Australia! So many associate it with the country of their dreams. Probably because it's so damn far away. I've been here for two weeks now to do the Ironman Western Australia. Even if the days are filled with training and preparations for the race, we still get a lot from the country. We're on the West Coast with our friend Dimity-Lee Duke, also a triathlete, in Bunbury. The biggest surprise is the friendliness of the people here! All are friendly, helpful, greet, ask how things are going. No matter where you are, you always have the impression that people are happy that you are there!
There is a Dolphin Center in Bunbury and if you're lucky, the dolphins come up to the beach. We are there three days in a row, stared at the sea for hours and only saw a dolphin far out there. When we want to leave a little bit disappointed, we happen to stop by the beach again. And what is that?! 50 meters away you can see a fin, it's getting closer and closer! Pants and shoes off and into the water up to the waist and hope that the dolphin will come to us. I get goosebumps as the dolphin swims 20cm in front of me! And there's more to come: Three dolphins and a baby! They swim around us for almost half an hour. An experience I won't soon forget!
The Ironman is getting closer. The big names on the start list (Yvonne van Vlerken, Liz Blatchfort, Liz Lyles and five other Ironman winners) worry me a little. Would I be able to compete? My coach is sure - at least one of us two! And then there are the sharks. We have to swim two kilometers out into the sea, in a bay where great white(!) sharks are often spotted... The days before the start I try to push myself again and again. I tell myself that I just have to do my thing and it will be a successful race.
Then the time has finally come, the tension is right, the queasy gut feeling is where it belongs. My name is called and I line up with the other girls in front of the sea. A few more seconds. I go to the starting position, the horn blares and we rush into the water. Immediately the queasy gut feeling is gone, now it's time to secure good feet so that you get some water shadow. Well, I could have done that. Suddenly the woman in front lets go and the first group is gone. I walked stupidly, but I had the wrong feet. Well, keep fighting. With the second group I come out of the water. It feels like the others are out an eternity before me. Quickly take off the neoprene and get on the bike. My coach Jo is standing to the side, a bit puzzled and stuttering something that gives me four minutes to the top! Later he tells me that he was far from expecting me. Four minutes - that's crazy for me! I finally did it! Otherwise it was always six to eight minutes. Now we can start. My bike flies over the asphalt. Nobody comes closer from behind and there are fewer and fewer in front of me. After 60 kilometers I can take the lead! I'm thrilled: In this field with so many Ironman winners, it's so easy for me to take the lead! Wow! Now all I have to do is cycle through. But somehow my body doesn't want to be like me anymore. My wattage is going down and I can't do anything about it. It's not all that bad, I think. The marathon is still to come. I'm the second woman to get off my bike. The first steps are OK, only then my lungs close up more and more and I can hardly breathe. I throttle the speed but that doesn't help either. Now I'm also starting to cough, my whole body is shaking. Keep running and hope that it will come back. The breaks between the coughing fits are getting shorter, I have to walk and still can't breathe properly. That can not be true! Even if the last few days weren't ideal, I didn't really feel sick. But there is no other way. Coach Jo stands on the edge and stops me and says I look sick. Glassy eyes, coughing, aching lungs. I definitely want to finish the Ironman, no matter what. But Jo insists there is no point in risking one's health, a competitive athlete's most important asset, and takes me out of the race.
I am very sad. Everything went perfectly at the beginning of the race and then my body is sick and just shuts down. It's something I can't change. After all these weeks of hard training, I have to catch a virus right now. Whining doesn't help, I know, but to a certain extent it's good!
We have one more day in this beautiful country with its really nice people, then we go back to cold Germany. Pre-Christmas family visits, eating gingerbread and stollen. Shortly before Christmas we fly back to "our" small island and will train for the next race. Even if things didn't go so well this time, I've learned one thing: I've finally reached the top and can go into new races with a lot of self-confidence! Even sharks don't bother me anymore 😉
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