Racing Ironman World Championships: Marjaana’s Journey

Hello and welcome to the Athletes Compass podcast, where we navigate training, fitness, and health for everyday athletes. Our co -host, Marjaana Rakai is home literally today, like several hours ago after racing in the Ironman World Championships in Nice, France. First of all, how are you feeling Marjaana?

Pretty good, thanks. Surprisingly.

Yeah. mean, tell us the story. mean, how did the race go?

Yeah, so race was amazing. We left Houston Tuesday, race was Sunday and came back Tuesday. So I guess a week trip, a whirlwind. A lot of things happened and the race day was just incredible.

started at the beginning, like talk us through the lead into the race and stuff. I mean, this is the first time that the woman's race was in Nice, is that not

Yes.

Yeah,

yeah, so how was the atmosphere and stuff? And it must've been exciting.

It was so exciting. Nice is incredible. It's beautiful. Super cool city. I don't have anything. I haven't been to Kona, so I can't compare. But yeah, so I was massively jet -lagged. Couldn't really sleep. I can't sleep in the airplane. So the leading up days, I didn't really do much. I had to prioritize just getting some sleep and rest in.

keeping stress low or get myself back to base level. So I didn't really do much. I mostly swam because I love swimming in the ocean. It's just, I wish I could be a fish. It just brings so much joy to me. And the water was incredible. It was so clear blue.

Hahaha

and then I checked bike, backed my bike, checked it, went for a little ride. It was really difficult to get into the race course because of traffic and I didn't want to take the risk of, you know, getting run over by a car. So I didn't do much, much of those, you know, pre -race prep sets or anything. And I picked up a little bit of a plant of societies leading up.

So I didn't really run too much either, trying to save the heel for the marathon. So did quite a bit of deviation from the plan.

How was the pre -race pasta party?

Ha ha ha!

Okay, this is a good story.

No, it was Friday night from six to eight past the party or the welcome banquet followed by English language race briefing that I really wanted to go, you know, paid 55 euros for my husband's ticket and

Like the food was so under bar, like it was just pasta with tomato sauce and just like dry iceberg lettuce and yeah, total carb loading. So I, the only meat they had was Parma ham. So I ate some fruits and Parma ham and I left there hungry and my husband was pretty, pretty mad. He had high expectations. So that was.

yeah.

Wow. Sucker.

But it was so funny because we talked about the pasta party in the podcast earlier how, you know, keto athletes or low carb athletes should bring their own chicken and I should have. Yeah. But yeah, you know, it is what it is. You roll with the punches, do the best you can.

U -I -O -C.

Yeah. Cool. So talk us through race morning.

Yeah.

Yeah, race morning. So my age group 45 to 49 was the last ones to leave, which was different. I'm usually ready. I'm there in the transition area early. so this time I had a little bit more time in the morning, do meditation, bit of yoga, just get my head straight and, I had good time to get into transition. We were like five minutes walk away and, yeah, it was.

It was good. was excited, which can be my downfall because I get excited. I just love it so much. I don't have nerves, so I'm just I get happy. then winds had picked up and I think it was I don't I don't know the temperature. It was perfect, like 15 degrees in the morning. There was a bit of swell and

waves. I didn't really notice it because I'm so comfortable in the water so it was fun. And our age group was last to leave and I started hollering because I'm so excited like let's go. So the whole field it was just like echo like everybody started hollering. So we were like just before the gun went off.

Awesome.

The whole field was just like, woo! Yeah, it was so much fun. The swim was good. I was trying to hold back, but it is hard for me to hold back because I get excited. yeah, swim was pretty freaking amazing.

Yeah, that's awesome. Good for you.

Nice.

What was your time?

107 something. Yeah 107 and then just jump on the bike. The bike course is super tough so

Yeah, notorious for the hills and just how demanding it is.

you

Ouch.

credible.

Well, yeah. Yeah.

And I wanted to go light, so I only had one bottle on the bike, because I wanted to start light with the light bike and not carry too much liquids. And then from about an hour and a half, like 35 Ks, you start climbing for almost 30 Ks. It wasn't too bad. Like it was a long, long climb, but it was, you know, steady about.

five to six percent incline so it wasn't too steep but it was just very very long and heels are not my strength so

Yep. Yeah.

