Ironman Gdynia... how did we even end up registered for a race in Poland?? Well, it all started last year when Jerome qualified for Kona at Ironman Lake Placid and I DNFed with crippling GI issues. Since that day I'd been back and forth several times about whether or not it made sense to go slot chasing and try to get my own. I'd finally decided that it didn't make sense. Most North American races were full, my 9:58 at Cozumel wasn't even close to a slot, it was just too much of a long shot to fly to Europe just to try for something that probably wasn't going to happen. That was in the spring. I planned my year around supporting Jerome at Kona, even registering for Chattanooga two weeks before and Florida a month after. Fast forward to June and after a few really awesome Spring races and a year and a half with no off season I find myself feeling awesome. The fastest I've ever felt. And now I start to wonder again, should I have tried for a slot? Is there still time? I start digging and find out registration is still open for just a few qualifying races, Gdynia is one of them. It seems like a small race, increasing my odds, and the terrain seems good for me (rolling bike, nearly flat run). I'm not a hills biker- no hills to train on near home. I talk to Jerome about it, he agrees I should go for it. One shot. From that point the race was only about six weeks away and I had 70.3 Oregon already scheduled for July. Turned out to be a great race, a PR, and a needed confidence boost going into Gdynia (race report here).
We arrived in Poland earlier than we usually do before a race, anticipating needing a couple days to adjust and get through the jet lag. I had booked us an AirBnB close to the race area. It was small, but nice enough. We would come to find however, that between the lack of AC and the street noise not only would we fail to recover from the jet lag, each passing day we would only become more tired from very little quality sleep.
Race Morning
We're up plenty early and have a light breakfast. Coffee, toast and some fruit. We do a final gear check and head to transition. Thanks to being AWA our transition racks are in an awesome spot right next to the "bike out" arch. As we get our nutrition set on the bikes and pump up our tires it begins to sprinkle. We've been cursed the past year or so with crappy race weather, so this seems about right. As we finish with the bikes, drop a couple nutrition items in our run bags, and head for the swim start it turns into a full on rain shower. We find a covered walkway near a restroom and take some time to get our wet suits on, use the restroom, and have a snack. At last it's time to head to the swim start.
The Swim
I lined up towards the front of the crowd. I swim faster when people around me are swimming fast, and wanted to find a good draft position. Jerome started a few minutes back. It's part of the game we play, cat and mouse, all race long. Keeps us both motivated. As I started I was comfortable with the pace around me and immediately feeling good in the water. Today would be my day. Over the course of the 2.4 miles I found a couple good draft positions and only swam maybe 1/3 on my own. Coming out of the water I felt fresh and was right on track on the pace I wanted.
The Bike
I flew through T1 and was out on the bike. Biking used to be my weak spot having been a lifelong runner and a pretty decent swimmer since I was a kid. But I've put a lot of work into improving on the bike and have been hooked on Zwift since the pandemic, which has helped a lot. In my last few races my bike leg has been super strong so I'm pretty confident this will go well. A couple days ago we reconned the first notable climb at the start of the bike section, and everything after that looked east enough based on the maps and profiles. Normally we would try to drive the bike course before the race so we knew exactly what to expect but we hadn't rented a car here due to reports that the roads and driving conditions were quite challenging. That was a mistake. "Rolling" was misleading. This course was so much tougher than we expected. My power numbers looked good but mentally I wasn't ready for the constant grueling climbing. And my mood is suddenly off. I'm sure this is a result of the lack of sleep. I get grumpy when I'm tired. And I am GRUMPY all of the sudden. As I desperately search my mind for a fix- a song, a motivational quote, an inspiring person, a mantra, anything to change my mood, Jerome comes up behind me. As he passes he asks how I'm doing. I'm honest "I feel kind of shitty". He replies "me too". Now I know it's the sleep, Jerome never has bad races. Well, I've done enough of these to know that it's a long race and things can change, you have to stay engaged and remember that everyone will face issues over the course of the race. I give what I can on the bike and resolve to hope for strong legs on the run.
The Run
As I began the run I was in pain. Something was going on in my left foot and knee and the jolts of pain are so bad I'm limping. This is my one shot, I can't really be screwing this up so bad! I tell myself to just keep going and hope it passes. After about a mile I start to loosen up and move better. After two miles I'm actually feeling pretty good. There are a couple out and back sections and I intermittently spot Jerome. And just behind him there's a girl that looks like she couple be in my age group. I need to catch her just in case. I clock how far ahead of me she is and start chipping away at the gap. After a few miles I catch her. Ok, now I'll work on Jerome. Every time I see him I'm just a little closer until I eventually catch him too. I assume he'll go with me once I catch him but by the time I get there I'm feeling surprisingly good and fly right by! I can tell I've managed my nutrition well because 20 miles in and I'm happy, smiling, and running like I could go all day. I push the pace all the way through the finish.
The Finish
I cross the line happy with how I managed to turn a crappy race around. A wait for Jerome and in a couple minutes he crossed the line too and we celebrate together. At that point I'd yet to see my finish position, but I knew my time wasn't exactly what I hoped for. But it was a tough course so perhaps everyone's times were slower. We make our way to transition and morning bag pickup and I retrieve my phone to check the results. 4th place in my age group, 5th overall. Damn my competitive age group. We will most likely only get one slot. My heart sinks as I realize I blew my shot.
Awards and slot allocation are the next day. We decide to go just in case some kind of miracle happens and the slot rolls. They do all the awards first. They finally get to slots and start with the oldest and work their way down... the anticipation is killing me. They finally get to my age group. The accouncer declares that our group gets two slots. Whoa for real!!? He calls the first place girl. She walks up to the stage. Damn there goes one slot. She reaches for the symbolic lei denoting slot acceptance, but pulls back. It's all a dramatic ruse, she declines the slot. He calls the second place girl, she declares she already has her slot. Holy crap!!! That means.... omg... wait... there's two slots... and is this really happening... he's not even to my name yet but I'm already on my feet. I don't even care what third place girl says. I'm going to get my slot!! He finally calls me and I jump and waive my arms. I'm not taking any chances that we aren't clear on my answer! "Yes I want it!!" He smiles "KC Northup you're going to Kona!" he calls out as another guy puts a lei around my neck. I did it. I'm going to Kona! (You can find the Kona race report here)
Comments