I had thought getting to transition one hour before the start would be plenty of time but I hadn't anticipated a big queue to get to our bikes and go through body marking.   Note to self, don't leave it this late in future!!   Sods law, when I eventually made it to my bike, I had huge problems getting air into the tyres and there was no-one inside the transition to help.   Christian tried to help me through the fence but no joy and thankfully I spotted Francois (Mavic mechanic) who came to my rescue and after battling for another 10minutes, he finally got the air in.   Panic over but now I only had 15minutes to the start following the toilet queue....quickly into the wetsuit, good luck kiss and I was running to the water.  

I am not sure what it is about the French races but they always seem to like you starting on the stones for a dramatic start picture!!   I am so paranoid that I am going to trip over and get trampled by 800 testosterone-high men waiting to get into the water behind me. Somehow it works out and we were off although there was the normal crazy fight to get to the front but once the initial crush was over, I felt really good in the water.   The only thing that disrupted my rhythm for the entire swim was a couple of jellyfish stings.   We hadn't seen a single one in the days leading up to the race but sure enough, race morning there was hundreds out there.   Thankfully the stings were not really bad and I am used to them from Hong Kong certain times of the year.   As I came out of the water, I saw the clock.....51minutes - very cool that would be a personal best for me so a good start to the day.   It's a long run through transition but soon I was onto my bike and could hear Joss and Christian call out that I was in third place.  

The bike course takes you along the Promenade des Anglais (famous water front area of Nice) and out into the countryside for a one loop course.   I knew the course would be tough as it climbs over 2000m over the 180km.   I felt ok heading out of town although the legs didn't feel amazing which was a little weird as I had felt really good race week.   After about 30km, a couple of other pro women went past but I wasn't phased....Ironman is a long day.   The first climb was steep but thankfully short and soon as were riding a nice, relatively flat section to Vence.   The first major climb comes at about 60km and while the view is amazing, the initial gradient and the fact it goes for nearly 30km is HARD!!   I had started to suffer with a headache which was making me really nauseous but I tried to stay focused and keep eating as I knew I would need this to finish the bike and have energy for the run.

By the 90km mark, I was feeling really nauseous and I would be lying if I said, I hadn't thought about pulling out but I really wanted to finish for me but also for the clients I had racing (many of them doing their first Ironman).   Christian had also driven all the way down from Germany to watch and support me....he was hardly going to want to support a looser right?!?   I battled on but it wasn't pretty and the final 40km was particularly tough after all the climbs as it was meant to be slightly downhill and an easy cruise into transition.   No chance, we had a freak rainstorm which soon stopped but left behind a wicked headwind to deal with!!   I finally fell off the bike after 6hrs20........I felt terrible but thought I would sit in T2 for a little while and try to get out onto the run.   Maybe the change in position etc would help ease the headache and nausea.  

After about 10minutes, I headed out onto the Promenade for the 4lap marathon course. I actually did feel slightly better to start with but mostly down to the fact we had a really strong tailwind for the outward section.   It was great to see Alex (Jeremy's wife and one of my oldest clients......length in time rather than age!!!), Christian and Mark (Rebecca's husband) all screaming and passing on words of encouragement.   My feelings of improvement only lasted a short time and soon I was feeling really nauseous again.   Finally after 20km, I was dry retching and couldn't really see straight and thankfully Alex had the since to pull me to the side of the course and get Christian.   After a few minutes of tears as I really couldn't face not finishing, it became obvious this was the only sensible solution.   Christian took me straight to medical where I spent a couple of hours being fed I.V's of anti-nausea solution.   Finally, I felt a little better and was able to take some painkillers for the headache and after cheering on Graeme, Rebecca and Jeremy (my clients) on their final lap of the run, we headed back to the hotel for some well earned rest.

After a good nights sleep, I was definitely feeling better although disappointed.   A few days later, I was able to have a long chat with my coach, Siri and we are pretty sure the problem actually lay within my preparation.   There may have been small things on race day but I think the bigger problem was the fact I had been working such long hours throughout May seven days a week.   I know a lot of people train for Ironman and work full-time but it's incredibly hard to be competitive in the pro field when working on average a 45hr week and trying to train 30hrs a week.   I had also had some sickness problems including some other issues requiring a couple of minor operations in May. This meant I had to take 3days off training every time I went in.   It's very frustrating when you start to get into a rhythm with training then have to stop then start then stop again.   I don't want to pile on the excuses but it's important to me to understand why I wasn't able to race to my ability and put this right ready for the next one.  

I have just enjoyed a three weeks off where I was able to finish some work projects left over from May/June and get over a bout of flu (non anticipated extra week off!) I am now back in Germany with Christian where I have a perfect area to train in, amazing weather and everything you could need to get ready for some racing.  

Starting lap 2 of the swim.

Heading out onto the bike.

Early in the run...

HK Group Enjoying French Hospitality post-race (Joss, Jeremy, Me, Christian, Graeme & Claudia, left to right)

A busy Monday afternoon in France!!