% training, and 10% technique, for running it’s 80% training, 10% technique and 10% gears.

For the swimming part, you need a swimsuit, and the prices start at 100 euros in Decathlon, and can go up to 1000 euros and more if you want a top one, with more precise carbon cut-outs for better flotation and freedom of movement. (for me, I took a Decathlon one.) Then you need a trisuit, an outfit that you wear during the entire triathlon, that you can wear below your neoprene suit. I invested in a good long-distance trisuit from Zoot which costs around 400 euros. And finally the Ironman brand is very expensive. It costs on average 400 euros in Europe for a half-ironman and 800 euros for a full one.

You can also invest in bottle cages behind the saddle for aerodynamism (I did, for an additional 50 euros), or aero bottles which fit on aero handlers on the frame. You can also buy some crazy drinking system with tubes and water tank inside the frame if your bike allow. Another upgade on the bike is if you want to speed up your transition 1, you can buy triathlon cycling shoes with a heel loop. The purpose is to be able to attach an elastic to the shoes so that you can take your bike with shoes already mounted and with a bit of talc you just slide your feet inside and start pedaling at the start line, breaking the small elastic.

For running, of course you need good running shoes, but I already had the ones I had from the marathon in Paris, which costs around 250 euros. You can add elastic laces for triathlon so that you can save the time you do your laces. These costs around 15 euros.

Goals

Overall goal: sub 6hours Swimming: Sub 50 minutes (I knew my talent in open water) Cycling: > 30km/h so under 3hours Running: 5’30”/km so under 2hours Which leaves us with not so much room for transitions!

Training

As I ran and trained for the Paris Marathon in April (see my other article about it) I was already well trained for the half distance in the Ironman 70.3. I set up a 3 times per week training plan on Kiprun app, with a race pace at 5’20”/km, from 20.04 to the race day. I was going more or less to the swimming pool once per week since February. And for cycling I just had one 60km ride on Sundays on top of commuting and doing everything by bike.

Pre-race

We arrived the Thursday before the race, the Ironman being on Sunday.

On Friday, together with my partner and friends, we headed to the Ironman village. It was really nicely organized, we could easily get our bib numbers and transition bags, as well as being ‘offered’ a very nice triathlon backpack as well as a t-shirt of the event (given the price we paid for the bib, not sure it was offered, but it was included in the racebib price). There were great shops around of well-known trademarks branded with the Ironman name (like Lululemon, Zoot, Compresssport, etc). I bought a Compressport headband and some Zoot/Ironman running shorts.

In the late afternoon we did a reconnaissance tour of 70kms of the real planned ride on Sunday. It was very warm (30°C) and I couldn’t ride fast at all, I was annoyed by the aerobars position. That didn’t give me confidence about what I would be able to do when the time will come.

We came back tot he Ironman Village on Saturday for the race briefing in the morning. The briefing was great, and important as you don’t want to forget or miss anything. Indeed, the logistics of a triathlon are generally complex, and there are numerous penalties for certain offenses, such as losing your water bottle on the road, seeing it and not picking it up, or drafting for more than 12 seconds on the bike. During the race, I saw referee motorcycles pass me many times and discreetly move up the entire column of cyclists. So be careful to respect overtaking rules and don’t draft!

We also came with our bikes, to store our them overnight already in the transition hall. In Tours, it is a covered and enclosed hall, which I find reassuring in terms of theft and also in terms of heat, which can cause inner tubes to explode, and then the next day it would not be fun to get started.

Race day

Well, after a great night between the noise of the football game at the campsite until midnight and waking up at five in the morning, we eat our breakfast, with müsli cereals and oat milk, as well as the famous Gatosport (can only recommand, sold by Decathlon and at almost every endurance sport event). What is very important is to manage to poop before leaving. Indeed, I read in an article that, during the running phase especially, the body put the blood where it is currently needed: in the muscles, and diminish the blood supply to your intestines. This combined with the jolting motion with each step and the added stress, often increases your urge to go to the bathroom tenfold. That’s why it’s advisable to eat a low-fiber carbohydrate load and a hearty but low-fiber breakfast.

Then we drive to the start location of the Ironman 70.3, in the Parc des Expositions. We manage to fit all in one car and bet on a detour because the route might be already blocked because of the race. We arrive from a not so busy side and traffic jams can be seen elsewhere on the road, with lines of cars having to take detours because of the closed road. We finally make it to the parking. We are not so much in advance, but we just avoided the massive traffic jams so we are happy. We go to the transition area where we re-inflate our tires, check that everything is in place, install our water bottles and food, and check the GPS. We try to go to the bathroom one last time before putting on our wetsuits and heading to the swimming start area.

