Training

On April 13, 2025, I took part in the Paris Marathon. My first IRONMAN 70.3 was scheduled for exactly seven weeks later, which left very little time for specific training. The Paris Marathon was my main objective for the first half of 2025. So, in December of last year, I laid out a plan as follows:

• Full focus on marathon training: a 13-week training plan starting in January, with five runs a week.
• In addition, one mandatory swim per week of at least 1,000 meters. I don't have a coach, I'm not in a triathlon club, and I didn't want to do specific drills — just plain swimming to try to improve my endurance.
• Every Monday: gym. Weight lifting, focusing on pecs, arms, and legs. To look good, of course, but also to help with swimming and running.
• One optional bike ride on the weekend if the weather was good enough. I also bought a home trainer in the middle of winter to complement my training.

I paused swimming for the last two weeks before the marathon.

Then, after the marathon, I took a full week off from all sports and then started training specifically for this IRONMAN 70.3.

Having developed a sore left foot after the marathon (it's still sore today as I'm writing this article!), I lightened my running training from five to two or three runs a week. The pain isn't too bad: 1/10 when walking, 4/10 at the beginning of any run, then it drops to 1/10. But it's still annoying, and I didn't want to make it worse.

I resumed swimming once a week, increasing to two or three times a week in the last three weeks before the race.

Cycling-wise, we went to Bavaria for a full week at the beginning of May to train and focus specifically on cycling. The rest of the time, I continued commuting with my bike, of course, and went for the occasional weekend ride. All in all, in May, including commute rides, I cycled more than 1,000 km.

Gear

The most stressful part of triathlons is the logistics and gear, if you ask me. One needs so many different things, especially for the cycling leg. I didn't want to wait until the last minute, so early in the year, I started buying everything I would need, week after week.

In March, after weeks of weighing the pros and cons, I finally settled on buying a tri-bike. Then it took me multiple tries to adjust and fit it correctly until I could finally start training with it.

Even finding the right rear-mounted bottle holder was a challenge.

Two weeks before the race, I accidentally crushed a Di2 cable inside one of my aerobars because I swapped two screws of different lengths. Fortunately, my local bike shop was able to replace it in no time. Stressful!

Finally, I also traded my Decathlon trisuit for a new one from Z3R0D. I love it!

Travels

Logistics. My nightmare. How to travel from Berlin to Tours, two cities more than 1,000 km apart. We settled on a combination of trains and a rental car.

We made it a point not to disassemble our bikes for train travel because 1) Deutsche Bahn staff can deny boarding if luggage is deemed too large, and 2) it's hard to cram disassembled bikes into luggage racks without damaging them. Hence our choice for the train whenever possible, and a rental car when keeping the bikes in one piece was no longer an option.

Germany's and France's fast trains (ICE and TGV, respectively) usually have a few spots for bikes. By the time we booked everything, there were still spots on a train from Berlin to Mannheim. But unfortunately, all the TGVs had no more bike spots. And timewise, it wasn't going to work.

So on Wednesday, May 28th, we set out. We took an ICE from Berlin to Mannheim. After Mannheim, two regional trains took us to Saarbrücken, where we rented a car.

At the end of this very long day, we spent the night in Paris. The next day, we drove three hours to Tours.

Also, side note: we rented a Polestar 2 and we absolutely loved it. It has a pretty good range, even when driving at 130 km/h. And the fast-charging stations on the freeway are truly fast, despite being quite pricey (59 cents per kWh in France, even more expensive in Germany). We never drained the battery below 20% and wouldn't charge it past 80%. Going from 20% to 80% usually took 30 to 35 minutes using the most powerful charging stations (300 kW), even if the car was unable to draw more than ~100 kW.

Race weekend

Finally, the race weekend arrived. The culmination of many months of training since signing up in August of last year.

We arrived at the campsite in the late afternoon, about 9 km from where the race would start. Our friends arrived at the same time. We checked in and did basically nothing that evening.

