A 3000 km trip starts... and our only goal is the IRONMAN. Our destination: Kalmar. Our mission: become finishers
This is the California van that would drive us all the way to Sweden, crossing 7 countries in 48 hours
Traffic accident in France kept us idle for over one hour
Sleep, relax and concentration were the key points of the previous week. We exercised a bit and had very good food, with loads of carbohidrates
Víctor is my mate taking part in the race. This shot was taken in Malmö while we had a swim. We spent two nights in that town at my good friend's Linus. There we could swim, bike and run
And that's me... the other aspirant to become an IM. This is what my glasses showed while we were having a very nice lunch in front of Kalmar's fortress
Race day is here. Participants were assigned numbers according to the order of inscription. Since we did it on one of the first days, we got very low numbers (26 for Víctor and 22 for me). Total number of participants was over 500
This is a view of the beach (Kattrumpan) 20 minutes before start. People are warming up in several different ways. At 06:55am the Swedish anthem was played, since this Ironman is the Swedish National Championship. I have to say that I was impressed by the good level of the race.
That's me on the way to give a goodbye kiss to my people. Ahead of us: 3.8 km of swimming, 180.2 km of biking and 42.195 km of running. Then, pray for the rest of your life :)
7am: start. According to my girlfriend, the sound of all the people swimming is just spectacular. I don't think I will ever forget this moment
I got out of the water after 1h20' of swimming. I did a poor swimming, with loads of hits with other triathletes and not a very straight trajectory. Water temperature was good and I think I could have performed better than that. But I was not disappointed, since my enemy was not the clock, but the kilometers. First milestone was achieved!
After a 6' transition, I started the 180km of biking with number 22 on my back. Weather was still OK
Team Alo is finally here! My sister and my dad completed the whole team. They made this "surprise t-shirts" that I could not read until the very end of the race
Anni and Elin feeling good
I completed the first 60km in 1h58', so I was biking faster than 30km/h on average. I was feeling great, drinking and eating properly and having some fun on the bike
My sister and my girlfriend used eye painting to identify their belonging to number 22... ;-)
Daniel, Anni's boyfriend, also joined the group of supporters. Thank you!
After 70km, approximately, it started to rain a lot. This shot is my second turn in the transition area, thus after 120 km of biking
Mico och Elin
This is the moment in which I leave my bike after 6 hours (and 5 pee stops). The bike-run transition took me 15' (to the first qualifieds it took less than 1'). Again, the watch was not my enemy, so I decided to change all my clothes (since I was soaking wet), put vaseline everywhere, protect my nipples and go to the bathroom. Not to forget that I'm from Cádiz! ;-)
I felt very good at the beginning of the marathon and I thought that maybe I could finish it around 4h. After 2km I started to see people throwing up and that made me take it a bit easier
This guy completed the IM with only one arm. Please note that these are the real heroes, and then the rest come behind
Ironman is a very long race to watch, and people need to get entertained... We only showed up where the audience was located every two hours. At least, the rest of the time we could see beautiful landscape
Here I was wearing a white bracelet, meaning that I had completed 14km. In this picture I was going to get my second bracelet, the black one
Very nice shot that my father took of two triathletes aming for the finish line
Vamos, vamos vamos!!!!!!!
This was one of the toughest moments of the marathon. I have a gel in my right hand that I decided to use after km 28. I skipped previously one drinking stop and I decided that I would not do that again until the end
Gel offering
Victor making a good use of the drink stops :)
Getting water and trying to overcome my little crisis
Girlfriend and sister starting to get nervous... The ending is coming soon!
Here I'm wearing two bracelets. Next time you see me here, guys, I will be an Ironman
Overtaking
That's me 20m before the finish line. Probably, one of the greatest moments in my life
Team Alo: Karin, Elin, (me), Mico, Anni, Danne, Africa and Eskil... But not all of them were in this shot: Paco, Hanna, Linus... Thank you ALL for your great support! Without you, this would have been a veeeery different story
Yes, I did it! Final time was 12h09'; 11h48' of net racing time
We said we would do it... and we did. Now, we can say we are Ironmen. "Pain is temporary, pride is forever"
Posing with Linus, one of my greatest inspirations, a magnificent training-mate and better friend, who is very much responsible for this success
Picking up my bike and stuff from the transition area
Happy
My bike computer (placed in the left aerobar) showing an Ironman biking distance. Below it, you can see one of the energy bars that I didn't get to use
Placing the bike back in the car. We decided to do the return trip by plane rather than by road
Víctor also completed the Ironman after 14h25' of race and quite a lot of suffering in the meanwhile. Congratulations to the most complete sportsman I know for this great achievement!!
Finish line was open until 10pm. Every one crossing that line is a particular winner. Ironman is the gratest race just because of that
Posing with the bike and the bridge Kalmar-Öland in the background. We got new drinking bottles after it
The day after the race we did the running course by bike. It was really beautiful!
After the champagne and a nice dinner... let's get back to the water!
And finally... some relax near Lessebo, by a beautiful Swedish lake... starting to prepare our new goals. Could life be any better than this??
Wet
