Ironman Wales Race Report – Beat the beast!

This is it!

Whenever I travel to the British Isles for an Ironman it works out. And this time was no exception. It worked out pretty well in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales on Sept. 16th. *Attention: Blatant bragging ahead* After 9:28: of swim, bike & run I ended up in 14th place overall winning my age group in the process. *End of blatant bragging, Section # 1*



All smiles at the end!

Intro

After a loooong break following my last rather mixed Ironman race in Kona 2011 last year there were not many Ironman races left to enter in spring. Still some vacation planning we decided to add an Ironman to our UK travel itinerary that already included Edinburgh, the West Highland Way and Glasgow for September. Fellow trimates Alex and Andreas Fellmann were also signed up and had booked a cottage right next to ours so we thought the trip could be “fun”. With Ironman Wales scheduled for Sept. 16th I entered into proper training pretty late in the year. So the results at the other races I had committed to do for my club were moderately at best. And so also my confidence going into this year’s A race was not really there. When you limit your triathlon season to just five races and the last one is the big one that’s one of the priced to pay, I think. Still the key training sessions did work out well and with such good memories of my two IM races in the UK (11th at the IM UK ’08 and 33rd at IM UK ‘06) I was still confident that I’d have a good race.

When Michelle and I arrived in Pembrokeshire Thursday before the race I immediately felt at home: Greeted by the ever present Green of British rural roads aka “Grüne Tunnel”, the cha-racteristically rough surface of the roads, some decent breeze from the west and no more than 17°C it had Tim’s Tri Country written all over it. Then there was out cottage, the Little Loveston Barn. A beautifully restored farm house by Ruth and her husband Tim it was the ideal base for out four days in Wales:

Our private cottage

 Thursday also was my birthday and so after our arrival we headed out to a local pub with Alex, Andreas and two other Germany who had taken on the Iromnan Wales Adventure.

Friday
On Friday I went through the usual pre race routines: Put in the last few sessions and get familiar with the course. That meant attending the official swimming session which greeted us with pancake flat water at Tenby’s North Shore. My arms felt as if they were getting into race mode. Good! Still, teammate Alex was not all too impressed with my form on the beach *yawn*:

Before this though we had taken it on to inspect the bike course by car. Michelle recounts these three hours as follows: “He was not able to speak in complete sentences. All that came out was something like: “Wow is this sooo cool!” “Awesome”, “OMG!” Why? Because the bike course of Ironman Wales is a strong cyclists paradise and I considered myself this at that time in the car.: just about no flat section at all for 180k with some 2.300 meters of climbing in total, winds coming from the sea all the time and a road surface so rough that it subtracts at least 2kph from the speed you would ride on Germany roads. With no hill longer than 2k but a lot of them steeper than 10% (two of them with grade of 16%) I went for a last minute chance of cassettes: 12-27 instead of my usual 11-23. My best decision regarding bike equipment this year! What did I not do: Look at the run course. The bike course is what people talk about regarding IM Wales but they forget that the run course is even more of a shocker: As well as on the bike there’s not one flat section on each of the four laps. Just up and down again and again with some 500m of climbing on those dreaded 42k. That much I knew and more I thought I did not have to know more. I rather enjoy such run courses and prefer them by far over flat courses where you legs get the same kind of pounding all the time. The race briefing as well as the carbo loading dinner are two other pre race things on my itinerary when doing a race for the first time and Ironman Wales was no exception. And at the race briefing there was a little confusion concerning one of my questions: They only served Gatorade on the course and I am used to my PowerBar energy drink. So I wanted to find out whether there was an aid station for special needs on the bike and where it would be located. Yes there would be one, I was told. But where, no one knew! I would be told on race morning. Well, nothing to do about this, let’s have a look when we get there, I thought.

Saturday
A short bike ride for about an hour to wake up the legs and test the new cassette. Some last adjustments to the shifting and then on to check in. No big meals today just small quantities of food throughout the day and some pasta for dinner. Saturday was over fast and ended with my most liked pre race nutrition in the world: two pints of Strongbow cider!

Sunday - Race Day
Alarm clock went off at 3:30am. Outch! Eat 1.200 calories & keep hydrated. That’s the real work on race day: Getting in that many calories in the middle of the night. Head over to Ten-by, find parking and last checks to the bike at 5am. When the wind picked up at around 5:30am I finally got a little nervous. Why? Because yes, I think do have adequate cycling skills in the technical department. But still, navigating a Zipp 808 front wheel in 50mph winds is not an easy task. And the first part of the bike course to Angle and back is quite exposed to the westerly wind that began to pick up on race morning. But then there’s this saying: When the going get’s tough… you don’t have another choice. A very funny thing about Ironman Wales is the fact that T1 is located more than 1,3k from the swim exit and the route there takes you directly through the historical center of Tenby. And before the race all athletes set out on a march from T1 to North Beach together. Quite a sight to see! Then you deposit your extra pair of running shoes near the swim exit to put them on for this first on hard tarmac.