Okay, but so how did you do that? So knowing that, what was your mentality for trying to tackle that that kind of a hill?

I was thinking all day pace, easy pace, just, you know, conserve energy. Don't trash the legs. I didn't want to end up saying I killed the bike. So, yeah. So I was, I was thinking the whole day, I was thinking the last 90 minutes. And then it was, yeah, it's the last 90 minutes, which I've learned from, you know, Gorda.

And walked the marathon.

Good.

burn podcast. We've talked about it several times. You know, and I think I needed to really get it in my head because I get excited and I start too hard thinking that I can hold it and then marathon hits and I don't have the legs.

Hmm.

So did the training on that course, because you did some virtual training on the course, did that help you on the bike part?

It was super interesting. Basically throughout the whole summer I was on Full Gas app and they have a lot of the Ironman courses. I was practicing long climbs, lot of strength endurance sessions on Full Gas and it felt really, really hard.

the longest ride I did was six hours and 15 minutes and I only got 250k. And that made me a little bit like, hmm, I wonder how realistic the full gas is compared to the, you know, when you're actually in there. So I think, I think my bike time was seven hours and 15. I don't remember exactly, but somewhere there. So.

It's pretty, pretty close. Yeah, it is pretty close. So that helped. And what helped me the most, I think, was having the mindset, but also like, I think like two months before the race, I had been practicing and going too hard out on the hill and then

Yeah, amazing.

Like after four hours, my legs would be so trashed that I like, I struggled to get through a long ride. And Paul mentioned to use the workout reserve and don't let it drop too, too fast into the big hill. So on a race day, I was looking at workout reserve and I, I wanted to hit about 30%. So going from a hundred percent to 30%. And that's what I, I think I've got.

Mm.

really close, maybe a little bit under 30, to allow that I have energy for the marathon. And then when we got up that hill, it's more of a flat and rolling hills, but the winds had picked up a lot. So it made it a lot tougher than of course on full gas, because you're

inside. And then there's another climb at the end before from 150 K is basically downhill. So I think I paced it pretty well, but I wonder if I could have gone a little bit harder up top because there was a long climbs back to town or downhills.

But I think the highlight of the bike course were the descents. There are just so much fun coming down the mountain. I was like screaming my head off. was like, woo! my God, there's so much fun. It's like, I think some James Bond movies been filmed there. Like it's so beautiful. There's like these arches. You go through the arches and then just flowing down and...

Meh.

Yeah.

My Canyon TT bike just rides so incredibly well. It's just so much fun. I think because I'm a little bit, I still have a little bit of that thrill seeker in me. I maybe went down too fast.

Well you didn't come off!

I didn't come off the mountain, so that's a good thing. But I'm a mom of three, so they deserve to have a mom who'll come back home. But I might have gotten a little too excited at some points.

Yes, they do.

you

Hahaha

I've just I've actually just pulled up your your bike profile. It is remarkable MJ where you you didn't get below really, you know 20, you know 25 percent or so on the workout reserve Remember the workout reserve scale goes from a hundred down to zero and if you go negative you've kind of gone like a personal best but yeah in general you were like, yeah you like looks like maybe minus

minus, yeah, 28 % was as far as it kind of went in there. So you were really holding on to reserve. You obviously had that mentality. You were in this thing for the whole day. And yeah, that's quite impressive. The other thing that's really quite notable, and I know, I don't think you were gonna look at heart rate, but it's interesting. Your heart rate was pretty solid the whole day at about 140 beats per minute. It's quite remarkable.

Yeah.

