Yet another fantastic result for TEAM | INCUS with Tom Davies providing a strong performance in only his second professional year of IRONMAN racing at IRONMAN Tallinn to gain a spot at the IRONMAN World Championship at Kona in 2021. Tom talks us through his race and thoughts as the start of documenting his Kona journey for the INCUS | TRIBE.
"I was among the lucky group of people that chose Ironman Tallinn as their main target for the year. Although it was postponed by a month, it was one of the only full distance races was not cancelled due to the pandemic this year. After a mixed debut triathlon season in 2019, I wanted to go to Tallinn without putting too much pressure on myself. I had to work through the final year of my degree, so I merely wanted to produce a performance that did justice to the work I’d put in. I had no aspirations of earning a Kona World Champs spot, especially as it was my first year in the 25-29 age category. Over the winter, I made some big gains in my swimming using the INCUS Nova. Come February, I was really happy with how my training was going looking towards the summer. Then, COVID happened. I’m sure everyone’s swimming suffered as mine did, but I was still disappointed to take a backwards step. On race day I posted a swim split that was considerably slower than what I did at Ironman UK last year.
Making my way round the bike course, I suffered numerous mechanical and injury-related issues. I ended up being pretty happy just to sneak under 5 hours on what was a very windy day. Although not race-ending, the issues I faced (along with a lack of fitness, I’m sure) made sure that I was no longer in contention at the pointy end of the race.
At the start of the run, my luck turned around. I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved in the early stages of testing and development of the INCUS running functionality. I knew my running was one area that I’d managed to maintain some form over the lockdown / writing of my dissertation. Unfortunately, because I felt as fresh as I did coming off the bike, I set off too hard. I was deliberately holding back a lot, but I was still way up on my planned schedule and ran through the first 10km in just over 40 minutes.
I tied up horribly with 18km still to run, and ended up falling short of even my ‘conservative’ run prediction. When I finally struggled over the finish line, after a very painful marathon, the clock recorded 9:23:34. It wasn’t quite the smooth race I’d been hoping for, but I was pleased enough that I’d held it under 9.5 hours.
The following day, something unexpected happened. I got a call from Ironman, saying that I’d earned a World Championship spot for 2021 on roll down, if I wanted it. This was never a goal for me, as I mentioned, and I was in two minds about accepting it. After a few minutes to think and a chat with my parents, I decided to take it. Three weeks on, I’m feeling a little indifferent towards my Tallinn performance; although not disappointed. I’m feeling a sizeable amount of imposter syndrome with regards to accepting the Kona spot, but I’m sure that’s natural to an extent. I’m also sure that I would have lived to regret declining the opportunity had I done so. Kona 2021 is over a year away, and I’m confident that I can justify my place there when it comes around. I’d like to say a huge thank you to INCUS, as I wouldn’t even be in this position without the support the technology has given me. I can’t wait to count on its assistance over the coming months…"
Making my way round the bike course, I suffered numerous mechanical and injury-related issues. I ended up being pretty happy just to sneak under 5 hours on what was a very windy day. Although not race-ending, the issues I faced (along with a lack of fitness, I’m sure) made sure that I was no longer in contention at the pointy end of the race.
At the start of the run, my luck turned around. I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved in the early stages of testing and development of the INCUS running functionality. I knew my running was one area that I’d managed to maintain some form over the lockdown / writing of my dissertation. Unfortunately, because I felt as fresh as I did coming off the bike, I set off too hard. I was deliberately holding back a lot, but I was still way up on my planned schedule and ran through the first 10km in just over 40 minutes.
I tied up horribly with 18km still to run, and ended up falling short of even my ‘conservative’ run prediction. When I finally struggled over the finish line, after a very painful marathon, the clock recorded 9:23:34. It wasn’t quite the smooth race I’d been hoping for, but I was pleased enough that I’d held it under 9.5 hours.
The following day, something unexpected happened. I got a call from Ironman, saying that I’d earned a World Championship spot for 2021 on roll down, if I wanted it. This was never a goal for me, as I mentioned, and I was in two minds about accepting it. After a few minutes to think and a chat with my parents, I decided to take it. Three weeks on, I’m feeling a little indifferent towards my Tallinn performance; although not disappointed. I’m feeling a sizeable amount of imposter syndrome with regards to accepting the Kona spot, but I’m sure that’s natural to an extent. I’m also sure that I would have lived to regret declining the opportunity had I done so. Kona 2021 is over a year away, and I’m confident that I can justify my place there when it comes around. I’d like to say a huge thank you to INCUS, as I wouldn’t even be in this position without the support the technology has given me. I can’t wait to count on its assistance over the coming months…"