Swim
What am I to say? I was a little afraid. Why? Last year a lot of athletes had taken a shortcut to the first buoy. They had not swum diagonally towards the buoy but run left on shore and then headed out straight out. To prevent this, race organizers changed the swim course for 2012. But only 10 minutes before the start of the race did they announce this! We were told to swim straight ahead to a first small buoy no 150m from the beach. Only from then on we were to swim towards the first buoy. This meant a certain probability for serious carnage at that turn. Nonetheless I seeded in the second row from the front and hoped for the best. What else war there to do?

The water was calm and when the gun went off I tried not the launch in a 150m sprint and panic at the buoy. To my very surprise I was able to take that left turn without much of a problem. I received only one kick to my head >>>  black eye… no serious damage, though. Somehow relieved I took on the rest of the supposed 3,8k of swimming. When I hit the shore after the first lap after only 25:20min I suspected the swim course to be a bit short but that was all the better for a weaker swimmer like me. The second loop went by quickly and I reached the North Shore of Tenby with a new PB for an IM swim: 52:35min. To be honest: On a regular course I just can’t swim that. I might have had the form for a sub 56min swim but not any faster. So the course must have been at least 200m short. But I did not mind much!

T1
It was: Take off wetsuit, put on trainers, run up the ramp into Tenby town and to the bike. And that was a treat! Spectators were lining the streets five deep at a time and cheering. Awesome! And you did not notice that for sure running up the switchbacks to Tenby town saw the highest heart rate of the whole day. I was on my QR in one second and off to the west the next. From here on the fun would start! And it did! I really had to control my perceived effort as the numbers on my B.O.R.-powered SRM were quite high even though I did not feel like putting out more than 300 watts - at first. So I backed off a little and tried to settle into some kind of rhythm. That though proved quite difficult because even on the first loop towards An-gle it seemed rather like big gear intervals rather than a constant effort you try to maintain in an Ironman. Nonetheless I slowly made my way forward through the field. When I hit the small loop around Angle the race leaders were just heading out. I so figured that I was roughly 12min behind them. This meant I must have lost more than 5min in fourtysomething kilometers. This made me worry a bit as I had hoped not to lose more than 10min to the leaders during the whole 180km. Perhaps that was too much of wishful thinking. A few words on the bike course: The first 50km to Angle and back had some of the best scenery on any Ironman bike course I have ever seen. Little Welsh villages mixed up with some coast line and then cycling through dunes with views of white sandy beaches. Had it not been for the winds that really made me hold onto the handlebars tightly I would really have been able to enjoy this scenery:

The Dunes before Angle on the bike course.

From Pembroke the course went up north past our Little Loveston Cottage and the hills took their toll on my legs. Somehow I just did not have the power I expected to have and my wat-tage was dropping on the hills. Good thing that I had the 12-27 cassette so I could tackle the hills at a half way decent cadence. Even though I roughly maintained some 290 Watts on the hills it did not feel too good. So I tried to play tricks on my mind to get into a better mood: The weather was my kind of weather. windy and no more than 17°C with chances of rain later on in the day. If I suffered out here the others would suffer even worse. This made me overcome some doubts at the 90k mark and with higher spirits I went in to the two steep hills at Wiseman’s Bridge and Saundersfoot. There the choice for a granny gear really paid off. At the ascent after Wiseman’s Bridge I overtook two pros that were really struggling with their gears. They must have pushed a cadence of less than 40 up the 16% grade. And at the hill in Saundersfoot… well I did not really notice any hill. Because at the foot auf the hill hell broke loose: I had never expected so many spectators here but there they were shouting, clapping and again I heard a “Well done!” even though I had another 80km to go on the bike. That was awesome! And from now on I had a blast! After Saundersfoot I started to think about my special needs bag again that I had dropped off in the morning. Even at the drop off for the bags no one could tell me where exactly I would get the bag. One person said I would get it at an aid station before the end of lap one, another said there would be a special aid station at the beginning of the second loop. Just to make sure I called out “Special needs… where!” at the last aid station on lap one. To my surprise one volunteer said: “Back there!” meaning at the end of that very aid station. Even though it might have cost about 30 seconds I took the time to grab my bag and get the three bottles and 2 Bars and 5 Gels stowed away. When I went up the last hill into Tenby after that some guy shouted something like “You’re 15th. Hmmm…. too bad after all my bike ride seemed to be. Going through Tenby I spotted Michelle and Andreas in the crowd and gave them a hang loose:

There were only five more guys I overtook on the second lap. And from how I overtook those guys I think I can derive what made me feel not all too good on these undulating hills. The first pass was about 10km into the second lap on one of the few flatter sections of the course. Down in the aero bars head down tucked low I just flew past the guy. And when I looked at the splits after the race I got my suspicion confirmed: On this, the flattest section of of the course of about 15km only one athlete went faster than me. And that was Sylvain Rota, the pro who set a new bike course record here in 5:04h and outbiked all other pros by 10 minutes. So what is the answer to why this happened? It’s: “Practice what you preach!” I always tell people to train on terrain that is similar to what the race course of you’re a race will be. Did I myself do that in 2012? No, I did not. I stuck to my usual terrain and did my long sessions in the flats. That’s why my bike did not work out 100% as planned. Still I managed the only goal I had leaked before the race. When my teammates asked me about my goals for Ironman Wales I only said: “Top 10 off the bike and let’s take it from there!” And after a last pass not 500m before T2 I bagged this one: I got off the bike in 10th place. 10th was also the place my bike split of 5:21:24h ranked overall in Tenby, third fastest among all age groupers and fastest in my age group. Little did I know of this during the race, though. I did not have much of an idea in re-gards to my placing until about 30 minutes after finishing. To give a comparison just of how hard this bike course is compared to other Ironman races: My best bike split withing an Ironman is a 4:35h from Ironman Florida 2010 and this year a postet a quite decent 4:26h in a relay at Challenge Roth.

