Triathlon
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@goldstone0 yea, people grabbing for your feet, punching you. It sucks and gets you out of rhythm especially if you are not a good experienced swimmer.
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How’s the speedmax @Dmart you dialled in with a comfortable position to put out big power? All that training volume must have you pretty strong, and tired?
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@Dmart What will your goal be for the Italy IM?
No triathlons for me anytime soon, after getting 5th out of 252 runners in my last 100 mile ultra, I want to stick with that and see how well I can do -
That's a good goal. With flat courses on bike and run you should be able to hold some good pace, although September might be hotter than they are predicting. I think when I come back to IM I might try Copenhagen. Vichy was a tough course, I'd like something a bit faster for my next one.
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Ironman Italy Emilia-Romagna 20.09.2025
Cervia welcomed me on Wednesday. Bike built, bags unpacked, and already the nerves buzzing. Thursday kicked off with a wetsuit swim in the Adriatic, just to taste what was coming. A quick recon spin on the bike, registration, and then straight into the sacred ritual: carb loading. Friday was calm, a short 25min shakeout run, lunch with a friend, bike check-in, early dinner, and bed by 8pm. I knew what was waiting.
Race morning: 3:45am alarm, toast with honey (my go-to), and down to transition with bottles and gels in hand. Then the announcement wetsuit legal at 24°C. Relief. One less demon to wrestle with.
The swim was almost too comfortable. I glided along, calm and controlled, clocking 1:20. should have pushed harder to finish in my planned 1:15. Anyway…
But Ironman doesn’t let you off easy. In T1 my legs locked up, cramps had me stretching in the tent for what felt like an eternity (6–8 minutes). I stumbled onto the bike praying they’d release. And slowly, mercifully, they did. Power came back, the rhythm returned, and I pushed through 180km in just under 5 hours on a flat course with two shorter climbs.Then the marathon. Oh, the marathon. The first 2k felt fine until the side stitches hit like a punch, forcing me to walk. Heat rising, 28°C burning the asphalt, every aid station became an oasis. I clawed my way back into running slower than I’d hoped, but moving forward. Every kilometer was a negotiation with the body: cramps whispering, legs heavy, mind screaming “quit.” But step by step, aid station to aid station, I kept going. Somehow, I found enough left to close it out with a 3:38 marathon.
Final time: 10:18.
It hurt, badly. But that’s the Ironman deal: you bargain with suffering, and if you hold up your end, the finish line repays you. Very happy, very humbled. A full Ironman is truly a different beast.
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@Dmart great write up and fantastic effort to push through all the difficulty. you must be very pleased. when's the next one?
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I did my first ever Ironman in Copenhagen a little over a month ago. Surprised how well the swim and bike went, but the run humbled me
From km 13 and forward I felt like throwing up, and after 3 visits to inspect the porta potty's it was hard to keep the pace up.
Super pleased to finish in 9:48 though.
IG steffhpedersen
