After my second place finish at Ironman Lanzarote in May it was time to decide what the next
race of my season would be. Before committing to another full Ironman race, I wanted to ensure
my recovery from Lanzarote was alright. As my body seemed to regain strength fairly quickly, I
started thinking about racing Ironman USA in Lake Placid on July 22 or perhaps Ironman Austria
two weeks earlier. I weighed the pros and cons of both races: In addition to two additional weeks
of recovery, on the “plus” side for Lake Placid was my familiarity with the course. I have raced in
Lake Placid three times before and I feel the course is well suited to me. The big bonus for
Ironman Austria was that my good friend and big support from Germany, Denis (who was also
with me in Lanzarote), would be able to drive from Munich to be my “mad mechanic”, training
buddy, and friend once again. Denis helped me tremendously before Ironman Lanzarote and
knowing I would have his support once again in Austria was a major consideration. The decision
was finalized when Scott told me he was sure my recovery was well on track and that it was
important for me to pick a race I was excited about. Ironman Austria is certainly one Ironman I
have always wanted to do.
So, on June 27th I flew from Toronto to London, London to Vienna, and finally Vienna to
Klagenfurt. Denis picked me up at the airport after a long trip and we drove to my home
stay/apartment located about 15 minutes from the race start. I immediately fell in love with
Austria, and more specifically the town of Klagenfurt. I love its magnificent architecture, all the
beautiful flower boxes that hang outside all the windows, as well as the spectacular scenery of
the surrounding mountains. Worthersee is the lake where the Ironman swim takes place and it is
absolutely incredible with its blue-green colour.
I arrived ten days before race day to acclimatize to the time change and to check out the race
course. Denis and I met Stefan (one of the race directors) and Desiree for breakfast and had
some great conversation not only about the Ironman, but life in general and once again I felt so
fortunate to meet such amazing people around the world.
Pre-race training included biking one loop of the bike course. I was able to experience the entire
course before race day. I was surprised at how much climbing there was and I soon realized that
the hills would prove to be quite challenging, particularly on the second time around. This was a
good surprise for me as climbing on the bike is my strength, so I knew I could take advantage of
the hills and hopefully pull off a strong bike. I swam nearly everyday in the lake which was not
only good training, but good for my spirit. Klagenfurt is definitely a special place! In addition to
training I enjoyed meeting up with some friends from Ontario, Tracy and Nat, as well my
American friend, Hillary Biscay, who I had not seen since last season.
I partook in the press conference, did the usual registration and race prep, checked in my Cervelo
bike from Endurosport, and before I knew it, it was time to race again. I have stepped up my race
schedule for this season (I did the St. Croix 70.3 race in May, Ironman Lanzarote two weeks later,
and the Muskoka Chase in Ontario on June 17th), so this was all feeling very familiar! But this is
certainly a good thing. Everything was feeling perfect and I was ready and excited to race again.
I had some digestive issues (that is an understatement!) in Lanzarote and also suffered a
dislocated shoulder on the swim, and I was feeling confident that these issues would not arise
again. My mental coach, Etienne, and I discussed my race plan and this time it would not be
abandoned. In Lanzarote I abandoned my plan to stay wide on the swim, and possibly suffered
the dislocation as a result. I also figured out with the help of Dr. Galea (the best sports doctor in
the world) and Dr. Fennell, my amazing Naturopath, that the fish oil supplement I had taken two
months ago was likely the cause of my GI issues in Lanzarote as it acts as a blood thinner. This
time I stopped taking that supplement a good two weeks before race day. Each race that I do, I
learn more and more about my limits and what my body can handle in Ironman.
My alarm sounded at the usual early race morning time of 4 AM. I ate my usual pre race
breakfast of oatmeal, a banana, and Espresso GU gels, gathered my awesome Zoot race gear
and headed to the race start.
The only word I can use to describe the swim start is “bizarre.” The pros were to be positioned
about 40 meters in front of the age groupers. The age group athletes were positioned on the
shore until two minutes before the start time, at which point they were lead into the water. Only,
instead of assuming the deep water start position, they started to swim immediately as if the race
had started. The officials in the kayaks realized that the age groupers had closed the gap
between us and were not going to stop, so they motioned for us to start swimming immediately.