So still this beautiful bike can do it's job:



My QR cd 0.1 in racing clothes for IM Wales

 T2
But right then and there I screwed up for the first and luckily last time on race day: I removed my timing chip strap to put on those ugly compression socks. In the heat of the moment I then forgot to put the strap back on and only noticed this some 200 meters further. Just as I was just exiting T2. So I ran back, got the chip and was off. Time lost: approx. 90 sec. And during this time I had already lost two places and started the run in 12th place.

Run
“Run” is not really the right term for this thing they have you do in Tenby. It’s rather a roller coaster ride in running shoes: It goes up and down again and again. And at the top of every climb you get so slow that you think you are only just not going to make it over the hill. Luckily for every runner in 2012 the wind came from south west and the long climb was up to the north east. At the time I hit the run course the wind had really picked up and going up the hill did at times not feel like going uphill at all. With the wind you almost sailed up the hill. Michelle stood at the previously agreed upon “hot corner” where we went by four times on each of the four laps. When I went out on the first lap I just heard a “looking good!”.

Starting the run

After I had lost another two spots over the next four kilometers her comment was a little less encourageng “Run your race. Don’t look at the others!”. This made me worry again, because I really felt quite good. Still I thought: “Do I really look that bad? Already?” From where Michelle stood we headed into Tenby town again and that was another treat: Usually the smells of Coke, energy drink and sweat surround you on the run of an Ironman. Tenby could not be more different. You run through the center of a well liked weekend destination of Brits that’s full of Fish & Chips places. It smelled like fish, chips and the ever present vinegar all through town. Quite a funny thing that. And not only did a lot of spectators have a their newspaper wrapped fish & chips in hand. Quite a few even gave us a toast with a pint of lager in hand. Oh, was I longing for one of those! But before three more laps were to complete. On the second lap I was not overtaken by anyone and just about kept up the speed of lap one. Well… I was passed by one guy, but he was one lap back. Alvin, you gave me the creeps when you went by. Thanks for letting me know you were a lap back. By the end of lap two my teammate Alexandra was also heading out on to the run on her way to a second place in her age group.

I was just about to tell Michelle by the end of lap two that this was going to be a piece of cake. Nonetheless I skipped that and just trotted on. From now on only fueled by cola. Lap three then saw the most extreme mood swings: Going up the long hill felt really hard and I was getting tired, really tired. So an extra boost of Red Bull was needed and it kicked in no 3km later. Right then the wind was blowing in my face at ~30kph and rain had also set in. Nonetheless I had one of the very few runner’s highs I have ever experienced. Knowing that there were no guys within at a minute behind me I was running into the rain & wind and was on top of the world. Never before have I experienced this in an Ironman. If not for some im-mediate needs and a visit to the port-a-potty I think this could have lasted longer than just 3-4 minutes. In no time I was out on the last lap on what appeared to be a really fast aka short marathon. On my way back from the first of three turnarounds of lap four I spotted two guys running together a mere 35 seconds back. From their bib numbers I could tell that one of them was racing pro but the other one was a late entry that I could not place age group wise. So on the last downhill section I really gave it all and at the last turn around they were a minute back. With no more than two kilometers to go I was rather safe. Still the three up and down sections in Tenby town really hurt and only down the finish chute could I be sure that I would not have to sprint to the line. I looked and looked but only in the last second did I spot Michelle about 10 meters from the finish line. She had hidden behind her camera to take this pic:

There was time for hugs & kisses and then I was off. Even though I felt great I must have looked really old as the announcer presented me as the 14th athlete overall and winning my age group… 45-49. ;) My "marathon" was clocked at 3:03:54h, some 16 minutes faster than any other marathon I have ever run at an Ironman. How come? It might be that the run course was a little bit short. Still I do not mind because everyone was out there for the same distance and under the same conditions. And I was only overtaken by two guys on the marathon. That's new record and so my running form can't have been all too bad either. Seems that Uwe Widmann's plan for Kona 2011 which I copied for Wales 2012 was a good one. Thanx again, Uwe!  

Monday
The day after the race saw me going through the usual motions after an Ironman: Looking like the official representative of the Ministry of Silly Walks I limped to Carew Airfield to spend a load of money in order to just spend a lot more money come October 2013. And of course they got trophies for Alex & me:

On a side note: At the race briefing the announcer said the after the overwhelming support Ironman Wales gets from those little communities in Pembrokeshire in the second year already one thing was clear: Ironman works best in small communities. I could not agree more! The people in Pembrokeshire really got into it! I got so many “Well done!”s I can’t count them. So many smiles and so many cheers, just awesome! It’s the people that make a race. And the people in Wales did an unforgettable job. Thank you!

The Bottom line:
Ironman Wales is one hell of a ride. Just do it! But you have been be warned.


