The last time Ruth Astle came to the Big Island she left on top of the world. This time a top five would represent ample return.
Having won the overall age-group title in Hawaii in 2019, the Leeds-based triathlete has evolved from world champion Ironman age-grouper to challenge in the professional ranks.
Astle made a successful transition to life as pro, winning Ironmans in Mallorca and South Africa at the end of last year, and the 33-year-old also finished an impressive fifth-place in the first Ironman World Championship of 2022 in St George.
220 caught up ahead with her to find out how she was feeling ahead of racing on Thursday.
220: With three days to go, how do you feel?
Ruth Astle: I’m quite nervous now. All the training is done and I have more time to think about the race. Plus the hype is building up. But I’m also super excited.
220: How different is the experience from your last visit here as a triumphant age-grouper with the Zwift Triathlon Academy?
RA: It’s a little bit different, but not chalk and cheese.
Yesterday I spent a few hours going out to get photos for sponsors, but triathlon is one of those sports where a lot of things you have to do as a pro are the same as you have to do as an age-grouper: register, rack your bike – and I was drug tested when I was here as an age-grouper, too.
I’m no longer in the Zwift house, though. I tried really hard to wrangle my way back in and asked if they had any spare rooms, but unfortunately not.
220: Have you been affected at all by the crash to Kat Matthews
[Astle’s training partner]
in the Woodlands in Texas last week?
RA: It’s always horrible to see and a reminder of how vulnerable we are. From having seen her build-up and how much she’s put in to now not be able to race, I’m super gutted for Kat.
Plus, I wanted to race her. But seeing how well she’s recovering day-on-day and being more chirpy and back to herself is encouraging.
I was able to get three weeks of really good training with Kat, and we had [two-time Ironman world champion] Patrick [Lange] around as well. It’s always useful seeing how the other top pros approach things.
220: So, what have been the lessons from Lange?
RA: One of the most helpful things has been his approach to building relationships with sponsors. For example, how to pitch yourself to them. Patrick doesn’t have an agent, which I found quite surprising.
220: What equipment changes have you made for the race?
RA: We’ve got the Kona wheelset from Hunt. You can’t run a disc out here, so it’s good having a different option and they are super fast but stable.
Gear-wise I’ve put a slightly bigger front chainring on, so I’ve gone for a 54 and I’ll have a 10-33 on the back for a bit of range [for the hills] of Hawi and Palani.
Other than running a disc wheel in Dallas, it’s the same set up as I had for the PTO US Open.
220: What would success look like on Thursday?
RA: It’s always a tough question. If I have the race I’m capable of – a good swim, being controlled on the bike, and running a well-paced marathon – that should hopefully get me another top five.
But you don’t know what everyone else is going to do. We’ve not seen Lucy [Charles-Barclay] race an Ironman for three years, although she’s had some really great racing coming back from injury and Daniela [Ryf] looks on form.
I don’t want Anne [Haug] with me on the bike and I’d put Laura [Philipp] in the same bracket. And Chelsea [Sodaro] is a great runner. But there are loads of other great athletes too…
What wheelset will Ruth Astle be riding?
Ruth will be riding the Hunt 7387 Aerodynamicist wheelset on Thursday. Hunt’s North American brand manager Ken Rodriguez-Clisham explains how they have been specially designed for the Kona course.
Ken says: “We developed these over the last 2.5 years and they debuted in Ironman St George in May, where Ruth rode a TT disc rear.
“We’ve modified the set-up for Kona, spending a lot of time analysing wind data from Hawaii and adjusting our modelling in the wind tunnel specifically for this race.
“The crosswinds, especially when heading into Hawi, can get intense, and although realistically you're only riding in the extreme wind angle 10% of the time, we wanted to make sure that the wheelset was more controlled and manageable when it gusts.”
Top image credit: Nigel Roddis/Getty Images for Ironman
