Ironman Austria '18 Race Report - 26.2 mile marathon

I was really hoping to write a run race report about a stellar run but that’s not the case. Another marathon run off the bike where I felt like I ran far below my potential. However, this is racing. If it was easy to improve, I probably wouldn’t do this sport. My fire for a faster marathon run still burns strong and I know I’ll get it done in one of these races. Nevertheless, the most important part of Ironman racing is managing what’s given to you on race day. A strong mind can power a tired body.
If I gave up every time an Ironman was hard, I would not have 13 Ironman finishes behind my name. I was given a very tough marathon run to tackle, with an empty mind and body. While the marathon fatigue is normal and expected, I just didn’t imagine it would hit me so hard and so early in the marathon. While I wanted to quit so badly as the fatigue and empty feeling was so intense that I thought there was no way that I could finish, somehow, I found deep inner strength and a soft voice in my head that helped me fight until the finish. It was a tough fight and one I hope to never have to repeat again but I’m happy that I never gave up and even on a bad run day, I was still able to put together a strong race and land on the podium in a strong, competitive international field.

After just a few minutes, my legs responded well to running off the bike which was such a relief. With every Ironman, it’s always a big question mark as to how the legs will feel running off the bike. I’ve had Ironmans where the first step was painful and then other races, when I felt like I was floating off the bike with no effort. I was really looking forward to the crowds so once I got about a mile into the course, I felt a lift of energy from the cheers. With the aid stations spaced out every 1.5K, I focused on breaking down the race one aid station to the next. Within each aid station I was focused on my form, rhythm and fueling from my hydration belt.

The first few miles went by fairly quickly. I found a good rhythm and I was holding a steady but sustainable pace. As I started running toward the town of Krumpendorf and received my lap one bracelt, I saw Karel and he didn’t look too speedy. He even cheered for me which he rarely does when he is racing. I was happy to see him and I gave him a smile. I was happy that my stomach felt good and I wasn’t worried about nutrition issues as the first few miles usually give me signs of how nutrition will sit for the marathon run and I wasn’t getting signs any signs that my tummy would be off during the race which was good.

The first two miles of the course really suit me as the terrain changes from the sidewalk trail to packed sand to cobbles/wood and then back to the trail and then sand again. I also loved the new addition to the course where we literally ran next to the finish line (but in the opposite direction) and the noise was intense from the fans – what a boost in energy! But then, around mile 3 or so, we just run on the road and a path and to be honest, my mind doesn’t really like the section in Krumpendorf as it feels really long to me. So I just focused on making my way around the town so that I could get greeted by the loud crowds again. I will say, however, there are spectators everywhere on this course so you never feel lonely. Once I got back to the “hot spot” it hit me hard – really hard. My body suddenly felt empty and I had no energy in me. I have never had this feeling come to me so early in an Ironman and as hard as it hit me and all I could think was that I was super low in energy. At the moment, I didn’t feel bonky but I just had nothing left in me. Ugh, this is going to be a long marathon.

I kept up with my nutrition in my hydration belt between the aid stations and then tried some coke at the aid station. I stopped and walked through and took me time to try to get my energy up. It helped a bit and found myself running again, feeling a little better. At this time, my mind was struggling – part of me wanted to quit and get this horrible feeling over with and the other part of me was trying to tell me that I didn’t come this far to quit. This conversation in my head went on for several more miles as I made my way to the downtown section of Klagenfurt. I shut up the voices in my head when I got closer to downtown as I love this part of the course as it’s a quick out and back in the downtown and running on the cobblestones with spectators around eating and drinking is such a cool feeling. I even rang the bell which gives money to charity each time it is rung. I even liked the slight down/uphill (the only terrain change on the course) right before/after downtown as it was nice to change up the rhythm in my legs. Since I naturally do better running on hills, I strategically did more of my training on the Swamp Rabbit Trial which is flat, in prep for this race. But I know that my body prefers hills – and oddly enough, I am typically faster running hills than on the flats.

Because the course is marked in kilometers, I was finding myself not getting wrapped up in the miles completed or how many more miles are left to go. I just focused on one aid station at a time and tried to use those as my check marks to remind me that I was making ground on the course. I started to walk a bit longer at the aid stations and continued on with coke from the aid stations (along with water and sponges) and my fuel between the aid stations from my hydration belt. It was warming up just a bit and when the sun came out, it felt rather hot so the sponges were really helpful. I avoided running through hoses as I didn’t want my shoes to get wet so I used the sponges to keep me cool and I held on to them between the aid stations and got new cold ones at the next aid station. I spotted Karel once more, as well as my athletes Natalie and Justine and I’m sure I looked far from my normal self as all my energy (whatever was there) was focused on moving myself forward as I had little energy to give to anyone else. It was just one of those days where I didn’t want to be racing but I had to convince myself that I did want to be there – this took many many miles.

As I was nearing the end of the first loop, I thought to myself that there was no way that I could finish. But strangely, even as my body and mind were giving up, I kept moving forward. It’s almost like my mind knows that I am not a quitter and it was keeping me going even though my body had nothing left. The good thing was that my running form was still good and even though my walk breaks at the aid stations were longer, I was still running OK between the aid stations (considering how I was feeling).

There were times when I found a rhythm and had a bit more energy but it never lasted long. I just tried to hold on to that feeling as long as I could and when it went away, I just hoped for it to come back. After making a quick stop at special needs for two new flasks (pre-mixed with powder and water) before grabbing my wrist band for loop two of the course, I spotted Karel’s friend Roman from Czech who gave me the best and worst news possible.

“Marni you are in 1^st age group and 2^nd is 2 minutes behind you.”

While this information was great to hear and told me that I was leading my age group on a day when I wasn’t putting together the race I had hoped for, I now had to commit to the race for if I gave up, there would be no possibility that I could be on the podium……and all this pain would be for nothing. For anyone who has raced an Ironman and has been in this position, it can be very exhausting to know that you have to commit to being competitive all the way to the end. But I also know that the race is never over until the end and a lot can happen in the last few miles so even if you find yourself in a position that you feel is no longer competitive, never ever give up for you never know what will happen in the last few miles.

At this point, my sub 10-hour and 3:35 marathon goal was far out the window so I had a new goal – stay on the podium for my age group. In order to do this, I had to stay mentally and physically strong. I still wanted to quit and stop the pain that I was feeling in my body but to keep myself going, I started to make really small goals for myself. The first goal was to finish the loop in Krumpendorf. I continued to walk the aid stations and take care of myself but my only focus was on the next 6 miles. My mind wasn’t focused on how many miles I had ran or how many was left in the marathon but just one this one section of the race. Once I completed the loop, I felt like I had finished the race because my mission was accomplished.

OK, next goal was to get to the aid station under a bridge which is close to the downtown section of Klagenfurt. Around this time, I was passed by the girl in my age group who was 2 minutes behind me. Since we are not body marked at Ironman Austria, the bib numbers tell you what age group you are in (written out and by color). I didn’t attempt to chase her as she was running really strong and I didn’t want to do anything silly and potentially not finish (how funny – I made this assessment after wanting to quit for a good 10 miles!). I continued to focus on myself and I was OK with 2^nd age group. But this kinda worried me as I didn’t know where 3^rd was and how close she was to passing me. I thought to myself that I’ve come this far, I really want to stay on the podium. I no longer cared about my finishing time and didn’t look at my watch as my focus was on my nearest competition.

Once I got into Klagenfurt, I felt relieved. I can do this! It was the craziest feeling to suddenly have energy. It was like all of a sudden I had convinced myself that I could finish when I spent a good 2 hours trying to figure out how I would get to the finish line with an empty body. After leaving Klagenfurt for the last time, everything became “the last time” for me. Passing this aid station for the last time. Passing this KM marker for the last time. Passing this destination for the last time. This gave me a lot of energy and although I wasn’t running any faster, it sure felt easier. My legs were so tired and my body was empty but I was still able to keep good form, despite not being able to move forward very quickly. Nonetheless, I was still running and I was going to finish this race!

As I was nearing the last mile, I was so excited to be so close to the finish line. Still, a long way to go in an Iroman as anything can happen in those last 10 minutes. As I was getting closer to the finish line, I couldn’t believe that I saw the girl who blazed by me in my age group – she was suffering, very badly. I was shocked that I caught back up to her, even though I knew she would win our age group since she started behind me and there was no more room in the race to gain 2 minutes back from her. But at this point, my body had one more fight in it and I ran passed her and “sprinted” to the finish line. I had to be careful as my legs were exhausted and there were a few turns to negotiate in the last quarter mile but I was so happy to have overcome one exhausting IM marathon to finish on the podium. I even heard Karel and his mom cheering for me from behind a fence.

I zipped up my tri top and high-fived a few spectators as I was nearing the finish line. Oh what a relief to finally cross that finish line on the magical red carpet at Ironman Austria. Although I was ready for the pain to stop, I really tried to enjoy the finish line as I worked so hard to get there.

Once I crossed the finish line, I couldn’t believe the day I had and how bad I wanted to quit. Once I met up with Karel (and his mom who was so happy for us both – this was her first time watching a triathlon), he told me that he didn’t have the day he wanted either and it was a really tough day for him as well. He also said that he felt really low in energy and it just wasn’t good day for him. Although we were both bummed about our performances – which we felt didn’t reflect our current fitness – it was still a performance to be proud of for a finish is worth celebrating. Plus, I was able to stand on the podium at the awards ceremony (they only do top 3 at international races) and Karel placed 5^th in his AG which is the highest he has ever placed here at Ironman Austria.


After taking a well-needed indoor shower in the athlete area (what a treat – a total highlight of the race!) and cleaning up (and enjoying ice cream and coffee from the local café), Karel and I went back out to the course to cheer for our athletes/friends. Although a tough day for us all, I’m proud of my body for fighting this one out and it was special to share the course with Karel, his mom, Justine and Natalie.

When I was on the run, I told myself that I was done with Ironman racing. No more, never again. I had enough with this pain and I never wanted to experience it again. Ha!

Well, it only took about 24 hours for me to feel the itch to race again. Thankfully, I have Ironman Wisconsin on my race schedule (Ironman #14!) and I can’t wait to tackle one of my favorite courses for the 3^rd time! Thank you body for letting me pursue my dreams and for letting me race for 140.6 miles! 

2018 Trimarni Supporters and Affiliates

We would like to send a BIG thank you to our Trimarni sponsors and affiliates for supporting the Trimarni team:

• Run In - for helping us with our running gear/shoe needs
• Mg12 - for helping our muscles stay relaxed
• Clif Bar - for quality, organic ingredients in quality sport nutrition
• Carborocket - for providing a quality bike and run nutrition in tasty flavors
• Base nutrition - for making delicious bars and a variety of products to meet the needs of endurance athletes. And for being all around awesome. 
• Veronica's Health Crunch - for the most delicious hand made crunch - ever!
• Infinit - for customizable sport nutrition with safe and effective ingredients
• Levelen - for helping athletes optimize our hydration needs through sweat testing
• Hot Shot - for boosting neuromuscular performance and preventing muscle cramps
• Solestar - for maximum stability, better power transmission
• KLEAN for making quality products, tested to be clean and safe for athlete consumption.
• Boco Gear - for helping us race in style
• Canari - for the most comfortable, functional and stylish gear and for helping our athletes race in good-looking kits
• Amrita bars - for making the most delicious tasting, high-quality plant-based protein and energy bars. 
• Xterra - for the fastest, most comfortable wetsuit ever.
• Alto cycling - for engineering the fastest race wheels
• Swamp Rabbit Inn and Lodge - for keeping our campers happy with perfect lodging options
• Ventum - for designing a cool-looking bike that has been backed by research and top-notch engineering. And for supporting athletes whe

IM Austria race report - post race

You can't have a race report without the post race details......

With quads that were no longer working, I slowly hobbled my way to the big white tent with Karel (only athletes allowed inside) to grab my street wear bag.

Karel told me that there were showers outside the white tent for showering. I could not wait to clean myself up after racing for 10+ hours.

I walked over to the showers, thinking that there was only one set of showers but thankfully, there was a men's and a women's shower.

The line to the male showers was long and not only was it filled with men but naked men. Oh my - what a sight (when in Europe)!

When I opened the door and walked into the women's shower "cubicle", there was at least 8 individual showers (and curtains) and no wait!

With warm water, I cleaned myself up and it felt amazing. What a treat to have indoor showers right at the race venue after an Ironman.

After I got dressed, I met Karel and my mom joined us as we walked to the transition area to get our bikes (5:30pm or later check out).

I picked up my very dirty bike (see pic below) and then grabbed my bike and run gear bags. We went through several stations to verify that our stuff was actually our stuff and then we turned in our chips at the end. 

We slowly walked to the parking lot to get our van and then we made our short drive home back to our apartment.

Seeing that it was 90 minutes or so after I finished when we arrived home (and over 2 hours for Karel), my body was starting to slowly shut down.

So, I did what every Ironman athlete loves to do at the finish of an Ironman.....lie down!

I crashed on the bed with Karel and still without much of an appetite (the food options post race were not your typical post race pretzels, pizza and banana options - they had all types of meats, goulash, bread and some fruit....and beer of course), I couldn't believe what had happened. I hadn't checked the Ironman website yet so it was finally time to actually see what I did to confirm that what happened during the race, really happened.

Aside from laying down, I also look forward to exchanging stories with Karel post race. While my first 7 Ironman events were with Karel on the sidelines, the past 5 Ironman events have been special as I don't only tell Karel my race recap but I get to hear his recap.