You know, oftentimes, especially in the heat, we see this heart rate drift, right? And that's usually associated with fatigue. you know, this is, this is, yeah, it's really quite, quite incredible just how flatlined your, your heart rate is across that, that whole thing. So, yeah, I mean, and here's another one, like, there's, yeah, sorry, I'm gonna geek out a little bit here, but you've got like,

Okay.

an aerobic decoupling of minus 2%. And usually it's the other way. Usually it's like 10%. And what that number means, everyone can see this on their own Athletica off any session. But basically, usually, you want to hold in there, ideally, like kind of below 10 % on any given endurance sort of session. And that means ultimately that your heart rate is dealing with the external load.

the physical stress. Now you with a negative number on that, that means that your power was getting more and your heart rate was getting less. You were more efficient as you went on in the day. So just, you know, I think perfect pacing, Marjaana, on such a grueling course.

And we're gonna move next now to what that allowed you to do in the next phase of the event.

I would like to add that mentally it's really, really difficult to stay in the plan and in the moment when a lot of people pass you on the long climb. And I had to remind myself constantly, it's okay, they're trashing their legs. It's okay, let them go. You'll see them again.

But it is like you have to be so freaking mentally just like locked in in your own plan and in your own yeah your own race. But it is hard it is hard you know the ego is there and it's like but but on the flat part of the course like my TT rides so well it's so fast I was passing and leaving them

just on the flat and into headwind. even downhill it rides so well that it matches with the road bikes for sure.

Yeah. And maybe tell us about how did you feel this ride,

so I had a plan to have a lot of food. I always plan to eat a lot, but it doesn't pan out. So I had to switch from, I had four Clif bars and three Lara bars. Clif bars, I only got two in. I just couldn't handle it. They're so dry and like tasteless and like no.

They're dry. I have a hard time with them too.

Lara bars are good because they're a little bit more moist. So I got those down. Yeah. I had some nuts. I almost choked on those. So, yeah. And then I switched to Coke. So I'm like, okay. And I had You Can, really concentrated version of You Can. So I switched to from...

can handle same.

Good try.

Mm -hmm, nice.

solids to liquid calories and it works really well.

Yeah, nice. When did you switch to Coke? Because I do that as well. Usually about the last 40k or so, I'm definitely all Coke, maybe even a little bit earlier and stuff. So yeah.

No, I switched pretty early, think, like, halfway through that big hill because that was the second aid station. like, I know myself by now. I can't get those cliff bars in, so I need more.

Yeah.

Yeah.

and

Yeah.

And then I got to T2 changed and because I wanted to run on my athletic top. So I changed and

Please.

Nice.

I felt really good, like my legs were like, they just wanted to fly. I started pretty like glance at my watch, it was 520 pace and I'm like, okay, this is too, this is too fast. My plan was to go first 5k at six minute pace, just to kind of feel how they, my legs feel, but they just felt so light.

because of that bike. So it was hard to hold back, but then 15K in. So the run was four loops on the promenade. We went from the T transition area to the airport four times. And of course it's easy to run when there's lots of people cheering for you, but the airport side was pretty quiet. So.

Mm

That was a little bit harder. So 15 K in, I started slowing down and I'm like, it's okay. It's okay. It's the last 90 minutes. So I'll just get to 25 K and then it's time to welcome the pain and you know, dig deep.

wow. I'm just, looking at your graph again and it's like, it almost, it's just as good, if not better than your bike one. It's just so flat line and steady and smooth. You know, it falls a little bit and heart rate falls a little bit, but then it picks back up in the end there as well. Workout reserve down to minus.

Ahem.

minus 23 by the very end, but you're supposed to be emptying the tank, so it should be going negative by the end if you're having a good race, which you did. So just,

Yeah, I didn't look at workout reserve on the run because I knew it was going to go negative. I didn't look at heart rate either. So it was.

Yeah, well, again, it was around the 140. I mean, at least in the beginning part, like for the first half, it kind of fell down a little bit as the pace fell down a little bit with fatigue. Overall average heart rate was 133 for the whole race. But again, that decoupling number we were talking about where it was negative on the bike, it was almost just as good on the run too. So 1 .6%, again, that suggests that it's just flat line. It means basically, again,

Okay.

your heart rate is the same as your speed and it's not shifting. Usually we see heart rate drifting higher and pace going down and yours is basically just showing this integrity and it holds. it's the, yeah, it demonstrates like a really resilient human that's doing that. So remarkable, Marjaana, really, really good.

