It was my first HIMWC which amazingly was in my home country, France (I have now been living in California for 21 years). The race scenery was amazing. It was a blast. For such a big event it was well organized. There were athletes from 101 different nations, the top 5 nations present were: Australia (314), Great Britain (416), Germany (444), France(568), and the USA (1053). A total of 5706 athletes from 112 qualifying races.

We had the welcome dinner on Thursday evening and the champion dinner on Sunday evening. The food was fine for such a great event. It was not French cuisine but it was local and decent. Later after dinner, there was a small show and it all really made you feel part of something unique. Thank you, Ironman. 

Ok, enough now, let’s go into the race details. I decided to travel from the US to France during the Labor Day weekend so I could preview the course on Monday, then, work remotely for a few days. I previewed the course in z3/z4/low z5 on the climbs and z2/z3 on the flat and the descent. I had already previewed it on Rouvy the week before but you don’t get the feeling of the turns at all. Nevertheless, I felt it was worth it to do the tour virtually. 

I travelled with my bike, so I knew I could practice the next day I landed.  I am using an Orucase, so I don’t pay extra charges on flights. I also like how everything is packed very tightly and sturdily. However I have to completely dismantle the bike, yes, including the fork, handlebar, tri-bar, seat, wheel, etc...  

For the rest of the week, I tapered, more or less, as planned by the Purple Patch Squad Program I followed. The swim sessions were in the mediterranean sea and all the bike sessions were on busier roads than usual, the runs were on the beautiful promenade by the sea. So it was a little bit different than home training but it immersed me in the feel of the race.

The race was on Sunday for the men (and Saturday for women). The swim was a no wetsuit swim and it was my first race with no wetsuit. I practiced the days before so I was fine with it. I was just wondering how much longer it would take me. The spread start was great. 10 of us started every 15 seconds. As soon as I was in the water, it was all about swimming my best. I felt good and started passing a few people which made me feel even better. There was some swell around 8:30 am but overall it was not bad at all. It took me 5 mins more than usual though. I swam with my tri suit. I will probably invest in a skim suit if I do more warm water races. Regarding nutrition, I drank some electrolytes during the wait and I took a spring nutrition gel (made with real food, a speednut with Hemp 250 Cal) 30 mins before the swim which was 3+hr after my morning breakfast. It was one of the recommendations that Mark Allen and Matt gave during the Purple patch meeting on Friday.

T1. No wetsuit to remove so ready to go. My helmet strap was messed up possibly because I positioned my helmet over my shoes to protect them in case of rain when I bagged them. The bottom line is, it is good to try to go fast but only when things are in order, in control, like while descending 😏. I shall practice ironman transitions (with the bags logistics) before the next race.

Bike. I warmed up on the first 1 or 2 km which was a no tribar zone anyway and then went in race pace. Then the steepest climb started. I pushed on that first climb: high z4, low z5. I recovered on less steep parts and the few short downhills and then continued race pace up to col de Vence. The first 500 m of the 9 km of col de Vence are steeper so I pushed more like in the first climbs and then took a good rhythm in z4 with regular off saddle rides so the blood could flow in the legs. Then I started the fun descent which included 2 more 100/200 m climbs. I finished, taking the same flat part I started with. Regarding nutrition, I had two bottles of electrolytes on the bike and I grabbed a bottle of water during the descent. It was more than enough but I had less than a bottle left at the end. I continued with spring nutrition on the ride taking 1 long haul (100 cal) at 5 k and 2 hill aids (100 cal each), one in the middle of the first climb and then one before col de Vence. At the top of the descent, I took a speednut with Hemp (250 Cal), one power rush (90 cal) on the last climb in the descent and another one at the beginning of the flat part with 10k left. 

T2. I almost got a card because I removed my helmet before reaching the transition bags. You need to keep it while you are running with your bike shoes, even after you rack your bike, which in fact makes sense. Then I reached the bags and got a panic moment as my bag did not have my shoes ...  I mixed up my number 643 vs 463!!! It lasted 5-10 seconds but it is probably where I got my peak HR for the race 😂 

Run: I wanted to do a negative split in effort and speed but with the crowd cheering and being surrounded by fast runners, I initially went faster than planned, despite trying to slow down. However, I felt great so I went by feel…  At the beginning of the second split, I felt the first split effort, but I concentrated on my form, took more nutrition at the aid stations and then dug in to finish the last 5k. I did my best HIM run. Note that it was a fast and flat course. Regarding nutrition, I drank 3 SIS energy gel that I carried, water, energy drinks and coke from the aid stations. I also took two salt stick as it was hot and I was sweating quite a lot.

I finished 29 over 214 on my age group in 5:14:38 with 35:04/swim, 2:54:04/bike and 1:37:41/run. It is my third triathlon season and I did 4 HIM in the last 2 years and my best one (from ranking perspective) was at Oceanside where I was 4th and qualified for WC. I am extremely happy with my performance at HIM WC 2019!!!

I started Purple Patch Squad training 3 months ago but it was disrupted with 3 weeks of travel. I was an education member for a few months before that and I read Matt’s books and listened to all the podcasts. Anyway, I really believe that the HIM 12 week race plan from Squad contributed to my performance as I trained smarter. I spread the efforts better over the week. I also did not do a long training session on one of the weekend days, but instead spread them over the two days, as the plan indicates. I also started doing regular strength training. 

I will continue with Squad. I have two more races in 2019, the SC Tri Olympic on Sep 22nd and then Indian Wells HIM on Dec 8th where I shall have fun and race with a smile, so I am relaxed and go faster 😏. I will, of course, try to qualify respectively for the National and HIM WC 2020! However, qualifications depend on many things like training prep, how do you feel on race day, who shows up and some luck, so it would be a bonus if I do get qualified .

I want to thank the Purple Patch team for organizing the athlete briefing podcasts and the local briefing meeting with Mark Allen, Andy Blow, and Matt. I want to thank the PP pros, Chelsea and Kevin for spending some time with us, sharing their experiences and giving some advice. Chelsea led a run with us and Kevin was at the local briefing chatting with us. I met Chelsea back again at the Champion dinner! Congrats again, Chelsea, for this 4th place. It was our first HIM WC for both of us which makes it even more memorable for me! 

Last but not least, I want to thank my support team, first my lovely wife and daughter, they were at home for the WC but present. My wife watched the pro race and waited for me to do my first 10k on the bike and then woke up as I was getting my post-race lunch, amazing support! Moreover, they were always there during the training preparation, accommodating to my schedule and always supportive. I also want to thank the Silicon Valley Tri Club which initiated me to triathlon with its amazing coaches and members. A special shoot out to the SVTC athletes and their friends who were also at the 2019 world championship as they were my local support in Nice during the race and during the banquets!