Ironman 70.3 Les-Sables - Race Report

Race report: Ironman 70.3 Les Sables 

Timing: 6:45 Hours 

Age Cat : 25-29 Years

Les Sables D’olonee is a beautiful French village located about a 4 hour train ride from the capital, Paris. The race entails a bay swim, rolling bike and flat run course.The wind was the biggest game-changer on this course. It's super strong—like 4-5 times stronger than what you'd deal with in Ironman Goa or any other race in Asia. The bike course rolled across beautiful countryside and lush green forests starting from a massive port area where the swim took place. This could be one of the few courses where you can actually run on a promenade with a beach view. The race being an Ironman Pro Series Race, had a strong Pro Field lineup and media coverage. The line up had Rico Bogen, Gustav Iden, Cameron Wurf and a few more well recognised faces in the triathlon world.

T-2

We arrived at Les Sables about two days before the race. The race had been preponed by a day due to some parliamentary elections. There was no time or energy to do a full route recce after all the long travel hours. I did a short one from the bike start and figured that the first 10-15 kms would be a long haul with strong headwinds and uneven road surface. It literally took me 40+ minutes on the reconnaissance to get to the 10km mark. I did a short run after that and that felt pretty good. The cool winds really helped. 

We plunged into the ocean for a swim recce. There were buoys planted in the ocean. Damn, that swim was a freeze. I hadn’t expected it to be that cold. My palms went numb and my face froze after 600m’s of swim in the wetsuit. All this was while the local guys were entering shirtless into the waters. I just stayed calm and decided to get done with the swim. Race day can feel different anyways.

T-1 

I got my race kit from the expo and then had my bike ready for the transition. After depositing the bike, I saw a board that said ‘Cannot access transition bags in the morning’. That was a bit of a surprise as usually it’s allowed, at least in the races I’ve been to before. Then I had to take a long walk back to the hotel, get the transition bags and deposit them before 10pm. Another big bummer was my period starting just a day before the race. I knew I was in for a rough ride. I kept trying to keep a tab on my mental and emotional side. But there were just too many things to think about, considering it was a new place, new environment, new weather and more! But we cannot change the race date, can we? So, just kept calm and tried to focus on doing the best I can for the day and to get a good sleep in the night.

Race Day 

I got my bike set in transition just in time and then it was another long walk to the swim start. Once I reached there, someone walked up to me and said “You can’t wear AWA(All World Athlete) Caps, you have to wear your AG caps”. Another new rule I didn’t know of. Just last month I started the race in Vietnam with an AWA cap. Well well. 

It made me tense a bit but I got my thoughts quickly in line. I went to find a referee instead of doing the usual swim warmup. At the start line, I found a volunteer handing out extra AG caps. I grabbed one and joined my group. No warmup, no zone in, it was go time and OOPS, my googles came loose. I missed starting with my AG girls, got UJ to quickly fix my goggles and got started with the next group of men. Not too bad!

Swim

I had my fastest swim time of 36 minutes in the course. But honestly, I never felt comfortable in the water. My body just couldn’t warm up; instead, I froze and got more numb from the cold. On top of that, the start was chaotic with aggressive swimming. My Tri-Suit and wetsuit combo felt suffocating, and I struggled to find any rhythm. Thankfully, my consistent swim training, the buoyancy from the wetsuit and ocean water, and some current helped me finish the swim faster than I expected. But it felt long, really long.I had the same struggles at the World Championships in Finland’s cold waters. It’s a new environment, and my body just needed time to adjust. 

Transition 1 

Everything was going as planned. My transition took a while because taking off a wetsuit with numb hands is tough—it definitely needs some practice. Plus, the transition area was longer for everyone, so it wasn’t too bad.

Bike 

I got on my bike and rode as fast as I could. My predicted split was longer than usual due to the strong winds, the longer course (92-93 km), and the technical route with 40-50 turns through small villages and forests. But it was manageable until everything changed. Thunderstorms and heavy rain added to the already tense situation. There were strong headwinds for the first 20 km, and then as the winds turned into crosswinds, the rain poured heavily. At the 35 km mark, I stopped for about 5-6 minutes to put on my wind protection jacket. It took so long because my hands were frozen.