Yeah.

Awesome. Yeah, so it got really tough, 25Ks in, but I had my mantra ready and I just absorbed the energy from people that were there all day long, cheering and music and just the thought of raising this race with these incredible women.

Mm -hmm. It should. It's supposed to.

Thank

that have put in so much work, have gone through so many different challenges. Everybody who shows up and is racing just are so fantastic, so incredible. And I was like, I felt so privileged to be part of that group.

remarkable when you shift the mindset. So typically, let's imagine the scenario when pain appears in our mind. We have an opportunity to respond to that. we have a choice. We can say, poor us, we're in pain. And this is the trick that Marjaana was able to apply. She shifted that.

and she's welcoming that pain and she's asking for more because she knows that she's privileged to be there and to have that opportunity to express herself on the world stage. And if you shift that mindset and express gratitude and welcome the pain and ask for more of it, it's remarkable how powerful that can be as a, you

as opposed to the alternate, the self -pity, which can eventually spiral down into walking and dropout, which I've done as well, right? So I've been there. But yeah, so well done, Marjaana. Incredible. So easy to say, so much harder to do.

Thanks.

Yeah. Yeah. It is so hard to do and it's such a like contrast from my Iron Man Texas where I just wanted to quit so many times. And this was just like I wanted to stay in the moment. Like it was almost like a desperate cry for staying in the moment. I didn't want it to end. It was just like, my God, I love this. Like bring it.

you

Wow. Wow.

Yeah

Although after the 25, my pace started to slow down. I managed to... Because you know, like last 5k, it's over in half an hour. And you can see it's a long stretch, kind of like the beach road goes like this. So you can see the finish line because it's really flashing bright. You can see it there. So I'm like, I am going to empty the tank.

and pick up the pace. like I just started focusing on my arms because your arm speed, like when you're fatigued, you start slowing down and it becomes a shuffle and everything is so much harder to like lift up. But if you can focus on like, you know, moving your arms, because your arms are not doing that much work. So you can get them moving a little bit quicker and that helps you to pick up your heel a little bit faster. So

That's what I was focusing on the last 5K. And then of course the anticipation of that finish line. It just gives you so much more energy. I was like the last two, three, two, three Ks, I was just going as hard as I could. And you can see on my data too, like I managed to pick it up.

Marjaana I want to go back to something you were talking about with this mental, you know, what Paul was talking about to embracing the hurt and the discomfort. When was Ironman Texas? When that was this summer?

April? Yeah, April 25th or something like that.

So you were talking about how that was a struggle for you. That was mentally a struggle. What did you do differently mentally? What did you practice? What did you do differently to make this race so much different mentally?

So probably many things, but having the confidence of a really good build, a lot of, you know, big days and good training, I think it just gave me so much confidence. And I kept talking to myself like, you know, you've gone through so much more, so much like harder things than this.

And this is like the party. Like this is my moment to just enjoy the day and no pressure of anything. just like, I really just wanted to enjoy it because the Texas wasn't that enjoyable experience. So, and I kept saying like, you're not walking today. Today you are not walking. And I didn't walk. And that's just kind of like added a little bit of fuel, but.

Knowing that I had done the training, really helped me and the little tools like workout reserve and just being patient. Like I told myself to be patient all the whole day. I think, yeah. But I didn't, I didn't do really much of like mental training. It was just like one of those things that it builds up as you can keep consistent training going and staying healthy.

and bouncing back. And I think like the last, even though I didn't follow the plan to the point before the race, was just the right thing to do because there was a bit of stress there that I need to get rid of.

But you'd already done the work by that point in the game, so you kind of had a bit of a forced taper on you. You got a little bit ill, so yeah. And no effect, right? Like, look at that. it's quite remarkable. You can get away with quite a sharp taper if you put in the work beforehand, which you did. And again, I love that.

Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Paul, you were kind of asking about the mental stuff and, but Marjaana was kind of getting that also as she strung together session by session by session, getting that training consistency. And then when that, when that happens and you get one session after the next, that's just solid, solid, solid, the confidence builds. And it's like, yeah, I'm, I'm putting together solid, consistent and developing training, you know, training volume by the end of each week.