He still couldn't believe the race that he had and he was so happy with his result. Actually, he was shocked. He said he really celebrated at the finish line and soaked it all in. 

We took some time to reply to our many texts and messages (thank you everyone for the support) but nearing 8pm, our brains were just as exhausted as our bodies. 

Karel decided that he wanted ice cream whereas I was in no mood for anything with sugar in it but I thought it would be nice to walk downtown Klagenfurt and cheer on the athletes who were still racing and to let Karel satisfy one of his sweet teeth. 

It was really neat to walk on the race course and to reflect on our day. Karel and I both shared our stories about how we felt "here" or what happened "there". 

Not sure what Karel is more happy about - his Ironman performance or his ice cream??

I knew that it would be hard to fall asleep with the typical post race insomnia but I managed to fall asleep around 11pm but then I woke up around 3am - hungry!

I had snacked throughout the evening, after the race (mostly pretzels and milk) but at 3pm, I needed some substance in my belly!

I made myself a hardboiled egg, avocado and cheese baguette sandwich with farmers cheese spread. Yes, fat and salt please!! 

After I ate, I went back to sleep for a few more hours but it was a restless night of sleep. Karel said that he didn't sleep at all but just tossed and turned in bed.....with every muscle in his body hurting. I could feel the pain! 

Karel and I made the mistake of not getting any yummy post race food for our apartment so around 8am, we went to the grocery to get some food.

Karel picked up some chicken and made himself a schnitzel and had some potato salad (without mayo).....and a beer of course.

Breakfast of a champion....or of a 9:13 Ironman finish with a 3:06 marathon!

After we ate, we went to the expo to check out the finisher gear and purchased a few items and then went over to the roll down for Kona. 

Although IM Austria was not Karel's key race to Kona qualify, he couldn't believe his time and overall place and thought that there may be a slight chance that he would get a roll down. With only 40 slots for Kona at IM Austria and only 5 slots in Karel's 40-44 AG (with 500+ athletes), we knew it would have to be a miracle...but we crossed our fingers and hoped for the best.

Deep inside, Karel hoped for the Kona slot here just so he didn't have to repeat the torture and pain of racing hard in 8 weeks at IMMT but he was also fine with whatever outcome was meant to be for him. He said that even if he didn't get a Kona slot, he was so proud of his race and he could not have asked for anything more. 

Well, maybe 2 minutes more as that would have given Karel a Kona slot (it rolled down to 6th plave and Karel was 9th) but oh well.

I have no doubt that Karel will do what he does best and go into his upcoming training with tenacity and will race smart, once again, at Ironman Mont Tremblant to see if he can earn his Kona slot.

If you were wondering, there was only 1 slot in my age group (30-34) and the first place girl took the slot. But that's ok as my only goal was to podium at IM Austria and not to Kona qualify. I am thrilled that the one slot went to the athlete who is going to Kona.

After the roll down, we started to get hungry so we went to a restaurant in downtown Klagenfurt for a late but light lunch. 

Appetizer

Karel's dish

My dish - dressing on the bottom, cooked potatoes and salad.

My mom's dish - beef soup.

After lunch, we went back to our apartment to change and to get ready for the athlete post-race banquet.

I was getting a bit nervous in my belly to stand on the podium but equally excited to celebrate with the other athletes. 

The tent was packed and it was fun to see so many professionals and age group athletes in one room....all walking kinda slow :) 

They served us salad and bread to start and then two different types of pastas (a vegetarian dish and one with chicken). Mine was so good. They serve each table family style and you pass around the big dish and serve yourself. It's really cool to sit with other athletes, from other places in the world. 

When they started the award ceremony, the called up the professionals and the male and female winners gave a speech. Then it was time for the age group awards.

I was surprised when they called my name as the fastest overall female swim as I wasn't expecting anything at the banquet.

The fastest male swimmer wasn't present so I walked up to the stage and received an award from Arena Swimwear.

Not too long later, they called up the 30-34 age group podium for men and women. They only award top 3 so this race was a really huge deal for me to be on the podium. This was my highest age group finish since my very first IM back in 2006 (when I was 23 and won the 18-24 AG) and my highest ever overall amateur placement in an Ironman.

What an honor to stand up there with so many athletes from all over the world. I was also super pumped to be the fastest American female amateur at Ironman Austria.

What a dream come true!

After the awards (which got more and more inspiring as they went into the older age groups, even a 70-74 year old male category!!), it was time for desserts and then the conclusion of Ironman Austria with a live band entertaining everyone until the after after party (which we didn't attend - those Europeans know how to party!)

Well Ironman Austria - thank you again for the great memories.

I really don't know how Karel and I can top this race experience.

We have raced Ironman Austria twice and both times, we left the race with a PR but also with the same feelings that we absolutely LOVE racing in Europe.

While traveling here is extremely stressful, time consuming and expensive and it seems as if we always have some type of bad luck before race day...... race day does not disappoint us and things just somehow work out.

Like many athletes, we have each had our struggles as endurance athletes (and I'm positive there will be more) and it can be very tough to live this lifestyle together (as a married couple) for it's tough when one of us isn't in a good place, physically or mentally.  

But not only is that life but that's life as an athlete.

It's tough!

Be respectful to your body during the tough time and be grateful to your body during the great times.

With so many setbacks in my past, I can only encourage you to not give up during your low moments because the race of your life will happen - you just have to put in the work, believe in yourself, dream big and stay patient.

Thank you to our 2016 Trimarni sponsors for the ongoing support!

IM Austria race report - 26.2 mile run

Not feeling so great within the first 1/2 mile of the run, my first thought was that this is going to be one tough marathon for my body to get through.

To be honest, after 10 Ironman starts and finishes, this wasn't the first time that I have thought this or experienced this feeling, so I just reminded myself that the only way I would get to the finish was to keep moving forward.

While I felt physically fit and prepared for IM Austria, I did a lot of mental training to help me prepare for the uncontrollable moments and the uncomfortable moments of racing a 140.6 mile event.  I was prepared mentally for anything that came my way on race day.
And oh boy, was I given a lot to struggle with during the marathon!

Going into Ironman Austria, I reminded myself that I was in great health and that any suffering that I felt on race day was normal and expected. I welcomed the opportunity to suffer for 10+ hours and I wanted to embrace the good hurt that I would feel when racing to the best of my athletic ability.

I've learned that having a goal pace or goal time in the Ironman run can cause a great amount of stress and pressure for me so my only goal for the run was to find and establish and then hold good run form with rhythm and fluency. This is something that I have learned from Karel as he always tells me that he runs with a metronome-style of running and no matter how fast or slow his time shows on his watch, he doesn't care about the time but instead, finding that rhythm and then holding it until he becomes numb with this feeling and he can then just go with it by digging deep and staying mentally tough.

While Karel and I don't do the typical "long run" training (in Jan/Feb we do some longer slow runs around 2 hours but in my peak training, my longest run was 13.1 miles - at Rev3 Knoxville and Karel's longest run was 15 miles, with most of his runs around 13-14 miles), we race with our resilient bodies that are strong, healthy and durable. It takes a lot of courage to trust that you are "ready" to run an Ironman without the fear-based long-run training to see if you are "ready" for the marathon but we both felt ready for the marathon.

But of course, feeling ready and then dealing with the obstacles that you face on or before race day is just part of endurance racing.

For the first 3 miles, my stomach was not feeling good. But somehow, I was able to find a semi-good rhythm despite feeling uncomfortable in my gut. The crowds were cheering loud as I ran through Europapark which is always an instant energy booster.
Thankfully, the rain had stopped and the sky stayed dark so the weather was absolutely perfect for running.

There is one section in the run that we pass through 5 times, with the 5th time being the last time as we veer to the left to the long chute to the finish line.  

While I was really looking forward to this "hot spot" as a mental check-off point that I was making forward progress in the run, the Ironman Austria run course is my absolute favorite Ironman run courses as it has everything I love in a marathon run:
Cobblestones, sand, paved trail, loops, grass, a downtown, a neighborhood, water and mountain views and lots of crowd support.
While there are no significant hills, it's relatively flat with a few bumps to wake-up the quads...not to mention the curbs you have to run on and off of as you are entering and exiting downtown Klagenfurt.

I need a lot of mental stimulation when I run and not to mention the kilometer signs (instead of mile markers) to make me think (I love doing math when I run - it helps me tune-out the pain in my legs), I was really excited for this run course.

But first, I needed to figure out my stomach situation.
While my legs felt heavy at first, they started to feel better once the terrain changed from pavement to sand.
As I was running near the town/neighborhood of Krumpendorf, I spotted Karel running toward me as he was a few miles ahead of me since he finished a little over 20 minutes ahead of me on the bike.
I wasn't sure what condition Karel would be in off the bike based on his back pain going into the race and anything he had to overcome on the bike but even when he was in intense pain before the race on the bike, he felt ok on the run. I know he was just thinking that if he could get through the bike, he would be ok for the run and would just take it mile by mile, willing to drop out of the race if he had to (but we knew this would be hard as he really didn't want to DNF this race).

When I saw him, I gave him a big smile and a wave and he yelled back "Go Marni". This was certainly a surprise as Karel rarely talks when he is in race mode so I really appreciated this gesture. I wasn't sure what to think of his running form but I was just happy to see that he was running.

I felt like I really needed to use the bathroom so I planned to stop when I approached the first potty on the course. Well, my digestive tract was impatient so found the nearest bushes. It was a bit of a struggle to get off my one-piece short sleeve tri suit. No need to feel sorry for me or feel grossed out by this as I respect the human body and all that it has to handle on race day and well, sometimes things just don't work out like we would like.
I embraced this obstacle and my primary goal was to get through this stomach situation so I could get running again.

I was feeling a bit frustrated after this stop because I still didn't feel good for the next few miles.
I really wanted to stay up on my sport nutrition from my hydration belt but ever time I took a sip, I felt the urge to go to the bathroom again.
With the aid stations occuring about every 2.5K (or about every 1.5 miles), I skipped two aid stations and withheld from taking in any calories for over 15 minutes.
I was anxious to get back to taking in calories and fluids as I needed the energy but by mile 4 of still not feeling good, I needed this situation to go away as soon as possible.

A few more miles ticked by and I was able to still run with semi good form but my mind was not in the right place as I wasn't thinking about the metronome style of running that I wanted to achieve but instead, my mind was thinking about my tummy and how to best get through this situation.

As I made my way through the park again and on to the path toward downtown Klagenfurt, I was so relieved to make it this far. I knew I'd be seeing my mom in a few miles which made me happy to see a familiar face. 

Although I was going through a lot in the first 7 miles of the run, I still hadn't seen another female amateur close by me - but there was a good chance that with 3 potty stops so far on the run (plus one in T2), I may have been passed by girls and not even know it.

Before I approached downtown Klagenfurt, a girl passed me. We ran close to each other for a while which gave me a glimmer of hope that even though I had all these struggles, I was still making progress - I couldn't have asked for any more at this point in the race!

I laughed because at my 4th potty stop, the girl I was running with also stopped. We entered at the same time and left at the same time and we went back to running close to each other.

As I was getting close to downtown Klagenfurt, the crowds were getting thick and I was so excited to get some energy from the crowds. I could smell all the good food from the outdoor seating at the restaurants which made me smile - at least others were yumming while we were suffering.

I was hoping to see Karel again but I suppose we missed each other.

The downtown section was exciting and I finally came to terms with my tummy that I would sit in the potty until I was ready to exit and no more short stops.
What felt like forever, I finally felt better. 
I also decided that I needed to ditch my hydration belt at an aid station (by a fence) as I was still dealing with some distention and my hydration belt was extremely uncomfortable. While I love my hydration belt and tried to keep it on for 12 miles, it was time to use the nutrition from the course.
On to coke and water for the next 14 miles.

This is Karel running through downtown Klagenfurt - my mom snapped the pic. 

 
This is me entering downtown Klagenfurt - my mom snapped the pic.

As I was leaving downtown, I spotted my mom and told her that my stomach was not feeling good. She told me to hang in there and that I was doing great. 

She yelled something at me and I thought she said "you have a 11-minute lead" but after thinking about it, I thought she said you are in 11th.

Regardless of what she said and what I heard, I needed to hear this.

Something inside of me switched from suffering with my belly to needing and wanting to suffer with my body to get on the podium. Regardless if it was true or not, I convinced myself that I was going to get on that podium and I needed to believe that to get me through the rest of the marathon.

Suddenly, my legs started working and my stomach felt better. I was making a lot of forward progress and I actually felt strong. I embraced the hurt I was feeling and I was also happy to have passed the longest distance I had run in training.

When I went through the "hot spot" once again, I received another wrist band (think hair band) for my 2nd loop of the run. To get this band, a volunteer opens up the band and you stick your hand through. I received a yellow one when I started my first loop and a green one when I started the 2nd loop.
I didn't pick up my special needs flasks since I no longer had my hydration belt.

Now that I got through all those tummy issues, it was time to start playing the mind games. First, I thought how great it would be to finish now since I was running by the finishing chute but that was just wishful thinking. Still 11+ more miles to go! I told myself that all I needed to do was to get through the Krumpendorf section and then through Europapark (around 5-6 miles or so) and then it would be smooth sailing for the rest of the run. Sure, I knew this wouldn't be the case but I have learned that not only do you have to cut deals with yourself but you have to make yourself to think about anything you can to make a given situation better.

I had incorporated several walks into my running now that I was able to run more steady, whereas before, I wasn't walking the aid stations as I was doing enough stopping at each potty stop.

