Fourth place again! This time in the 70.3 Ironman Aix-en-Provence. To summarize, I felt poorly all day but I didn’t want to give up.
From the start of the swim I felt this wasn’t going to be my day. I didn’t have the strength to swim alongside the leaders and soon there was a gap. After the 1900 m swim I came out of the water fourth a minute behind the three leaders.
During the bike leg I was soon in a group with Billard and Pannier. Unfortunately, all I could do was to hang on. I apologise to these two men ;-) In the final 15 km of the bike ride Billard joined leader Jurkiewicz and I remained behind with Pannier. In the 2nd transition I was 1 min 20 behind the leaders.
It went from bad to worse during the run leg. The lack of energy I felt during the first two disciplines turned into stomach and muscle cramps. Did I eat something wrong? A little flu?
In spite of this I continued to go for it and I’m glad I kept on going. The fourth place was my highest possible achievement today...
Up to the next one!