Mm -hmm.

Mm

And then you know what's in the tank and you know what's behind you. And these are where the algorithms are helpful also for building confidence because they show the fitness, the chronic fitness that you've developed. And yeah, then you get to express it. And you got to pace it well though, but you did.

know, you used the Athletica for this build and for the process of coaching, also had Paul as your coach. How did that all work out together with using Athletica and Paul? that, what are some specific differences that you've had? Cause you've had other coaches, you've had other training plans, you've had other platforms that you use. What was different this time?

Yeah.

Mm -hmm.

diet chains and I think that has been, I couldn't have done this before, like without the diet change, I think, because it's just made me so much more healthy. And if I'm healthy, I can string those weeks together with the higher volume and yeah, just the consistency part.

Mm

Well, yeah, it's all part of it though, isn't it? Right? Like the diet change, you're consuming a diet that's helping you absorb that stress and then you recover better and then you can do it again. And it's like they're all synced and intermingled and they're all important.

with the diet change.

Mm -hmm.

Yeah.

But it's interesting, I'm kind of reflecting too, right? Like in so many times you'd be asking me to check things and you don't have things kind of moved. And I really didn't have too much to add. It's like, no, it looks good. all the, and this is for everyone using Athletica, all the key pieces that you need for successful performance are sitting within the Athletica framework, right? VO2, strength, endurance, aerobic.

over -unders occasionally, and then in all the various different disciplines. And then it's about moving those into a format that suits your own context, your own life. And that's really what you were doing. You're a busy mom, three kids, big job, and all these various different things. You've got to, you know, deke and move with the times and those things.

Okay.

Okay.

But if you know what the objectives are each week, you click and drag those into the place where they fit and more or less they often fit. And if they're not going to fit, you'll often get a warning sign in Athletica too to say, want to consider moving things, right?

Yeah, two things. The warning signs. For the first time, I actually think they were pretty spot on. And towards the end of the big build, I've like, this is my weakness. am strength. I can push myself. Like, I can do a lot of work and I think I thrive in that.

feeling of having done a lot of work and there's a little element of like pride that I can do a lot of work, but it's also my weakness because I can't recognize the week that the fatigue early enough to pull back and I kind of get like speed blind that I'm stoked about having putting 20 hour week and I want more of that but it's

Hmm.

It's art for them to recognize that in time and take a day off. You know, the second tweak that I did was early on on the build when I started training after Ironman Texas was like gradually increase the load of like a three day weekend to try to match little by little as the time went on the race day demand.

Totally. Totally.

So you are a mom, you're a wife, you have a couple of different jobs. How did you balance the training with your responsibilities? What are some specific strategies that you use to balance all of this?

my God, that's a million dollar question. it's so hard to do. I struggled and I wrote a blog about it. So go on Athletica blog and read Balancing Life with the Ironman training. It is not easy, but I think like I have the passion and I have the drive to see how, you know, how can I be the best athlete that I can be?

with the context of my life, which is a bit crazy. And I carry a lot of mom guilt. I have to say, it's not pretty, it's not perfect. And I think that's the strength of it too, because I know that my partner has picked up a lot of slack and it's a team effort.

And Paul is a big part of my team. But yeah, my husband picked up a lot of things and things had to, you know, not get done. And I feel a lot of guilt over that I wasn't present with my kids and they watch too much YouTube and YouTube shorts and become dumb.

No, seriously, it's not even funny that I carried that with me on the race day. I'm like, all those sacrifices and priorities and my selfishness and it all fueled the race day because it's not it's not easy. You know, family comes always first, but it didn't. You know, like my family had to go on the back burner for a little while. And now I'm picking up family and putting it

Yeah.

