Pledge Sports

Road to Kona-Ironman World Championship

Tamara Maxantova

  • 102.00% funded
  • € 3,060.00 pledged
  • Days Left

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My name is Tamara Maxantova, I am a 34 year old triathlete from the Czech Republic. I have been living, training and racing in Ireland for over 5 years now. I race domestically as well as internationally. To fund this, I have two part time jobs (I am a Baker for the Happy Pear, Greystones and I am also a Nanny), which I try to fit in around my long training hours, similar to those of a full time athlete. I do this because I am determined to be successful and competitive in the world of triathlon. I want to compete at the World Championships in Kona, Hawaii! I love this sport and I am giving my all to train and compete at my best.

Finding Triathlon

My road to Kona started 7 years ago when I went to “Big Island” to support my friend who was racing the World Championship. I was fascinated by the atmosphere, people cheering in every corner, loud music, lean triathletes, determined athletes with all kinds of disabilities who strived to finish no matter what. That experience had a huge impact on me. It was so inspirational. Upon leaving, I made a promise to myself, that I would come here again one day and compete in this fascinating race as an athlete.

I started from scratch. Beginning as a baby triathlete and working my way up to sprint distance and progressing on to Olympic and Middle Distances (70.3) before finally completing an Ironman (IM). I raced my 1st IM in Austria in 2011. My ambitions got even stronger when I finished in a time of 11h 1 min. I qualified for the 70.3 World Championship that year too. It was held in Las Vegas and I really wanted to go but had I to pull out… due to the financial cost.

Road to Kona

Having gotten so far and being denied the opportunity, I decided to take my training to a higher level. In October of 2012, I joined the Base2Race (B2R) Academy. My main focus in 2013 was clearly on 70.3 races to build a stronger foundation for 2014. Under the daily coaching of Eanna McGrath, I won the Humbert Challenge, the Blacksod Challenge and the Athy Double Olympic race. I also came 4th  in the Irish National Championships and 2nd in the Czech National Championships.

I started the 2014 season with one main focus on my mind – to race well in the Austria IM and qualify for the World Championship in Hawaii. I trained hard for 8 months, starting in mid October 2013. The training involved  many hours of cycling in the Wicklow Mountains, regardless of  what the weather conditions were like. Early morning swims 3-4 times per week , running 4-5 days/week and topped off with strength and conditioning sessions. I also had some big life changes, an unexpected career move resulted in some heavy expenses including a change in  accommodation and transport.

Despite these setbacks, I kept my goal in mind and in July of this year, I completed the race in a time of 9h 50minutes and achieved the victory in my age group, which grants me a qualification slot for Kona! Yes! Once again I have qualified for the World Championships but once again, my participation is in doubt, for financial reasons. Despite working two jobs and training full time, I am not able to afford the cost of travelling to this amazing race to show the world just what I can do.

Breaking Down Costs

The fund raised through this project would go towards the following expenses:

  • Flight: €1500 with all checked bags and bike
  • Accommodation for 13 days in  a basic apartment: €900
  • Registration Fee: €600

I would also be able to cut out a small amount of long work hours I currently do to be able to train and race to my full potential.

Through this project I am inviting you to be part of my dream to help me with financing my road to Kona this year on October 11th. Thank you for your support.

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+Thank Yous and Updates

Life after Ironman Austria

Right now I am sitting in my living room, weeks after my successful race, trying to write this blog post. I have so many thoughts running through my head, I really don't know where to start. So much has happened since my return from Austria… I was welcomed back by my teammates and a delicious cake (made by rising baking star Jen). I received cards, flowers, and lots of congratulations from so many friends. It was quite overwhelming to be honest.....as I was still a bit shocked by what I had just accomplished. My main focus over the coming weeks was to simply recover and also to keep my fitness..... “active recovery”. Luckily my body arrived back from Austria in good shape. I didn't have any signs of niggles, injuries, or tightness. I was a bit tired overall from the lack of sleep but that was mainly because I was buzzing with excitement. After a couple of days off I was back into swim, bike, run, repeat but with very low intensity; just enough to enjoy myself. And oh yes I did enjoy myself… Relaxed, pedestrian paced cycles with coffee stops felt really good, short swims giving me enough time to have breakfast in peace, without rushing off to work, easy jogs with my legs moving just enough to keep my body and mind ticking over.....I loved active recovery! However while my body was resting, my mind was racing at top speed. So many things to think of now! Kona......how do I get there, what about accommodation, flights, finances? "OMG, where do I start?" I don't think I have ever spent so much time in my life staring at the computer, researching, reviewing, emailing, and writing. While I was occupied with these thoughts, my friend Charlie came up with the idea of contacting a website called Pledgesport.org. It's an organisation that helps athletes fund their training and racing expenses by creating a platform for the athlete to engage with the public and share their experiences online. The idea really stuck in my mind. I hoped that if I shared my story it could potentially help to solve my financial challenges for Kona, but also inspire and motivate other athletes on their way to success. So I decided to take a step into unknown and (with a little help from Kev) I created a project called "Road to Kona" on the Pledgesport.org site. It is now successfully running and I am sincerely amazed by the support of people who have kindly contributed to my funding page. Literally every Euro contributed gets me a step closer to Kona, so I truly appreciate all the support. I am now 4 days back into full training after my 3 weeks of active recovery. I am starting to build up towards the Lost Sheep - the Irish Middle Distance National Championships, which takes place in Kenmare, Co. Cork on August 29th. It will be my only pre-Kona race and I am so excited to compete with the best of the Irish field. I have completed my first paced run in training and it went very well. I was only allowed to run 8km at 4.20/km but it felt good to re-join the group sessions again. Power tap (high intensity indoor cycling) sessions followed three days later; that one was a bit more difficult to conquer! I looked like a lobster both during and after but I really enjoyed the satisfaction of completing it. My swim lane-mate Liamo (Mr.Invincible) just got back in time from holidays to start challenging me in the pool again.... So the easy stuff is over for me now, the hard work is coming up....and I feel ready for it.......bring it on! I would like to dedicate this blog post to my father, who was hospitalised last week. His heart failed after running up the stairs (Don't do that again Dad, you are not the Ironman in this family!). Hope you get well soon!

Huge thanks to Elinor+Richard Krock for their kind and generous support!!!!Amazing! Its very much appreciated! : )

Thank you Aileen Flynn for your contribution! xo

Thank you to Alan Duggan for your kind donation! Thank you Mary Ward for you support!

A big thank you to another great supporter Jozef Jurkulak