I felt like I was running really "fast" (relatively speaking) through Krumpendorf but when I got back on the trail to head back to the "hot spot", I felt a low. I just told myself to keep on moving forward, which I did.

I was surprised that my legs were running as well as they were considering all that had happened in the first 2 hours of the marathon run but nonetheless, my legs were fatigued. Every foot strike was painful but I tried to keep my mind in a good place that this was exactly what I had trained for.

As I was leaving the hot spot, I spotted Karel. My first thought was "I am SO jealous that he is finishing now!!!" but then I cheered for him. Later he told me that it took him a few minutes to process that he heard me as he was in a world of hurt from racing hard (not from an injury, thank goodness) and was just laser focused on the finish line.

I figured I had a good 45+ minutes until I reached the finish line so I was on a mission to get there as soon as I could so that I could reunite with Karel and my mom.

Every time I crossed a timing mat I felt like I was connecting with all my friends and Trimarni followers so it kept me focused that I knew people were tracking us online.

While I told myself that the rest of the race would be "easy" as I was running near Krumpendorf, I started to feel a painful cramping in my belly. Seriously?
Ok, I can get through this. I knew that the best thing in this situation was to stop as I couldn't risk to run with bad form this late in the race so I stopped at the next aid station, stretched out my core, took in some water and coke and walked until I felt better. While it didn't feel better right away, it slowly loosened up and what a relief, in less than a mile I was back to running again.

As I went through downtown once more, I noticed that there were some girls close behind me.
I gave myself permission to walk at one more aid station with 2.5-3 miles to go and then I was going to suffer like I have never suffered before.

I passed the girl who had passed me on the run earlier in the race and I also ended up passing the girl who passed me on the run.

I still had no idea what place I was in but I told myself that I had to be near the top of the age grouper females and I just had to stay focused to the finish line.

Every foot strike was scary as it hurt in my quads but I reminded myself that the pain I was feeling was nothing new as I had felt this pain 10 times before.
Plus, with no more tummy issues, I welcomed the hurt from pushing hard.

I had yet to look at my overall time, my running pace or any other metric on the run so like I normally do in an Ironman, with less than 2 miles to go, I look at the time of the day on my watch to see what my overall time may be.

Throughout the marathon, I was doing a little math - not knowing my swim time but guessing it was 59 minutes and then knowing that my bike time was something over 5:16 (as that was the last time I looked at my Garmin on the bike, before the transition area), I was thinking that I was going to finish around 10:20-10:25 based on all that I had to go through on the run. I was thinking that I was not even going to run a sub 4 hour marathon and that maybe I would be top 5 in my age group.

It wasn't until I was nearing mile 25 that I looked at my watch for the time of the day and it was getting close to 4:50pm.

Are you freaking kidding me?

While I am sure it didn't look like it, I felt like I was sprinting to the finish line.
It seemed to take forever through the park but I finally reached the hot spot once more, turned to the left, rotated my bib number to the front, zipped up my jersey and started to smile.

What a relief.
I finally made it to the finish line.

I was overwhelmed with emotion that I high-fived the announcer and with my hands raised up as high as they would go (oh boy, that took some energy), I crossed the 2016 Ironman Austria finish line. I looked up at the clock and saw 10:06 and couldn't believe it.


Thank you Joey for the pictures from the computer!

I didn't have much time to process it as I hobbled my way to the side of the finish line and nearly collapsed on the rail. 

Me far right, looking at the clock in disbelief. 

As I hobbled away from the finish line, I could hear Karel yelling at me from the other side of the fence. Of course, he was all dressed with a plate of food in his hands and I walked over to him.

We chatted between the fence and I told him I went 10:06. He was so happy for me.
It took me a minute to remember that he raced too so I asked him how his race went.

He was nearly speechless when he said "9:13".

I responded, are you serious?
He also told me that he ran a 3:06 marathon.

I was thrilled for him and I couldn't believe our day.
While the outcome may have been perfect, we both had our obstacles to overcome before and during the race.



After sitting down (with a group of guys) for a few minutes, I was finally ready to walk to see Karel and my mom.

My mom was so happy for me and she told me that I had the fastest overall swim of the day.
Say whaaat?
She told me that I swam 57.0 and I couldn't believe it. I thought there was no way that I swam that fast - I believe my dad, from above, was helping me out on race day.
Karel said the same thing about his marathon - my dad was helping him dig deeper than ever before.



It took a bit for me to find out how I finished overall in my age group but thanks to a bunch of text messages and posts on Facebook, I finally got confirmation that I was 2nd in my age group and Karel was 9th in his age group (out of 500+!).

I've always loved the Ironman distance as it doesn't always award the fastest or fittest athlete.

I respect this distance and I am incredibly grateful to my body for letting me start and finish 11 Ironman distance events.

Thank you for your support and for sharing our special day with us.

OVERALL RESULTS

Karel: 

9th AG (40-44), 68th overall

Swim - 1:03.05

Bike - 4:56.51

Run - 3:06.05

Total - 9:13.10

Marni: 

2nd AG (30-34), 10th female overall

Swim - :57.04

Bike - 5:18.00

Run - 3:42.57

Total - 10:06:54

(I apologize for any grammar errors or typos!)

IM Austria race report - 112 mile bike

(this picture was not from race day but the same view we got to enjoy for much of 112 miles!)

As I was settling into my rhythm on the bike for the short out and back section, I kept the effort very easy - light on the pedals.
Karel told me that my "race effort" would start after I left Maria Worth as I was nearing the round about by the town of Velden. I needed to give myself time before settling into my Ironman bike "race effort" as I was ready to give a very sustainably hard (relatively speaking for an Ironman) effort on the bike for Ironman Austria.

This year I have made/seen some big and exciting improvements on the bike - but as we all know, this didn't happen overnight. Seeing that I married a cat 1 cyclist turned triathlete, I really had no choice that I was going to become a good cyclist whether I liked it or not - thankfully, I learned to love cycling!
The truth is that my cycling has been an ongoing developmental process starting with an evolving bike fit (by Karel) to help my glutes work harder on the bike and to not tire out my quads. Specifically this season I did a lot of work on the trainer to help with my pedaling mechanics, with better chain tension with variable cadence (to help me climb better sitting and standing).  And of course, since moving to Greenville 2 years ago, I am more confident riding my bike in all types of terrain and know how to change my gears properly when anticipating different terrain.
So as much as I wish I could tell you a;; the magic key workouts that have helped my cycling, the truth is that I have not doing anything extreme with my cycling training - I simply dedicated myself to improving my skills, learned how to ride my bike and improved my confidence when riding on two wheels.
(Thank you Karel!)

My longest bike was 5 hours (about 85 miles) although I had one intentional overload cycling week (4 weeks out) where I did 3 long rides (4.5 hours, 5 hours and 4 hours within 7 days - all with a run off the bike. This same week I did a lot of run frequency as well. It was my biggest week of training in my IM training block (which lasted about 5 weeks) but the rest of my "long" bikes were around 3.5-4 hours with only a few 4.5 hour rides. 

I felt like I was flying through Maria Worth as the first section is fast. There are a few "bumps" in the road but overall, it's a great start to an Ironman after swimming for 2.4 miles.

I noticed in front of me that there was a girl with a motorcycle escort ahead of me. I was a bit confused by this because I was getting closer to her and I wasn't too sure of why an age grouper would have an escort. The first thought was maybe she was the top age grouper and they had a lead vehicle with her but as I  got closer and spotted her bib number around her waist on her back and it was a very low number (we were required to wear our bib numbers on our back - on our race belt - on the bike since we had no body markings. We also had 3 numbers on our helmet - front and both sides). I was able to see the back of the sign on the motorcycle and it read "3rd Austrian woman" or something like that.

While I have exited the water close to female professionals in the past at an Ironman, it was only a matter of time until I looked like I was riding backwards as they were riding quickly away from me.

This was certainly a first as I was staying very close to the professional female ahead of me. However, eventually she did ride away.

Seeing that I had no assigned watts, heart rate or speed to hold but instead, to just stay up with my nutrition (1 bottle per hour of 300 calories + additional water as needed from aid stations) and to go all by feel and occasionally check in with my metrics, when I approached the round about by Veldon I was ready to focus for the next 4+ hours.



As I approached the first climb, I felt good but didn't want to do anything crazy.
With two loops, 180K and 4-5 climbs (3 being significant climbs), it was really important that even though I was willing and ready to give an effort like I have never given before on the bike, I didn't want to ruin my race in the first 20K.

Compared to 2014 Ironman Austria, I felt much more confident on the bike course  And seeing that we were predicted to have rain later in the day (just like we had in 2014), I felt like I would be able to ride more comfortably in the rain on this terrain (in 2014 I rode a bit too scared).

I kept waiting for Karel to pass me but after finishing the Faaker See climb and then finishing the first loop of our course (see the map above to understand the loops within the loop course), I was nearing 50K and no sign of Karel.
I knew that there was a good chance that he wouldn't feel good on the bike based on how he had been feeling on race week but I hoped that a miracle would happen and he would be able to ride pain free. I knew how much he was looking forward to IM Austria, especially the bike course.

I can't say enough about this bike course - cute villages, the screaming spectators, the awesome volunteers at the aid stations (seriously - they were so awesome), the unbelievable breathtaking mountain views, the smooth silky terrain between the villages, the long fun and fast descends (nothing too technical) and the challenging climbs to break up the course.

I felt a little tired (sleep tired) in the first 90 minutes of the bike and I knew it wasn't from being low on calories but probably just from poor sleep habits on race week due to a bad case of jet lag. I stayed up on my nutrition with my liquid calories (4-5 sips every 10-15 minutes and as needed) plus water at aid stations and although my body felt good and I felt sharp, my eyes were sleepy.

It was around the time when I was having a little low that you know who rolls up behind me and I can spot a flash of orange right next to me.

The first thing he said was "Wow babe, you are doing great."

Karel passed me a little after 60K as we were nearing the last big climb (which is a long and tough one - it just keeps going and going and going)  of our first loop and later did he tell me that he couldn't believe that it took him that long to catch me on the bike. Usually he passes me within 30-40 min of the bike.

I told Karel that I thought I was near the top of the amateurs as he rode away....with a small group of other guys trying to stay with him (they didn't last long).

I could see Karel in the distance starting the climb and as he was switching from getting out of the saddle and then sitting and climbing, I could tell that he had his normal riding style - which was relieving (later did he tell me that his hips felt fine but he did feel a bit of tightness in his back but better than the days prior).

This was a great pick-me up and after the long climb, I was back to business again.

The last 30K of the first loop is very fast with a few slightly technical areas through villages (but nothing crazy hard or scary). The roads are wide open and you can almost always see where you are going with nothing significant to make you squeeze on your breaks for a turn or switch back. Despite the challenging climbs, if you can climb efficiently, this can be a very fast course (which it is known to be one of the fastest IM bike courses despite 5300+ feet of climbing).

As I was finishing the loop, in the last 30K, a girl rode up next to me (actually, this happened near the last big long climb) and I noticed on her bib number that she was in the 18-24 age group. While this didn't concern me that she wasn't in my age group, I wasn't sure how many female amateurs were close behind me on the bike so I used her as my rabbit and tried my best to stay with her. She was very strong on the bike and was able to stay with others a bit better than me (legally drafting) as I was still trying to manage my efforts and I didn't want to waste everything I had on the first loop.

With the rolling start, the drafting was much less of an issue this year compared to when we raced in 2014. For many times during the bike, I rode by myself for miles and miles with no one in sight. There were a few times when I was passed by guys or a few small groups of 4-8 guys near each other but never 20+ athletes riding in a pack together.

Oh, I forgot to mention that throughout the bike, I had a motorcycle next time me with a photographer taking pictures of me. He would stay with me for several minutes. At this point, I finally realized that I was somewhere near the top of the amateur race which just blew my mind. Seriously, me??...at Ironman Austria with very strong and fast females amateurs?

After a fun and fast 10K wheeeeeew, let's fly, aero-action ride, I was nearing town and the girl who I was riding with was out of my sight so now she was out of mind. Time to refocus and get ready for lap #2.

As I was nearing the "hot corner" near transition to start loop #2, the announcer yelled "Here is Marni Sumbal, our 2nd female age group athlete". 

Well, now that it was official, I was willing to take some risks and give it what I had to have the ride of my life. I paced myself as well as I could on the first loop (which is hard when you are about to burst with energy after taper) and fueled as well as I could on the first loop so now, I just had to sustain my effort. I knew that I would slow down due to fatigue (hills seem to grow on loop two of an IM course - always!) and with the sky turning dark, I continued to hit lap on my Garmin to focus only on 30 minutes at a time - that is all I could control.
I would often find myself thinking about the run and how my legs would feel after this bike but I forced myself to stay present.

I did stop at special needs for 3 more filled sport nutrition bottles and although it was quick (I asked the volunteer to put my bottles in my cages for me so that I could stretch), I really enjoyed this stop at 92K to just put my feet on the ground and relax for a few seconds. Then I was off again for a solo ride all the way to Velden (with maybe a small handful of guys passing me).

For some reason, I grabbed a coke near Velden thinking that it would wake me up but looking back, I don't think that was a good idea as I have done this in the past and have ended up with GI issues on the run (despite being able to tolerate coke on the run just fine). Perhaps with my GI system not becoming regular due to jet lag, the combination of coke + sport nutrition + effort was a bit too much in my tummy.