Mm

No.

on the front seat. But recognizing that I'm not perfect is also fueling that I want to show that it's possible. With three kids and work and Ironman training, if you want to make your dream come I've been dreaming of this five years, working for it for five years. So it's possible, but it's not perfect.

forgiving myself for not being a perfect mom. It's very difficult.

at it, but you must do it. You always have to forgive yourself. Yeah. And I'll just add that your kids are also very supportive of what you do. They're very inspired by you as well. So to your point on the YouTube, fine. But at the same time, you've also inspired them to do great things in their life as well. So maybe not all bad.

Mm -hmm.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, think that's part of the motivation is that I can show that anyone, just a regular average Joe or Jane can do things that are difficult within their lives. It doesn't have to be an Iron Man. It's funny because it's only a fraction of...

all women in the world or men in the world do Ironman, but when you're in that group, you feel normal. And I know it's not normal to do an Ironman, you know, like it's crazy when you think about it, you did what? But showing my kids that even mom who is 46 year old from North Finland, just a regular person can do difficult things. I think that's one of my whys.

You

What advice do you think you would give? You've done this Ironman, you've reached your goal, you had some challenges with this preparation, but it went well, your race went well. What advice would you give other parents who aspire to compete, not necessarily in an Ironman, but things that are difficult, some endurance events that are challenging. What advice would you give?

Is there?

I of, yeah, I reflected on that on my darkest moments this summer and I wrote the blog, so I would encourage everybody to read the blog. It's a short read, but support network is a must. You can't do this alone. Like anything hard in life, you have to have a team around you.

You have to be flexible and be ready to, you know, pivot another direction and use those challenges as a fuel for the race day and just, you know, challenging yourself is so beautiful. Like I think that's what keeps me going. Like you don't want to sit on the couch. Like there's nothing.

nothing there for you. Like you gotta go and get it. the most, like I've never felt so much alive than doing hard things, you know? And crossing that finish line, it's just like, you're just like, you're exhausted, but you're also like crying because you can't believe you did it. And then it's just like, everything is just so peachy and wonderful.

Me too.

Yeah.

Yeah

You

You don't want it to end as high -fiving in the Finnish shoot. was high -fiving people and just screaming my head off and it's, it's, it's all worth it. But I think the support network and the team around you is the most important thing. Like finding your best requires to let other people in under your skin and into your heart. Like, and that's what.

Paul has done to me, you just know me so well, like, you know, like, kind of like, you always like, give me a gentle push. What direction to go like this summer for heat training to like challenging myself to kind of change my mindset about heat. And that was, I think, one of the most profound things that you've done

the past three years that we worked

Paul, what are some things that you hear from Marjaana's journey? What are some things you've been with her for a long time and you're hearing these reflections? What do you take from this?

Well, it's a good question, Paul. I reflect kind of on three, four years or however long Marjaana and I have been together. I'm just seeing in front of me here today, just this metamorphosis or this transition, like reflecting from three, four years ago, she's just come so far in terms of her confidence and...

and knowledge, I guess it's wisdom, right? That we all get through just living life. But she's definitely developed wisdom in this sphere of what healthy training looks like and now success. It's just an outcome goal, which it is what it is, but she did it.

And it's lovely, she's always gonna have that metal on the wall and the great experience. But yeah, I guess I'm just reflecting on how much, there it is, right? I'm just reflecting on how far we can come from where we might think that's not in the realm of possibility at one point. But with slow progression and one by one putting the pieces of

Okay.

All right.

knowledge and competence and, and confidence, you know, one by one in, in place, it, it slowly kind of gets done. And now Marjaana is in a great position where she's helping others, you know, with her coaching and, and that's where she'll continue to, flourish. So I think, as painful at some days, the process was, you know,

Marjaana, you're left now with these great experiences that you can give on to others.

Thank you, Marjaana. And congratulations on your Ironman World Championships participation and completion. did great. Well, join us next week on the Athletes Compass podcast. Ask your training questions in the comments or on our social media. If you enjoyed this episode, we'd appreciate it if you could take a moment to give us a five -star review.

For more information or to schedule a consultation with Paul, Marjaana or myself, please check the links in the show notes for Marjaana Rakai Ironman athlete and Dr. Paul Laursen I'm Paul Warloski and this has been the Athletes Compass podcast. Thanks for listening.