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Åsa Lundström: ‘Next year at Kona I will not settle for anything less than top 10’
2014-10-15
Be mentally prepared. Never give up. Stick to your plan. These three pieces of advice are a good summary of what Åsa Lundström, the member of Orbea Orca Triathlon Team who made her debut in Kona this year, learnt at Ironman Hawaii. Read this interesting
Making it to the top 20 (ninth among European triathletes and 17th in the global standings) on your debut in Ironman Hawaii is quite a feat. Åsa Lundström did it, but she will not settle for it. With eyes already set on Kona 2015, she wants to be among the ten best women triathletes. In this interview, Åsa tells us everything about her first time in Hawaii: what she has learnt, what the atmosphere is like in Kona and how a mistake in the organisation can spoil your carefully designed nutrition plan.
Please, share with us three things you have learnt on your debut in Kona which you might find useful next year.
Being mentally prepared. Being mentally prepared for a hard swim - all way through. Being mentally prepared for head wind and cross winds – both going out to Hawaii, and coming back again. Being mentally prepared for the heat on the run, and the hills.
Never to give up. This race can take the best out of the best, so you never know what will happen. Even with 5 km to go, a lot can happen in the race, so never give up. Ever.
Stick to your plan. Many people seemed to be racing the other athletes too much and not focusing on their own pace and race, which was devastating for several very strong athletes.
How did you feel during the bike split? How did your bike respond?
In general, I did not feel flying on the bike leg, especially the second half (like for most athletes). I had more in me. Luckily, I had a great bike for the tough conditions. It felt like a road bike going up the hills, and the x-winds hardly affected the bike on the flats and I saw I was gaining on the down-hills.
It was a race where it was very hard to keep a rhythm, and on the way back from Hawaii, I got a big dip when riding completely solo. 10th best bike split is nothing I am proud of, when I know I had a faster time in me.
What were the best and worst moments in the 9 hours, 36 minutes and 22 seconds it took you to complete Ironman Hawaii?
Best moment was when I caught a smaller group of girls on the bike leg, and we started catching girl after girl. It was a great feeling. The worst moment was on the run when I realised the organisation had missed my bag of special needs, when I was supposed to get salt and my own energy supply 6 times during the marathon, and I got none.
It was mentally hard not being able to stick to your nutrition plan and not getting enough salt.
Let’s forget about the race itself for a while. How would you describe your first time in Kona? What do you think you will remember of this weekend in, say, ten years’ time?
It is a race like no other. The atmosphere is great, the location for the race is paradise, the locals are so friendly and helpful, and the community is genuinely happy for the event coming to town. There are ambitious athletes and pros all over the place, everyone is happy and in a good mood and there is a great load of excitement in the air.
Many big brands are here to network and everyone has a connection to everyone, and it’s like a huge group of friends which makes the atmosphere even better. These are the things that make this race special, and that is what I will remember all my life.
Are you coming back to Kona next year?
Of course I am! This is only the beginning. To me, this year’s race was like a test. Next year I will not settle for anything less than top 10, which I know is realistic. I know my peak performance lies ahead of me.
Åsa Lundström is now in Scandinavia having a short break. She is going back to training soon, in order to get ready to face her last two challenges this season: Ironman 70.3 Mandurah in Western Australia in November and Ironman Western Australia in Brusselton, Western Australia, in December.