I didn't want to back off on my calories too much but I needed my gut to empty some of the contents so I gave myself about 20 minutes or so of no nutrition to see if I could get things to empty. While I wasn't too worried about it as it wasn't that uncomfortable while cycling, I was just a little worried about the run. 

I also didn't let it get to me too much as I know the IM is a long day and a long event and things out of your control (even if well practiced) may happen. If I have learned one thing after 10 Ironmans (Austria being #11) - things WILL happen on race day and you have to do a good job trying to deal with them when they happen. I've never had a "perfect" race day where everything went perfect for 140.6 miles - a great race is when you can overcome what comes your way.

I had a few more low moments in the second loop but knowing the course was really helpful as there were certain sections that I was really looking forward to and I knew that I would be able to pick up some speed and get into a good place again.

As I was finishing the first loop (within our loop) again, the sky started to drizzle.
Around 60K, the sky started to pour.

For the next 30K, I rode in a pretty heavy rain shower (with a few thunders) that only let up in the last 10K (although still wet roads). I was a little worried about what the run would be like but I knew that I needed to focus on the bike as the roads were wet and I still had one big long climb to do with a lot of fast descending (and a few villages with a few tighter turns) to do in the rain.

Thankfully, I remained confident in the rain which meant I was riding safe. At times, I was even descending in the rain on my aerobars as I knew that breaking in the rain, descending, was not safe. I did not ride stupid but smart and I was really proud of myself - this was a long time in the making!

Somewhere in the last 150K, I caught back up with the 18-24 girl that had passed and dropped me around 80K. I figured she was the first amateur female so I once again tried to stay with her.

But as I got to the last tight turn through a village, I knew that riding safe was my priority. She was riding close to a small group of guys so my chances of catching her were gone.

I continued my descend back into town alone and one by one, I was being passed....by guys.

Still not another female in sight, I eased up a bit as I got my mind and body ready for the marathon (or as ready as they could get after 180K of cycling).

I switched over my Garmin (for the first time) screen from my interval screen to total time and it read 5:16 as I was nearing the transition area....holy moly! In 2014 at Ironman Austria, I rode 5:29 and I was thrilled to have finally broke 5:30.

Sub 5:20 was my scary goal (which helped me put in the work for training) going into this race and I couldn't believe it.

As I dismounted my bike, I spotted Karel's bike and smiled with relief that he had finished his bike. I was so excited to see him again on the run and hopefully see him running. If anything, I just wanted him to finish and I know "just finishing" was his goal so long as he wasn't in pain. 

I racked my bike and then ran straight to the potty to see if I could help ease my stomach a little before the run. I struggled a bit with my short sleeve tri suit to get it off which was costing me some time but finally I was in and out (what felt like forever!). I also took the time in there to remove my HR monitor since I was wearing my new Garmin 235 (with HR built into the watch on the wrist).

I grabbed my run bag and then ran into the women's changing tent.
I guess they weren't expecting me because I didn't have a volunteer helping me - I was all alone.
Finally, after I put  on my visor, watch, shoes and hydration belt, a volunteer came in as I was finishing up and she took all my gear and put it into my bag. I thanked her, popped a TUMS in my mouth and off I went.

Like usual, those first few steps off the bike, with running shoes, are scary as you have no idea how your legs will feel - fresh or heavy?

Thankfully, I felt fresh!

But sadly, it didn't last long.
Five minutes later, my legs felt heavy and I was not feeling good on the run.

Ok body - 11th Ironman, let's figure this out!

We have a marathon to run, Karel to see, my mom to say hi to and a podium to get on to!

Ironman Austria - Post Race recap

Karel waited almost an hour for me to cross the Ironman Austria finish line. But not to worry because the Ironman Austria post race buffet was filled with many European eats and treats. 

Karel didn't rush right to the food but when he was ready, he enjoy goulash with bread, meats, beer, croissants, watermelon and pizza. 

He said the goulash was good but the pizza and beer was not. This was Karel's first beer since we arrived to Europe so it was a total disappointment for him. 

I managed to find some strength in my legs to chat with my friend Kelly Fillnow who had a fantastic race in the professional women division. It's always fun to see familiar faces during a race and the chat after the race (when the suffering has stopped).

I was quite surprised that I had absolutely no GI issues post race. Typically, once the heart rate drops and the blood returns to the gut from the muscles, I am typically spending a little time in the restroom letting my system get back to normal (which is not abnormal for many athletes, especially athletes who race at high intensity). 

But this was the first Ironman that I can remember that I had no GI issues and I contribute it to the comfortable temperatures that we experienced on race day, coupled with a flatter run course after a hilly bike. Digestion of sport nutrition went extremely well for me and Karel but like usual, I was in no rush to eat solid food. It typically takes me a good hour to have any type of appetite post race (or for any solid food to digest) but I have to be careful of dropping blood sugar so alongside sipping on Hammer Fizz for electrolytes post race, I typically enjoy fruit, pretzels/crackers and bread (of some sorts) as the first options that enter my digestive system. And lots of water. 

I received my finisher tshirt and found a clean restroom to change clothes. I forgot my Wet Ones singles to clean off after the race, as well as a towel, in my "Street Clothes" bag but I couldn't wait to put on dry, clean clothes so I just wiped myself off with paper towels. 

I was moving extremely slowly and my right foot had a tender area on the bottom of it (which started to pop up around 2 miles to go) so I was not enjoying walking that much in my sandals (that I brought) so thankfully I had a clean pair of Brooks Pure Flow run shoes that I wore pre race (same style of shoes that I race in) so I put those on. I didn't have the strength to put on compression yet so I just put on normal socks. 

Karel and I slowly made our way to the transition area to get our bags and bikes. I'm always so amazed how my body can move so fast for so long until I cross the finish line and then all of a sudden I am moving at snails pace. 

As I walked to the transition area, I could not stop thinking about our day. It was absolutely perfect from start to finish. If my mind was in another place during this race, I do not think I would have been able to execute like I did. I was a bit surprised that I was in better shape than I thought I was in but I the most important thing was making sure my mind was in the best place possible to tolerate the 140.6 mile stress that I needed to survive to finish strong. I could not be more proud of Karel as well and sharing these experiences together is incredibly special for me. Because racing comes with a mix of emotions before a race, my favorite part of racing with Karel is post race when the racing hype is over and we can relax and share stories of how the race went down (hubby and wifey insider details).

We grabbed our bikes from our respective racks and then our T1 and T2 bags. The security was extremely tight in the transition area and after we turned in our chip (which was scanned on a computer to make sure it matched our bike and wrist band) we then went to another line to make sure our bags matched our bikes and our wrist band. 

Karel and I walked our bikes and bags the 1/2 mile or so to the car, unloaded our gear into the gear and then drove home. 

At this point, I was getting super tired and could not wait to get inside our flat to lay down. 

We finally arrived to our flat, shuffled our way up the stairs and I crashed on the bed as I called my mom to give her the run down of the race. 

I was also welcomed home with many emails and facebook messages and I was so excited to see that so many of you tracked us during our day in Austria. Thank you for your support!! We felt it on race day!!

After a well needed shower (which was rather uncomfortable when I discovered a bit of chaffing under my air pit where I forgot to put on body glide where my jersey rubbed my skin) I put together some leftovers as I typically do post race.

Pretzels, pizza, milk (which I always have post race after an IM after my tummy calms down), banana, chocolate, bread. There is absolutely no creativity or balance to this post race meal for it's all about what looks, tastes and feels the best in my body. Sometimes I think something will taste great and then I take a bit and don't want any more. I have learned over the years what sits the best post race but I still have to be careful not to overindulge post race. Typically, I crave more salty/fatty foods in the 24-48 hours after a race vs. sweets or salty carbs which are more cravable in the first 24 hours. 

It was nearing 9pm and Karel and I were getting a little rest in our legs by laying down in bed in our compression gear when we heard a loud thunder outside. Oh no! 

The final hour is what I love the most about Ironman racing and I have only missed one finisher line from 11pm-12am. Sadly, it was pouring rain and thundering on and off in the last few hours before the finish and we decided to stay put in our flat for we knew the finishers needed us to cheer them on but our broken down bodies were in no shape to cheer in the rain and thunder. IMWI - we will be there in the last hour for sure!

Another surprise post race was sleep! I always suffer from post Ironman insomnia, often for 2-3 days which leaves me incredibly run down and exhausted. However, I managed 5 hours of sleep (11-3) which was incredible for my body. Karel woke up around 2 and was super hungry so he was eating sandwiches in the middle of the night. I woke up around 3 and had a bowl of granola with milk and then played around on my iPad and then around 5, I feel asleep again for about 2 hours (on an off). 

By 7am, Karel and I were both up and ready for some real food. Real European food!

We went to the Euro Spar around 7:45am and had fun shopping with our post Ironman, glycogen depleted bodies making the choices. 

Karel had a lot of choices to make.....

Lots and lots of choices. 

Our grocery shopping experience was delicious. We did not eat everything right away but boy oh boy, do eggs and salty potato chips, watermelon and danishes taste great after an Ironman!

A few hours later, Karel and I were ready for some exploring. There were a few things that we wanted to do in Austria before we headed back to Czech and we were told to visit Pyramidenkogel. 

What a sight!! The drive to the top of the mountain was filled with twists and turns and despite two bodies that were extremely tired and sore, we both kept saying how fun it would be to bike up this mountain to the top...that is with a fully recovered body. 

After we bought our tickets to visit the top, Karel came up with the brilliant idea of walking up the 441 flights of stairs (in the middle is a slide you can slide down if you meet the height requirements and for an extra charge). Here I am, hobbling to walk to the top of the hill where the bottom of the tower stands and Karel suggests a walk up flights and flights of stairs instead of taking the elevator. 

I didn't want to be left out of all this fun and pain so I joined Karel on our walk to the top. As for walking down, we both agreed our quads would not handle that walk down (unless we walked down backwards to take the pressure off our quads) so we took the easy way out - thank goodness for elevators after an Ironman!

The view from the top was incredible! We were worried about the view because it had been raining all morning but we managed to time it just right. Talk about lucky - the day before our Ironman it was blazing hot and the day after it was pouring rain and cold. 

Panoramic views!

This is part of the lake that we swim in for the Ironman. 

My partner in crime who loves to suffer with me. Although I think he can suffer much more than me.....did I mention that Karel ran a 3:11 marathon after biking sub 5 hours on the IM Austria bike course?? Crazy! 

After our workout (anything after an Ironman feels like a workout) we enjoyed cappuccinos and poppyseed cake. Yum!

We were not alone in our yumming for the restaurant downstairs in the tower was packed with triathletes enjoying fat, sweets and alcohol. Nothing atypical about that post race, even in Austria!

We packed up our flat for we were leaving Austria on Tuesday morning to head back to Czech. 

However, on Monday evening we attended the athlete post race awards party which was followed by an after party, then followed by an after, after party and fireworks (which were supposed to be at the finish line on Sunday but due to rain, it was cancelled). 

Those Europeans known how to throw a post race party!!

Not only did we get to see two incredible professional athletes receive their awards for their record breaking day, but the award ceremony for the top 3 age groupers was incredible. It was the best award ceremony I have attended (next to Kona) and the night got better and better as the awards flowed down to the 65-69 and even the 70+ age group! Talk about inspiration!!

It was so great to meet Lindsey Corbin! She is super sweet and she even asked about how my race went which was so thoughtful. She's a rockstar!

The food was great (Every section of the long table was served large platters of food so no waiting in line). There was lasagna, veggies, rice and of course, lots and lots of drinks (water and beer). 

The buffet of desserts was incredible and Karel and I tried a little of everything (we like to share). 

Thanks for the memories Klagenfurt! You were great to us!

On Tuesday morning we made our 4.5 hour drive to Czech and although we had so much fun in Austria, we could not wait to get back home to Karel's mom's flat. Of course, we had lots and lots of food waiting for us!

Homemade veggie and potato soup with homemade pasta noodles. 

Potato salad and fried zucchini (Karel had Schnitzel).

Although I do not understand anything, it is so special to see Karel and his mom chat. It's so sad that we can not visit more often for Karel has only been back to Czech twice (last May and this year) since he came to America in 2000 to pursue his American Dream. 

And of course, no meal is complete with dessert. Homemade apricot bars with apricots from Karel's mom's garden. 

Karel's mom gave me chocolate covered hazelnuts because she was so proud of me for my Ironman finish. 

Karel's dad traveled by bus, to a small town and walked 1K to get me these well-known Cannolis. What great in-laws I have!! (even though they do not speak English, I can feel the love.)

And to cap off our evening for our first night back in Czech post Ironman....

The long awaited "real" beer for Karel. 

Heaven in a glass for Karel. 

Karel made sure to make up for his 8 days in Czech without a beer at the pub that sits behind Karel's dad's flat (very convenient :) 

Thanks Ironman Austria for helping us make our trip to Europe extra special!! We are now super excited for the next journey....Ironman Wisconsin on September 7th!!

Is it just me or is Karel now picking his Ironman races based on the beer selections? :)  

IM Austria race report - 26.2 mile run

Do you ever find yourself with a theme when it comes to training or racing?
My past 7 Ironman races could easily be compared to a horse race. Many times, the bets are placed on the horse who looks “fast” or embodies readiness from his past few races in the season. Sure, we know that some horses have more experience than others but our society many times associates those who look the part as those who are most successful. 

More often than not, I have found myself going into races underprepared and thus bets were not placed on me nor was I a favorite to be on the podium (or qualify for Kona).

