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Showing posts from June 19, 2016

Ironman Austria - one more sleep

It's hard to believe that it was almost 10 years ago when I was packing my transition bags for my very first Ironman. Now 10 years and 10 Ironman triathlon events later, I have the privilege of racing for 140.6 miles with my body for the 11th time in Klagenfurt, Austria. I've always felt that the Ironman distance was a good distance for me. Over the years, I have enjoyed the mental and physical challenge of training for and racing long distance triathlon events. There have been a lot of high moments, PR's, Kona qualifications (4 of them) and great memories but I've also had my share of low moments with setbacks, struggles and injuries. When I overcome those low moments, I always gain more of an appreciation for what I can do with my body as a triathlete. Although I feel honored that I have the fitness to be competitive and to "race" (not just participate) for 140.6 miles, I never take the distance for granted. I respect the long day that I have in front of me...

Ironman Austria swim and run course preview (in pics)

The Ironman Austria swim course is an easy-to-navigate course thanks to the simplicity of the layout of the course and to the clear blue waters of Lake Worthersee. The only downside is that the sun will be in our face after the 2nd turn buoy. Karel and I have swam in the lake twice, with once being at a similar time as what we will experience on race day. We specifically wanted to see if we could find a landmark(yellow house and trees) instead of looking for buoys to help us navigate our way into the canal in the direct sun. Although, we have a 90-100% chance of rain and thunderstorms on race day so who knows what the sun will look like on race morning. In 2014, we had a mass swim start at Ironman Austria - if you look at the swim picture, you can see three red docks - I started after the furthest dock away from the swim course and happened to swim my fastest swim time to date - 1 hour and 10 seconds. This year, we will be starting with a rolling start, which I absolutely love because...

IM Austria bike preview (in pics)

It's hard to describe this course in words so I thought I'd use pictures to show you what you get to see in 112 miles on the Ironman Austria bike course. When leaving Klagenfurt, there is a quick out and back section when leaving the transition area and then we head to Maria Worth, which is in route to Velden. As you can see in the bike course map picture, the first part of the course is filled with water views. And not just any water views - the fresh and clean, aqua blue waters of Lake  Wörthersee (also our swim course).  There are a few rolling sections but the course starts out fast. There is also a nice view of the Pyramidenkogel (highly recommend to visit if you are in the area) which is on a 2,703 foot high foot mountain in Carinthia, Austria.  After passing through Velden, we approach a round about and then head straight for several miles, with longer rollers (climbs and descends) and our first real views of the alps. The course remains fas...