Going into this race, we had a lot going against us. Karel hasn't raced since May due to his broken hand (except for a local half in early August). I haven't had the best of luck in Ironman 70.3 World Championship events as I was injured in 2007 and I fainted in 2017 and smashed my face on the hard floor of the kitchen/bathroom. Both races were DNS - did not start. And now, going into 2021, we both had COVID (fully vaccinated) 2.5 weeks ago and unfortunately, we both got pretty sick which resulted in a pretty high viral load. For myself, after the three days of sickness, I had more lingering symptoms of a cough, headache and no smell (my taste has somewhat come back) whereas Karel's body fought pretty hard for the three days that he was ill. While these may sound like excuses, this was just the reality for us going into the race. It's hard to not be competitive when we line up to a start line but we both felt a big question-mark when it came to our race day readiness. Without making any excuses, we were both incredibly grateful to just get to the start line and we wanted to celebrate the day and give our best. And with 20 Trimarni athletes participating in the race, it was important to us to be there for them throughout this entire race experience. Although we didn't feel great going into the race, we didn't feel too bad either. But we gave it our best and we are proud of our efforts which ended up to be 11th age group for both me (35-39) and Karel (45-49). Kinda crazy that we both ended up placing 11th!
The swim was beautiful and uneventful. A little choppy but non-wetsuit legal at the perfect temperature of 78.3 degrees.
We knew the bike would be a challenge but mother nature made it even more challenging with extremely gusty winds, hail, sand, rain and sun. We had it all while also navigating the hills, descends and 4-mile climb up Snow Canyon. Interestingly, every age group experienced different conditions on the course as the storm rolled through - starting from Snow Canyon and finishing at Sand Hallow Lake. The first age group male wave starting around 7:30am experienced storm conditions in Snow Canyon whereas the last female wave around 9:50am experienced the same conditions at the lake while swimming and exiting the water. It was a brutal storm that tested us mentally and physically.
With tired legs to start the run, things didn't get easier for the next 3-miles as we gradually went up and up until we really went up (8% grade) on the Red Hills Parkway for the first of two big climbs on the run course. Looking forward to the fast and steep 1-mile downhill before starting loop 2 of the run course, we got drenched with rain which made for a slippery, yet cool, run. And then the sun came out for a warm second loop, along with some windy. And like the bike, every athlete - depending on the wave start time - experienced different conditions on the run.
The theme for the 2021 Ironman 70.3 World Championship St. George was "Rise To It" in the Land of Endurance. I am confident that every athlete reacted to the difficult scenarios that they encountered on race day by working hard to reach the finish line. Hopefully every athlete will bring confidence to future situations knowing that they can deal with an unexpected situation and still experience success.
We are so proud of our athletes for showing up and overcoming obstacles to receive their well-earned finisher medal.
Detailed race report coming soon....