And as I did not have enough of these ups & downs in Wales Michelle and I headed right off to walking the West Highland Way in Scotland.  Just a few more times up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down ...

I’m a sock guy! - 5th @ Emser Therme Triathlon (Sprint)

Its mid august and it was only my fourth triathlon of the season last weekend. And it’s the one but last also. What’s up with this 2012 season I ask myself sometimes? But with my AAA race so late in the year – IM Wales is on Sept. 16th – I only entered into serious training in late May and everything this summer is geared towards Sept. 16th. It’s so geared towards IM Wales that I even put on socks when racing a sprint triathlon like the one last weekend. And in the case of this race it might have cost me the podium. At least if you also substract the 30sec I lost due to being mislead for about 150 meters into a dead end on the run. But then let’s get to the race:

The sprint triathlon at Emser Therme Triathlon was a first for me. Our team competes in the three states league only since 2011 and that has you some new races each year. Good if you ask me as doing some races seven years in a row got boring after year four and plain annoying the last two years.

Our team at the race from left to right: Bernd Paczarkowski, Adi Kohr, Oliver Rinkenberger, Jürgen Metzler & I

I had placed 12th and 9th in the first two races this season and only started to add run in-tervals to my training in the last weeks so I was quite confident to improve on those results. Even I thought myself to be in good shape the team was not. Three of our top four guys for some reason or another did not make it to the starting line and thus we had to make do with a significantly weaker team than expected. Nonetheless it was a perfect day for a triathlon and the rest of us vowed to have a good day even if we were rather competing for the one but last places in the result list than for a podium finish.

My swim went quite well, I finished the 500m leg in roundabout 7:15min and was right where I wanted to be – within a minute of the leaders whom I saw heading out of transi-tion when I reached my noble steed. Right there and then – next to my bike - I might have lost the podium on Sunday. Why? because I decided to test my race equipment for IM Wales and put on socks as well as cycling shoes and did not go for the barefoot and tri shoes option. Time lost: approx 15sec.


I headed out of transition and out onto the bike course. This one was pretty straight forward: an out and back courst that gained some 300m (~1000feet) on the way out and was almost completely downhill on the way back. I started with what seemed a steady output of about 340 Watts which I could keep up for just about the first half of the bike leg.


22km cycling + T1 (including putting on my "oh, so dear" socks) + T2 = 36:45min = best bike split! ;)

About one kilometer from the turnaround I got a glimpse of the leader and the lead vehicle in front of him for the first time. At that time I was in third position determined to catch up to the front before the end of the bike. I moved into second place right after the turn around and started the descent into the oncoming athletes. “Into” because not all of them stayed on their side of the road all the time and also because of the fact that I took one of the switchbacks a little too fast to stay on my side of the road. It was not dangerous in any way but still let me take no further risks on the way back to town. In one of the roundabouts near the end of the bike – the course was not closed for traffic – a senior citizen just plain stopped right in the middle of the road. I had to bunny hop onto the sidewalk in order to avoid a collision. One minute later I was approaching T2 and saw the race leader Marc Unger head out onto the run just when I racked my bike. 



Overview of the bike part. Complete power file @ http://connect.garmin.com/activity/209971005

 

My IM Wales test run did not so far as to put on those ugly compression socks in T2 so I was on his heels only a few seconds later. But on his heels I was for a short time. Marc is a much stronger runner than I – he is able to post a 35min flat on an Olympic distance race where I on my best days really stretch myself for a 37min run. The only option left was to try to secure a podium spot, ideally second place. This looked possible because when I had finished the small 300m loop around transition the guys in third and fourth were still racking their bikes. I was ahead about a minute and for the first time this year my legs felt as if they were prepared for running off the bike. Only 100 more meters on half of my advantage was gone. Why? Because volunteer directed me to the left where - after some 100 meters - I found myself in a dead end alley. Obviously this was not the run course so I turned around as fast as I could and got back on track. Time lost: approx. 20sec. A look to the right though that the guys from behind had almost caught up. No more than 100 meters were left between me and them.

So it was all out from then on. I held on to second place until about the 3km mark but there it was over. Within the next 500 meters two guys caught me and I was in 4th place – again. When the third guy went flying by at the 4km mark I was in a way glad as I did not have to finish 4th for the third time this year. So in the end I finished in 5th place. The podium was only 16 seconds away with 3rd up16 seconds and 2nd another 5 seconds ahead. It would not be right though to blame the volunteer though! 16 seconds is easily what I lost due to my own “mistakes” of choosing socks and cycling shoes over the no socks & tri bike shoes. And that was of my own choosing. But in the end I don’t regret the test run as it’s the race on Sept. 16th that really counts for 2012. And for that it seems I am quite well prepared.



The result for our team was a little more disappointing than me just missing out on a podium spot: With our second tier crew at the starting line and another athlete being directed off the run course we finished in 10th place. At least we did not come in last.

Next stop: Ironman Wales. Bring it on!

Results Emser Therme Triathlon:

Place_Name_________total time__swim___bike___run

1. ___Unger, Marc____1:02:43____7:42_____36:52__18:09

2. ___Janousek, Martin_1:04:09____7:36____38:19__18:14

3.___ Wiegran, Dennis_1:04:14____8:07____38:15__17:52

4.___Becker , Marco__1:04:26____7:20____39:09__17:57

5.___ Stutzer, Tim____1:04:30____8:16____36:45__19:29

“Four shall be the number…” – Race Report Challenge Roth Relay Competition

The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch

Damn, fate does not know Monty Python! It goes like this as far as I remember:
“First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin, then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it."

