KONA CALLING EP.4 – T100 Fréjus + IRONMAN 70.3 Rio | Julie IEMMOLO – Triathlète Professionnelle

Bienvenue dans ce quatrième épisode de la série KONA CALLING ! 🌺

Pour commencer, je vous emmène au cœur de mon stage d’entraînement en montagne 🏔️
En cette période de mi-saison, je vous explique les différentes options et choix de courses qui s’offrent à moi, j’explique aussi pourquoi c’est parfois difficile de choisir parmi autant de courses ouvertes aux pros ! 📆

Je vous raconte ma première victoire en PRO sur l’IRONMAN 70.3 Rio de Janeiro ✨🏆🇧🇷🥇

💥 Surprise, on se retrouve à Fréjus pour le T100 French Riviera ! 🏖️🇫🇷

C’est parti pour un inside en mode course ! Je vous fais vivre le premier T100 en France de l’intérieur. Les préparatifs, la course, et le débrief à chaud ☀️👀🌊

C’était le 4e épisode de cette série Kona Calling, maintenant je vous donne rendez-vous à Kona dans quelques semaines pour LE rendez-vous et pour l’épisode clé de la série ! 🔜🏝️🌎

Épisode sponsorisé par @CompexFrance
@precisionfandh @SchwalbeBikeTires @Garmin @GarminFrance @CompexFrance @ekoiofficiel @ALLTRICKS_COM

Vidéo réalisée par @wkvision
#ironman #triathlon #ironman703 #protriathlete #ironmantriathlete #triathlonmotivation #T100 #T100triathlon

@rsbtraining @sailfishtriathlon @CUBEBikesTV @CubeBikes_fr @nutripurefr @incylence1882 @stadefrancaistriathlon2759 @yottaxp7673

