Road to Kona 2025
This may be a ‘once in a lifetime’ one… either the first or the only, time will show. The updates read in reverse so you have the latest always on top. Enjoy!
Flowers for flow… always! A water lily from our pond, just popped out right before I started this series.
9 September 2025
Aaaaand we’re back from another bit of summer for this year (and one more to go, all going well!)
The trip to Greece was a success – first of all, I am back in one piece; I am always wary of doing so much cycling out on the roads and take nothing for granted! I’ve done some decent amount of work in the heat while being off work most days, which pretty much ended up being a solid heat training camp!
To be honest, when I got the idea and opportunity to add a visit to Greece during the Kona block, I didn’t really appreciate how necessary this would feel, in terms of heat adaptation. While I was out there roasting in the sun for hours and hours with my body working so hard to adjust its cooling mechanisms, it really hit me that it is actually quite hard to replicate this effect without actually being in a hot place. So I’m rally glad about that decision, let alone the benefits it comes with, most important being seeing family and friends.
Boy the training was hard work. The bike legs came first as you do get some cooling effect from the speed unless you’re climbing. And yes there was a lot of climbing! Running took the longest to come around. By ‘come around’ I mean getting the heart rate down to normal for the pace as in a cool environment. This literally happened after 10 days but it was like a switch which got flipped within a couple of days!
Let’s not leave out the swimming. We took the opportunity and planned as much open water in the sea as possible. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t really cooperating with strong winds which made the sessions really grueling and not fun at all. They were the ones I dreaded the most. In any case I knew this was a lot better than the lake, especially with the UK feeling so much cooler already so I kept telling myself to shut up and just do it. I literally only went to the pool once in 10 days.
Most running was at an easy pace to start with, leaving the body deal with the heat without extra stress at the beginning. This of course meant no active cooling. Again, crazy wind some days and hilly terrain on others, really gave me these moments which I am sure I will be looking back during the race and getting strength from having overcome the resistance the elements created. This and being out there alone, battling it out. Great training for the mind if anything, just sitting with discomfort.
With time off work we put a lot of cycling in and this basically means one thing in Greece: proper climbing. I went back to some of my favourite climbs and put the legs to relentless work. Intensity control was key in the first days which paid dividends towards the end – I was actually surprised how well the legs felt by the end so much so I was in the mood for some local QOM tackling!
The biggest bet has certainly been recovery which is always hard to nail while away from home. Some things being better or easier, like my mom doing all the cooking and washing, and some harder like getting enough and good quality sleep. I hadn’t been to Greece since last October and I really wanted to see some of my friends without enough time in the day to do so, train and get enough sleep. A hard balance to strike and it wasn’t ideal but I did my best, adapting my plans day by day. I even had to take an impromptu rest day when I woke up very groggy and with a big headache which wouldn’t go away all day, making the thought of even an easy spin on the bike unbearable. It really felt I had to be smart and not risk getting ill (as I have been in more than one occasion while training in Greece and probably underestimating the overall stress of the change in environment). With my coach backing my choice I managed to recover and gave a good final push in the last weekend.
Of course, spending time with my mom and doing the little thigs like dog walks was precious to me, as always. I can’t be thankful enough for her patience and support as I don’t think she had experienced Ironman training first hand before!
Now to one of the biggest highlights of the trip – since the podcast I mentioned last time, I had planned to meet up with Jenny and George, the podcast hosts, for a training ride. We somehow managed to align our schedules and last Saturday I headed out to just outside Corinth (about an hour drive from Athens) and we made it happen! It was one of those experiences when you feel you’ve known people for a long time within minutes of interacting. We had a great four and a half hour ride into the beautiful Corinthian countryside, with loads of climbing and of course hard work for me, trying to keep up with two very strong athletes! Jenny and her husband were the most welcoming and we spent some time in their home afterwards, fiddling with bikes, talking all things triathlon and with them getting ready for an Olympic race taking place the following day (casually!).
I left with plenty of inspiration and insights from Jenny who, not only has been to Kona numerous times, but has impressively placed fourth in one of the most competitive age groups a couple of years ago. She and her family live and breathe the sport and I was very grateful to get a chance to meet them. Hopefully we will be reunited in Hawaii in a few weeks’ time to share the experience and hopefully celebrate.
Last but not least, they very generously offered to support me with products from the line they are developing themselves (Jenny’s husband is a pharmacist), named Kála (and yes, it is Hawaiian-inspired). Sotiris basically went through the whole philosophy of each one of their protein powders, sunscreen, and shower gels, all developed with the competitive athlete in mind (tested on Jenny and himself, another avid competitor and multiple Kona-finisher as well), with top quality being the main driver in all aspects. So I have brought back a bag full of wonderful Kála goodies to help me through my final block! Let alone my new race suit which I’ll keep as a surprise!
