It took a while to decide which half ironman I would do before my big race in August. I needed to have some time to recover in between as well as a similar layout of the Ironman in Sweden. So I choose Weymouth Bay Triathlon in south coast in Dorset. My boyfriend came with me as a support and personal photographer.
The morning of the race 13th July I felt tired. I hadn't slept well because I stayed in a local hotel and there was so much going on. It is very important how you feel on the race day, especially when you do such a long distance. Mine was 1.9 km sea swim, 89 km bike and 22 km run.
We set off early in the morning around 7 am at the bay. We had the briefing a few minutes before the start. They mentioned jelly fish but I thought it was a joke. The sea was choppy and the current strong, mainly on the way back. The water temperature was around 13 degrees. The swim course was in L shape. After swimming a few meters I saw the first jelly fish. I started to swim faster. They freaked me out a little bit as I didn't want to be hurt on the swim and not finish the race. Then I saw another jelly fish and another. There were loads of them. As soon as I got closer to the bay they weren't any jelly fish. Apparently they caused only nettle rash. I was glad that no one was stung by them.
My boyfriend was waiting for me at the bay close to the transition area. At the transition I quickly changed into my bike gear. I washed my feet from sea salt before putting my socks on as the salt could rub my skin. There was a nasty hill at the start of the bike course but I didn't know there will be more hills involved. The bike course was one loop with a maximum altitude of almost 200 meters and hardly any flat road. The first few kilometers I felt a bit sea sick. I couldn't take my nutrition yet. Later mostly on down hills I started to eat. The weather on the bike was cloudly and breezy. It didn't feel hot but I think I should have drunk more fluid. There was only one feed and drink station. As I was reaching transition again I had to push over the last hill and then change into my running gear.
The running course started with the same steep hill out of transition and carried on down hill and flat road with only one big hill. My boyfriend ran with me up the steep hill. It was very helpful as he was talking to me and encouraging me. We had to do two laps. There were also three drinks and one food station. The marshals were were friendly and supportive. The sun was coming out from the clouds and the temperature went up to 27 degrees. It was boiling hot. I drank water on every drink station. I had to stop at one of them to drink more fluids as I hadn't been drinking enough on the bike. On this course I could see my boyfriend once and he awaited by the finish line. I did it in 6 hours and 44 minutes and ended up 4th in my age group. I was very satisfied as I felt strong on the run and that I could have run a marathon.
Overall thank you for BustinSkin for such a great event. It was well organized. I can truly say that I'm definitely ready for my challenge Mission possible - Ironman Sweden. Bring it on! ;0)
