“What Doesn’t Challenge You, Won’t Change You”
Race Report by Aoife Rooney
My road to Cascais began in November 2024 (unknown to me) with a run with an old school friend, Roisin O’Brien. We had both ran the Dublin Marathon and decided to meet up for a run around Tymon Park to catch up. While on this run, Roisin asked me “what’s next”, and having completed 3 marathons in the space of 12 months, I replied “definitely not another marathon!”. I loved the discipline of training for a race, but had fallen into a bit of a rut with running, and Roisin asked, “well have you ever considered triathlon?”, my response went something along the lines of “well I don’t own a bike and haven’t swam properly since the age of 7, so no, not really”. But that conversation planted the seed in my head, and the rest is history!
New2Tri – The Perfect Start 
I started a new job in February 2025 and decided to use the bike to work scheme to buy my first bike for commuting in/out of the office. Roisin suggested I go into Wheelworx where Ciat will “sort me out”. I headed down to Wheelworx on the 22nd of February, and Ciat showed me a few different bikes, and in the end, I decided on a Trek Domane (the deciding factor for me was the frame colour, which highlights the minimal bike knowledge I had). The bike was going to take a few weeks to come in my size, so while waiting for it to arrive, I saw Pulse advertising the New2Tri programme, and decided it was the perfect time to get into triathlon. I knew I needed to work on swimming the most, so my first Pulse session was a Monday night pool session in Balrothery. I was dreading it, 1) because Roisin wasn’t going so, I knew no one, and 2) because I hadn’t been to a swimming lesson since the age of 7. I started in the beginner lane with Ciat going through basic drills and technique skills with us for the first 6 weeks, and that helped build my confidence in the water. My bike arrived at the end of March, and I went out on my first Pulse group spin with Miriam bringing the gang on a 40km route to Blessington. I remember asking what the difference between the inner and outer ring was, and why my chain was making that “weird noise” (cross-chaining). I also remember seeing Miriam’s Ironman earrings and asking her about Ironman when we stopped for coffee and being so impressed by the idea of it. I remember saying how much I would love to do one someday, but I was a LONG way away from that. Some other questions I had were about wetsuits, transition zones, and whether or not you wear knickers under a trisuit? When I say I was a complete beginner, I mean it.
Slowly over the Spring, I gained more confidence in the pool and got to know the Pulse gang between the Wednesday track sessions and the Sunday spins. I couldn’t write this without giving a special mention to Stephen Jones, who led most of the Sunday spins and made sure to never leave any of us beginners behind on the hills. As my confidence grew, I started to join the yellow group spins, which have a bit more distance, speed and elevation. On my first yellow group spin, the gang started chatting about how great the Ironman and 70.3 in Cascais is. I went home, looked it up and decided to book the 70.3. I knew I was a long way away from that kind of distance but was willing to put the work in to get there.
My First Triathlon 
My first race was the Olympic Distance in Athy at the end of May, and I knew I had to brave the open water before that. So, I bought my wetsuit and went to the open water swim the Monday before the race, with Roisin in tow for emotional support (until she left me the minute we got into the water and headed out to the first buoy without a bother). Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for myself. I managed 230m of doggy-paddling and got out because I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I went back to the car feeling very deflated, and also extremely apprehensive for the race on Saturday, and thought to myself “why on earth did I book a 70.3 and flights to Portugal before even trying open water swimming”. It was the first time I doubted myself since starting this journey. I knew I had to get into the open water at least one more time before the race on Sunday, so Roisin came with me at 6am Wednesday morning, and I managed to do a total of 600m (broken into 100m at a time), and after this I knew I’d be fine (slow, but fine). Athy came around and after surviving the swim, I loved every minute of it, and it got me so excited for Cascais.
Wind, Rain, Hellfire and a Lucky Escape
I started my Cascais training block at the start of August, under the guidance of Ciat. I set myself the goal of sub-6 hours which Ciat said wasn’t unrealistic but would take some serious training. The first month was great, with no major life events or hiccups along the way. I went hiking in Madeira and Switzerland at the start of September, which meant I didn’t get much mileage on the bike those weekends. I then found out that I had to go to New York for a week at the end of September for work, which slightly disrupted my training plans, but nothing to panic over as I had two weeks before that to get some solid spins in. I went out on the 14th of September for a 3.5-hour ride and decided to do the dreaded Hellfire Club -> Viewpoint climb. I got to the top and made the decision to head back down past Cruagh Wood and do the hill a second time to get some good elevation in – terrible decision. On my way down, a torrential rain shower, combined with very strong winds resulted in me flipping over my handlebars at 50km/h, and turning what was supposed to be a 3.5-hour spin into a 45-minute spin and a trip to the hospital.
Thankfully, I had no concussion, just some pretty bad road rash, bruises, and very little bike confidence – not ideal 5 weeks out from race day! I was due to run the ALG5k that Tuesday, and the Dublin Half Marathon that Sunday, ahead of flying to New York. These were both out the window, so I opted for a pre-flight flat, easy spin instead. Roisin and I ended up having a great 70km spin to Maynooth that morning (taking it very slow on bends), and I flew to New York that afternoon feeling slightly reassured that my goal of sub-6 in Cascais wasn’t completely out the window.
