One of the most famous Ironman races in the World, ‘KLAG” (for Klagenfurt) was on my to-do list for a while, despite a long travel, and the difficult to sign up (sells out fast!).
But here we were, after a long time off due to my hip fracture, back on the starting line !
The city is very typical of Austria, and the countryside is beautiful with the lake, mountains.
I was quite happy with my swim time, having underperformed in swims over my last 5 races. I feel I could come back to a 1hr05mn swim with a good amount of training… if I wanted to !
The bike was scenic and fast-ish, I was happy with my time, although I could have piushed harder and made at least 5 extra minutes, (5hr 23mn, could go 5hr 15n). I felt very strong at the end.
The run was HOT. I managed my tempertarure quite well despite the lack of sponges, but inexorably, my pace went down… still I hung for a sub-11 finish in 10hr 43mns despite a very long T1 given the transition layout.
Overall I was happy with my results, sufficient to lock a World Championship slot in my age group. Meaning… a second Ironman in 2023 !!!
That was Ironman number 21, and the medal always feels good.
Now a quick break in Italy, and see you for the big dance 🪩
