Athlete report from IM Florida by Danièle Flammang, AG winner of F50-54 in 10h16:28, 14th overall and qualified for IM Hawaii 2020 :
Another hard race in the books. AG win and new PB (10:16:28) at Ironman Panama City Beach, Florida on Saturday November 2nd.
The 2-loop swim was a bit slower than expected due to quite some waves at the turn, but still 3rd best swim time in my AG in 01:08:32.
Even though the bike course is quite flat, it was definitely not easy due to a lot of head- and crosswinds; luckily there were also some tailwinds 😅
It was freezing cold on the bike, I was wearing a jacket over my trisuit, but I wished I had gloves, my hands being frozen until the middle of the bike course …
Already on the bike I thought I had a good position because there were not many women ahead of me and the few passing were not in my AG – 2nd best bike split in 05:27.
I knew for sure I was first thanks to Tatiana who was on the run course. Also Phil gave me the splits of the 2nd and 3rd and helped a lot with encouraging. The first 30 km went quite well, but then it started to hurt … at km 33 I got so sick of my gels and all I could do is drink coke at every aid station, any food was not possible anymore … at km 38 one of the blisters on my feet exploded 😏
2nd best run in 03:31
Overall time 10:16:28, 14th woman overall.
I am so grateful I am able to do this and it would not be possible without family and friends. Thanks first of all to my daughter and to my son who often complain because their mum is training or racing instead of being with them; thanks to my husband Sam for his support; thanks to Tatiana, Eric, Phil and Marc and to all my friends cheering and encouraging me via Facebook or WhatsApp.
Also thanks to Fit Doheem for the nutrition and to Chris for fixing my position on the bike.
Thank you Panama City Beach, you were good to me.
And YES this time I took the Kona slot and after Rita Krombach in 1997, I am the 2nd woman from Luxembourg who qualifies for the World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 🌺
