At the start of the year 2024, I had hoped this blog would become a sort of training diary I’d be able to write alongside training for Ironman, and that interested readers would feel in some way that they’d come along with me on the journey.
Alas! The reality of full time work, fuller time training, the occasional menty-b, and the vast amount of laundry I hadn’t factored into the plan meant I was often too befuddled to organise my thoughts enough even for a simple instagram post, much less an engaging blog report.
Time got away from me, I had one or two mini meltdowns and did a LOT of laundry
The weeks seemed to fly by, each month there was another practice race to prepare for, participate in and recover from before starting preparations for the next one.
Almost before I knew what had happened, it was August. The practice races and all of the biggest training weeks were behind me and I was in the ‘taper’ phase. This is, as the word suggests, the gradual reduction of training volume as race day approaches. The idea is to allow for rest and recovery, while keeping the fitness you’ve worked for to a point where you’re bursting to get out and RACE!
At the start of race week, the group chat was kicking off with the bubbling excitement of 20 women ready for their first (for most of us) full distance triathlon.
I hired a bike box to transport my ride, watched the you tube videos that taught me how to dismantle the bike and pack the box, then with a little help from my local bike shop managed to get it all safely stowed for my flight.
I booked a luggage transfer company to collect the bike and suitcase, take it to the airport and check it in for a bargain price of £80. This left me hands free to make my own merry way to the airport in my own time and relatively stress free.
After landing in Copenhagen and reuniting with my bike and luggage, it was a simple train journey from the airport directly to Kalmar station and a short bus ride to the rented house that would be home for six nervous wannabe Iron(wo)men.
The first job was to reassemble the bikes and take them for a test spin down to the centre of town where we registered for the race and had our first look at the pop up shop of triathlon dreams. Ironman merchandise as far as the eye could see and I was excited!
I made a mental note of all the things I’d come back for later and we headed to the race briefing to listen to the race organisers hype us up and give everyone tears in their eyes.
We were delighted to hear that the race was an 80/20 male/female participant split. That might not seem very equitable compared to running races, or the Olympics, but for long course triathlon it’s pretty impressive.
This year’s IRONMAN Kalmar had a gender split of 80/20 – impressive for long distance triathlon
After a photo call for the 10IronWomen team, it was time to head home and wait for the other housemates to arrive.
The day before the race was reasonably restful. We cycled down to the beach area to take a test swim in the Baltic Sea. The water was colder than I expected, but much less salty and happily there were no waves to write home about. I had a little dip then dried off in the sun and enjoyed spending some time with my fellow 10IWs.
Some of us took a short little jog around the centre of town, had a peek at the famous red carpet and discovered the first-timers’ bell. I took a picture of it and told myself I’d be back to ring the hell out of that bell tomorrow.
We met a man who told us this would be his 6th Ironman race and that he’d done his first one aged 70!
Soon it was time to pack our transition bags and rack our bikes ready for the next morning. The bags are hung in long rows for the athletes to make a quick change between each part of the race, so it’s important you have the things you need and nothing extraneous, so this part was done very deliberately and with much discussion in the group.
After a dinner of pizza and some supper time toast for extra carbs, me and the housemates said our goodnights and went off to bed in the hope of getting a good night’s sleep before the day we’d been waiting for all year.
To be continued…
Laura goes to London 