Eneko Llanos "It has been quite an adventure to arrive until this moment, adventure that continues until within 6 weeks"

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Eneko Plains after his announcement was announced classification for the Ironman World Championship in Kona next October, he has published in his blog an article where he tells us about his classification process

Publication Eneko Llanos Kona 2017

Unexpected, at the last moment and by injury of another triathlete, but finally I have the pass for Kona. As I said in RRSS is not the way I would have liked to qualify, enter Kona through injury to another partner and friend (I shared an apartment with Will in Kona in 2016) is not pretty, but his place was vacant and I was the first on the "waiting list". So I changed chip, that I was already making other plans for October, and start planning the final road to Kona.

Road to Kona that has been difficult this year, the start of the season was bad, neither in the Ironman of South Africa nor in Brazil did I get good points for the ranking. In South Africa I had to suffer the usual stomach problems and in Brazil I did not have the strength to be in the race. In my previous post I commented on the changes that I was introducing in my diet and workouts but this did not work for me, I tried a diet that was very low in carbohydrates and high in fats that did not work for me personally. Neither I felt well nor had strength when I had to press in intense training and competition.

So after Brazil I went back to my usual diet and reintroduced the carbohydrates in my life, I resumed the reins of my planning and training and I returned to normal, with good feelings again I looked forward to the Ironman of Austria. A second place in Klagenfurt I knew very well, finally managed to make a decent marathon, without problems from start to finish, being able to run well, with good feelings, a relief after many Ironman suffering and suffering in the marathon.

After Austria I was in a position to try to qualify for Kona. Without much room for maneuver I decided to sign up to the Ironman of Nice. Maybe it was not the best decision, I arrived in France a little tired and without having recovered well from Austria. In Nice I also had a bad time because of the heat, the stomach worked well again (something positive), but I did not run very fast and with the fourth place obtained I did not add the necessary points to enter the July cut of the ranking and I already saw myself outside of Kona.

From there I started to take out the calculator and learned a lot about the operation of the KPR (Kona Pro Ranking), which is the classification ranking for the Hawaii Ironman. Even without competing in anything I had a slight chance of getting a spot and competing in something decently increased my chances of being in Hawaii. Without much desire and far from my best form at the last minute I decided to travel to Dublin to compete in the 70.3 and try to scratch some point. The flute did not sound and the result and my performance was a true mirror of my state of form at that time. The few points I got did not make me rise in the ranking and then I did see the door to Kona closed.

While I was thinking about how to finish the season, studying different options I got the Ironman email telling me that there was a new rolldown and if I wanted to participate in the Ironman World Championship of the next October 14. The answer had to be immediate and then I accepted the offer and signed the registration, so finally one more year and for the 12 consecutive time I will be at the Ironman Hawaii exit.

It has been quite an adventure to get to this moment, an adventure that continues until 6 weeks, thanks to those who support and follow me. We are going to see what another Ironman from Hawaii has in store for us and that we learn in this way. Aloha

Photos: enekollanos.com