The short tale of a mega adventure into the unknown in the Pyrenees…

For the 10 years I’ve raced triathlons so far, I have only twice had the chance to have my dad with me to support and for him to geek-out on bikes in transition.

But although I know my mum was scared like anything to know I was racing long distance, she had never seen me at a race, even a small one.

Mostly, this was because I was racing abroad, chasing a race everyone dreams of racing one day…

Iconic, bonkers, and downright scary! That’s how I’d describe this race.

The icing on the cake? The pinnacle of the sport? Or just another race? See it as you please, but the Ironman World Championship in Kona is by far the most well known and iconic event on the calendar. A place of myths, race “wars” and many a disappointment, it is THE one, the holy grail to achieve for many.

After an amazing result last year at IM UK, the goal was to keep going a little bit longer, and I qualified in South Africa earlier this year. For me, that’s where the hard work was done, and I went to the the big island with no expectations, and no pressure.

At the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Stryd was running a data-gathering trial to help them improve their product, a running power meter in foot-pod.

As a data geek, I liked the idea of collecting more data for my run. At least as a curiosity. I collected a foot-pod - kindly lent for the race by Stryd for free - a couple of days before the event. I was only going to let it record data, and not attempt to change any settings on my watch to display any field that would confuse me during my race.

It’s been a long time since my last olympic tri around Eton Dorney back in 2012. This time, though, it was a massive PB around a theme park!

It’s the end of a long off-season break, bruised ribs from an MTB crash 5 weeks ago have just about healed, yet, I’m standing at the start of a 100 miles “gravel dash” in Swanage, Dorset.

100 miles doesn’t seem too much, right? After all, I race longer and train close to that distance regularly. Small detail, though: that’s on paved roads… While driving to Swanage where the event starts and finishes, I already started to realise what I was letting myself into. Hill, hills, and more hills. Chalky cliffs. Some flooded fields… I could already picture crashes, a mud bath and walking a lot.

It was going to be a long day either way.