Ironman Poznan 70.3

The rationale: following a 10-year abstinence, it was back to an Ironman™ branded event. My last outing was the inaugural Ironman Mallorca, a race so rammed that the swim was a fight to survive and the bike a horrendous draft-fest. Since then, my racing $ have been spent elsewhere: Challenge, Outlaw and small events. But after a high-speed, pothole-induced, double-blowout at Outlaw Half last year, I once again yearned for smooth Euro tarmac. Also, with rolling swim starts now de rigueur, perhaps it was time to end my ‘boycott’. Delighted to say that Poznan 70.3 did not disappoint – a great race, from gun to tape.

Full gas on the bike (click for larger images)

The training: after my double hernia repair in December, I was starting from a low base and had to tread carefully, slowing re-building strength, speed and fitness. Swimming was going well, thanks to all the work I put in for BEST Fest. Short-course bike and run speeds were returning, evidenced by an age-group win at the Wilmslow sprint, and smashing it around the Mallorca Olympic. But did I have the endurance for longer course racing? 

Brief respite at an aid station

Final Preparation: Friday - arrive in Poznan; register at HQ. Saturday – Poznan parkrun; drive out to Kiekrz, rack bike in T1; back into town; deposit run bag in T2; race briefing; early to bed. Sunday – over 600 athletes descend on platform 10 at Poznan Glowny to catch the 7:30 Ironman Express to Kiekrz, the excitement is building; back into T1, set up bike; brief warm up; don wetsuit; and finally, watch the male pros go off in a mass start at 9:30, followed by the women a few minutes later.

Slipping to 6th. Hats off to Johan Ewald, an 'ok' swim, followed by a good bike and a barnstorming run. 

In the moment: lining up in the start pen, the music was so loud that my solar plexus was thumping! Not great for calming the pre-race nerves, so it was a relief to get in the water and escape the madness! As promised, for the age-groupers, it was a rolling start, with six athletes entering the lake every 10 seconds, beach-start style. At 21.4 degrees it was very nice, and with plenty of space I quickly settled into a good rhythm. No dramas, overtook plenty along the way and emerged in 31:xx, a great start to the day. After a smooth T1 it was out on to a ‘perfect’ bike course. The roads were fully closed, and the tarmac was beautiful - not a single pothole in 90k! The single out-and-back loop meant very little congestion or drafting. With a slight tailwind, it felt fast, and indeed, the first 40k took just over an hour. After the turn around, the headwind slowed things down plus I faded a bit in the last 20k. Dismounted in under 2.5 hrs off a normalised power of 185W, job done. Another smooth transition, and I felt good on the run, clipping along at a nice pace, at least for the first few kilometres. But then reality struck: it was pretty hot and I just didn’t have the depth of fitness to follow a solid bike with a strong run. I knew I was losing time and field position, but no bother, I kept grinding and before you know it, I crossed the finish line in 4:50:46.

Pre-race prediction was that if someone could smack out a 4:31 they'd defo win the M55-59 AG. My target was 4:45, but in the end that would only have been good enough for 4th, so this year was faster and/or more competitive than 2022 and 2023

The race: based on the two previous (and only) editions of this race, the podium slots in the M55-59 age group were won in times of 4:35 – 5:00. As I was shooting for a 4:45-ish, maybe I could be in the mix? My swim turned out to be the fastest in the AG, as were my transitions, so coming out of T1, I was in first place. At 5.8k into the run, I had only dropped one spot, but by 17.4k, I had dropped another two, and agonisingly, in the last few kilometres I dropped another two to finish 6^th. The irony is that the swim used to be my weakest discipline, while the run was my weapon.

The afterglow: the competitor in me was initially bummed to have dropped out of the mix, but upon reflection I had a great race. 2024 started from a low base and the data show I hadn’t regained full fitness: last year, my CTL and FTP peaked at 122 and ~240W respectively, whereas ahead of this race, they topped out at 89 and ~220W.  And while the early season focus on BEST Fest meant my swim was in good shape, and while my overall race execution was very good, I had only just started to feel strong on the bike, and I knew I hadn’t done enough run volume. But to be fair, I think I had done as much training as my life allowed, so taking all this together, to end up only ~5 mins off target was not bad at all. So yeah, overall, pretty happy.

After peaking in 2023, I lost a lot of fitness due to smashing it up short course racing, an enjoyable off-season and a lack of motivation ahead of going under the knife. So 2024 started from a low base but 8 months of consistent and conservative training paid off and I was in pretty good shape come September 1st. (Blue = fitness (CTL); Pink = fatigue (ATL); Yellow = form (TSB))

The recommendation: what a great race, defo recommend, 9/10! The overall organisation was really good, especially the train ride out to the lake on race morning. I really enjoyed the civilised swim, the bike course was perfect, and the 4-lap run course was good for aid stations and supporters. I’d do it again just for the bike course. Poznan is a very nice place to visit, and the next day, exploring the old town with my number 1 supporter was a great way to spend our 29^th wedding anniversary.