Race Week Arrives
Race week finally came around and despite the few hiccups along the way in the training block, I felt well-prepared, and I was just excited to get over there and race. Ciat was kind enough to lend me his bike box and take my bike apart and pack it up for me (with me recording it all so I knew what to do on the other end). It was nice to get some race day tips from him and chat through my race strategy with Ciat asking the important questions like “are you going to pee yourself on the bike?”.
I flew Thursday morning and felt a mix of excitement and nerves waiting for the bike in Lisbon arrivals. Thankfully, the bike arrived, and I got an Uber to Cascais with my support crew (Mam and Dad) in tow. We checked into the Airbnb, reassembled the bike, and headed down to the Ironman Village for registration. Once registered, we went for a late lunch/ early dinner (Italian obviously) ahead of the Parade of Nations that evening.
The Parade of Nations and welcome ceremony were amazing and standing on the beach watching the fireworks was when it all started to feel very real, and it also sunk in how far I had come since that first group spin with Miriam in March. We were all wrecked and headed back for an early night, with no alarm set for Friday morning, and I was delighted to get a solid 9.5-hour sleep in.
I had a very chilled Friday morning, consisting of a big bowl of porridge and electrolytes to start me off. After sitting in the sun for an hour or so, I packed my transition bags (referencing my 7-page spreadsheet, which has gotten me the nickname of “crazy spreadsheet lady” but fail to prepare, prepare to fail and all that). Transition bags packed, I headed down to the mechanic in the Ironman Village to get my bike looked at because it was jumping gears, and I didn’t trust myself to try sort it myself. Thankfully it was a quick fix, and after this I headed to Cascais Bay for a practice swim, and I loved every minute of it. I knew after that, that I was going to be absolutely fine for the swim. I then headed out towards Sintra on the bike to make sure I had put it back together correctly and everything was working fine, and the views along the coast on the bike course had me so excited for the next day.
I then met my Mam and Dad (who were enjoying happy hour) for a quick carb fix and headed to the athlete briefing soon after. After the athlete briefing, I dropped my bike and bags into transition and headed home to try and get an early night. Unfortunately, nerves had other plans.
First Triathlon Nerves
I managed to sleep for about 4 hours, waking up at 3am and after struggling to go back asleep for the next hour, I accepted my fate and spent the next hour watching Ironman finish-line videos. At 5am I decided to get up and managed to stomach a bowl of porridge and did a final check that I had everything and headed down to transition at around 6am to pump up my tyres, add my fuel to the bike, and give the transition bags one last check.
After this, I gave my bag and phone to my Mam, dropped off my streetwear bag and headed to the back of the 35-minute start pen. I shed a few tears during the speech and reflected on how much work I put in to get here and thought of all the help and support I got along the way from friends, family, and Pulsers. When I got to the start of the swim pen, I looked to my left and Austin Cooney was standing beside me – I took that as a sign that everything was going to go my way, took a deep breath and headed into the water.
Despite the rolling swim start, there is a slight bend at the first buoy in Cascais which meant it was a bit of a chaotic start, but after 300m I got into a good rhythm, and couldn’t believe my watch when I got out of the water and saw my swim time of 36 minutes. I heard my Dad shouting my name as I came out of the water and was so happy to see my parents as I headed into T1. I felt great heading out on the bike, and it was so nice to feel the support of other Irish athletes racing along the course. The first half of the course in Cascais is hilly, and I had mentally prepared myself for this, so tried not to get too concerned when my average pace dropped. I knew I had to get around 3 hours on the bike to get sub-6, so once I got onto the straight roads, I pushed to get the average pace into the high 20’s (while simultaneously repeating “please don’t get a puncture, please don’t get a puncture” in my head for 3 hours straight). After the turning point in Lisbon, there was a tail wind for the last 30km and I felt great, managing to bring the pace up to 30km/h average, which gave me such a push heading out on the run.
I saw my Mam coming into T2, which was lovely because I didn’t think I’d see my parents while I was on the bike. I thought the swim and bike were going to be the hardest and was excited to get out onto the final discipline of the day. One thing I had not mentally prepared myself for was how hilly the run course was. The first 1.2km was uphill, which I found very tough as I was trying to loosen out the legs off the bike. The hills, combined with the midday heat, was when things started to get tough and I really felt like I was struggling for the first time all day. I broke the run down by the aid stations, and my strategy for stations was grab two cups of water at the start, pour one down my back, one on my face, then take a cup of electrolytes and / or coke, drink that, then two more cups of water at end to drink.
Slowly, I made my way around the second loop of the run course, and into Cascais Bay for the second time, and I have never been happier to take the turn off towards the finish line. Running up the red carpet for the first time was a surreal feeling. I knew I was close to 6 hours, but because I struggled more than I thought I would on the run, I wasn’t 100% sure I’d got it. Looking at the board, and seeing the Irish flag, my name, and a 5 beside it was one of the best moments of my life. I felt so immensely proud of myself in that moment, and I couldn’t have been happier with how everything went on the day. 
Now that I am back home on Irish soil and taking a bit of downtime before next year’s race season, I have been able to reflect on what has been a crazy year, but one that I’ll never forget. Since joining Pulse, I have made so many new friends, met so many interesting people, and really feel like I have found my sport. I’m so excited to see what else I can achieve and have signed up for the full-distance in Tallinn, Estonia with the Pulse gang next August – bring it on!
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