2024 Challenge Taiwan – Full Ironman 226km IndividualFINISHED TIME: 15:08:41

Overall Place: 397 of 600

Age Group (40–44): 87 of 128

🏊 3.8km – 02:13:50

🚴 180km – 06:27:13

🏃 42km – 05:46:45

WE DID IT! First-ever full Ironman 226km—completed!

Huge shoutout to @j_ack0831—so stoked we finished this together and earned our black finisher shirts!

OK but wait… you finished in 13 hours?! That’s insane🔥 Must be some secret power-up 😏

The cool, rainy weather helped a ton—safe race and met our target time!

One of the best parts of the day? Seeing my teammates like Jack, Qunyu @dann_huang, and Jazan @jzan0605 throughout the course—each high five and shout felt like an in-game buff ✋🏻🙌🏻

Jack’s awesome family cheered us on and filmed everything—seeing them gave me a real sense of calm and support throughout.

Training for this was no joke—especially while juggling a packed work schedule. But that’s what triathlon is—everyone squeezing in workouts between life’s chaos. That’s why no one gives up easily on race day.

Race Highlights:

Swim:

Total chaos. Packed with people, arms and legs everywhere—survival mode! Forgot everything my coach taught me 🤣

Heart rate spiked, especially near the end when the 113 group merged in. Let a bunch of people pass to conserve energy—lost 7–8 minutes, but made it out alive = happiness overload 🙌🏻

Bike:

My favorite part. The joy of being on the bike, the wind in my face—I even shouted with joy at the first gust 😂

Thanks to my MVDP kit, tons of fellow riders cheered me on or made small talk—so much fun and positivity!

Got to ride with Qunyu for 40km, just like our usual coastal rides—pure therapy.

Run:

Total grind. Legs refused to lift at first, basically walked the first 2km. Gradually worked into a jog.

At around 22km I almost fell asleep while running—my legs and eyelids were that heavy 🥱

But the most powerful moments came from seeing everyday people pushing through:

Couples walking together, kids running with their dads, injured athletes still moving forward—no one gave up.

Final stretch:

The last hundred meters felt like the final boss stage of a game.

Heard Qunyu yelling: “Eh! Eh! Eh!”

Then Jack: “CHAO GE!!!” Huge high five

I replied with a primal roar—like I was crossing into a new life 😂

Crossed the finish thinking I’d see my wife.

Plot twist: I don’t have one 😅

But then a warm hug from someone I care about. Couldn’t have done it without her ❤️

I was so fried I forgot to claim my finisher shirt and medal 🫠

Big thanks to everyone who helped:

Triathlon might be solo in execution, but 226km takes a village.

Thanks @rose.music and her brother for the weekly strength training, and @supertenor18 for race tips and wetsuit support.

Honestly, I nearly dropped out the week before due to a salivary gland issue and my partner being sick—but everything worked out in the end.

Will I do it again?

Of course… but next time, just the 113km please 😅

226km is epic—but wow, it’s a lot. 太！爽！啦！完成人生初鐵即超鐵226km這個挑戰！而且又是跟 @j_ack0831 子傑一起做到了！一起穿上完賽黑衫！欸不是！說好賽前目標是15小時完賽，你13小時也太扯了吧🔥！果然有神秘力量加持就是不一樣😏！天氣也真的幫了很大的忙，飄雨的陰天讓我們除了都順利平安完賽，還能達成賽前自訂的目標成績。

比賽的過程中，最開心的就是每次遇到一起比賽的子傑、群育 @dann_huang 、嘉瓚 @jzan0605 ，我們都會超用力的擊掌✋🏻，超用力的大聲呼喊🙌🏻，即便再累都還是會超級開心的，他們就像遊戲中一起參加挑戰的玩家，看到他們都還在努力往前進，我也得跟上！還有從頭到尾一直幫我們拍照錄影和加油的子傑爸媽、姨丈和阿姨，每次遇到我一定會擺出開心的Pose，有他們在旁邊真的讓人感到很安心！這樣的安心感，可以讓我更享受比賽的過程，因為第一次的感受往往都是最深刻的！

為了這個比賽真的準備很久，而且上半年的工作其實非常忙碌，真的都是在時間管理大師，但每個鐵人都是這樣的，大家都是在忙碌的生活中做訓練，不管是上班前的一大早，還是下班後或假日休閒時間，因此在比賽的過程中，更不會輕易放棄！

