After a first terrible winter in London, where my bike stayed inside for everything except one ride to adjust the brakes (!), I headed out to France with my friend Yann for a 140.6 version of the popular IM 70.3 Sables d’Olonne, on the French Atlantic coast.
We arrived on Friday night after a combo Eurostar plus 5-hour drive. Luckily we managed to sleep early to recover from 8 hours of sitting. No plan for a run the next day as I realise Indo better with 2 days of rest ahead of big events.
The town was 100% Ironman ambiance, and the weather was great so lots of tourists were also enjoying the sea and the seafront restaurant. We carbo loaded in restaurant for lunch, and with a giant home cooked pasta salad while sitting for on the beach for pre-race dinner.
The race expo was small but had everything needed. Bib pickup was very smooth as well. As Yann had not raced IM for 10 years, we double checked his bags to make sure he had a race belt (he had not !) and I convinced him to buy real food for the special needs bag at the 100k mark on the bike. The transition areas was a bit out of town. After rebuilding our bikes and a quick bike check, we dropped the bikes near the port (15mn walk). That was it !
Race day. We walked to transition to check everything and drop the food, then quickly out. We came back to the apartment to use our own restroom 🚽 What a luxury ! Then quickly put our swimsuits on. All the walking took time, so we didn’t really have plenty to spare at the beach. Atmosphere was great, tide was against us a tiny bit (I had hopes for an ascending tide in the port !!!), so some good swimmers decided to start in the last corral 45mn later ! 😂 We stayed on our target zone of 1:05 to 1:10. And then we were on with a quick run amidst the supporters!
I tried to push on the swim, and not just cruising, as my last 5 races had disappointing swim times. The sighting was ok, but I just say that I prefer group starts than corrals: with corrals you are mostly alone for the last kilometer or so. We passed the lighthouse, zigzagged in the middle of the canal and the boats. Swim time: 1h04mns. Happy.
Decent transition even if I decided to put a bike jersey instead of staying in the tri suit. Still lots of bike on T1 which gave me an energy kick. I started the bike with a 05h20mn target.
The first section had lots of potholes and traffic, but quickly we were in the countryside, able to hammer 🔨
Then I keep it smooth for the first 10K with a 05h20 pace. From 100K to 120K there are a bunch of groups riding together, which I also benefit from, until the last 60K when it is a bit of a solo, lonely ride. I feared the wind as forecast was for a headwind picking up at 12pm, but that was ok. I push hard when I see I can go sub 05:10:00, and not sure why but I end up with 179K on the bike computer, with 05h03mn official time.
Transition 2 was smooth, socks and Vaseline, switched tri tip, grabbed a gel for my back pocket knowing I would never use it as those tend to make me throw up late in the IM marathon. But you never know !
The out-and-back at the lighthouse is very motivating, as is the short run in the sand on the beach amidst people enjoying a day in the sun and cheering for stupid triathletes painfully slogging a 42K run in the heat.
Heat is not bad by the way, well it is not cold but probably won’t be the limiting factor today. After the run on the sand, we run back to the beachwalk at KM 3 and now the run is really on. I am running around 04:30 and realise I can go sub 10 if I maintain 3h30 marathon. I I have already blown up at that pace (45mn / 10K) but I feel MUCH better than usual as I ramped up my fast long run under fasting state this year. I decide to push same past until turnaround, and then 10K. As there are fewer runners on the course, I enjoy the atmosphere and the cheers, and also aid stations that are easy to go through efficiently.
10K in 45mn, now I know pain will settle in for 3 remaining loops. I hold the pace under km 20, despite heating up a bit. My pace is a 3h15 marathon, I am happy. I know need to hold a 5mn / K pace for the second half, which is a 3h30mns marathon, and still have a huge buffer to go sub 10hr and also break my marathon PB. I know that a blow up leeding to a 6mn / K pace is possible, so I could how much buffer I need to afford this blow up. I really suffer until KM 30, but clench my teeth.
The course is narrow with a lot of runners, and just trying to grab coke at the aid station slows you down a lot. It is difficult to keep the pace. They really need more room to pass slower runners ! Also, running along slower runners makes you think you are fast, and then you slow down ! That third lap is tough. As I start the last lap I know I have some buffer but from 22K to 32K I cannot hold 5mn / K. Feels tougher than running 4:30/K on the second lap. I just try to stay as close as possible at 5K / K. Then I hit 39K. There is a very narrow out and back on a small trail. I almost push other athletes not to slow down. If I slow down I fear I will give up. I am all out at 4:50 / K ! Then last KM.
Marathon time is 03:22:49. I now know the feeling of really runnning an ironman marathon. Sure, that is only a 04:50 / K pace. And only run time 187 overall ! But I am so happy.
I don’t feel too bad. I gobble down two litres of water. On the run I only used coke, and didn’t want to bloat my stomach with additional water – which worked well for my tummy. Then back at the apartment to take a shower. Quickly I ease back to the finish line to see my friend Yann crushing it too in 10:38:00. Impressive.
Takeaways from 2025: lots of long rides indoors. A lot of 20K runs above race pace and without food / drinks. I used the strategy “train with pain” and it worked. Not sure if that was just me have a good day, let’s see next year when I plan to train similarly.
Next year another new French race, IRONMAN Tours. See you there !
