It was the first time in a very long time that Laura Daly was going into a target race with a degree of trepidation. She’s competed in IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships, Irish National Championships for Triathlon and many other high profile events before, but she’s always gone into them fully trained and in tip-top condition. At the 2024 IRONMAN 70.3 Alcúdia-Mallorca though it was a bit different.
An injury had put her out of running action at a crucial time in her training schedule. That had caused her to miss key races like the Bournemouth Bay Half Marathon and prevented her from getting her running strength where she would have liked it to be in an ideal world. She had still been able to cycle and swim a lot though so for those disciplines she was confident. With the run though, she was just hoping to wing it.
The Balearic island of Mallorca provided a great setting for a triathlon, with the gorgeous Mediterranean sea, the Spanish sun and open coastal roads making it an attraction for athletes from all over the world. That mean of course that the field for the IRONMAN 70.3 Alcúdia-Mallorca was bound to be brimming with talent.
Laura was determined to give it her best shot despite the difficulties she’d faced in the build up. The course consisted of a 1.9km Swim in the Bay of Alcudia, starting and finishing at the Playa d’Alcudia, with its white sand and tranquil turquoise waters.
The Bike route was a single lap of 90km with an 800m elevation gain, heading out from the Bay of Alcúdia to the mountains of Mallorca. The highest point was the Coll de la Batalla which is 576m above sea level. The Run was a flat, half marathon distance route round Alcúdia Bay.
On the day of the race Laura arrived fully carb loaded and feeling relaxed and ready for the task ahead. Of course, the nerves were still jangling though as she headed to the start area of the swim. She had her sister Kathryn with her though for support which helped.
The Swim went well for Laura and all the work she’d been putting in the pool seemed to pay dividends. Thrashing through the 2,000 yard course in 28 minutes and 36 seconds, Laura was 4th in the F25-29 division, 27th female and 152nd overall. If there was one fault with it, it was that she needed to back herself more and go right to the front of the pen to ensure she doesn’t get stuck behind the slower swimmers, as that cost her some time.
So far so good though and it was onto the Bike next. That was where she had her first real hiccup when she lost her bottle just 4km in. Not in the metaphorical sense but in the physical sense, as it fell out of its slot leaving her with no nutrition for the remainder of the ride. She adapted though but pressing on and being aware of the aid stations where she could refuel if necessary.
She felt powerful and the most comfortable she had been in position on her bike. Blasting through the 55.44 miles, with over 2,500ft of elevation, in 2 hours 46 minutes and 41 seconds, she remained 4th in the F25-29 division. She was now 29th female and 325th overall. Now it was just a question of what she could muster up for the run.
She felt okay to begin with but just couldn’t turn her legs quickly enough to get the speed up. It was a really hot day as well and that was a bit of a shock to the system for Laura. The weather was still yet to start warming up in the UK so going into that kind of environment was certainly a challenge. Energy gels often give Laura stomach problems and that caused her to make a stoppage 13km in.
After that she just tried to enjoy the last bit of the race and just soak it all in. Averaging 7:28 pace, for her moving time, Laura clocked a finishing time of 1:37:58 for the Run, with the stoppage costing her about a minute. She’d lost five places in the female rankings, putting her down to 34th. None of those were in her category though, so she remined 4th in the F25-29 division.
Her total cumulative time was 4 hours 59 minutes and 25 seconds which put her 325th overall. It was a massive achievement for Laura to accomplish what she did and come out of it with a creditable result. Of course, there were elements of it she was disappointed with, primarily the run where she was a lot slower than she has been in previous races. Unfortunately, in half marathons though, if you haven’t been able to put in your usual level of training, it does have an impact. Especially at the end of a gruelling IRONMAN 70.3.
When she looks back on it though, there were plenty of huge positives and things to be proud of. Her Swim was magnificent and despite losing her nutrition, she powered round the Bike course really well. No doubt she take the learnings from this experience and adjust her approach accordingly for the next one and will come back even stronger. Before returning to the UK and getting back to training though, there was time for some sight seeing, and a few sangrias of course.