Zell am See 70.3- a year in the making!
‘It started in August 2013 when I was watched Lance conquer his first 70.3 in 5hrs 26mins on a great fast, flat, friendly course. When he finished he was elated & I was inspired. So once we were home I booked it and started my journey! A nice novice 70.3.
I got my first road bike in February, my swim was okay & my run needed work, so it was time to get training. Everything was going okay till I got the email saying that they had changed the course! Apparently I should be happy that it was now a 70.3 world championship course with a climb of 950m to the top of a 1260m mountain! WHAT!!!!!!!! Panic!!! There was no going back. So I joined Viceroys and got a plan off Mark & the real hard work began! Swim, bike, run, eat, sleep, repeat!!! 2 weeks before the race I did my first and only wet, windy real hilly 100k around the Cheddar Gorge. Thank God I did because those were race day conditions- thunderstorms!
Race start was a leisurely 10.25am, so no 4am up! Hooray! The swim is always my favourite bit and for the race it was push hard and get as much time as I could on the bike. The reality was I was chasing the cumulative 5.30hr cut off and with the 13k climb and a nasty 15% 2k kicker at the end and a wet 16% long wiggly hairpin descent I was up against it. So into the washing machine for the swim, at one point I thought the lovely lake had been replaced by the sea. Loved it and did an okay 35mins considering the amount of people. Quick run through the mud to transition and off for the hardest ride of my life!
The good news, if there was any on the bike, was the climb was at 21k and over by 35k & it was mostly down hill till then. Luckily the rain hadn’t started it’s down pour so I could eat and hydrate & prepare to keep the pedals turning. Which I did and nearly got to the top, the last bit beat me and it was timber or walk. The second bit of good news is there was also more down that up, however it wasn’t a Sunny Sunday afternoon it was chucking it down, windy & hailing at one point so the descents were terrifying- full on brakes and still doing 18k/h! They put on special crash mats for us! Luckily I only saw one bad accident, as someone went over a barrier into the gorge and one air ambulance. (Winter is about mountain biking for me so I can get really confident with my bike handling.) Once the mountain was climbed and the descent chilled out it was about pushing hard for home. It was a bit lonely at times but I was pedalling in a picture postcard alpine extravaganza- so beautiful. If I wasn’t going to make the cut I wasn’t going to leave anything out on the course. I rode the fastest last 30km of my life as I watched the clock tick away- just for good measure they gave us a couple of nasty shortish sharp climbs in the last 15k!! I pedalled hard & got into transition with about 15 mins to spare! Yippeeeee! I couldn’t quite believe it. Now all I had to do was keep running and I’d get that medal.
The run was along the beautiful shore of the lake, in the rain! 2 laps both through the centre of town. It was time to just keep the legs moving. I genuinely doubted I’d get to the run so when I did I just kept on going, I was going to finish. Half way in the first lap I ran past a Lance going the other way on his second lap! It was so brilliant to see him and he was super happy I’d made the cut. I was okay till 1k to go and I was about to walk it all the way home when Lance came back after finishing and got me to the home straight and that magic carpet. So after a year it was my finishing moment and it was ace, high fiving all the way!
Can’t quiet believe it! Rachel Hall 39 and 3/4 Ironman 70.3 :-)’
As raced and reported by Rachel Hall
