Weymouth Ironman 70.3, 19 Sep 2021

In the lead up to the event, I was feeling strong and positive! Having signed up for my first Ironman 70.3 back in 2019, this has been a long-awaited race for me. When the race was cancelled last year, I was lucky to get a last minute slot at another race of the same distance, and LOVED it. The mindset this year was no longer to ‘complete’ but to ‘compete’.

Weymouth is notorious for bad weather on the 70.3 weekend, so I was prepared for it all. Having trained in heavy rain and choppy waters, I wasn’t phased by the prospect of bad conditions. But we were lucky, it started off with a calm (but slightly long) swim and we finished the run in glorious sunshine!

Having had a shoulder injury from last month, I didn’t have my usual oomph in the swim and opted to comfortably cruise it, coming out 9th in my AG. The bike course was undulating with not particularly tough climbs compared to Devon, but enough to provide a challenge! Although the bike is usually the bit I worry about the most, I really enjoyed it because of the rolling hills and good views – the time flew by. Overall, I was happy with my cycle considering it’s my weakest discipline.

Unfortunately for me, it went downhill on the run. I struggled to take in fuel on the bike and that continued throughout the run, meaning I was running on fumes. My goal time was around 1h38 for the run, and I completed it in 1h44. It brought me up to AG 5th, but not where I wanted to be – I was really aiming for a podium. However, it was an incredibly strong field of females!

Reflecting on the lead up, I’ve worked out where I went wrong (nutrition in particular) and have plans to change that going ahead. I’ve had a strong start to my time in triathlon: apart from my very first triathlon in 2019, this is the first race I haven’t had an AG or overall podium, so this really was a reality kick to show that you can’t always be on the podium! I have to say the atmosphere was amazing and I’m eyeing up next years race already!

Holly-Mei Jones