Friday

The next day, we went to the Expo in the morning to collect our bib numbers and transition bags. The place was HUGE. It was located at the Exhibition Center. We checked out the merch, got our bib numbers, took a bunch of photos, and went back home. In the afternoon: full-body shave! Afterward, we did a "small" recon of the bike route, 70 km of the 87 km. The weather that weekend was abnormally hot and dry: 32 degrees Celsius. Damn hot. That recon ride did not go unnoticed.

Saturday

On Saturday, things got real.

Briefing

At 10:15 a.m., we showed up again at the Expo for the briefing. It was a 30-minute session where we all sat in tiered seats in the stands and were shown a slide deck presented by Jay Style. After that, we went home again, only to come back a few hours later.

After an early lunch, we all started packing our transition bags very carefully so as not to forget anything. We also prepared our water bottles for the bike leg. A couple of checks on the bikes. Then we loaded them into the car and off we went, back to the Expo.

Bike drop-off

I was a bit anxious about leaving the bike in this massive building. Not because I was worried it might get stolen (almost all the other bikes were more expensive than mine 😂), but because 1) I was afraid I might have forgotten something, and 2) I was worried about the tires, picturing finding the bike with a puncture the next day. The usual piece of advice is to slightly deflate the tires for the night and inflate them again just before the race. I left mine untouched.

Transition bags drop-off

I was even more stressed about forgetting something for my transition bags. I must have checked my checklist 10 times before leaving the campsite 😅. But the good news was that we would be allowed to access our transition bags again the next day before the race.

After leaving my bags, I realized I had forgotten to leave my triathlon belt and bib number in the blue one (the one for the bike leg). We had been asked to wear it to be granted entry into the transition area. I simply forgot to take it off, so I went back a few minutes later to drop it off for real this time. LOL.

Bedtime

7:00 p.m.: dinner time. Then, a few final checks. Swim goggles? Check. Swim caps? Check. Wetsuit? Check. Again, I must have checked my checklist 10 times, just to convince myself that I was 100% ready.

Unfortunately, that night, there was a big football game: the UEFA Champions League final. The campsite was a bit loud between 9:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.

We got into bed around 9:45 p.m. The alarm was set for 5:05 a.m. It was strange trying to fall asleep while it was still bright outside. With the help of a sleeping mask and earplugs, I think I fell asleep around 11:00 p.m.

I woke up about an hour and a half later, feeling fine and wide awake, ready to go. I thought it was time to get up already. I checked the time and realized how early it was. I managed to fall asleep again soon after, until around 4:30 a.m.

Sunday: RACE DAY

Between 4:30 and 5:00 a.m., I was half-asleep and half-awake. Ultimately, I got up just before my alarm clock went off, feeling a bit tired but surprisingly not exhausted. I was READY!

Pre-race

I had my usual pre-race breakfast: muesli with soy milk, Gatosport, and a banana.

One last toilet stop. We left around 5:45 a.m. Traffic jams and road closures were to be expected. We played it smart. We used an alternative toll road; it was slightly longer, but we got there without any traffic. We only had to wait a bit to enter the parking lot, as a queue of cars had formed. We were out of the car by 6:15 a.m.

We rushed toward the bike park. I found a bike pump, topped up my tires with some air, placed my food and water bottles on my bike, and then headed for the transition bags. There, I left my bike computer in my blue bag and my gels in my red bag. The transition area was meant to close at 6:50 a.m. We weren't in a hurry. We decided to take it easy and avoid any stress, since we had pretty much nothing left to do. I think we left the transition area at 6:48 a.m., but there were still a lot of people inside. I doubt they shut it down on time.

Swim

The queue to get into the water was massive. First, we dropped off our white bags (streetwear), put our wetsuits on, and got in line. There were corrals based on estimated swim times. The faster swimmers started before the slower ones. I got in the 40-45 min corral. I didn't get to the starting line until 7:50 a.m.

I had a nice surprise minutes before getting into the water. The announcer started calling out our names. Not only had my mom and one of my sisters shown up on time, but they had also positioned themselves meters from the starting line and managed to draw the announcer's attention. We posed for a photo and that was it: we were NEXT IN LINE for the start.

The swim went surprisingly well. I found a good rhythm and got into "my flow". I managed to swim freestyle the WHOLE time. Not a single second of breaststroke. The water was pretty warm (warmer than 20 degrees) and tasteless (yep, I drank much more river water than I would have liked 😆).