——————以下比賽細節文長分界線——————

第一項游泳是我最擔心被關門，因為真的沒游過這種人多的木樁肉搏戰，你抓我我抓你，所以比賽我游得真的爛炸🤣，沒有技巧，全是求生本能！一下水教練教的全忘了！全力先求生存！平常泳池練習平均心跳約130，但比賽居然來到153，最高還185！尤其最後兩百公尺剛好跟113組的碰上，很多人在做最後衝刺，因為我226後面還有一堆距離，所以這邊就讓了不少人先過，多花了7-8分鐘。最擔心的游泳一上岸我就開！心！到！爆！炸！因為我沒有被關門就代表可以騎車啦！一上車後第一個踩踏衝出去，吹到的第一陣涼風的瞬間我整個大叫出來！我騎到車啦！！！騎車段也是我最開心的一段❤️，除了很喜歡騎車之外，托MVDP的福，整段有許多人幫我加油打氣或是閒聊兩句，真的非常感謝🙏🏻☺️參賽者：誒！你MVDPㄝ！加油啊！我：報告是🫡！必定加油到底！你也加油啊！只是我還有一圈和全馬，不能亂用力啊～😂！

還碰到了這半年一直很喜歡觀看的單車YT頻道主小邱 @tosser.chiu ，當然最重要的還是遇到平常一起約騎的群育，我們就這樣一起騎了約40公里，感覺就像是平常在約騎北海岸ㄧ樣，療癒到讓我忘記疲憊感，整個單車路段感受到滿滿的正能量，真的非常開心好玩！到了跑步段也是最虐的一段，我天真的還以為就像平常練習那樣，結果，乾！腳根本抬不起來啊😂！前面2km根本是幾乎用走的，必須讓雙腿先舒緩一下，才能慢慢開始跑起來，偶爾還能有六分速，大部分則是七分速，我甚至在跑第二圈活水湖大概22km左右的時候，一度快睡著了，腳和眼皮重到覺得我應該今天就睡這邊了吧🥱！但也是這段夠虐，所以可以看到很多令人印象深刻的鐵人精神，在這裡有各式的參賽者，男、女、壯、瘦、胖、少、老，大家都只是一般人不是選手，這段大家靠的都是支撐自己的精神力量來源，有老婆陪老公走一小段的，有小孩追著老爸跑的，還有人都掰咖了還在走，也有人摔車手腳都包紗布了還在跑，也有一群好朋友一起跑，總之就是沒有人放棄。最後通過終點的那一小段，真的很像遊戲全破夥伴大集合的感覺🥹，先是聽到群育突然叫我！群育：誒誒誒誒誒誒誒誒！我：誒誒誒誒誒誒誒誒！再來是子傑子傑：超哥！！！（來個用力的擊掌）我：喔喔喔喔喔喔喔喔！怎樣！是興奮到喪失語言能力了喔！我都覺得我衝過去終點拱門好像是要去重新投胎了一樣😂！這人生走馬燈的感覺是怎麼回事！終於穿過拱門，本來以為迎接我的是老婆，結果人勒？啊！原來我從來就沒有老婆啊！接著才聽到有人在欄杆外叫我，這才走出去深深的擁抱一下❤️，沒有她我絕對無法做到！！！然後真的是有夠累…🫠累到完全忘記賽後要領完賽黑衫和勳章…整個腦弱到不行。最後真的感謝非常大家的幫忙，三鐵比賽過程雖然是自己獨立完成，但是226km真的不是普通的難….賽前賽後都需要很多人幫忙才有可能平安完賽，光是要賽前保持健康訓練就很難了，謝謝 @rose.music 明湘和哥哥的每週肌力訓練，謝謝哥哥的認可🙏🏻，之後還要繼續一起訓練💪🏻，還有 @supertenor18 涵酉哥的防寒衣和比賽策略，其實賽前一週真的有想過要放棄，因為不知道我的唾液線炎何時會好，老婆又感冒很久一直都沒好，還好最後一切都順利圓滿，至於明年還要不要參加呢？當然會！但113km就好，226km先不要，真的太累太花時間了😂。

#challengetaiwan #triathlon #canyon_road_ #canyon #alpecincycling #mathieuvanderpoel #mvdp #alpecindeceuninck #철인3종