Although I have gone into many races feeling as if my training was unfavorable to a great race day performance, never have I had a pity party before a race and felt as if, woe is me, I wish I could have, would have  or should have. I accept the demands of training for a 140.6 mile event, especially as a competitive age group triathlete who is balancing life (and it’s many stressor and uncontrollable) with training myself to be physiologically and physically prepared by race day.

Many athletes place heavy expectations on themselves not because they only expect a lot out of themselves but they feel pressure to perform to impress or to meet expectations of others (whether they are there or not).

I find that athletes experience a flood of emotions before and during races and many times, immediately after. Not always are these emotions positive or constructive to race day.

The Ironman requires a lot of training and for many athletes, there are great expectation for race day simply because an athlete feels 100% ready by reflecting on putting in the work through complete sacrifice and dedication over the past 6+ months. Endurance athletes must understand that the race day scenario can go a number of ways depending on proper fueling and pacing on race day specifically dependent on the state of mind and health of the mind prior to the race.

Many times, an overly confident and extremely prepared athlete can, unfortunately, experience a subpar performance that does not reflect training because he/she simply trained too much or not in a way that allowed him/her to know how to handle the demands of putting all the pieces together on race day (ex. pacing, nutrition, mental focus). The emotional let-down that is experienced after the race can be devastating and most times, is not advantageous for the athlete to quickly try to bounce back and try again to finish unfinished businness. Healing the mind and body takes time.

This scenario may not be any easier to handle than the feelings of worry, nervousness and fears of being unprepared for the challenge ahead. The unknowns coupled with conviction that the body is undertrained (for whatever reason), can be extremely uneasy to an athlete who is about to embark on a 140.6 mile journey that may last 8-17 hours.

With (now) 8 Ironman finishes behind me and the achievement of starting and finishing every Ironman I have registered for, I have found myself taking many paths that have led me to the same starting destination. Oddly, each time with a different result.

Making smart decisions with my body over the past few years has allowed me to achieve, what I would consider successful performances when the odds were against me. This year was all about creating a balanced and effective training plan to boost the odds that by race day (in all of my planned races) that I would arrive healthy and injury free.

This season I have been extremely careful to listen to the feedback of my own body and to train hard in a very smart way and recover even harder to ensure that workouts could be repeatable. This is something that is extremely difficult for any competitive endurance triathlete who finds great enjoyment out of pushing the body and for the obvious reasons, loves to swim, bike and run. 

My ultimate goal this season was to be very attentive as to how my body reacts to every single training session and to not let my focus turn to what other athletes are doing but instead, direct all energy on myself, my own goals and my own ability to stay consistent with hard work. Thus, my weekly training load was not based on a rigid training schedule based on total miles or hours but instead creating a strong foundation through consistent training and then letting my mind be my only limiter on race day.

I arrived to Ironman Austria with a body that had only completed 14 miles as my longest run since October 2013 at the Ironman World Championship when my long day was completed by running a marathon. This wasn’t because I was lazy, or that I do not like running or due to an injury but instead, one hour and 50 minutes of running was the most consistent amount of stress I was able to put on my body without setbacks and to encourage proper recovery for upcoming days/weeks of training. When we wrote my IM training plan (which was planned with our two half IM races to get faster before going longer), I originally planned two long runs of 2 hours (or 16 miles - whichever came first) with one of them off a moderately hard bike. However, due to unexpected events, recovering from races, traveling, my dad's passing, moving, etc. just accomplishing the run wasn't the issue for I could easily squeeze it in and make it happen. I was simply unable to train smart during those times and get my run training in alongside focus on good fueling, sleep, stress management, stretching, etc. I fully believe that there are way too many endurance athletes who just focus on getting in the workouts instead of thinking about how they are taking too many chances by not focusing on the other necessary ways to train smart besides just getting in the miles. A sick, sleep deprived, stressed or injured body can not adapt to progressive training stress.
I simply ran out of available time to run any longer of a distance and the 14 miles that I ran was effective, strong and a workout that I could easily recover from. Simply put, the body gets fitter with repeatable stress and not just one or two key workouts which may only be performed to build confidence and may actually do more harm than good. 

Any more weekly or solo running, and I may not have been able to go into Ironman Austria with legs that were strong and healthy to run. How far and how fast could I go on race day? Well, from my experience, if the mind is strong and the body is healthy, you may surprise yourself that even you can beat the odds when you take a chance and trust yourself on race day.

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As I exited transition area (which was .2 miles total from bike in to run out per my Garmin), I was unaware of what was to come for the next 26.2 miles. The common question of “when will my quads begin to scream” was tossed around in my brain but since Karel and I were not familiar with this two loop course, I was excited to see where the next 26.2 miles was going to take my body so I forgot about the pain that I would eventually have to battle.

With my two NAPALM gel flasks in my hand, I started my first small loop (essentially and out and back with only repeating a small section of the same run course) which was the first to-do for my day. With no expectations as to how I would or wanted to run this course, I just took a chance and just went by feel. Oddly enough, Karel did the same thing for perfect race day conditions provided an avenue to taking small risks through perceiving effort, with good possibilities of positive outcomes.Certainly, with taking risks comes knowing how to overcome obstacles. 

The sun was hidden behind the clouds and the weather was comfortable. Body temp was going to rise regardless of the weather for the marathon requires a full body effort. My pace felt good to start the run but perhaps with a fenced off path of screaming spectators all around me, alongside running in my dad’s favorite hat, was making me feel as if I had wings (despite not drinking any of the Red Bull on the course). 

The aid stations were not placed at every mile but instead every 2.5K. 

This was something to be mentally and physically/nutritionally prepared for on race day. Just like in training, my walk breaks are strategic to help postpone fatigue and to keep me mentally sharp for as long as possible and to ensure that I was able to get in ample fluids. I never have a time as to how long or short I need to walk but instead, I am walking in a proactive and reactive manner based on my energy and the course. 

My Garmin was set to autolap every mile which was fine because I am not bothered by my changing lap average pace (which slows each mile) when I walk for I find that my average pace (for the entire run) is rarely affected by walking unless my walking becomes longer and longer or I have an unplanned stop. 

I really didn’t focus too much on my watch and I avoided switching the page to see my total run time. There’s something mentally exhausting about seeing a time on your watch and still having SO much more time to go. I love gadgets but you have to known how to use them right and in an advantageous day. I really wanted this run to be all about me and what my body could do, not what my Garmin thought it could do. 

Just like in training, I broke this race down into intervals with an effective run/walk strategy to keep me smiling as long as possible (that was my first goal of this run was to try to smile the entire time because really, I was so grateful for my health on this race day).

After hitting the first aid station, I found myself just jogging through for it really wasn’t a walk. It’s so hard to stop the momentum at the beginning of a race especially with fans all around but I knew that being proactive would help me from having to be overly reactive later in the race. I made sure that I took advantage of the 2.5K "interval" stops and to not rush through them. 

Nearing the second aid station, I spoted a neon yellow and black kit and I instantly knew it was Karel. My smile became rather big at that time. Karel was nearly 40 minutes or so ahead of me from my calculations and he looked great. I think he was surprised to see me on the run course and he gave me a smile that I could tell was a message for “you look great babe.” I yelled "great job Karel!"
Karel had his Nathan fuel belt (which he uses in all his runs and runs off the bike) with four flasks, each filled with OSMO hydration for sugar/electrolytes. He also relies on aid station fuel - he took in water/ice, ISO (sport drink on course) and coke (and he had 1/2 banana).
Karel also walked almost every aid station as well. 

I really enjoyed this run course for it had all types of terrain for my legs and a mixture of sights (and smells) as well. After running on the path in Europa Park, we hit a side street and headed to a small town through a series of turns (most of which were left hand turns and many of which were sharp). We made one turn on to grass and then gravel which was very welcomed to me. My pace was relatively steady despite the uneven surfaces once and I really enjoying a lighter pounding on my body that had been moving for almost 7 hours. The town of Krumendorf had a lot of beautiful sights. 

The aid stations were stocked and the volunteers were great. Because the aid stations were spread out a bit further than what I am use to at races (although at most races they are rarely exactly 1 mile apart), I chose to sip on my Napalm in between the aid stations (just a swig of liquid calories) and to use cold water for hydrating at every one the aid stations for sipping and cooling my head/body. Walking each aid station for 10 seconds or so (just enough that I could stop, sip, stretch if needed and mentally sharpen up) allowed me to stay focused even when the going got tough.

The crowds were great and I loved the cheers of “hopp, hopp, hopp” and “Supa!” from the Austrian spectators. I found myself passing many males and although I was not chasing anyways, I was feeling very mentally strong with my ability to pass so many guys in the first part of the run course.

I spotted a few female athletes (Kelly Fillnow and Kat) that I knew which was nice to see a few familiar racers. I did miss hearing people say my name, even though it was on my bib. I really enjoy having people on courses who say your name (or know you) so I am really looking forward to IMWI!

My pace was averaging around 8 min/miles which felt comfortable and doable. I made a few bargains with myself for I took a chance to not hold back on my effort and instead just let my body run a pace that felt organic. Although I lacked endurance training that may have given me more distance under my legs prior to race day, the pace that I was holding was absolutely doable based on my training and that gave me a lot of confidence that I was actually able to execute on the run.

As I was nearing the Europa park, I was really looking forward to this next loop (out and back) of the run for it was taking me into down town Klagenfurt which I new the crowds would be extra cheerful (and perhaps due to several rounds of beer, which always makes for even louder cheers).

Still feeling strong, I continued to walk the aid stations and maintain an average pace for the run of around 7:55-8:10 min/mile. I was super impressed with my ability to feel so fresh and to run so “fast” off the bike that I literally, just ran with it. 

I kept my mind off my legs (which started to give me some hello’s in the quads around mile 8 as I was nearing downtown)  by doing math calculations which is something I often do when I race triathlons (specifically endurance). This race was even more fun because I had an extra calculation with the run distance signs being in kilometers. I was calculating all types of things such as to what pace during the marathon would give me what total run time. I was figuring out what an 8 min/mile, 8:15 min/mile, 8:30 min/mile, etc would give me for a total marathon time and then, without switching screens to my total run time OR total Ironman racing time, I was trying to think about every possible finishing scenario for I knew that this would be a PR type of day….I just didn’t know how much for a total time and if my run would give me my third PR of the day (since I had already had a personal best IM time in the 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile bike).

I wasn’t sure if I would see Karel before I started my next loop and still becoming acquainted with this run course for the very first time, every kilometer was new and exciting. The run course took us on another side street into town and a few shaded areas as we ran under overhead side-street, connecting bridges. The fans were everywhere and this was just a precursor of what was coming in downtown.

My leg received a bit of a shock when I encountered my first and second downhill of this flat run course. Although extremely short and steep of a downhill, this was a bit discomforting to my quads but I welcomed a quick burst in pace.

Once I entered the downtown area, I could hear the fans. Running on cobblestones was just a highlight of this European course for the run course was roped off with fans eating outside at restaurants all along the course. Oh boy did that food smell amazing!! We made a loop in the downtown and this was a total highlight of the run and I couldn’t wait to get back (of course, that would also mean I was on the home stretch of the marathon).

(picture from Ironman Europe)

Still smiling, walking the aid stations and nursing my NAPALM flasks, I had sipped on a few cokes from the aid stations (extremely diluted in the cups from the volunteers which was fine) just to prevent taste bud fatigue. With so much reliance on sport drinks (which necessary electrolytes, fluids and of course, easy-to-digest sugar from maltodextrin and glucose for energy), it would have been extremely easy for me to just ditch my flasks and just use what was on the course based on what I was feeling at each aid station but although I am flexible with my fueling regime during endurance races, I also have to do my best to maintain a consistent intake of electrolytes, fluids and carbs (sugars) in the proper solution to minimize GI distress and to prevent bonking (which are often the two biggest limiters of endurance athletes regardless of how hard/much they trained prior to race day). 

As I entered and exited downtown, I made sure to ring a bell (string attached) that was overhead on an inflatable arch. It was a bit of a jump for me but both Karel and I made sure to ring the bell (along with many other athletes) for each ring was a donation to Pulmonary Hypertension (a main charity for this event).

Nearing Europa park, my pace was slowing just a bit which I expected but I was still rather surprised with how good I felt. Reaching 13 miles was a big confidence booster for this was the first time since my first Ironman that I felt as if I had a really good start to the marathon, especially after biking 112 miles on a challenging course.

(Picture from Google)

I exchanged my empty Napalm bottles (with my last drops consumed right before the special needs section) when a volunteer quickly handed me my bag. I am not sure exactly where SN was placed but I think it was between miles 12-14 (not sure for kilometers on this course but it was as we were exiting Europa Park and I passed it three times, once on the first loop, grabbed it on the second loop and then passed it on the way to the finish).
I stopped as I removed the two NAPALM bottles from a zip lock bag and then continued on running. There was an aid station fairly close to SN so I just used the SN stop as a bonus stop. I was making deals with myself during this entire run and I told myself that if I started to feel tired and with bad run form at mile 8 (or after an hour) that I would take a full 30-60 sec walk break to try to recover. However, I didn’t take (or need) that stop so I used SN as an opportunity to an extra refresher.

Soon after the next aid station, I spotted Karel. He gave me a sign that he was hurting but I continued to smile at him and give him a thumbs up as I yelled “great job babe!”

I started doing some math for Karel and even though he showed me that he was hurting (although he looked great with his form) there was no way that he was hurting as bad as he thought he was hurting. However, Karel did run without any paces for he accidently hit lap on his Garmin somewhere on the bike which started the T2 and then when he hit the lap to start the run, it stopped his watch so he had no pace to follow on the run and simply went by RPE and just was aware of his total time from his time clock on his Garmin (showing the time of the day).

