From Parkrun 2016 to Ironman Italy 2023

This is probably a bit more than a race report because the journey to my first Ironman in Italy started actually in 2016 at Donabate Parkrun where I met the Curtis family.

They were wearing a lovely green Fingal Triathlon Club T-Shirt and, after a few Parkuns, they said “Yann why don't you join FTC?”
Nah, I can barely swim! Was my reply.

But they persisted, “Come on, Elena will sort you out then we'll enter Athy sprint in 2017 with you!”

I had seen a sport documentary about Ironman back in the 80s which fascinated me, and as I was just about to turn 50, I had a secret dream in mind…
Although triathlon distances are available for all abilities, racing a triathlon never came to my mind as I assumed this sport was designed only for super strong people.

So the 50 year old crisis kicked in, I joined FTC and entered Athy Sprint.  My journey began by drinking half of the pool in Santry where coach Elena welcomed me like everyone else. Many thanks for your patience Elena! I am sure you appreciated my "innovative" swimming technique!

Finishing my first race, the Athy Sprint, in June 2017 I felt as if I landed on the Moon with an old dream achieved. 

Let's skip other steps, most of them started from a question followed by a Nah answer then registrations to more races, and of course drinking more water in the pool.

A few years and a few races later, the time came to enter my first Ironman waking up again this old crazy dream, however the swim segment was really haunting me. 

Well, I still remember the moment I pressed the "Register" button in October 2022 realizing the huge training journey that was ahead of me.

The Ironman I entered in Italy was my plan A, with a plan B from a 70.3 entry I could defer from 2022.

On the training side, I decided to follow a well-structured plan for the first time in my life thanks to coach Paddy and a great support from many club mates either cycling a few hours with me or sharing their tips and advices. My mentors Stuart and Damian played a huge role joining me for a few hours on the bike time to time.

However, just three weeks before race day, I was on my own when I broke the news to my wife, Nicole, that  I might race the full distance. She wasn't aware of it believe it or not! Why? I don't know, probably because I heard her a few times saying the full distance was something crazy to do.
 
I received full support from her on that day  

RACE WEEK:
Registration was on Thursday. I got my IM race number first then my 70.3 race number straight after ending up with one race ID on each arm.   The Irish flag is printed on both race numbers beside my first name.

Short bike check sessions on Thursday and Friday, then a quick swim check on Friday morning then back to the big question game: Full IM or 70.3? 
Nah!!! Conditions are great, almost perfect. If I don’t do it this year, what else do I need to chance one? Let's go for the full distance.

Bike was racked on Friday pm which was a bit intimidating. I felt like being Mr. Bean surrounded by tanned and tattooed Ironman looking athletes racking their high specs aero-bike.
 
It was definitely a fabulous confidence booster as you can imagine...

Back to the hotel for a long time in bed, but a very short sleep.

When the alarm went off at 5am on Saturday, conditions still looked great.   It was time to get ready, swallowing down breakfast at the hotel with many other athletes who looked as stressed as I was.

We all headed to the start line in the area based on the swim predicted time. We all looked the same in our wetsuit, red swim hat on and yesterday's smiles converted to poker faces. 

I guess I was not the only one wetting my pants while waiting my turn to start a long day!

THE SWIM: 
First swimmers were in the water at 8am. I jumped in as one of the last hundred competitors. 

Nicole described us as zombies, a bit similar to the famous "The Wall" movie where kids are heading to a school factory ("Another Brick in the Wall"). OMG, did we look that bad.

Swim went much better than any of my best plans although the course map showed "only" 17 buoys. We were not even at half way when I passed the 17th buoy. 

Never mind, I was still alive and kicking (not much kicking tbh... ), swimming to the next buoys until my feet eventually touched sand indicating the end of the hostile environment.

Seeing Nicole out of the swim was a relief, then marshals and stewards didn't stop me which meant I was ahead of the cutoff time.   

THE BIKE:
The bike leg started after a long transition: @Siobhan: Yes I wish I had a coffee and a croissant during the 16 minutes in T1. 

The first kilometers were done at a safe side pace not pushing hard until this first sharp hill Stuart described me. 

Then back to the motorway closed for the race spinning straight flat roads as if we were all on turbo trainers. A few hordes of 20 guys passed me drafting each other which was shocking. 

The second lap was okay, until the hill we climbed for the second time after 135k in. Body felt tired after 140k, then really tired after 155k fighting a nasty headwind until the dismount line.

It was key not too think too much of the marathon ahead, hoping I would experience the same good feeling from the brick runs after the long cycle training sessions.

Nicole was there at T2, probably surprised to see me still moving. It was a great boost to see a familiar face with some confidence in her eyes.

THE RUN:
Runners on with dry socks on, tri top on, gels in the race belt, marathon started cautiously as a body check on the first of the four laps.

I was feeling good which gave me confidence that my training plan was well designed and executed. 

My brain started to do the math, from an estimated time spent on the road so far to work out how much I could afford to walk to finish within the cut-off time.

In my head, every single kilometer run was a bonus not to mention seeing Nicole along the route who voiced me all the good wishes and support from the FTC Whatsapp group at the end of lap one. It was sooooo good.

These were my main motivators. Lap two completed. Great, half way!!! 

Then lap three started until the 25k mark when I made a huge mistake despite all the advices I got before the event: "never ever eat something you didn't train with".  For whatever reason I took one of those gels at a water station and I was sick five minutes later throwing up then stopping three times at the toilets.

The next stops at the water stations were crucial to get rehydrated and I started drinking Coke and sticking to my own gels. It worked well completing lap three in one piece.

My body felt as back to normal as it could be at lap four, when I started to realize the red carpet was not too far away. Is that real? Did I count the laps correctly?

For the first time since 8:30am, I looked at my watch to double-check the run distance completed so far.  It was my turn to take the exit at the roundabout instead of going around it again! I could hear the speakers already. UNBELIEVABLE.

My runners started to hit the L shape red carpet then I heard Nicole shouting at me at the last bend before heading to the magic arch. Pains and doubts were gone. 

I shook the first time finisher red bell then crossed the finish line where the speaker said to me what everyone expects to hear “Yann Chevalier you are an Ironman” giving a big high five.

After collecting the finisher T-Shirt and getting my medal engraved, I didn't stay too long in the tent where food and beer were served. My stomach was too upset and I was dying to see Nicole again. It has been a very long day for her too!

It would have been great to stay longer sharing this moment with my mate and mentor Stu who had planned to race it with me this year. There will be other occasions hopefully.

I still had no clue about my finish time which was not the most important thing. I got to know it reading the back side of the medal eventually.  
It was time to collect my bike and my bags from the transition area then go to bed with little expectations on sleep quality time.

Last unplanned challenge: a fire alarm went off around 11pm.   We evacuated the hotel using the stairs from the 4th floor.  Guess what I brought with me? My passport and my medal of course! 

It was a false alarm probably from the only non-athlete customer of the hotel smoking in his bedroom.

We took the lift back up to the 4th floor this time for sure.

Sorry for this lengthy report. I wanted to share a fabulous experience that had started a long time ago. The idea is not really to talk about crossing the finish line of an Ironman. 

It is to illustrate that everyone can achieve a goal, no matter what distance or time the goal is about. The journey can be short or long to get it done. 
Being part of a club with fabulous club mates then receiving such important support for my half helped dramatically.

Not too many names were mentioned above. Many of you had nice words and shared great tips with me until the last minutes. 

Massive thank you.

Enjoy training, enjoy racing. Anything is possible.

Many thanks all, 

Yann