After the first half, I started thinking about calf cramps. I had had a few in the past during training. I managed to hold them off. At some point, I felt one coming on in the right calf, so I paused for 3 seconds in the water and stretched my calf with my hands. All good. False alarm.

Finally, the last buoy. Final push... I could see the shore... I tried to reach for the ground, nope, not yet, one last stroke... and CRAMP!!!! 🚨 A cramp in the left calf on the very last stroke, just before getting out of the water. FUCK! The whole time I was expecting a cramp in the right calf, since I had had a few cramps there in the last few weeks. But it was all right; I could reach the ground at that point. I walked out of the water. The cramp went away after two or three steps.

My family was there again. That put a big smile on my face and gave me the courage for the rest of the race.

It took me 43 minutes and 36 seconds to complete the 1.9 km swim.

T1

All right, time to run to the bike. I started to pull my wetsuit down. As I was running, I realized I needed to pee. Yeah, I drank too much river water. I saw two options: go to a porta-potty or... wet myself. I was already wet from the river. A friend had told me she had done that in a race before... I went for option 2.

Taking the wetsuit off took me forever. Afterward, I realized my aero calf sleeves had slipped down to my ankles while taking off my wetsuit. I had to pull them back up over my calves. I lost a solid 30 seconds there for sure. I will not wear these ever again. Pretty useless. Shaving is nearly as good.

T1 was 9 minutes and 17 seconds long. There is definitely room for improvement!

Bike

I already knew 70 km of the 87 km bike leg.

The route was beautiful! Closed to cars almost everywhere except in the last 5 km or so. I truly loved it.

The "no-drafting" rule was not strictly followed or enforced on the bike leg. I only saw two or three race referees on motorbikes. Since I am a fairly bad swimmer, I came out of the water with the "average" cyclists. As a result, I spent the whole bike leg overtaking people. I don't remember being overtaken once.

My initial plan was to consume 90 grams of carbs per hour for 2 hours and 30 minutes (my estimated bike time). I wasn't planning on grabbing any bottles or food from aid stations. But when filling my bottles the day before, for some reason I decided to put a lot more than that in them. Because, you know, why not? In the end, this is what I was carrying on my bike:

• 2x 950 ml bottles of water with energy powder in each. One with a Maurten Drink Mix 320 and some other powdered mix from Decathlon. The other bottle with only the Decathlon mix. But each bottle had much more than one portion of powder... much more.
• 1x small bottle with only water
• 2x Maurten 100 gels + 1 energy bar

Needless to say, this was WAY beyond the 90 * 2.5 grams of carbs I needed.

At some point during the first half of the ride, I lost my rear-mounted bottle of plain water. I knew it wasn't speed-bump-proof. Up until that one speed bump, we had gone over multiple others. Every time, the bottle had slipped a little, but I had always been able to put it back in the holder. Except for that one time.

I heard a big crashing sound behind me.

I guess I rode over that speed bump too fast and too harshly. I quickly glanced back, saw it, and for a split second thought, "Fuck it, let's keep riding." But then I realized someone might have seen me, and I could risk disqualification. So I decided to stop and go back to pick it up. Fortunately, a volunteer saw it, ran toward the bottle, picked it up, and brought it to me as I was walking back clumsily with my bike between my legs. The bottle had burst open, with only a sip of water left inside. With hindsight, I should never have stopped for it and should have carried on. All in all, I lost at least 30 seconds picking it up.

Another lesson from that event: always carry plain water behind the saddle, not an energy drink, in case you lose it, so as not to put your nutrition strategy at risk.

Anyway, I was back in the game. Full focus. Later on, I grabbed a bottle of water at an aid station.

I think I spent something like 70% of the ride on the aerobars and the rest on the handlebars for comfort.