After completing the section on the gravel and grass, the loop around this small town was much more difficult than the first loop. I could tell that my body was getting tired but I made a deal with myself that if I could get to mile 18 and continuing only walking the aid stations (albeit, my walks were getting a bit longer but that helped me run a steady pace still around 8-8:20), then I had free reign to do whatever I wanted for the last 8 miles (of course, that was just a deal I cut myself but I knew I would need to make myself another deal at mile 18 for this race was going way too well to just thrown in the towel because of some expected quad pain. But mentally, I was really looking forward to a bit more of a walk break when I got to mile 18 for I really needed it physically as well.

As I was nearing the last 3K or so into Europa Park, my quads were getting really tired. And on top of that, I need to use the restroom (#2 – but not loose stools or diarrhea, I just needed to go). I was able to hold it until I found an open port-o-potty but I was keeping myself very mentally focused on every hidden bush or tree in case I needed to make an emergency stop.

I felt so relieved when I went to the bathroom (#1 and #2) and I didn’t see this as a bad thing for this was simply a sign that my body was in good health and metabolically, still working normally despite this grandiose stress that I was placing on it since 7am. As I was enjoying this unplanned, yet necessary, pit stop, I was laughing to myself that it felt really good to just sit down but I would have much rather have enjoyed it on a park bench overlooking the water that I ran by on the grassy section.

I accepted that my average pace for the run would drop during my stop (which was probably no more than 2 minutes) and I went into the bathroom with 8:10 min/mile average pace to around 8:18 min/mile. Oh well, it is what it is. 

I saw Karel as I was leaving Europa Park and he was finishing his run. I was so happy for him and totally jealous that he was so fast that he could finish as I was about to start my last loop. But I was a bit concerned because I never saw a finish line chute or arrow so this concerned me as to where on the loop I would make my anticipated turn to the finish line. Oh well, I had a good 7 miles or so to figure it out.

My quads were now on my mind and remained on my mind for the last loop of the run. I still stayed up with my fueling, continuing to sip my NAPALM (although I was partly enjoying it and ready to be done with it so I still knew it was working) in between aid stations, water for cooling/sipping at aid stations and the occasional coke as needed to keep my taste buds happy.

When I got to the first of two short downhills on the run course into downtown Klagenfurt, I could tell that my legs had had quite a beating over the past 18 miles of or so for it was painfully hard to run downhill (of course, this instantly had me concerned about taking the 30 or so small shuffles to get back up the two short, steep downhills on the route back to the finish).

When I arrived to mile 20, I gave myself permission to switch my screen on my watch to see my total time. It was around 9:20 or so whenever I looked at my watch and this was just the motivation I needed to dig really deep (I mean super duper deep for my legs had not ran more than 14 miles in 9 months).

The only thing that I had to do for the last 6 miles was not give up. Done. 

My body was tired and my quads were aching  and it was getting  extremely hard to convince my legs to keep moving one foot in front of the other with good form (as quick as possible to keep from shuffling)  but I am all too familiar with what it feels like in the last 6 miles of an Ironman and I gladly welcomed this pain for it was much easier for my mind to stay strong over some normal marathon pain as oppose to having to deal with running with a recovering injury or a depleted body. Thankfully, with no planned running races this season as part of my season plan, I haven’t had to feel this ache since my last Ironman…long enough to forget this pain that I choose to put on my body to earn my Ironman finisher medal

Amazingly, despite feeling as if my legs were no longer attached to my hips and instead, freely moving as they wished (which is always a scary thing as with every step I just hope that my legs remember how to propel me forward) , I was still passing people, and guys nonetheless.

Oh and those two steep uphills were not so pretty but I managed to shuffle my way up.

As I approached 40 kilometers, I was relieved. I had just 2K to go and all I could think about was where is this finish line? 

I was running alongside another guy and I asked him if he spoke English and he said yes. Then I asked “do you know where the finish line is at?”

He laughed and said “you can’t miss it!”

Um…apparently I have missed it because I saw no finish line sign during my two loop run. 

I tried to follow the man as long as I could (and noticed as I was chatting with him I was passed by a girl which I think was in my age group with only 1 mile to go) but then he picked up his pace and I was not in the mood to sprint for a few seconds to my finish time. Around 25 miles, I had scrolled my watch to total time and I was in complete disbelief for my finish time. From my calculations during the last few miles of the run, I had anticipated a 10:25 finish time because I thought that I ran close to a 3:50ish marathon. Still not knowing what my marathon time was, I was ready for this journey to come to a completion.

Amazingly, as I started what would have been my third loop of the run passed Europa Park, I spotted a big sign that said Second Loop and FINISH. The last 1K was extremely long from the last kilometer sign on the course and that finish line could not have come sooner! It was clearly obvious that the FINISH was to the left but this was the first time that I spotted this sign. Horray…let’s do this body!!!

I took advantage of the aid station right before I ran to the finish line chute along the water and grabbed one last cup of water to rinse myself off and I zipped up my jersey. Out of all the aid stations on the course, this was one that I was not stopping at for my hard work was over and it was time to finish!

Oh euphoria!! Thank you body!!!

The fist pumps were happening well before I could even see the finishing arch. I found myself around a group of guys at the finish line chute but that didn’t stop me from enjoying this experience to the fullest. The fans were screaming and I heard someone say “Great job Marn!!” It was Karel yelling from the sidelines!

I high fived the race announcer and when I crossed the finish line, I finally gave my body permission to rest.

After 10 hours and 17 minutes of racing 140.6 miles and finishing with a HUGE PR run of 3:39 (thank you body SO much!) and a 21 minute Ironman distance PR, I could officially celebrate my 8^th Ironman finish and my first international Ironman finish.

I received my medal and although with very shaky legs, I found myself with enough strength to walk to the finish line photographer for my post race photo. I sipped on some water and passed on the hose-rinsing station and just looked out for my Ironman partner in crime.

All dressed and clean, Karel was so proud of my time. Karel was on the sidelines for my very first Ironman when I was 24 at 2006 IMFL when I finished in 11:00:07 and qualified for Kona by winning the 18-24 age group. For me, my personal growth as an endurance athlete has been extremely gratifying and this race was purely the culmination of experience and gratitude for a healthy and injury free body.

I could feel my dad’s presence on race day and although it was extremely sad for me to know that only my mom was tracking me online, I knew that my dad would be so proud of my finish, mostly because I tried to fight just as hard as he did during his 10-month fight with an incurable case of cancer.

Karel said that with my dad’s hat on his head, he was talking to my dad during the entire run. Karel managed to fight extremely hard and he asked my dad many times to help him out during the race. Although my dad didn’t let Karel get away with an easy-feeling race, I know that Karel really pushed his body to the max for not only did he have a huge PR of 9:22 for his second IM (41 minute PR from IM Lake Placid in 7/13) but he pushed harder than he has ever pushed to run an amazingly fast 3:11 marathon! WOW – incredible!

After I could finally hug Karel, I hobbled my way to the Irondome to finally sit down and rest my body (which was slowly reacting to the last 10 hours of stress).

This was absolutely an amazing race venue. We were given a perfect race day to push our bodies, take some risks and really take advantage of our good health by racing smart for 140.6 miles and earning our Ironman finisher medals.

Marni:

Swim 2.4 mile - 1:00:13 (PR)

T1: 5:18

Bike 112 miles - 5:29:07 (PR)

T2: 3:48

Run: 3:39:09 (PR)

Total: 10:17:35

7th AG/57 starters, 31st female, 18th amateur female

21 minute PR (8th Ironman)

Karel:

1:07:10 - 2.4 mile swim (PR)

T1: 4:10

4:56:23 - 112 mile bike (PR)

T2: 3:51

3:11:17 - 26.2 mile run (PR, 9th fastest AG run)

Total: 9:22:51

22nd AG/439 starters, 124th overall

41 minute PR (2nd Ironman)

Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you are right. 

Ironman Austria run and finish fun facts:

Marni:
7th age grouper after the run (I got passed by only one female AG in the last 1K who beat me by about 15 seconds).
I passed 226 athletes on the run
I passed 3 females on the run (31st female after the run)
I passed 223 males on the run :)
I was passed by 170 athletes after I finished the swim.
I was passed by 7 females after the swim.
I was passed by 4 age group females after the swim. 

Splits (per my Garmin, including walking, SN and potty stop)
Mile 1: 7:44
Mile 2: 7:54
Mile 3: 7:57
Mile 4: 8:02
Mile 5: 7:54
Mile 6: 8:00
Mile 7: 8:10
Mile 8: 8:12
Mile 9: 8:13

Mile 10: 8:11
Mile 11: 8:34

Mile 12: 8:12
Mile 13: 8:00
Mile 14: 8:29
Mile 15: 8:29
Mile 16: 8:31
Mile 17: 8:33
Mile 18: 9:30 (potty stop)
Mile 19: 8:48
Mile 20: 9:01
Mile 21: 8:58
Mile 22: 9:20
Mile 23: 9:37
Mile 24: 9:20
Mile 25: 9:01

Total 42.2km (26.2 miles): 3:39.09 (5:11/km, 8:21 min/mile pace)

Karel:

 No Garmin 910XT data available
Total: 42.2km (26.2 miles): 3:11:17 (4:31/km, 7:16 min/mile pace)
He passed 16 age groupers (35-39) on the run. 

He had the 9th fastest AG run.
He passed 78 athletes on the run.
He passed 77 males on the run.
He passed 727 athletes after he exited the water, including passing 673 males.

IM Austria race report - 112 mile bike

I think we can all agree that it takes a great amount of fitness to ride a bike for 112 miles. It doesn’t matter if you are riding 15mph or 25 mph because it takes a great effort to power your body for 4+ hours in order to turn two wheels, continuously, to move your body and machine in a forward motion. Throw in wind, heat, rain, rolling hills, descends, bumpy roads, potholes, etc. and it takes more than good fitness to ride smart (with a fit body) for 112 miles.

But the Ironman is more than being fit enough to ride your bike 112 miles.

The Ironman is not a bike race (if you don’t believe me, ask Karel). In bike racing, your primary focus is on the other riders and staying with them. There is nothing "individual" with a bike race for if you are not with the leaders or the pelton, well you are not in the bike race and unlike triathlons, there are no finisher medals in bike racing. A triathlon, unlike bike racing, is all about an individual effort. If you forget to focus on yourself, you will find yourself racing outside your abilities or perhaps, not working toward your pure potential. 

The Ironman is more than being a good cyclist for it is a day of swimming, biking and running. Therefore, the human body must be trained in three sports in order to swim, bike and run. In other words, once you exit the 1.2 mile swim portion of an Ironman, the bike is not about proving how fast you can be while riding 112 miles but instead, how strong and efficient you can cycle in order to run a marathon off the bike.

Our training for Ironman Austria over the past 1.5 months was a wee bit different than my last 7 Ironmans. Ok, more than 4000+ feet different.

Since moving to Greenville, SC from Jacksonville, FL, we never ride without an elevation change. Almost every ride that we do, from 90 minutes to 5 hours, includes at least 3000 feet of climbing, with the majority of our longer rides around 5000-6500 feet of climbing.

Because of this great stress on the body, we were able to perform many intervals throughout our "local" rides (especially longer rides) based on our riding terrain. I never saw an average speed for a ride more than 17.5 mph and most of my rides were around 16.5-17mph. Thus, our ability to incorporate our “train smart” philosophy into our IM Austria prep after moving to Greenville was quite simple for we were never big fans of riding for distance or chasing an average speed during a ride. Our power files were larger than while riding on the flat roads despite many opportunities to “rest” our legs while descending from a climb.

Over the past few years, I have found myself recognizing how much easier it is for my body to race on hilly courses. Now don’t get me wrong…..hills are very taxing on the body but they present ample time to pace an effort and perform “intervals” with "rest" while riding. 

I believe that athletes must be strong to ride on hills in a triathlete but not necessarily fast. And for those who enjoy hill riding but want to be faster, the goal is to not ride more but instead, to become more powerful while on the bike and above all, improve your skills on the hills/descends. The Ironman is not about speed but instead, who fatigues the least by the finish. Therefore, the Ironman race requires more than great fitness on the bike (or swim or run) but instead, knowing how to pace your day with your current level of fitness, all while staying mentally strong and consuming adequate sport nutrition to support metabolic needs during the bike and to fuel for the upcoming run and to minimize/avoid GI distress. Let’s also not forget that a course that has changing terrain requires the athlete to troubleshoot every situation for it is likely that there will be obstacles during the day on a “challenging” course, from changing temperatures and weather conditions to residual fatigue.

Ironman Austria bike course (1 loop shown above)

Karel and I rode around 42 miles of our 56 mile bike course (1 loop) on the Thursday preceding the race. This gave us a great opportunity to not only enjoy the beautiful sights of Austria (pics here), but also to get to know our terrain and how we would pace our own race on race day. Simply put, Ironman Austria (like most of my other challenging Ironman races) had a bike course that was challenging with the climbs but also presented plenty of opportunities to be fast with appropriately timed downhills. 

I never thought I’d say this but the 5300 total feet of climbing at Ironman Austria (yep – our “fast” course was filled with elevation gains) was not as challenging as I had imagined it would be for we ride much more difficult courses in our new hometown of Greenville. The main difference between our Greenville bike routes and the IM Austria bike course (aside from a closed course on race day) was that IM Austria had a great flow of climbing and descending so that with every climb, there was a great opportunity to recover. Although the IM Austria course was challenging, Karel and I were given the opportunity to race smart on race day.