When I took my slot I only pictured weeks of total grind to get to the end of it. And some of this probably lies ahead of me. But so far it has been the most fun and varied block I have done and this can only be a learning for any challenging undertakes in the future – mix it up and keep it fun as much as you can!
21 August 2025
Where does the time go? The last couple of weeks have flown by. I guess organising fun things to mix up the training is the way to go and get fit while having fun!
The Brighton ride was an absolute blast. We had the perfect day for it and a great group. It was the fourth time I was doing this ride and by now we have a route we can trust which is important. I also put some effort to pre-plan the stops at the right time (2 hours in on the way down and same on the way up, plus the lunch in Brighton) which made it all very smooth. A couple of lovely cafes marked on the map now!
Although I typically ‘use’ this ride to extend my ‘longest ride’ record by doing some extension at the end, I didn’t do it this time as it would have been as stretch. six an a half hours for 173km with over 1700m elevation on the road bike was plenty and a solid day on the legs which felt good.
I shouldn’t forget to mention the day before the Brighton ride! T100 was happening in London for both pro women and men and it’s looking like we’re setting a tradition of going to spectate. And boy, did it deliver, ‘one of the best women’s middle-distance races’ as quoted by ProTri News!
I absolutely loved the battle between Lucy Charles Barclay, Kate Waugh and Taylor Knibb, right before our eyes. We literally didn’t know what was going to happen until we moved from our cheering spot to the finish line only to witness Lucy taking the tape, having overtaken in the last 2K. It was absolutely incredible to see her hang on the entire race and give such a fight to be rewarded in the end. Especially after all she had been through - I always say that Lucy winning makes everyone happy. She deserved it so much!
To top things Hayden Wilde won the men’s race, what an absolute beast humbling everyone with major surgery only 3 months prior. Talk about some emotional wins in both races - pure inspiration!
My friend Rhiannon is doing Ironman Wales in September. That’s how crazy (and strong) that girl is. So last weekend we had planned a short trip to Wales to recce the course. I decided to follow her craziness and somehow agreed to camp there too. We too the 4-hour-plus drive to Tenby on Friday evening, camped up at a pre-booked campsite' (aka a field with a toilet and a shower - albeit pretty good ones!) and Saturday morning we were ready for the ride. Needless to say the sleep was not the best but I did not regret it one bit, I absolutely loved it and luckily I am full of energy these days.
The ride was another absolute blast. The first section out west to Pembroke was fast (and with a strong tailwind, as we discovered later!) and fun. With both of us on the TT bikes and a race course, I got excited about racing again, it was a great and playful feeling. The scenery was beautiful. We then hit the coast and before we knew it we had that headwind on our faces making a long 10km stretch back to Pembroke feel like uphill - a proper grind but I though it was great practice for Kona, if I’m lucky enough not to get the wind on the side there!
Up until that point I thought the course was quite speedy and ‘doable’ but then at the second loop it really hit me. It is absolutely brutal! Steep hills one after the other and in-between a grueling 2-3% beating up the legs and slowing you down enough to notice. And it only intensified - this course includes a 16% at some point… we only did the big loop once and they actually have to do that twice on race day. I can’t get my head around it. To top it off? A hilly marathon. In an Ironman. Who came up with that?! And who signs up to that?! Honestly, as gorgeous as it is, i am in doubt if this race will stay in my bucket list after this experience!
Shock-aside I did feel strong and even had a go pushing up some of the hills towards the end (I think I mostly had ran out of patience and wanted to be done with them!) which was a bit of a surprise; I really felt the ‘muscle fibre recruitment’ in my legs, probably a result of the big gear work workouts I’ve done lately. I’m making this point because I think it’s quite rare to feel the effects of training clearly when you’ve been training for so long, at least it is for me. Long gone are the easy gains of the beginner years when a gear was shifting every few months… so I’ve been feeling this lately and it makes me very excited, it’s a real gift at a point in time when I though I’d be deep in the grind building to a second Ironman in the same season!
With all this, time has flown by and we are less than 8 weeks to race day. Still a while but I am looking forward to the trip in Greece to mix it up even more.
Last but not least! As if we didn’t have enough highlights in this update! My interview in the ‘3 sports - no life’ podcast has been up all week! I must admit I was very apprehensive of the moment I’d see my face on the screen and hear my voice, it has been a great experience and an amazing opportunity to connect with the Greek triathlon community. I was surprised how many people reached out, even visited this blog and I really look forward to furthering the connections over time, online and while I’m there. Something tells me I may have found myself some training partners!