So no counting to four, dear fate. Nonetheless sometimes four is your number and it was our number on Sunday. Then again, I came in 3rd among all 4.000 cyclists of the day, so perhaps three is the number after all. But let’s start from the beginning:

How it came to be
What was planned a a supporting weekend for my significantly better half at her relay marathon at Challenge Roth turned out to be quite a close race for the podium in my own relay. A few weeks prior to the Iron distance race in the world (approx 3.500 individuals and 600 relays) I was approached by two very nice guys who needed a decent cyclist as theirs had had to pull out of the race due to injury. I had done a realy in Roth three times already and would do it again at any time. There is nothing like it. 30.000 people cheering you on at that famous hill called Solarer Berg gives me goose bumps every time even though I already did the race seven times.

So I hooked up with Pascal and Juergen from Warendorf in order to crash the top 10 at the male relay division. Regrettably both of them were plagued with illness (Pascal with a 6 week long flu, Jürgen with that nagging plantar fasciitis) so they arrived not 100% in shape. That was in a way just like me as I had shown some decent bike splits in shorter races but blown up badly at a local half iron relay I did with my family only three weeks before Roth. So neither of us was sure whether we could do what we had wanted to do and all added about 5min to our expected times. If this all worked out, we’d be in a range of 8:20-8:25h with a 60min swim, 4:35h bike and 2:45h run.

QR at the Expo
The day before the race I visited the QR booth at the expo and had the pleasure the meet QR's Steve Dunn and German QR distributor Bernd Adamski and chat a bit. It was really nice to finally meet you guys and chat a bit. I recommended triathlons most famous hill: Solarer Berg to Steve and hope that he made it there on race day. From the expo I head-ed over to T1 to drop off my bike and there was nothing left to do than to go to bed and hope for the best.

The swim
When the gun went off at 8:50am Sunday morning our swimmer Pascal was right on par with expectations: He finished his swim in just over one hour (1:00:18h) and already I was off with the time chip that served as our baton. I had not only blown up at that last half iron relay but also had surrendered 10min to fatigue on the second loop in the 2011 Roth relay.

Race strategy blowing in the wind
My plan thus was to really approach this race conservatively at around 280 watts in the flats. This worked out quite well until the 30km marker. From then on there was a stiff head wind in a 16km long section that usually is the fastest section of the whole course. Even though my wattage was at about 300 I had difficulty to maintain the 40kph that I had aimed at for ma average speed for the whole 180km. In this section I was actually overtaken for the first time and tried to stay within a save 15 meters dis-tance of the guy. But after some 5km I just gave up, his stroke was too powerful and I let him go expecting never to see him again.

At the foot of Kalvarienberg hill, at 5km and 5% grade on average the longest of the climbs in Roth, my average was already well below 40kph. And the hill was still to come. Damn! But it was the same wind for everyone I kept telling myself. And I wanted to take it out conservatively. I told this to myself a lot of times also. The ascent of Kalvarienberg though was great! We had a tail wind for the first time that day and I flew up the hill. Great fun! The cross winds on the following descent though were no fun at all and I had to really hold on to the extensions of my aerobars. Strangely the first signs of cramps in my quads started to show at 70km already and I was a bit worried. Then I remembered some words I had heard from Macca once about how cramps this early in a race are quite probably a problem of electrolytes only and can be fought with salts. I thus put in as much sports drink and salt as I could within the next hour an the cramps went away. During this hour I had the privilege again to climb triathlons most famous hill: Solarer Berg. I know what to expect and those goose bumps began to show way before I could even the crowd. Riding up the hill was fantastic again and it was over in an instant. I had a blast and witnessed the second coming of Christ in the form of my teammate Pacsal handing me the second set of water bottles full of Powerbar Isomax. This stuff really made a difference on Sunday as I was able to drink off the cramps after 120km.

Goose bumps
Solarer Berg is at the 75km marker of the two loop course (2 loops of 85km + 10km from T1 to T2) and only 15min after passing the hill I got my split time for lap one: 2:09:31h. This was 4min slower than my first lap in 2011 but due to the wind and me taking it a little easier it seemed fine. Heading into the second lap I noticed that the wind had turned around 180° wondered what this would mean for the next 100km. For some time I was not sure what would happen but when I reached the point where we had had that strong head wind for 15km I noticed that the wind was now coming from behind and I was flying! Really flying at ~50 kph! Those 15km were over in three minutes less than on lap one and at a significantly lower wattage (~270 lap 2 vs. ~300 lap 1). Concerning wattage: surprisingly my wattage did not drop during the whole ride. It was 280 in the flats on lap one and two. I must have been the lower temperatures that remained in low 20s (Celsius) for most of the ride compared to the high 20s back in 2011.