On race day, we used our cycling skills for climbing/descending (obviously, Karel has much more experience in this area but I have been forced to become a more skillful rider in Greenville), we made sure to race safe and abide by race rules (no drafting) while riding with others on the same course, we love having electronic shifting which makes shifting gears efficient and easy (in aero bars and base bars as well as while standing), we enjoy training with power but we also know how to perceive our effort,  having a proper RETUL bike fit for an efficient and powerful position on the bike, we trust our well-practiced sport nutrition and we love climbing and on top of all the ways that we love to race smart, we trained smart for race day without risking injury or fatigue and thus we were both able to take a few risks on a perfect day of racing and race to our full potential.
Despite not planning 1 training ride over 100 miles in the past 7 months (my longest ride was 5:40, 93 miles), I felt extremely prepared for this race. 

After exiting transition area, I made a sweeping left turn to the turnaround which was flooded with spectators behind the barricades. This turn came soon after exiting transition area and then it was only a few miles until I made another turn around. Although this time, it was a right turn around as we had moved from the right to the left side of the closed road. I found myself with mostly male triathletes in front and behind me but there was plenty of room on the road to get my legs into a good rhythm. For this race, because of all the climbing on race day and my last 1.5 months of training only on hilly terrain, I felt as if having a power goal range was not going to work to my advantage. The effort had to feel right and with my experience in Ironman racing, I knew where I could take risks and where I would need to hold back and most of all, I needed to be sure I checked in with myself frequently as I also stayed consistent with my fueling.

I had my Garmin Edge 500 set on my normal interval screen so I could focus on my 3sec power, normalized lap power (my main gauge of how I am pacing myself), average speed, lap speed, current cadence and lap time. I did not wear a HR monitor in this race as it is not beneficial to how I pace my race. Every 30 min or so, I would hit LAP so that I would only focus on 30 minutes at a time over my 5+ hour race. This allowed me to go primarily by feel but every time I looked down at my screen or hit my lap button, I could check-in with myself to see how I was pacing myself. Certainly, if I was pushing watts 50+ higher (per normalized lap) than what I am use to, then I would need to back off. But if I was happy with how I was feeling and my watts were showing me favorably numbers to reflect my current level of fitness, I went with it and carried on.
My watts are always higher while climbing (especially since I prefer to climb out of my saddle with more body weight on the top of my pedal stroke) so the key for my ability to control my normalized power while riding hilly courses all comes down to pacing myself on all areas of the course. 

As for nutrition, I grabbed water at every aid station and once I finished my first INFINIT sport bottle, I tossed it at the aid station in the tossing zone and kept water on my bike. I made sure to finish my sport bottles every 75 minutes while consuming additional 16-24 ounces of water (or so) between the aid stations (and using for cooling to help reduce core temp). 

The day started off with cloudy skies and I knew there was a chance for rain and wind. This doesn’t bother me for it just presents another opportunity for me to use my trained body to race smart. I have seen many fit and fast athletes waste a great race day performance on just chasing a goal time or expecting more out of their body or when comparing fitness to others, instead of using current fitness to race smart with what the day presents. 

On our race day, the average temperature of the entire bike was around 67 degrees and we had a mix of sun, clouds and rain along with wind. There was a lot to battle on race day but I stayed focus on my 30 minute intervals so that I could simply break down the race into practical sections to race.

The first part of the course is fast. You are simply flying on twisty roads with a few bumpy climbs on smooth roads. I felt great on this section and this gave me a lot of confidence for the middle section of the loop which includes the longer/steeper climbs.

The course was lined with spectators at the popular sections of the course (climbs) as well as in towns and villages. There was a lot of crowd support which was great. I made sure to smile at all the doggies on the course and to moo and nay at all the wildlife (I hope they understood my English). 

There was not a lot of chatting between athletes on the course so I could tell that the athletes were taking this race very seriously. When speaking to another German athlete that we became friends with, he mentioned that because there are not of European Ironman races compared to North America, all the fast athletes flock to the races. So whereas there may be 10-15 top athletes at every North America Ironman, it's like putting all of those athletes from those races at one race and making them all race against each other. The competition was fierce at Ironman Austria!

Additionally, this course was not technical but with so much terrain changes and a few rough patches of road and the amazing jaw-dropping views, you had to stay sharp the entire time. I was happy we rode the course ahead of time and took time to enjoy the scenery for on race day I was focused on my race.

I wasn’t passed by many women which made me feel as if I was riding strong. I felt good and when I got to the first climb, I heard a voice behind me “Great job Babe!”

YIPPE!!!! Karel!!!!

What a great place for Karel to catch me from the swim for as we were climbing we were able to chat for a brief minute which made me super happy. Karel told me about his swim and that he was super happy with how it went but equally happy that it was over and he survived the mass start. He asked me about my swim and I told him I almost broke an hour and he said that was great. Then he was off on the climb and all I could see was the back of his Trimarni kit riding away in the distance.

Karel took a lot of risks on this bike course and he really pushed hard on all sections - climbing and powering down the hills (and his sub 5 hour time showed it!)

Karel said that by the start of the 2^nd loop, he started to feel a bit low in energy but thankfully he was able to get over it. As for me, I felt good on the first loop but even better on the 2^nd loop!

Although I was pushing and listening to my body, I really tried to hold back on the first 56 miles because I knew that there would be a chance of getting tired from miles 80-100 (after 4 hours of riding + 1 hour of swimming) and also, I knew it would get windy on the second loop as we were riding through many open valleys.

The course is two loops but is broken into two loops, a small loop and then a larger loop which connect in a small town/village away from the transition area. Every part of the course has something different and although nothing too technical, this course really requires good skills and power. Because Karel and I missed a turn on our pre-ride of the course, we didn’t experience the 1.5 mile climb that occurred around mile 40 or so of the bike (not positive on this distance of where the climb occurred) so we both were wondering what the body would feel like while riding this climb (for every climb is different). There was a steep but moderately short climb that first woke up the legs and then came the climb.  I was climbing, and climbing and climbing and surely, out of gears by the start of the climb. This was one loooong climb and my speed for the climb was well under 7 mph. Thankfully the crowd support alongside an on-site DJ made me smile during the climb. There was one short section when I could sit down and pick up my cadence a bit (and shift down one gear) but then it was right back up again for the last two steep sections of this long climb.

But what comes up, must come down. Weeeeeeee. After a super fun descend (with a few small “ups”) and then a few miles through valleys and villages, it was time to make the left hand turn into town to start the second loop.

Because I felt as if I held back on the first loop by my perceived exertion and had been doing really well with keeping up with my nutrition (the cooler temps made for a happy gut/digestion), I was wondering what my body would do in the 2^nd loop. Gloria always tells me not to jump ahead with my thoughts on race day and I always listen but this time, instead of questioning how I would feel on the 2nd loop, I actually look forward to the 2^nd loop for I was ready to start racing!

After I made the turn around outside of transition area and welcomed lots of screams by the fans and volunteers, I was out for the last loop and I was ready for 56 miles to push and to take a few more risks. 

Whereas Karel pushed from the start of the bike to the finish (he never wanted to ease up), I tried to be a bit more conservative on the first loop. By the 2^nd loop, I found myself passing guys (although still being passed by plenty) and keeping a few strong girls in my view. With the last 56 miles a thing of the past, I kept my mind focused on the last part of my 112 mile ride, feeling as if this was the start of my 112 mile ride. 

I was having SO much fun on the bike. Even with the rain coming down (it wasn’t a downpour) on and off for around 30 miles or so of my 2^nd loop (and on the big climb and several descend), I still was loving this bike ride. 

I had to pee 3 times on the bike and saved it for the downhills for it was the only time I could stop pedaling. I lost some of the girls that I had in my view when I was relieving myself while riding but I couldn’t keep holding it in for it was so hard to pedal strong with a full bladder. Karel also peed several times on the bike. We were both well hydrated J

I finished all 4 of my bottles on the bike as well as 2 gels and 2 additional bottles of water from the aid stations. I felt so good on the bike and for the first time in a long time, was really feeling confident for my run……despite not a lot of high volume run training (my longest run since Kona in October 2012 was 14 miles). 

Karel had his 3 bottles of custom INFINIT mix + 1 gel + 2 bananas + 1 bottle of water + a few bottles of ISO (sport drink from Power bar)  - taking sips of the sport drink as needed.

Karel is a lot more flexible with his fueling regime compared to me but he does rely on his INFINIT (liquid calories) as his primary nutrition for training/racing. 

As I was riding into town, I mentally checked in with myself to address anything and everything that may impact my pacing on the run. My body and mind felt good and this was a great thing. The day was simply perfect for fast racing but it takes more than a fast and fit body to race well in an Ironman. 

As I was nearing the transition area, I stretched my hips a bit (although I had done that plenty with all the climbing on the course and getting out of the saddle), took my last few sips of my customized INFINIT sport drink, poured a little water on my head for cooling and spun my legs to the dismount line. 

After I dismounted my bike, I took off my cycling shoes and carried them with my bike to my bike rack. As I ran by Karel’s bike (his shoes still on the pedals) I was so excited to see him on the run…. I just didn’t know when. 

As I racked my bike, I saw 4 other bikes in my rack. Not knowing how many girls in my AG started in the first wave, I was really excited about the chance to place top 10 in my first international Ironman. There were no body markings in this race so the only way I knew my competition was from the bib numbers. I checked the range of numbers for my AG in the athlete guide and also the bib numbers had age groups.

As I was nearing the changing tent, I made a quick stop in the port-a-potty to fully relieve my bladder. Because the potties on the run course in an IM are always hit or miss if they will be full or empty, I took advantage of plenty of potties in transition area. Karel also had a stop at the potty in T2. Neither one of us had any GI issues on race day, just simply full bladders from being hydrated. 

As I ran to my run bag in T2, I turned around my bib number and then entered the women’s changing tent. There was only 2 other women in the tent so plenty of room. I then took off my cycling helmet and cycling shoes and put on my run shoes (with quick release clasp). I put on my dad’s corvette hat and instantly felt ready to run from his presence on my head. I grabbed my baggy with my two gel flasks with NAPALM powder in each flask and water (a bit more than 100 calories in each flask) and I was off. 

I did not sprint out of transition but instead, I walked to drop off my T2 bag with cycling contents inside) and then proceeded with a jog and then with very fresh-feeling legs, once I stepped behind the T2 line, I was officially starting my run. I hit lap on my Garmin 910 for the multi sport function to change to run and I switched my screen to my run interval screen and I was off running to start the end of my Ironman Austria day…..only  26.2 miles until the finish! Now to find Karel!

I checked the total time on my watch as I was leaving transition area and the time was around 6:35-6:40 or so (from what I can remember). Ok time to do some math....if I can run a 4 hour marathon that will put me around 10:40, just 2 minutes off my time at Kona in October (which was a PR). But if I run a 3:45 (my best IM run time is 3:48 and I have always wanted to run under 3:45), that's 10:25 and a HUGE PR for me. Could I actually do this with my body and mind?

 

OK, no doubting myself....it's time to take some risks and run for a PR!

Karel stats: 

112 mile bike (180km) – 4:56:23 total time 

Average speed – 22.59mph (36.44km/h)

Division rank: 38^th after bike

Overall rank: 202 after bike

Gender rank: 193 after bike

Splits:

25.2km – 40.43km/hr (25.06mph)

35.5km – 34.46km/hr (21.37mph)

55.4km – 39.65km/hr (24.58mph)

64.5km – 32.18km/hr (19.95mph)

92km – 37.16km/hr (23.04mph)

112.4km – 35.62km/hr (22.08mph)

122.7km – 32.36km/hr (20.06mph)

142.6km – 37.25km/hr (23.09mph)

151.7km – 30.36km/hr (18.82mph)

180km – 36.13km/hr (22.4mph)

Fun facts: 

Karel passed 143 males in his age group on the bike. He passed 649 athletes on the bike and he passed 596 males on the bike. Way to go Karel in your 2^nd Ironman triathlon!!

Marni stats: 

112 mile bike (180km) – 5:29:07 total time 

Average speed – 20.3mph (32.82km/h)

Division rank: 6^th after bike

Overall rank: 699 after bike

Gender rank: 34th after bike

Splits:

25.2km – 36.61km/hr (22.69mph)

35.5km – 31.11km/hr (19.28mph)

55.4km – 35.38km/hr (21.93mph)

64.5km – 27.72km/hr (17.18mph)

92km – 32.41km/hr (20.41mph)

112.4km – 33.02km/hr (20.47mph)

122.7km – 31.19km/hr (19.33mph)

142.6km – 34.33km/hr (21.28mph)

151.7km – 26.25km/hr (16.28mph)

180km – 32.82km/hr (20.234mph)

Fun facts: 

I was passed by 3 girls in my age group on the bike. I was passed by 396 triathletes on the bike and I was passed by 8 women on the bike. 

Time to see how many people I can run down!

Ironman Austria RR - Pre-race + 2.4 mile swim

PRE RACE

After we checked in our bikes and racked our transition bags, we headed back to our flat in downtown Klagenfurt, prepared our nutrition for race day (powder in bottles to fill with cold water in the am), put on our compression and comfy clothes and prepared dinner around 4:30pm.

Karel had chicken, rice and veggies which is a typical pre race meal for him along with minestrone soup. I had the soup as well, along with a veggie and basmati rice mix that we made the other night. I felt very fueled for race day thanks to enjoying my typical low fiber/fat diet in the 2 day leading up to the race, with plenty of easy to digest carbs that leave my tummy happy.