The show is in Greek so a bit limited in that sense I’m afraid, but here is the link to it if you want to watch or listen: Youtube; Apple Podcast; Spotify
6 August 2025
I thought I’d try and keep this updated on a weekly basis.
I feel I’m gaining some momentum after the last week of training, finally!
The bike session I mentioned last week I ended up failing towards the end! not sure if it was by design but this hasn’t happened for a while… I guess it just shows there is quite a curve I am on before I’m back to full fitness, hopefully a steep one because I want it over and done with! I want to be smashing these sessions alright!
The weather has cooled down to a very pleasant level for training which helps a lot, running especially. I had a 3,5 hour ride over the weekend and headed to the Chilterns with a friend which was very nice. It didn’t feel as long as last time so we’re getting there… I also had a nice 3K swim in the pool so I’m getting the habit of going there with overthinking quieting a bit. I was definitely happy i didn’t have to go to the lake again, honestly I want a little as possible right now, but I know it is necessary.
The spicy one for the week was a run session I did on Saturday, adding some speed back in the legs for the first time since April pretty much! With the exception of some short strides I hadn’t really done much above Ironman pace due to the conservative approach we had after the injury leading into the race. So I was obviously a bit nervous, mostly about the recovery from it but it went really well.
It’s funny how there are things that I would do in the past without even blinking which I now respect a lot more, after certain experiences... Looking back I can also see many mistakes I made and couldn’t see that at the time. Hopefully all this can come together so we can take some ‘calculated risks’ - it’s not that I want to be settling for a lot less all of a sudden. The desire to get better is always there.
Today I had a nice swim session with Optima and will be heading for a sports massage after work. It’s not like I felt I really needed one yet but my therapist is heading on holidays for a couple of weeks so I thought I’d catch him before he goes as there is a lot coming up in the next few weeks! It will be nice to have everything loose for another little run session tomorrow.
Heading into the weekend, we have the T100 taking place in London so I’ll probably end up going to watch the pros race - very exciting. It’s probably the first year I am following the pro scene so closely and it makes a lot of difference knowing the ins and outs.
Then on Sunday - even more exciting - we have a ‘Brighton and back’ ride planned which I haven’t done since 2022… I recon this will be a good 190km on the legs!
31 July 2025
It’s the end of July.
Training has resumed but I’m still not fully ‘rolling with it’ - I haven’t quite managed to find enough momentum yet. I’ve had a few of these ‘feel horrible’ sessions when you go hard for the first time in weeks only to feel gassed in seconds and nowhere near ‘fast enough’ to justify it... I know I just have to go through with them before they start feeling better so I keep doing this mechanically and without much judgement…
Swimming seems to be the one I dread and procrastinate the most at the moment, let alone with a swim skin in open water. What a delight to discover that I can be even slower in open water! although I do enjoy the freedom around the shoulders compared to the wetsuit, the sensation is very different so this will be an interesting one to develop for Kona.
Cycling for three hours seems heroic unless there are friends around…
Running is probably the most ‘welcome’ at the moment, just getting out of the door and run feels nice. The trails near me have been freshly cleaned providing the perfect surface for that ‘floaty’ feeling. I got myself a new pair of shoes for good measure too.
Work has also been a bit slow and with racing feeling quite far away at the moment, it’s the first time I’m actually feeling bored in a very long time… There is surely no shortage of things I need to do around the house but I’m just finding hard to get going with much at the moment!
So I thought it a good opportunity to start documenting this build to what is the dream of a World Championship in the full Ironman distance. Quite a mouthful!
Last time I did a series on a build it didn’t go very well but I’ll try to not be superstitious here!
So let me take you with me and see where we will go… The rough plan is as follows:
We’re spending the next four weeks training in the UK before we head to Greece for 10 days of what will hopefully be a heat block in preparation for the hot conditions in Kona. By the time we’re back we’ll have three weeks of peak training before we head across the globe for the race. And that’s the rough plan!
Today we start with some spicy intervals on the turbo, 3’ tempo into 1’ threshold, times…8. Some work!
In other news I had the amazing honour of being invited to a triathlon podcast from Greece which we recorded on Monday. It filled my heart to do it and had a great time recording! The hosts were amazing! At the same time I won’t hide that I’m doing my best to not play it all in head and worry about what will be left in the internet forever… I don’t think I’ll ever have the guts to watch or listen to it! I’ll leave it to those close to me to tell me what they think… I will make sure to share it here, so stay tuned (if you speak Greek!).
