I finally know why I couldn't finish Chicago Triathlon

Nearly 3 weeks after Chicago triathlon I finally found out yesterday why I wasn’t able to finish it. As you may know I couldn’t finish the triathlon and had to stop 5 miles before the finish line after suffocating and being out of breathe during 3h. All started maybe 50m after the start in the water while I was front crawling. I suddenly started suffocating. So I had to stop front crawling immediately as I couldn’t put my head into the water anymore. The rest of the swim (1450m) has just been the worst swim ever...having to breaststroke (which I hate and haven’t trained for..) and having to stop every 20m as I was completely out of breathe and I was coughing a lot. I can tell you I nearly stopped at any single buoy that was in the water. I just couldn’t believe it swimming being my strength and I was really wondering what was going on. I must admit that twice I was very close to raise my arm to get help but that would have meant that the race would have been over for me and I couldn’t imagine stopping the triathlon at that stage. I was thinking of all the training I had been doing since January, the visit to the hospital, the kids who were fighting against disease... So I would fight too and would at least finish the bloody swim. It took me nearly 1h to go through it. While swimming I was still hoping that maybe something was wrong with my wetsuit explaining the suffocation... but as soon as I got out of the water and starting transitioning I realised that I couldn’t run (which is quite an issue when you run a triathlon ;-) ) so I walked to my bike. Actually that was quite unreal being the only one walking among all the triathletes rushing to their bikes. I did manage to bike the 40km into the wind trying to focus on my breathing and trying not to cough too much. I was trying to think positive and enjoy the moment, Chicago skyscrapers... but I really didn’t enjoy it as I was struggling so much. Back to the transition area and again no way I could run, so that was getting a real issue as I was now supposed to run 10km !!!! The only thing I could do was jogging for 30m and then I had to stop to be able to breathe again. I still have in mind people cheering me “Number 6214, go ahead, don’t give up !!”, “ 6214 go go go you are nearly there”. The crowd was just amazing. It helped me go through the 1st mile but actually I knew I couldn’t finish the triathlon and I was looking for an ambulance for a while now as I could feel that my breathing was getting worst and worst and my heart rate was way too high. At that time Dave overpassed me like a rocket (Horse Power is a bloody fast runner !!!!) and he understood that something was wrong with me, I was walking slowly on the side of the track. Finally I stopped at the 1st water station and asked for medical aid. At that point I could barely speak so it was really time for me to stop. Medical aid took care of me giving me oxygen, ventoline (as we were thinking I had my 1st ever asthma attack in the water) and brought me next to the finish line which has probably be the worst experience ever watching hundreds of delighted triathletes crossing the line. I was grrrrrrrr. At that time, I already knew that I would be back next year and that even if I have to walk 10km I will finish Chicago Triathlon. Finally I took a step back when an injured triathlete arrived next to me on a trolley. His back was full of blood, he had had a bike crash but he was fine. At that stage I looked at him and saw that his bodymarking on his shoulder was #2. So he was a pro and being injured and not finishing (I mean not winning) the triathlon was far more critical for him than me not finishing it ! I found out afterwards in the hotel that this guy was Andy Potts, a great and famous US triathlete as he was the front cover of Chicago Triathlon magazine !



So what happened to me?

I met a lung specialist yesterday who confirmed that I caught a virus (probably in the plane or via AC in the hotel, we don’t know) which affected my lungs and triggered the suffocation when I started swimming. I’ve started a one month treatment and I’ll have additional lung exams next week. So my priority is now to rest and recover. I won’t probably train for the next 2 months but what is sure is that I’ll be in Chicago next year and I will cross the line, no way I won’t cross it next year !!!!