So it was up Kalvarienberg for the second time at 125km. Right here I had blown up last year so I was very careful not to overdo it there. Surprisingly everything was fine. No signs of cramps, no heavy breathing, no blowing up. I was relieved and reached the top of Kalvarienberg in no time. Only 50 more kilometers to go. On the first lap I had passed a lot of the faster athletes on their second loop and in the end overtaken the second pro woman. On the second loop it was the relays and the slower age groupers only. The speed difference was big but in a harsh contrast to last year I did not see many groups sharing the effort in the wind. So even though there were some 4.000 cyclists on the 85km loop I did not see too much drafting going on. This though is just my personal experience as others told me that there was blatant group riding taking place. Luckily no one tried to suck my wheel.

After the descent to Karm on lap two (at 140km) I was began to really believe that this was going to be the day when I would break the 4:30h barrier for the first time. And – I did not really believe it myself – caught myselfcontemplating as to when to start a final push for the finish. Still you might even blow up with 10km to go and I had my bad days and know that when this happens it’s not fun at all. So I kept on pushing a steady 280 watts towards the second ascent of Solarer Berg. Once up there in Solar I grabbed one last water bottle, splashed it over my long sleeve Skins 400 cycling jersey (the best thing there is, period!), ate the last caffeinated PowerGel and started the last push. It’s almost 20km to go from there but there are no more hills to climb. Just two bridges and that was going to be it. And even last year I had been able to push an average of 43kph for the last 9km from T1 to T2. So off the cannonball went and just after that last aid station I saw him again: The only guy who had overtaken me had clearly blown up badly. I passed him at a speed difference of at least 5kph and went off. When I pressed the lap button for the second lap I was taken aback at what I saw: I had completed the second loop in 2:04:44h, just about 5min FASTER than the first loop. Must have been the wind. ;)

Full throttle
I knew that it’s exactly 9km from T1 to T2 and had the wind in my back. It was great fun. On those last 10km the really tough guys of the day take it easy, try to get some last solid food in and prepare their legs for the run to come. Right there was the moment when I really cherished the fact that today my exercise was over after the bike. That was especially true as right there and then the cloud cover that had shielded competitors the whole morning was breaking up, the sun came out and the winds subsided. It was going to be a hard day for a marathon. Lucky me! My last thing to do was to hand my bike over to one of the great volunteers and run into transition to pass our timing chip on the our runner, Juergen. Not really sure where I would find him in transition – I had in the mean time forgotten my own bib – I went through there shouting “Juergen, Juergen, Juergen!” because there was a little doubt in my mind whether he was already there as I was some 10min ahead of schedule having completed the 180km in 4:26:38h. This had placed us in fifth position in the relay competition and we still stood a chance for the podium. The noble steed that is my QR CD 0.1 had carried me to the second fastest bike split among some 600 relays. And as the only guy faster than me is a professional cyclist riding for a continental UCI team, that’s fine with me. One guy though, carzy Konstantin Bachor was even faster than this guy, but Konstantin had preceeded the 180km biking with 3,8km of swimming and finished his day off with a marathon of 3:04h to finish in 6th place overall in the men’s professional division. Cudos to the bold old school Swim/Biker who entered T2 with some 10min over Timo Bracht and the eventual winner of the pro race James Cunnama.

The run
So Juergen literally tore the timing chip from my ankle and was gone in a second. All I could do from now on was to hope for him to find his good running legs today. The athlete tracker that we followed closely had him in 3rd, 4th,5th and even 6th during the run. But somehow the times did not really add up all the time so we could only speculate. To me his marathon just flew by and when I received word that he approached the finish line after passing the 38km mark I really had to hurry in order to meet him at the spot we had agreed on some 400m from the finish line. Pascal and I saw him early and could prepare to get up to speed to run alongside him but when he went by he was still running very fast. As there were a few other competitors also running towards the finish we de-cided to run behind him and only on the last meters run side by side. Somehow though Juergen slipped away and left Pascal and me a few meters behind when he crossed the finish line at full speed. The finish line photo  looks a little awkward:

Juergen’s marathon time of 2:51:56h had us finish a close 4th in a total time of 8:21:59h some 5min off that coveted third spot on the podium.

Race evaluation
For me this race was a surprise. And a positive on in that! Never would I have thought that I’d be able to ride 4:26h in 2012. My best time had been 4:31h from 2008 and that year I went on to post the fastest bike split at the Ironman I took part in. If this is not a good sign I don’t know what else is.

The next weeks
It’s the last block of solid base mileage that is coming in the next four weeks until my last league race is coming up on August 12th. On the bike I think the power is there, it’S the run and swim that is going to get some more attention during this time.

For the number guys
Power file 2012: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/197430141
Power file 2011: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/98300271

Power graph 2012

Power graph 2011

Until then

Tim

Race stats:
1 TEAM ARNDT 1 07:44:17
2 WSA SPEED TEAM 07:57:31
3 TEAM ARNDT 2 08:16:10
4 BERNER24.DE 08:21:59


Split times:
Swim 01:00:18
Trans 1 00:02:00
Bike 04:26:49
Trans 2 00:00:56
Lauf 02:51:56

