Last Sunday, Stéphane Ravera, our athlete-witness, crossed the finish line of the Nice Ironman in 355th position with a time of 11 hours and 2 minutes. A time that satisfies him. He recounts his race.
“The goal was to go under 11 hours. I consider it accomplished by a margin of 2 minutes.” A few days after the race, the Niçois seems happy but tired: “It took me 2 or 3 days to recover. That’s normal after such efforts. On Monday, at the awards ceremony, even the top professionals were completely wrecked. They were limping as they walked.”
To recover as quickly as possible and avoid severe soreness, his first piece of advice is to do a few laps of swimming the day after the race, to relax the muscles.
When it comes to detailing the race further, he mentions a strategy that allowed him to reach the end: “The cycling, I know the course well, I tried to pace myself, not to push too hard because it’s really the running that’s the most challenging segment.”
In 2008, pushing too hard on the cycle, he had difficulty finishing the race.
Now, he seems capable of conserving energy and always aims higher.
See you next year
In a few days, Stéphane will resume his rowing training in preparation for the French championships.
This true sportsman allows himself no rest: “you need to be ready for the event and not lose physical condition”.
He has already stated that he will be there in 2012 for the Nice triathlon.