From then on, it was a long day. It was super tough to access my hydration and nutrition, change gears, or even brake properly. The rolling course required frequent gear changes, which was extremely tough. Every time I pulled my bottle out of its cage, I felt a deep fear. It's honestly better to slow down than to risk a fall in this weather. I’ve been through that before: bruises, cold weather, and no help for hours can be torture.

I decided to take it slow, but it was getting harder with time. My menstrual cycle was causing a lot of pain, and the discomfort was off the charts. Many times, I thought about giving up and quitting. But slowly, I started pulling myself together, determined to get back to the transition and then decide if I could finish. A DNF would hurt me more, especially if it wasn’t due to an emergency situation.

Then, there was another situation with the referees that caused more delay. I didn’t know I had to wear a bib belt while cycling. The worst part was I couldn’t understand what they were saying. I slowed down and stopped a few times, but we had a language barrier. I could tell what the issue was, but I couldn’t understand what I needed to do. One of them even showed me a blue card. I made my way to the transition and decided to figure it out there.

This was my longest bike split, probably the longest I’ve ever been on my bike. It’s also the first time I didn’t bother looking at my watch after 20 km—time just didn’t matter anymore. Let’s be honest, these races are tough, especially when you’re out there on your own

Transition 2 

I got to transition 2. My ankles were frozen, and I couldn’t walk straight. I managed to put my bike on the rack and head to the transition bags. I got my shoes on, and the rain was mild at that moment, so I felt a bit warmer. Then I suddenly remembered the blue penalty card. I went to a referee and tried to explain the situation, but again, we couldn’t understand each other much. All I gathered was that there was a penalty tent at the dismount point. I went back there, but they told me I needed to look for it ahead on the run course. All this back and forth led to an 8-minute transition time—another record added to the others.

I got out onto the run course with a deep feeling of just wanting to find UJ at the finish line and cry to him. I was suffering a lot, but I didn’t want to give up. I needed to find a way to get some motivation to push through

Run 

TThe first 3 km was a walk-jog through a route that could easily be called 'paradise'—bridges, a lighthouse, and sands along the beach. The water wasn’t its usual aqua color, though, thanks to the rain clouds. I had some girls cheering me on every time I gave in to the pain from the numbness and fatigue. After 3 km, I saw UJ heading to the finish line, but he was completely zoned out. So, no motivation there. But as I stepped onto the promenade, there were hundreds of people cheering. The words 'Allez Allez' still echo deeply within me. That gave me the boost I really needed. 

I picked myself up mentally and got into a decent running pace—around 5:20-5:30 min/km. What surprised me was that everyone was running. I’m usually used to seeing lots of people start walking, but here, the field was so strong that even the oldest were running. This gave me an extra boost, and I completed one lap with a much better average pace than I started with. 

Then the weather gods decided to mess with me again. The rain poured heavily, and volunteers and photographers went undercover. So, no pictures for me—this is the one race where I have zero photos from the run and the finish line. I had to transfer my Sportograf voucher to UJ.

During one segment of the run, we went through trails. The first loop, I powered through it. By the second loop, it was completely flooded, forcing me to switch back to a walk-jog pace.After the trail section, I attempted to pick up my pace, but my knees started hurting from running on waterlogged roads. Once again, I resorted to a walk-jog.As I approached the finish line, I kept an eye out for the penalty tent. I didn’t want to risk a disqualification after everything. Thankfully, it was there, and I crossed the finish line without receiving a penalty after all.

THE END

I'm incredibly thankful to have crossed that finish line. It was tough, and there were moments afterward where I questioned my timing, but I realized it was just my hormones messing with me. This race turned out to be a valuable experience and a great learning opportunity for me. Having the courage and ability to take on challenges like these far away from home makes a huge difference! One tough day or one challenging race doesn't define who I am; it only makes me stronger. It's about keeping your head right and staying focused, especially when the going gets tough. Completing two Ironman 70.3 races in two months was no small feat. Super grateful to have this champ(UJ) next to me on all my races. Beyond everything its been extremely fun and I have fallen in love with swimming, cycling and running!

Thank you, Les Sables, for being such a tough but unforgettable experience!