After we ate around 5pm, we got together our things for the morning, set the alarm (more like multiple alarms for me) and laid in bed around 7:30pm and fell asleep between 8:30-9pm.

Alarm #1 woke us up at 3:45am and it was finally Ironman Austria race day!!

Although I was not super nervous, I could tell that I had some butterflies flying around in my belly for the unknown of the day was quickly approaching. I had been experiencing waves of excitement and nerves over the past 24 hours and I kept reminding myself that all would settle itself out once I got into the water. Karel, on the other hand, was quite calm for his second Ironman. 

The day before the race we both talked about our “perfect” day and what times we thought we were capable of. We also shared these times with my mom and brother since they would be tracking us throughout the day and would want to try to see us finish online.

Karel’s “dream” time was 9:40 and my time was 10:35 (although secretly I wanted to break 10:30 because it just sounds super duper fast to be under 10:30 since there was a time that I never thought I’d go under 10:50!).

We both remained ourselves as we prepared our pre race meal in the morning. Karel had a bowl of muesli with milk and I had my normal WASA crackers w/ Smuckers Natural PB (which I brought a small Tupperware container of from the US), raisins/granola and banana. I noticed that I wasn’t feeling the solid food so I opted for only 2 dressed-up WASA crackers instead of my normal 4 before an IM and because I knew that wasn’t adequate calories for me to replace liver glycogen, I decided to prepare 1 bottle of 150 calories of ISIS hydration from INFINIT as well as 1 packet of OSMO hydration. I could then sip between the two liquid calorie options in the 2.5 hours before the race. We both had coffee with our pre race meal and Karel also had 2 gels in the 1 hour before the race (spaced out).

Oddly, I felt very fueled without any feelings of bloating or heaviness so I was starting to recognize some signs that I was race ready (or at least I was trying to convince myself with positive thoughts that I was ready for this race despite having a modified training plan over the past 5 weeks to prepare for this race)

At 4:45am we packed up our swim gear and street wear bag (post race clothes) and  bike pump and we drove the 6K or so to the parking lot at Minimudus. We arrived around 5:05am and there was plenty of parking at that time with no traffic (although it was getting busy with 3000 athletes planned to race).

We walked the less than ½ mile or so to transition with our nutrition for the race, bike computers and bike pump. 

For nutrition: 

Marni prepared nutrition:

BIKE: 

4 bottles – each with 2 heaping scoops of my custom formula from INFINIT (which I created and have tweaked twice over the past 2 half IM races and I have used with every long training session)

2 Enervit gels (we received a box of gels/bars from a friend here in Znojmo so I had one for back-up. I have never tried these gel before and typically do not use gels but I had this just in case I lost a bottle on the course. I prefer to bring nutrition with me even though I am OK to rely on the aid stations if needed)

1 pill purse of about 7 TUMS (for the bike/run – I was not planning to use them all but always better to have more than you need of any pills)

Run: 

2 gel flasks (in T2 bag) and 2 gel flasks in special needs bag (for run)

Each gel flask with 2 ounces of NAPALM caffeine (grape flavor) topped with water (100 calories each flask). I have used this product in every run and run off the bike so my tummy is very tolerable of this product. I have tried using more calories in one flask (concentrated flask) and then water in another flask (or set-up aid stations during training) but my tummy does much better with less nutrition in a flask and then using multiple flasks. I can get by with 2 flasks in a half IM (150 calories) but I opted for 4 flasks for the IM and using special needs for the very first time.

Karel prepared nutrition:

Bike – 3 bottles each with 2 scoops of his custom INFINIT formula which I created for him

1 Enervit cheerpack

1 Enervit bar

2 packs of 3 aminos (Hammer nutrition) 

1 pack of 3 aminos (hammer) + 2 race cap supreme (hammer)

(these packs were wrapped in saran wrap and placed in his Trek bento-style box.

We noticed that our bags were rearranged on the racks (originally they were not in order but instead just on a rack on the respected bib number ranges) so we found our bags and mentally focused on where they were on the racks (we were not allowed to put ribbons on our bag to easily identify them). I put my bags on the rack with all four strings so it was a little higher than the other bags so it was easy to spot.

After we put our nutrition in our bags, Karel and I took a quick bathroom stop before the lines got long and then we each went to our bikes (which were fairly close in the big transition area).

Since everyone has to run in the same direction exiting the transition area to get on their bikes, there were barricades set-up  in front of Karel’s rack since his rack was right by the bike-out arch.

We were not allowed to put on our shoes by our bike (carry our shoes) or by the mount line so Karel and I put our cycling shoes in our T1 bag with our helmet (helmets were required in the bag) since neither one of us prefer to leave our cycling shoes on our bikes.

After I removed the rain cover from my bike, I placed my four bottles of nutrition on my bike (2 frame cages and 2 in the rear – all of which are easy to reach, the cages are tight to prevent bottles from slipping on most bumpy roads and well-practiced in training), I put my bike computer on my bike and made sure that my Stages power meter was recognized by my Garmin Edge 500 (Karel always has an extra battery on race day just in case). Also Karel charged our bikes to 100% the night before the race for our electronic (Di2) shifting. I had my cassette in a comfortable gear to exit transition area (in small chain ring, middle gear) and made sure my breaks were not rubbing. 

Karel came over and pumped up my tires (which were deflated a bit for overnight in the warmer temps) and double checked my bike.

Since transition area closed at 6:20am, we were very efficient with our time and I dropped off my run special needs bag outside the transition area at 6am and made our way about a ½ mile or so to the swim start.

First we headed to the Irondome across from the swim venue and put on our wetsuits with spray body glide as well as caps and goggles. We put our clothing in our street wear and we both held on to 1 throw away sport bottle with liquid calories to sip on for the next 40 min or so before our wave start (since we were not in the first wave at 6:45am).

We then made our way to the swim start and pushed our way through the crowds to get some room to warm-up the body with some active stretching. We made one more stop at the potties before the first wave went off and with beautiful conditions (in the low 60’s outside to start our morning), we both wished each other the best of luck and for a safe race day, gave a kiss and a hug and parted ways.

Around 6:50am I found myself to the right of a pier and stood about 3 rows back. Although only a few girls around me (not to mention only less than 400 women in the entire race), I found myself comfortable with the male swimmers around me. Like it or not, we were all about to get to know each other really well for the beach, mass start.

After the Austrian anthem, the 3 minute countdown began.

Then it went to 2.

With my goggles readjusted one last time (with anti-fog liquid just applied in the Irondome), I whispered to my dad above me to enjoy his front-row seat for the next 140.6 miles and then the 60 second countdown began.

3, 2, 1….BOOM!! We were off!!

2.4 mile swim

(Following Pictures from Google and Finisherpix)

I started my Garmin 910XT on Multisport zone and slowly “ran” my way into the water. The water felt amazingly, refreshingly cool and comfortable with my full-sleeve wetsuit.

I made sure to not start out too hard and with about 1.5K or so until the first left –hand turn buoy, I made sure to focus on good, efficient strokes in the water. I wasn’t sure how my swim would turn out for the day in term of time so I just stayed confident as I was feeling very good in the water as I was enjoying pushing just enough to stay with a pack of speedy men.

I wasn’t spotting that much because I trusted that the mass of swimmers that I was swimming with was staying on course but as I was bilaterally breathing, I noticed that there was a pack of swimmers to my left in the far distance.

Am I off course so soon in the race? Well it quickly dawned on me that I must have started on the outside of the far pier instead of the pier closest to the buoys! I guess with the massive amount of spectators, I had to push my way through the crowd to enter the timing mat for the beach that I didn’t even realize that I was on the outside. Oh well. I didn’t really have any plans as to where I would stand, I just didn’t want to get clobbered in the swim. Little did I know, Karel ended up starting by the closest pier, near the buoys (and he mentioned it was pure chaos over there!).

I noticed that our group was heading on a smooth path to the first turn buoy and with my Garmin 910 auto lapping every 500 yards on the swim (the water was so clear that I could see my watch in the water) I was quick to realize that I was swimming a great pace for the start of this race.

As I made my way around the first of two turn buoys, I found myself getting a little off course as I was no longer with my group of speedy men. I guess the water was pushing me a bit away from the buoys on my left so I had to give a little bit of a stronger effort to swim closer to the buoys and to find a pack of swimmers.

I managed to link up with a small group but had to continue spotting for I was out on the outside and kept getting pushed away from my group. This part of the course to the last turn buoy felt long as I wasn’t sure how long it was until that buoy. I stayed focused on my stroke and making sure that I was catching the water and efficiently pulling through with a strong exit from the water. This lake made for comfortable pool-like swimming.

Once I made the turn for the home stretch, the sun was straight into my eyes and even with my tinted Speedo Vanquisher goggles, I could see nothing ahead of me. I was warned about this from the race announcer at the athlete meeting but it was incredible that I could see absolutely nothing ahead of me for the 1K or so until the cannel.

Because I was so worried to get off course, I found myself stopping (and breastroke kicking) three times as I removed my goggles from my eyes just so I could get a good glimpse of where I was going. Once I knew where I was going, I was fine but then a few yards later I was worried and stopped again. 

I managed to spot to the cannel and finally I was officially on the home stretch.

Again, I wasn’t sure how long the canal was so as I glanced at my watch, I nearly smiled ear to ear that this could be the day when I break 1-hour (which I have dreamed about since I started Ironman racing). 

The cannel was craziness. It was so tight with swimmers jammed in that it was hard to find any open space for multiple full strokes. 

It was so cool to see all the spectators on the sides of the canal for the past 45 minutes or so, we were all alone in the crystal blue lake.

I spotted the bridge that I had remembered we passed when biking out of the parking lot (for our bike warm-ups) so I knew we were close to the swim exit. Since I wasn’t able to see my watch in the merky waters, I picked up the pace and just hoped, wished and prayed that I could get this dream over with on this day. Of course, this was the start of a very long day but I figured that if I was going to break 1 hour, today would be a great day to do it.

As I made a slight right hand turn to spot the exit arch, I was pushed down by another swimmer and kicked at the same time. Ugh. It took a few seconds to gather myself as I took a few more strokes and quickly stood up with jello-like legs as the volunteer lifted me out of the water. I looked at my watch and oh jeez….

 1:00:13.

Although this was a PR for me, I was laughing at the 14 seconds that kept me from seeing 59 minutes for my 2.4 mile swim. Oh well,  it was time to check the swim off my to-do list for the day for it was over and done with and a thing of the past. Nothing I can do or change so on to the bike.

Karel had a great swim for him and he swam 1:07:10 which is a great PR for him!

Karel battled with his normal hyperventilation-feeling when he entered the water (he’s still working on his experience in open water with a land start and this was the first time for an IM start with a mass start – Lake Placid had a seeded time trial start where we walked in, sorted out by anticipated finishing times). Karel said that he felt good in the water but when he got to the cannal, he hated every stroke for he said for him, it had nothing to do with swimming for it felt like a boxing match. He just wanted the swim to be over with. He was very happy with his time but even more happy that the swim was over with and he could get on his bike.

Because there were no strippers and we were required to run with our wetsuits on (they could be pulled down to our waists), I made the .4 mile run to my T1 bag as I removed the top part of my wetsuit (unzipping in the back with the string ) and pulled down to my waist. I had removed my 910 from my wrist and stuck in my mouth as I took off the sleeves and as I ran, I put my watch back on so that I didn’t have to tug on my wetsuit and risk stopping my watch on accident.

I grabbed my T1 bag with my bike gear and made my way into the female changing tent.

Well, I guess it was a co-ed tent because with so many guys and so few women, there were guys in our changing tent (which was also very open to the T1 bags. Oh well.

I sat on the ground and a volunteer stripped my wetsuit off of me (I don’t think she spoke English but she knew what I was asking her to do) and I put on my helmet and sunglasses and wiped off my feet as I put on my 110% compression sock (Karel wore his compression calf sleeves under his wetsuit which was allowed).  I put on my cycling shoes and bib number with race belt (bib number required to be on our back for the bike) I had my nutrition in a zip lock baggy so I grabbed the bag as I exited transition area. I handed my T1 bag (with swim gear inside) to a volunteer at the drop off bag area outside the tent (which was new for me since typically the volunteers put your stuff in the bag as you leave the changing tent) . I emptied the contents of my nutrition into my back pockets of my tri suit (which I wore my Trimarni tri short bottoms and Trimarni tri top under my wetsuit w/ Brooks running sport bra) as I was running to my bike. 

I had positioned my bike facing the way I was supposed to run out of transition whereas the other bikes in my rack had the rear wheel facing the direction we were running. This made it very easy for me to power on my Garmin Edge on my bike, lift it out of the rack (not hanging racks which was great!) and then run in the same direction as my bike was facing. 

Marni T1 transition time: 5:18

Karel T1 transition time: 4:10

I ran by Karel’s bike as I exited transition area and wasn’t sure when I would see him but I looked forward to the moment that I could chat with Karel on the bike. Seeing Karel on the course is my biggest highlight of my day when we race together.

When I got on my bike, there was a short section by the screaming fans before we made a turn around to head out to a short out and back section before the start of two laps of our 112 mile bike course. My body was feeling good and all nerves were a thing of the past and I was super pumped to see how all my hill training in Greenville (over the past 5 weeks) with a body that hasn’t had a physiological (injury) setback in almost a year, had paid off.

Time to bike 112 miles on the beautiful, fast, yet challenging, Ironman Austria bike course!!