Episode 4! We’re here for a training camp in Bourg d’Oisans. I’ve been used to coming to train there in the summer for quite a few years now, and it’s my little base camp. So here we go, I’m taking you with me to the Alps. The stairs aren’t super wide. You shouldn’t wear size 11 shoes! Here we go. Today’s bike session was at maximum cadence. So we’re more into neuromuscular work than anything else, so it’s not very hard from a physiological point of view, but it’s a little session to start the week, let’s say on the bike. And then, I’m going to go for a run in a pretty nice setting and a little open water swim to finish the day. I think there are worse views for open water swimming, that’s fine! Okay, done swimming. Now, I’m going to go for a little run to finish the day. We’ll start with a little tour of the lake and then after, I’ll go to the waterfall. So it’s okay, still as nice. I have nothing to complain about, it’s pretty cool. Come on, let’s go! And there you go, it’s in the box! There you go, a little day. Honestly, I’m having a blast. I’ve been training there for a bunch of years. It’s always the same place, but I never get tired of it. I like going on training camps because there are things you can’t do at home. I don’t know how to explain, but when I’m at home, I have a harder time really putting in long weeks in terms of hours because we’re always busy with this or that thing. We want to see family and friends a bit. There are always things to do at home, it never stops. Whereas here, on training camps, I really manage to concentrate on training, to be more focused. And here, I feel like there aren’t too many distractions, and I like to be calm and cool. To finish the day, a short recovery session with the Compex. Always the capillarization program. Basically, it’s a bit like active recovery, to really simplify. It’s my favorite program that I do all the time for recovery when I’m on a training camp, before races. It’s not bad, it’s quite versatile. So there you have it, a short triathlete’s day: swimming, cycling, running. Tomorrow the same thing, swimming, cycling, running. Here on a training camp in the Alps, I’m doing two PPG sessions per week. So I’m doing one less than in Reunion, to still have a little more time, whether it’s to work on the side activities, or to do a little more cycling. Well, we’re a little bit in the off-season, let’s say. The first part of the season is behind us. This mountain training camp in July-August is a bit like a preparation camp for the second part of the year. The first part of the season was actually quite busy with races. I still did six races. It wasn’t necessarily the basic plan. In the end, it’s actually crazy because we always make plans and it never really goes as planned. The idea for me was to do the IRONMAN Texas then Aix. In the end, Texas didn’t go well. We didn’t really know why. So I wanted to try my luck the following week, on the 70.3 in Venice, also to see if I could have , how to say, a different feeling and result, or if it was really confirmed that it was a disaster like Texas. So I wanted to go to Venice, even if it was maybe not the wisest choice now in hindsight. And then Venice gave different conclusions. So I wanted to try again. Plus, after Venice, I felt a bit of a build-up in the week after the race, as if I was overcompensating. So I said to myself, “Come on, I’ll try one more.” There was the Challenge Cesenatico. So that was already three races in three weekends, and then in the end, in Cesenatico, I didn’t swim very well, I didn’t ride very well, but I had a great run. So I said to myself, “There, I was right to be stubborn!” And the following week, there was Aix. Aix is ​​hard to say no to at home. Well, I had a bit of a cold with allergies the week before the race. I was born in Aix, I live half an hour from Aix, but I still get allergic every spring! So I still wanted to give it a try and then there was the whole Team Yotta. Well, it’s a bit hard to refuse to race in Aix when you can sleep at home the night before the race, it’s hard not to try. So, I tried Aix but honestly it wasn’t a great success. But on the one hand, shouldn’t that be expected by doing four races in four weekends? So there you go, a bit mixed but hey, on the one hand if I had been a bit logical and if I had taken a step back, I wouldn’t have made that choice. So after that I wanted to put in a bit of a training block at the beginning of June to do two other races at the end of June. So the Challenge first in Poland in Gdansk, which went pretty well, honestly, it was more “me” than the previous month. It was more like what I want to run for, so it was already a bit more fun. And the following week, I tried another Challenge again, this time a bit more mountainous, a bit more difficult. It was the Walchsee Challenge in Austria. And that one wasn’t extraordinary either, but in a way, it was to be expected. I wasn’t in great shape. In the end, it still allowed me to make three podiums in these three Challenges. Twice 2nd, once 3rd. The IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 went a bit less well; but there you go, as I said, it really wasn’t the basic plan. So in the end, I’m racing without being 100% fit. So it’s no surprise that the result isn’t the best possible. So there you have it, the first part of the season that didn’t follow the basic plan at all. Raph had told me a bit, that it wasn’t necessarily a good idea to race, but I’m a bit stubborn so I did it anyway. After today, do I regret it or not? Well, there’s not much point in asking the question. It’s true that if I had kept my head cool after Texas and had decided to stop there and not race, maybe I could have raced in Cairns as was originally planned, on June 15. In the end, with all the race sequence and everything, it really wasn’t wise. So there you have it. So now, though, I’ll stop the bullshit. I’m back on track. We’re starting from scratch! Second part of the season, mountain training camp , to really try to prepare for a good half format. That’s what I’d like to do. A half before Kona, and Kona on October 11. So there you go, I’m trying to be reasonable, not too many races, Hawaii and a 70.3 before. I’m going to try to stick to it, but it’s super hard, in fact for me it’s frustrating. I have the impression that for the rest of the year doing two races, I tell myself it’s empty. I want to run more. So here’s a bit of the plan. First training of the day, heading to the pool. So it’s 200 8×50 200 8×50 200 2×50 with the progressive