Ironman Italy 2024 - Race Report

Overview

This post outlines my recent Ironman race and the training leading up to it. I also include some highlights from the time spent in Italy leading up to the race.

Race Day Report

Key Facts

• Date: September 21, 2024
• Location: Cervia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
• Total race time: 12 hours, 45 minutes
• Swim (3.8km): 1 hour, 41 minutes
• Transition 1: 14 minutes
• Bike Ride (180km): 5 hours, 42 minutes
• Transition 2: 10 minutes
• Run (Marathon): 4 hours, 58 minutes

Ironman Swim: 3.8 km

The water in the Adriatic Sea was salty and quite choppy on the day of the race. I swallowed salt water quite early on in the swim, which, along with the waves, left me feeling quite sick. Another thing I will practice more before next race is swimming straight in open water. I got slightly off the course several times, which made the swim longer than necessary. Leading up to the swim, I was somewhat worried about my swim gear. I had not tried on my wetsuit or my swim goggles, as these were bought in Italy. Thankfully, these worked without any issues.

Ironman Ride: 180 km

After finishing the swim, I took a swig of water and Gatorade in the transition area. The bike part felt great overall, I was thankful to not have any mechanical issues. It was a quite flat course, with the only major climb up to the village Bertinoro. My pre-race nutrition strategy was to have 2 700ml bottles of strong carb mix on the bike at the start. At the personal needs station at kilometer 88, I put 3 new bottles of strong carb mix. One to drink on the spot and the two others to replace the bottles on the bike. By the time I got to the personal needs station at km 88, I still had 300ml in one of the bottles. So I finished the current bottle and loaded two new ones, leaving the third untouched. I also had 6 gels, 3 on the bike and 3 in my shirt, which I did not use. The bottles were mixed to around 700 calories per liter. I felt that the drink mix was on the strong side so I drank some water as well (they have rolling aid stations where you can pick up bottles while biking). In total I drank around 500ml like this. As usual in Ironman races, drafting was not allowed. They had referees on motorbikes along the course to give out warnings/penalties to those who did. This did not seem to be too strongly enforced, as I saw large groups of the pro riders draft in tight formations. Towards the end of the ride, I was looking forward to start the run, as being on the same position on the bike for so long started to feel straining.

Ironman Run: 42.2 km

The run course was 4 loops on a flat course. Each loop had 4 aid stations. My nutrition strategy was fully liquid-based, with two small cups of Coca Cola at each aid station, for a total of 32 cups. This coupled with 4 salt tablets (250mg each) made sure I didn't have any cramps during the race. The second and third laps were the hardest, as there was still a long way to go. The fourth lap felt comparatively easier, knowing the goal was so close. Looking back, I was a bit low on energy, consuming a few gels during the run would have been helpful.

Gear List

Racing an Ironman requires a lot of gear, here I list the gear I used. Bike gear:

• Bike (Giant Carbon 2013)
• SPD pedals
• Aerobars
• 5 700ml bike bottles
• Flat change kit (CO2, tube, etc.)
• Helmet
• Bike gloves
• Bike glasses
• Bike travel case
• Bike pump
• Bike shoes
• Stanford bike shirt
• Bib number holder
• Bike shorts

My bike setup was more basic than most people; most people had absolute top-of-the-line triathlon bikes, whereas I had a quite old road bike. The only run-specific item I had were a pair of Nike Pegasus shoes. I used the bike shirt and shorts for the run.

Swim gear:

• Wetsuit
• Swim goggles
• Ironman swim cap
• Swim ear plugs
• Towel to change in for T1

Training for the race

Swim Training

Swimming was the sport I focused least on leading up to the Ironman, as the time spent on the swim portion of the race is relatively short. To make sure I would be able to complete the distance, I swam 6000 meters in a pool several months before the race.

Bike Training

My bike training had been the most consistent in the period leading up to the race. During the summer I had done around 5 Ironman distance bike rides and over 10 rides longer than 100km. The longest being the 331km Seattle to Portland ride. Most weeks I biked 5–10 hours. A lot of the time spent on the bike was commuting to my summer internship. For the training I used a Giant Specialized bike with carbon frame and Shimano components. It was from around 2013. A useful add-on was getting aerobars mounted on the bike.

Run Training

During the summer leading up to the Ironman, I did two marathons, as I wanted to make sure I could do the distance without too much trouble. In the second marathon I got a time of 3 hours 53 minutes.

Recovery

Despite how I felt after finishing, I didn't spend time sitting down too long but rather drank some water and went to pick up my bike and transition bags. During the first night I was not able to sleep much, feeling very sore.

Italy

Leading up to the race, I spent time in Italy with my girlfriend. We spent time in Palermo (Sicily), Bologna, Florence, and Cervia. The food in the Emilia-Romagna region was likely the best food experience I have had. All meals we had were excellent and price-worthy.

Conclusion

The Emilia-Romagna region was a perfect place to spend a few weeks leading up to the race, you will not find a better place to carb load with delicious pasta and pizza. I am happy with how it went, considering this was my first triathlon race. While the race itself was tough, the training leading up to it was super fun.

Photo Credits

All photo credits go to Julia Hernandez.