Platz (Gesamt) 4
Zielzeit (Brutto) 08:21:59

Detour to Ramstein? - 9th at Tri-Pfalz Triathlon

Last weekend saw the second of four league races that I have committed to for my club, Tri Pfalz Triathlon in Kaiserslautern. For the Americans reading this: It's the city next to Ramstein Airbase and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center you know from the news. Set in and around one of the Soccer craziest cities of Germany the finish line was staged on the top of famous Betzenberg right next to the local Soccer stadium. That got everyone on our team excited even though two of our best guys did not make the start line due to injuries. So a podium finish for the team was quite impossible even before the race had started. Nonetheless all five of us gave our best and as much fun as possible:



Jörn, me & Andreas having fun on race morning

When the gun finally went off, my swim was right there. 22:00min for 1.500 meters is a good time for my and I got onto my QR cd 0.1 in around 20^th place. There I put the hammer down. Everything on the bike on Sunday felt great. The legs were spinning steadily at around 300 watts and I made my way through the field on one of the most beautiful bike courses I have had the privilege to ride. With around 1.300 feet of climbing the bike course of 40k cannot be considered flat but still I was able to complete it in under one hour. My bike time of 59:45min was the second fastest of the day and saw me dismount my noble steed in 2^nd place overall. Well done, my carbon friend.

This seemed to set me up for a top ten result at least. Regrettably not every volunteer was at his post when the first athletes hit the run course and so I and two other athletes took a left turn at about 300 meters into the run. There was a barrier right in front of us and to our right. No chance to run straight ahead. We noticed our mistake when spectators shouted at us to turn around and “Get back there!!!”. When we got back to the intersection the assigned volunteer had finally taken his post and sent us straight ahead. The problem was that this detour had taken some 90 seconds and in the mean time we had already been passed by four other guys. My run is not where it should be but still the speed sessions of the last two weeks had some impact: Running 6-minute-miles fast felt a lot easier than two weeks ago and in the end I was pleased with my time of 42:50min for – incluiding the detour - 11.2 km. That is especially true as on the last kilometer of the run we had to make out way back up the hill where T2 and the finish line were. That last kilometer included some 100 meters of climbing through steep streets as well as a staircase with some 70 steps. Nasty stuff and easily where my heart rate was highest on Sunday:

I crossed the line some nine Minutes behind the winner and in 9^th place overall, coming in 2^nd in my AG. We were there for the team race in which we finished 8^th. Not bad but not great either. For the team rankings they add up the times of the fastest four athletes of each team. Adding it all up 7^th place was five minutes ahead of us. The winner of my AG also had finished some three minutes ahead of me and it thus made no sense the file a formal protest in order to get back the 90 seconds I lost due to my detour. For myself though I subtract those 90sec from my time and see myself in (virtual) 4^th place.

For me personally the race was superb as I see that I am getting into shape as the season highlights come closer. For the team the result was as good as we could hope for on the day and with the team that we got to the starting line.

Next stop: Cycling at Challenge Roth Relay competition.

First Olympic Distance of 2012: Swim & Bike OK, a lot of work left to do for the Run!

Having fun on the new QR Cd 0.1

Once again lacking sufficient running mileage I headed off to my first Olympic Distance of the season last weekend. I thus did not expect much of the race but still wanted to give my new bike, a 2012 Quintana Roo CD 0.1, a first try at the races. This absolutely sleek frame had arrived at my doorstep two weeks before the race and I had wasted no time building it up. The new Cd 0.1 has a few improvements over the 2011 model that really make things easier and better if you are the one to build up the bike. There are torque numbers printed for all crucial screws you have to fix on carbon material on the frame as well as the seat post. In addition to this the frame set is compatible with traditional mechanical shifting as well as the electronic alternatives. Nonetheless I still opted for the mechanical alternative as I had all the parts at home already. The first three rides on the frame were promising and the wattage was in a range to be expected three months before my season highlight at Ironman Wales. But that’s enough bragging about my new bike, let’s move on to Saturday’s race:

The “Short Track Triathlon” in Griesheim served as the season opener for our team in the Regional League, the third tier of triathlon leagues here in Germany. So the level of competition here is quite fierce and last year my best result had been coming in in13^th place at Westerwald Triathlon in late August. In addition to my lack of run mileage the course on paper did not look to favour my strength aka the bike: It was set out as a three pool course on pancake flat terrain. Race day though had at least one good thing for me which was a constant wind from the south west at about 30 miles. So there was hope after all.

With some decent training results in the pool I was quite confident to be able to hold on to the second group of swimmers in the lake and positioned myself on the lake shore accordingly. Nervous as I was there was still time for some fun when some water caught in the legs of my wetsuit during my five minutes in the water prior to the start:

Shooting for a good swim today?

When the gun went off I was still a bit nervous, as I am not at all a fan of land starts where you have to sprint the first 50 meters into the lake. But with only about 120 athletes in our wave the washing machine was not too violent. I so finished the slightly long swim course in 15^th place and was all set for playing catch up on the bike.

Here the wind had really picked up and with a tail wind you went 55+ kph while when heading into the wind the needle went down to the low 30s. Still my CD 0.1 worked like the machine it was built to be and in the end carried me to the second fastest bike time of the day (if you consider that in comparison the my teammate Alex I put on socks for the run, that is ;). Damn, priority goal # 1 missed! Second - or third if you like - bike split again. Just like in the first race of the season. On the first loop there were a lot of athletes to overtake but as I moved forward in the field, overtaking became less frequent. The advantage of such courses is that you get splits quite often and our entourage did their job quite well. So I knew that after loop one I was in 6^th place and after loop two had progressed to 5^th. 

