Ironman France 2008

I was fortunate enough to have driven the course on the Friday before the race. It was the best thing I could have done as it gave me an idea of the total extent of ascents and descents. The climbing was incredibly picturesque.

After 20 km you leave the banks of the Loire river which is the melting snow from the Alps and immediately you are met with a climb that stops you dead in your tracks – 10% incline. Then there is gentle incline for about 6kms before dropping almost back to sea level. During the cycle, every 10kms we were travelling through quaint French villages with narrow cobbled streets. At about 45kms the real work started with a 25km climb at the gradient of Inchanga (Durban side) +- 6%.

This is aided by the scenery that unfolds below which is unbelievably beautiful. At the top we were already at 1000m and had amazing views of the snow capped Alps. There was still another 12km climb before the thrill of the descents began. Rowland Visser and I were able to ride one section of the downhill thrill on the Friday which got us very excited for the race.

The descents were everything that they were made out to be, tight hairpin bends, crazy speeds and mad cyclists everywhere. The south of France is obsessed with cycling. The roads are silky smooth and were being swept in preparation for the race. The course was very well marked and warnings of the danger spots were everywhere. Any vehicle on the road respects cyclists to the point of being ridiculous, what a change to attitudes back home.

Race day was the usual pre-race jitters. The swim consisted of two loops one 2.4km and the second 1.4km. It was a straight swim to the first buoy 1km out. We lined up along a stretch of 350m, 2500 eager athletes standing on the cobbles and bang we were off. I managed to get in front for 200m and then the mayhem began.

I swam as far left as I could and tried sticking to the outside but the numbers in the water made the swim unpleasant and the second loop was a collision course with the back of the field of the first lap, who were swimming in the opposite direction. Other than that the Med was calm and pristine and the azure blue water was incredible to swim in.

Out of the water into transition that consisted of 400m run to the bags and 400m run to the bike, due to the numbers of competitors and the space that the organisers had to work with on the beach front. On the bike the Europeans were coming past me in their hoards. They truly are remarkable cyclists. The first climb was hectic at 10%. I thought a 25 gearing on the back wheel would work, which it didn’t. By the end of the climb I was stuffed and had peaked my heart rate at 180, without even pushing the pace.

Now that I was humbled and I realised that the climbs on a bike were very different than when we were in the car, I decided to re-group and focus on what lay ahead. Fortunately the scenery took my mind off the hard work. Lauren Jalebert came flying past me on the first longish climb like he was going down hill. Eventually I got to the top and really became excited about the descents. They did not disappoint. It was amazing.

Even more amazing was the ability of the Europeans downhill. I decided to stick with a group that I thought were roughly the same speed as I was able to go and we rode together to the end. By now the heat was up and the temperature was around 37-39’C. There was absolutely no wind and the run was going to be a real tester. I started cramping in the top of my thighs on the last stretch along the beachfront and didn’t quite understand why, as I feeling good. It affected me later.

The second transition was just as long as the first and I was sweating properly even before I was out of transition. The run splits tell the full story. First lap was good and I thought I would crack sub-3. The second lap is where all the chickens came home to roost. I was nauseous, had stomach problems and had chaos when I eventually conceded that I had to use the portaloo. After that session, I realised that I was no longer in control and that the finish was going to be a struggle.

By now the run course was very crowded and the tables had queues of people trying to cool themselves down and drink what ever they could find. So it was frustrating as the last two laps were spent dodging walkers, slow runners and battling to get a cup of water at the tables. Anyway, eventually I pulled myself over the line. It was a disappointing run on my standards but the overall experience was phenomenal.

Click here for all the splits. I would recommend the race purely for the ride, it is truly worth the experience.

See you on the road.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 4th, 2008 at 4:03 am and is filed under 2008, Iroman France, Ironman, Ironman France 2008, Nice, Nicolas Kinsley. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.