Swim

I join the 42-45 minute group, which is a little ambitious but doable in a pool. We wait for quite some time. There is a departure 6 by 6 every 10 seconds or so. When it is my turn I start, and then I am not sure what to do at the waterfront and just see some guys doing a normal jump in the water. I do the same without thinking twice. The water is cold but really ok (20°C actually), just this feeling at 7:30 is not what my body is used to. My breathing is a little panicked. I start by doing a little breaststroke to calm my breathing and see where I’m going. Little by little, I start to do freestyle, first breathing only on the right side, then doing a little breaststroke, then at a certain point I manage to swim my normal freestyle without interruption. We make a rectangle in the Cher. First we swim upstream along half of the long side of the rectangle, then we cross, then we swim downstream again. Finally, we cross again, then swim back up half the length to the finish. I get kicked quite a bit, especially in the turning areas around the buoys. I try to take the shortest possible routes while taking advantage of the current on the way down and avoiding it by swimming as close to the shore as possible on the way back up. I find the long way downstream really long but also very comfortable as the current is helping! Finally I make my way out of the water.

T1

I run to the transition area, change quickly, see my friend who is leaving already, and run to take my bike too.

Bike

I’m so relieved to have survived the swimming part, and now I’m super happy to tackle the bike part, the sport which is my comfort zone. I start quite powerful, my aim is to use at the maximum the aero bars. I did the reco on most of the ride, which makes the itinerary more predictable and gives the impression that it is shorter. I figure out that a lot of cyclists are slower than me, which is to my advantage because I can jump from one to the other by drafting behind them and staying less than 12 seconds behind (according to the Ironman rules). The ride is super scenic, we follow the Cher river, we pass some castles like Villandry or Ussé. The château d’Ussé arrival is particularly beautiful as we turn onto a small road facing the castle high up in the distance. I’m super happy that I used the aero bars 95% of the time. I remember suffering quite a lot, as I still push hard, and there is a dreadful little climb towards the end of the ride. In the end, I manage to make it to the transition zone. I feel super powerful driving that fast on my aerobars in the city! I enjoy seeing people cheering on the side.

T2

Quick change to running mode. I just hang up my bike, change shoes, remove the helmet, drink a bit and go!

Running

The running part goes on the Parc Honoré de Balzac which is an island on the Cher. I find it pretty hard as the weather starts to be really hot, like 26°C, and there are quite some up and downs as we have to go on the bridge, then leave it to go down in the park etc. There are a few very short steep meters sometimes. At some point I see a friend who had overtaken me on his bike and whom I overtake while running, which gives me a little energy for a moment. Unlike the Paris Marathon, where I kept pace almost like a metronome and never stopped, here my pace is not very steady, ranging from 5’15“/km to 5’40”/km. I walk twice on the mini hills and stop twice very briefly to drink water. I finally manage and see the finish line! I’m so relieved to get there!

Results

Swim 47:13 T1 7:42 Bike 2:42:48 T2 5:57 Run 1:58:39

Total 5:42:17

Official result

Post-race

I was surprised and happy to be less destroyed than after a full marathon or after a long cycling ride like l’Etape. I couldn’t wait to stop running, but when I stopped I felt good after 5 minutes and was a bit disappointed I couldn’t push more during the run! I found one of my friend, we had some food and chat together. Then I headed towards the massage area. I got a massage and immediately felt much better. After that I joined my partner and friends. I walked very slowy in the direction of the transition area to get back my bike and other equipment. Everything went smoothly, and you just needed to give back your ankle tracker. We had a very nice time at dinner in the evening: we ate a lot, burgers and big desserts!

The logistics was a bit complicated for us as we came from Berlin. On the way there we took a train to Saarbrücken then rented a car there and headed to a family place near Paris. The next day we drove to Tours in the morning. Same on the way back. So in total we had 4 days off dedicated to transits which is not how I enjoy spending my days off! Next Ironman will be closer to my place, probably Erkner for a 70.3, Hamburg or Frankfurt for a full one if it ever happens!

Conclusion

I am so happy to have overcome this huge challenge. I think that as improvement I could join a triathlon club and train more the swimming part. At the same time I am relieved to have less triathlon pressure until the end of the year and to go back to practice also pole and ballett, as dance is my primary and beloved sport. But I am sure that I will continue to do triathlon, mostly cycling and running. I can’t wait for more challenges to come!