series 3×100 200, that twice, 6×50 and 200. It’s good I know it by heart! Zoomer snorkel 6×50 placed, just to practice swimming a bit! Finished! Well, we appreciate the sun a little more than in Reunion. It’s a bit cold there. In Reunion we hide, there we put ourselves in full sun. Back home. Quiet on foot. Also in training here, what’s cool is that I don’t even take the car anymore. I go swimming on foot and hop. Swimming, cycling, heading, quiet and peaceful. Big family! Haha There, in terms of the calendar, what’s good is that there’s a lot of choice, but it’s also still difficult to choose. Especially for me, I’m a little tempted by all the races, so it’s a little hard to choose. There, just on the IRONMAN 70.3 label, there’s one almost every weekend, there’s one on the 3rd, the 10th, the 17th, there are even three. There’s really choice. So I’m actually hesitating a lot. I want to do one before the world championships, the full world championships in Hawaii. And in the end, I find it quite complicated when you’re a pro to choose the races because you’re lucky, you have a lot of freedom, you can register even until a little later, but at the same time it’s a bit tricky too. And personally, I find that it’s an additional difficulty because there are so many opportunities and so many possible races that it’s a bit hard to decide sometimes. There’s the IRONMAN label, where sometimes there are even several races on the same weekend. So full and 70.3 and there’s the Challenge label. Besides that, there are also the T100, that’s really a lot of races that you can do and sometimes it’s quite hard to decide. So sometimes I can also base it on the journey, how much it costs to get there, the prize money, how much money there might be in the way of income. But it’s quite tricky, yeah, to know what the wisest choice is. And often I hesitate quite a bit. For example, there’s the opportunity to race in Europe, but there’s also one in America. There was Ecuador, there’s Rio in August, there’s one in Mexico in September and all that in fact sometimes it can be interesting to try to go and get a qualification, but it also costs more in terms of travel, travel and that’s money that you have to choose to invest there or elsewhere because racing in Europe is necessarily cheaper than going to another continent. So it’s hard sometimes to decide. Afterwards I’m often asked the question “Yeah but don’t you have sponsors who pay and all that?” Well, actually, the sponsors will give the same budget over the year, whether I’m going to run super far, or whether I’m racing in Europe. So in the end, it’s still money that I have to decide whether or not to invest, like when I’m going to race in Texas. So, I know it’s more expensive, but I think it’s a wise choice, and then sometimes it goes well, sometimes it doesn’t go so well, and you regret the choice, but you can never know in advance. So, for the 70.3 that I want to do before Hawaii, I’m still hesitating a lot. There are a lot of opportunities, and it’s hard to decide. Here we go for a little strength session. Well, I say little, but there’s already an hour of series, so it’s not little, it’s just for fun. But there you go, let’s go. Strength session. We’re going to do it on a nice hill with a beautiful view. Oh, the weather! Hahaha But now I’m going to get everything soaked. On the way up it was fine. When I turned around, I got caught in the wind. Because it’s starting to blow too?! There you go. – Should I put the heating on or not? – No, I’m fine in the car, but when I go out and I’m going to get caught in the icy wind with the rain, it’s not fun. On the way up it was fine. I only went down 40 seconds from the top to here. I had time to freeze in 40 seconds. Come on! I think I can’t move anymore. We’re going to make a change of plan. Heading for a hot shower! Currently in Saint-Raphaël Fréjus, this weekend, there’s the T100 French Riviera and I’m going to explain to you a little bit about all this little upheaval that has taken place since my last idea where I said that I wanted to do a 70.3 before Kona. So, I chose to do the 70.3 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. So, the idea was to take a little step in the preparation for Kona. I didn’t really know where I was and I wanted to check a little how it had gone in training, see how it was in the race, and on a slightly shorter format to not create too much fatigue. So the idea was to take a little step in Rio and the results were really positive, since I won the race! It’s my first victory as a pro, so it was just awesome! I think it’s a moment that I will never forget in my life, it was just incredible! Honestly, When I crossed the finish line, instead of being almost screaming with joy, I was crying because I couldn’t believe it was true. But there you go, it was awesome. So the swimming went well, the cycling too, the running too, supers in all three sports. I really enjoyed it and what’s more it qualifies me for the 2026 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. So I’m qualified for Nice next year. So it’s really cool, that’s qualifying a year in advance. I know I could do these world championships which are on home soil and what’s more it has a little special value for me, I did them as an amateur before turning pro in 2019. I was second in 18-24 and everything, so going back as a pro is really cool. So that’s it for Rio, it was awesome, a great surprise. And speaking of surprises, I got a Wild Card to be able to do the T100 in Fréjus, French Riviera. So to explain the T100 to you a little bit, it’s a very closed circuit where there are 20 athletes, 20 girls and 20 boys, who are under contract each year; they are obliged to do nine races, well, there are nine races on the calendar and they are obliged to do five. And when they don’t come to the races, it leaves places for the Wild Cards. And so, when you have a Wild Card, since it’s very, very hard to get into these races, it’s an opportunity and a chance that you have to seize. So, I seize my chance and I’m here! In addition, I did one last year, but in the United States, in Las Vegas, now being able to do a T100 in Fréjus, at home, is just great. There will be the French public, there’s my whole family who can be there. So it’s incredible! The bracelets, that’s mine, that’s the one for the coach. The tattoos for tomorrow morning. Those are the personal needs, so that’s if we want to put gels or drinks that they’ll give us on the running race. And that’s what interests us. It’s the tattoo