Now, she\u2019s lining up for the Ironman World Championship again, only this time Astle, who\u2019s sponsored by INCUS Performance<\/a><\/strong>, is doing so as a pro. What\u2019s more, she\u2019s doing so with two Ironman wins under her belt from Mallorca and South Africa in 2021.<\/p>\n Here, she chats to 220<\/em> on her expectations for the upcoming Ironman World Championship in St George and what her role as pacer for Kat Matthew\u2019s Sub8 challenge<\/a><\/strong> will entail.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> I feel really good going into Ironman Worlds \u2013 it has been a great block of training over the winter and if I can race anywhere near how I\u2019ve been training, then I am excited to see how it goes!<\/p>\n I\u2019m not necessarily aiming to win it yet \u2013 if I compare myself to the main contenders, I think I still have some way to go \u2013 but it\u2019s an Ironman and anything can happen.<\/p>\n Saying that, I do think I can be competitive and if I have a good race, I would hope to be in the top five or on the podium.<\/p>\n I started training again in January, so spent a month getting fit, then a month in Spain in February getting used to my new bike and getting a good block of base miles in.<\/p>\n After that, I spent a month in March doing some more Ironman-specific blocks of long intervals, then raced Oceanside 70.3 beginning of April for some race experience.<\/p>\n Then it was a month in Flagstaff at altitude getting some hill prep in for St George and generally sharpening up. I also did some heat prep.<\/p>\n I am mainly going to be focussing on my race and being patient and going at the kind of pace I think I can sustain.<\/p>\n However, the key players in the race I think will be Kat Matthews<\/a><\/strong>, Daniela Ryf<\/a><\/strong>, Lisa Norden, Anne Haug<\/a><\/strong>, Skye Moench and Heather Jackson.<\/p>\n I am likely to come out of the water with Heather, so hopefully it\u2019ll be easy to keep an eye on her, and then I\u2019ll see how small the gap is to the front.<\/p>\n There are then certain people on the run who will likely be coming from behind like Gurutze Frades Larralde. I\u2019ll be keeping an eye on the gap back to her because she\u2019s a super strong runner.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> I\u2019ve been great friends with Kat since we first properly spent time together in Florida in 2020, and she is someone I have been hugely inspired by watching her rapid progress as a professional.<\/p>\n I was also down to be one of Lucy\u2019s pacers on the bike before she unfortunately got injured<\/a><\/strong>, so it made sense to move across and be a pacer for Kat.<\/p>\n My main role will be as the link between Kat and the other pacers on the TT bikes to help bridge across when they\u2019re swapping at the front and provide a steady wheel for her to follow.<\/p>\n I may also jump in for a bit of the run just to keep Kat entertained, but it depends how wrecked my legs are from the bike!<\/p>\n I just want to keep improving and be able to be competitive as a pro, winning races and being able to be mix it up with the best in the world.<\/p>\n I did my first triathlon through a charity place for the London Tri with work. I was training for the Berlin marathon at the time and it seemed like something fun to do, which it was!<\/p>\n I then joined my local tri club, Ful-on Tri, started doing all the local London league races and then started hearing about representing GB, which became my aim.<\/p>\n It soon became obvious my swim and run weren\u2019t quick enough to be competitive at the Olympic distance, so I then started doing some longer races.<\/p>\n I had heard about Kona from lots of my friends at the club so that seemed like the next logical step, and I did my first Ironman in 2017.<\/p>\n Simply put, I am motivated by new challenges and by continuously improving to be the best I can be.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n People might not know that I still work two days a week for Lloyds Banking Group in their inclusion and diversity team, focusing on agility.<\/p>\n To keep up to date with Ruth, check out her website<\/a> or Instagram<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Top image credit:<\/strong> INUCS Performance<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Kate Milsom Published: Friday, 06 May 2022 at 12:00 am British triathlete Ruth Astle made a statement when she won the age-group race at the Ironman World Championship in 2019, turning pro just one year on.\u00a0 Now, she\u2019s lining up for the Ironman World Championship again, only this time Astle, who\u2019s sponsored by INCUS […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":14066,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"5"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/05\/interview-ruth-astle-on-st-george-hopes-and-her-role-in-sub8-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/05\/interview-ruth-astle-on-st-george-hopes-and-her-role-in-sub8-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/05\/interview-ruth-astle-on-st-george-hopes-and-her-role-in-sub8-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/05\/interview-ruth-astle-on-st-george-hopes-and-her-role-in-sub8-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/05\/interview-ruth-astle-on-st-george-hopes-and-her-role-in-sub8-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/05\/interview-ruth-astle-on-st-george-hopes-and-her-role-in-sub8-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/05\/interview-ruth-astle-on-st-george-hopes-and-her-role-in-sub8-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Kate Milsom Published: Friday, 06 May 2022 at 12:00 am British triathlete Ruth Astle made a statement when she won the age-group race at the Ironman World Championship in 2019, turning pro just one year on.\u00a0 Now, she\u2019s lining up for the Ironman World Championship again, only this time Astle, who\u2019s sponsored by INCUS…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/14065"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How do you feel going into the Ironman World Championship this weekend, are you in it to win it?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
What did your training look like leading up to St George?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/05\/Ruth-Swimming76-7a3afac.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Who will you have your eye on during the race? <\/strong><\/h3>\n
220: You\u2019re set to be a pacer for Kat Matthew\u2019s Sub8 attempt, how did that partnership come about?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1346912776-cfc3be6.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>220: What will your role as pacer involve? <\/strong><\/h3>\n
220: Your first pro year was only in 2020. What do you hope to achieve over the next few years of racing?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
220: How did you get into triathlon and long-course racing?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/05\/Ruth-Running53-be0f710.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>220: What motivates you?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
220: We know you recently got into gravel riding and are part of Zwift Academy, but what\u2019s something our readers won\u2019t know about you?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"