DNF…
Just want to forget this one quick and go on, but I owe you the story of what has happened last Sunday at IRONMAN Italy.
Well.. I wish I knew what has happened…

Mentally it wasn’t an easy prep for the race, not just talking about the past weeks, but more about the 36 hours before. We’ve had the most beautiful weather but exactly on race day the forecast was really bad.
First the race got cancelled for the Saturday and the confirmation to race on Sunday stayed out untill 6pm on the Saturday.
I was struggling to switch on and felt super lazy after two days of not doing much more than just waiting.. The good thing was: I felt relaxed, maybe too much..

Raceday..
Swim: As calm as the sea was before the storm, as choppy it was after. The first 500m were oké but soon I got dropped from the pack, heavy shoulders, couldn’t find a comfortable rhythm.
1h03 way too slow and about 4-5min gone from the there where I had to be. Although I didn’t want to stress about it, we all know Ironman is long and I just wanted to race my race.

Bike: With many doubts about how I’ve been feeling on the bike during the past weeks, I was happy about how I turned the pedals round and round. Still not the level where I should have to be, but on the right way! The only thing that worried me was the amount of times that I had to piss.. 6x!

Run: Another piss stop in T2 before I started the 4 loop marathon. Happy as I was during the first two loops, as I was running the planned pace and it felt comfortable. And most important of all: stomach issues stayed out! I was taking good care of myself, gels, water, salts.. but suddenly I got super sore on hips and legs. We all know it starts to hurt from about halfway, but even jogging became a big struggle.

I don’t give up easily, but another 18km with an empty tank was too much to ask..

It hurts to give up, but I will be back soon because this is not how I’m going to finish my season! Upwards and onwards!

A big shout out to the organisation for all the incredible work they have put into to get us all out on the course!

Thanks to all for the messages and support! I’ll be back..