pack, number 50. Here we go. We’re going to put the stickers on the helmet and on the bike. We’re going to take the bike to the biketech for the installation of the Race Ranger. So, the Race Ranger is the thing that we’re going to put on the back, and one that goes on the fork at the front, and that allows us to have colored lights, a bit like the little diagram I have here, orange, blue and red. And when it’s red and it flashes, it’s drafting and we have to pass, we have to overtake. Little physio session! – Great. – If we do a little bit of everything [of course] chill slowly – So starting with legs? I feel better on the stomach. So me I can sleep after but [caffeine cafe for breakfast, coffee?] No I don’t need (and like) It must be better anyway. Hop there. On the other hand, my back is oily! We’re going to fly. Normally in the morning, the wind is less strong anyway. I hope we won’t fly away on our bikes. But at least the sky is clear. It’s sunny! We’re good. French Riviera, the definition I think! Little last little meal before the race. Pizza dough pizza dough. I think today I’m going to eat a pizza. It’s good. Carb load. No, we’re not going to change. It’s okay, it’s still effective. The style, it’s all in the style. It’s not bad. And of course, all that at 5:37 and I’m off to the bike park! It’s a fifteen-minute bike ride from the hotel to there, and just like that, the bike comes straight back. Okay, let’s go. It’s good. Let’s go, everyone. Congratulations as well. Welcome home, Julie Iemmolo from France. Thank you! My legs have never been so bad. I didn’t understand anything. I don’t think at the end, I don’t even have 210W. I can’t take it anymore. Everyone is catching up with me, I’m in “go go go” mode, and there’s nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing. On the climb, a few watts but not much. It charges up straight away and everything. And then when running, I tried a little at the beginning, afterward my stomach was really uncomfortable. When I finished my compote, I said to myself I’m switching to coke. When I had a Coke, I ran 500m, it shook shook shook shook. Blah, I made a space vomit. I’ve never vomited like that, and in fact, I drank the cup in the water a lot and I think it came out during the run. On the other hand, once I had vomited, on the last lap, ah, I was a little liberated. I’m sorry. I don’t know if every time you come to film, I do a death race or I don’t know, there’s a c_ui_le in the pie huh. After when I saw on the last lap that in front of me was Kaidi Kivioja there, I wanted to say “Oh, you too have just won your first 70.3 and you have a shitty race, come on let’s team up!” But well, it’s not going well… Well, I’m going to try to get to the checkpoint as quickly as possible. Well, there you go, there you go, what can I say? At the beginning, it was going well anyway. I was happy with my swim, I was in the leading group, I had good feelings. Plus, it was a sea swim, without a wetsuit, in swimskin, a bit like there was in Hawaii. So frankly, I was saying to myself “Great, that’s good in the Hawaii preparation and everything, that’s the answer and the check that I wanted, I’m doing well in swimming and everything, that’s cool” because, well, I was still with girls who also came out in front in the leading group in Hawaii, I think there was Hannah Berry, Marta Sanchez, those are girls who came out in front in the full world championships, so that’s cool, that’s very good. Then at the start of the bike, I immediately had no legs, but really I said to myself “Come on, it’s not a big deal.” I tried to stay focused and tell myself “You’re committed, we’ll see later how it goes, it’s long and everything.” And in fact it got worse and worse. At the beginning I was more or less in my usual watt ranges and then it went downhill. I thought I would be better on the climbs because on 99% of races, I still feel more comfortable on the hills, especially with the preparation I did in the mountains. And in the end, no. I wasn’t comfortable on my bike. I changed saddle 15 days ago, but I didn’t think it could have played such a role. So I’m going to think about it. Maybe it was this little change in position that meant I didn’t have the same support and everything. I don’t know if that’s really what played a role. In any case, on the bike, wow! There, I think I did one of the worst bike rides of my entire life. Lousy. Everyone was passing me but there was a crazy speed gap. It really wasn’t good. So it’s a shame but that’s how it is. And then on the running part, I tried to tell myself “Come on, you’re going, you’re having a good run.” I had new shoes and I kind of wanted to test them out, to see how they felt in the race. And I was a little uncomfortable with my stomach and breathing. I managed to eat with my compote there, my PH 90 gel. That’s cool. Once I had finished it, I had planned to switch to Coke to keep my carbs. And when I instantly drank Coke, it made a kind of commotion in my stomach. I threw up but since I never threw up after, I emptied my stomach and actually I think that in swimming I drank a bit of the cup, well a bit too much, well 5/6 times the cup and salt water in the stomach doesn’t often make a good combo. So I think that’s what bothered me in running, because after once I threw up, oh my, the last lap I was good! But well it’s a shame. There were already crazy gaps, I couldn’t go to anyone and that was it, it was no use. So overall, frankly I’m still disappointed. It’s not the race I wanted to do. I think that with a full race, if I had shown the same level as in Rio, it would have been top 10. So I’m disappointed. Now, from what I saw on the bike, I put in almost 30 watts less. It’s huge. It’s huge! So I’m frankly a bit disgusted. I’m Just happy to have swum well and in the end on the run, I didn’t collapse muscularly, so that’s rather positive, but it’s not fun to be far down in the rankings . So it’s a bit depressing. On the other hand, there was a great atmosphere with all the spectators on the run. So that was cool. It boosted morale a bit. Everyone was really super nice, everyone was encouraging and people didn’t seem too disappointed with my race . I was more disappointed than the spectators. So that’s cool at least. So that was probably one or even the last race before Kona. Now it’s going to be focused. I’m going on a training camp in Fuerteventura, in Playitas, to really do the final preparation for Hawaii. And I’ll see you for the 5th and last episode of the series, in Kona in October. Come on, bye!