I started feeling hungry at some point on the bike. I guess my breakfast was too light and also too early. We ate at 5:15 a.m. and started swimming at 7:50 a.m. So I thought I might as well eat a lot on the bike since it's much easier than eating while running. But what I thought would be a good idea turned out to be a pretty shit idea later. Throughout the whole bike leg, I drank close to 3 liters and ate way too much. I clearly exceeded the 90 grams of carbs per hour that I was initially aiming for. I knew I was carrying too many carbs in my water bottles, but I still decided to drink it all before the run leg.

I saw my family once again in one of the last turns before the bike park. I then remembered too late that I had to take my feet out of my shoes to dismount the bike smoothly while leaving the shoes on the pedals. I tried to do it at the last minute in a hurry, but I was only able to get my feet out and put them on top of the shoes. I got too close to the dismount line to do it gracefully while riding. I had to come to a full stop and then get off. Fair enough.

It took me 2 hours, 22 minutes, and 41 seconds to complete the 87 km bike ride.

T2

That second transition was mostly good. After dropping off my bike, I quickly took a piss in a porta-potty and proceeded to the transition area. In the rush, I forgot to take off my fingerless gloves. I realized this later while running and had to put them away in my trisuit pockets.

T2 was 4 minutes and 45 seconds long. I could probably have shaved off 30 seconds if I hadn't had to go pee.

Run

The run started off really badly. In the first few hundred meters, I realized that my belly was WAY TOO FULL. Bloated. That's when I realized how badly I had messed up my nutrition on the bike. I thought it would get better over time, but it didn't. With every kilometer, I got slower and slower. I knew I wouldn't be able to eat anything during the run.

Five or six kilometers later, I had reached a point of no return. I could not hold it any longer. It was painful, and I was slowing down too much. A pit stop was needed. I spotted a porta-potty at an aid station at km 6.5 and stopped for a number two. For THREE. MINUTES. Why so long, you may wonder? Because I was drenched in sweat. It was crazy hot (24 degrees Celsius). Taking off the top of a trisuit when you're sweaty takes forever. Like a minute! Same goes for putting it back on. I should have done that while running, not in the porta-potty.

After that, the rest of the run was great. I felt new again. Reborn. Fast again!

The route was super nice. Two loops that went through an island that is actually a park and along riverbanks. Away from the streets. The two loops started and finished in the exhibition center, giving spectators a chance to see us multiple times: at the start of the run, halfway through, and at the finish line. Which is exactly what my family did.

In the second half of the run, I noticed how tight my elastic laces were, especially on the left foot. I started feeling some pain growing. It remained manageable until the end, but I will be sure to loosen them next time.

I should have looked at the total time on my watch during the run. If I had seen that I was less than a minute away from a sub-5-hour time, I would have definitely been able to run faster. But overall, I am very happy with my run! I grabbed water at almost every aid station because of the heat, but I didn't eat anything despite carrying four gels in my back pockets.

Crossing the finish line was a blast! The IRONMAN 70.3 Tours is the only one in the world with an indoor finish line. That was spectacular. The crowd was gathered in the stands. Music was blasting, lights everywhere. A true show!

It took me 1 hour, 40 minutes, and 41 seconds to complete the half-marathon, with a pace of 4'42"/km (pit stop included!).

The whole race: 5 hours and 58 seconds.

Conclusion

I am absolutely delighted! I loved every second of the race. And being with friends and family made it even more special. I can't wait to do it again!

Next time, I need to put on anti-chafing cream between my legs. The aero position and the thin chamois led to a lot of chafing in my pelvic area.

Next time, I shall also eat more for breakfast and/or bring food to eat an hour before the race begins, like a slice of Gatosport. I can't eat so early before a race; I guess my body digests food quickly.

Anyway, this concludes a lengthy article about my very first IRONMAN 70.3! 🏅

Lessons learned

• Eat something an hour before the start.
• Practice longer, uninterrupted swim sessions to improve endurance and avoid cramps.
• No aero calf sleeves.
• Faster T1: practice removing the wetsuit.
• Fasten the rear-mounted bottle securely.
• Eat exactly 90 grams of carbs per hour on the bike, not more. Likewise, avoid drinking too much water.
• Carry plain water behind the saddle and energy drinks on the frame.
• Use anti-chafing cream between the legs.
• Don't stop for a fallen water bottle.
• Loosen elastic shoelaces.