Because I was anticipating a start in another two minutes, the unanticipated early start meant I
never had a chance to start my watch!
Even though there were 2400 athletes, I was able to remain in a position that was not risky for my
shoulder. I was still able to do some drafting all while staying a little wide away from the masses.
We rounded the first buoy to the left, and then another buoy to the left so we were heading back
to shore. The swim seemed so short...until we reached the canal. The end of the swim is down
a canal that is a mere five meters wide. I was told that this section was 600 meters long, but I
swear it was closer to 1000 meters! The canal swim seemed to go on forever. It was pretty
amazing to have so many spectators cheering along the canal and I know it was exciting for them
to be so close to the swim action. In most Ironman races spectators can only see the swimmers
from a distance. I exited the water in 53 minutes, my personal best Ironman swim time. This was
a good start, for sure.
It had been specified that there were two separate change tents for men and women, only the run
to the women’s change area was farther away. I wasn’t taking any clothing off so I did not bother
running into the women’s tent especially to get to the women’s tent you had to run through the
men’s tent anyway! (I love how much more relaxed they are about this sort of thing in Europe!) I
started the bike in 11th place.
The bike course is beautiful. It is quite challenging but also quite fast. It is fast because the
descents are fast and there are not very many technical turns so the speed gained on the
descents can be carried through turns without any braking. The first few miles were a bit
congested and I found myself playing a game of cat and mouse with other athletes. Just before
one of the turns on the course, I made eye contact with a race official on a motor bike who made
a hand motion that I thought was indicating I should pull over to the right. I did not know why I
had to pull over as I was not drafting, and I soon learned that he did not intend for me to stop, but
was instead simply letting us know we had to turn right this totally confused me. I stopped for a
minute until I realized I did not need to pull over and although I lost time here which was a little
frustrating, it took me away from the game of cat and mouse which meant I could ride my own
race without the stress of the congestion of other riders. I passed a number of women on the
bike, but I could feel the effects of Ironman Lanzarote in my legs on the second loop as my power
seemed to drop significantly despite no decrease in effort. As a result, I lost a couple places at
the end of the bike. My average wattage was 239 and I dismounted in a personal best time of
5:04.
Into T2 I ran, and after another uneventful transition I started the marathon in 6th place.
The marathon course in Austria is flat. Most of the run takes place on a running path. It is
essentially two figure eights and part of it runs through a resort. Most of the run is shaded which
was nice as it turned out to be a pretty hot day. As I exited T2, Desiree Ficker passed me
immediately - almost like I was standing still. I kept my pace and soon realized she had slowed to
a similar pace, and eventually I could see I was gaining on her. Finally I passed her back, and
after making that first pass I passed another woman, putting myself into 4th place. I felt great. I
felt like I was running my fastest marathon. I just kept pushing and kept ticking off the kilometers.
The run course got pretty congested with many athletes running in both directions on the running
path, and twice I had head-on collisions with guys who had crossed over to my side in order to
take aid from the aid station on the opposite side of the course. “Enschuligung” one athlete called
out as we collided This was a word I had learned in the days leading up to the race. It means
“sorry” or “excuse me”, and while annoyed to have suffered an unnecessary collision, I was
happy to have understood the apology!
Sarah Gross (a fellow Canadian) passed me after the in-town turn around point, and she was
flying. I wanted to go with her but did not have the strength, or maybe the confidence. I am still
learning how to push my limits on the run. I am getting closer and closer to breaking out on the
run. Today I would have to settle for 5th place overall. I finished the run in a time of 3:30 which
was interesting as I felt like I was running a 3:20 marathon pace. Apparently I missed marking
my slower kilometers and I ended up 7 minutes slower than my personal best marathon time.
However, I finished in a personal best overall time of 9:32.
The finishing chute in Klagenfurt is incredible. Lined with so many spectators, it is quite the
experience and I was happy with my finish. I hope to go back next year stronger than ever and
we will see what I can achieve.
Thanks for reading!