Max. effort after a U turn

I overtook one more guy on the last loop and so put on my running shoes in 4^th place. My bike split which included both transitions was at just over 60 minutes and my Garmin had my average at 41kph. On a course with ten 90° turns and two U-turns per loop, adding up to thirts 90° turns and six U turns over the 40k that’s still quite fine with me.

Heading out onto the run I immediately realized that it would not be my day on the run today. The legs were just not doing their work properly. So I settled for a speed of approximately a six minute mile after the first kilometre but had to slow down even further when heading directly into the wind on the out and back course that had four laps in total. On the first two laps I was overtaken by four guys and thus found myself in 8^th position. Still it looked as if I would be able to get in a new personal best placing at this level of competition. 

Redefining the term "Blowing up" on the run! 

With four other athletes of my team out on the course a quite unique possibility for teamwork presented itself lest in the race. The rules in these races are that for the team result the times of the first four athletes of each team are added up. When my teammate Juergen caught me on the run (he was a lap back and some two minutes behind our fourth athlete) at about 7,5k we teamed up for my last stretch into the stiff head wind. With Juergen in front of me I was able to pick the speed up a little to run km 8-10 in under 4min. When Juergen turned right for his last lap I finally could turn left to the finish, still in 8^th place. Even though I suffered a lot out there on the slightly long run course (about 10.5k) that I completed in the really slow time of 42min flat I thus still had my best performance as of yet.

With Alex (5^th) and Joern (12^th) we hoped for a team podium on the day which in the end was not to be: We came in 4^th. The second race, 4^th a second time. I just hope this year does not continue like this.

Team spirit

The lesson I have learned from the race is that my swim and bike are working out quite well. On the other hand there’s a lot left to do on the run and a lot of weight to lose on the road there. Compared to my race weight in Kona last year I still have to lose some 10 lbs. This is especially true as I tend to overheat much faster when being heavier. So Monday is going to be the first day of a stricter diet – if I can keep it up!

The next race is on next Saturday already: With two of my girls I head out for a family relay at the Hesse State Champs over the Half Iornman distance. It’s the bike portion for, as always.

CU at the races

Shift Series

First race of the season: 4th at Kinzigtal-Triathlon - 4th - Again!

 

In a way there is nothing to complain about concerning last weekend’s race in Gelnhausen which served as my season opener. Except for coming in 4th behind old fellow Oliver Weber. Again. Oliver is a really nice guy who I know from way back when and we even chatted pre race about our shot at the win had not two professionals signed up for the race just three days before the race day. We agreed on that ideally the two of us would race for the last spot on the podium, third. We did not know just how right we would be. But let’s start from the beginning:


The swim went alright except for the knock on the head I received just 20 meters into the first lane. My black eye is testament to the fact that someone at least tried to swim faster than my in the opening 50 meters.

It was pouring rain just the way I like it when we ran to our bikes and I was in 10th posi-tion mounting my QR and looking forward to the next 23km. I am made for racing in temperatures around 10° Celsius so I relished in that. The rain though… made things difficult when cornering and especially in those three roundabouts we had to navigate through. Nonetheless I made my way through the field towards the front. 

After the first of two laps I had first passed Oliver for 3rd, then the fastest swimmer of the day for 2nd place. To Oliver I had said “See you on the run course!” as I was quite sure he’d catch me there. On the second bike lap though the leading man was nowhere in sight and in the end the fastest bike time of the day belonged to him and regrettably not to me by some tiny 20 seconds. Maybe he just took a riskier approach to cornering on Sunday because later he told me that in the last roundabout his rear wheel had nearly overtaken him and his had been able to prevent a crash at the last moment. On the other hand maybe it was the bike I rode Sunday that cost those precious 20sec. With the 2011 CD 0.1 sold and the 2012 frame not delivered yet, I was forced to use my still very much loved TiPhoon which regrettably is a 9 year old design which surely is not as "aero" as the CD 0.1. In the end, it's over now and the old metal still persormed quite well. So there is no reason to complain.

Off the bike I went in 2nd place with Oliver trailing in 3rd by some 45sec. and in 4th European Cup Veteran Paul Schuster some 90sec behind. One could think that for a mere 5k run that might be enough but not with those running legs of mine on this very day.

I thus tried to start the run hard and smile in the face of disaster at the turn around in order to set back the competition. Regrettably that plan did not work out as the guy in 4th had on his way to the fastest run split of the day (16:02min for 5k), already moved up th 3rd and the pass was imminent and swift. Behind him was Oliver working hard to catch me. Then there was no one for the next minute. So it was either 3rd or 4th today and I fought hard. Nonetheless my fading run legs had me hear his breath a few meters before the 4k marker. It was almost the same place where Oliver had run me down for 3rd four years back - deja vu! I must said something like “Not again!”. The really nice guy that he is - and with the guy in 5th over 2min back - Oliver offered to finish the race together with me in 3rd place. Generous offer but still I declined. First the race organizers would really have a hard time figuring out what to make of that and secondly I like to really earn my spot on the podium. So I let him go and settled for 4th.

(Top 4: Paul schuter (2nd), Marcel Bischof (1st), Oliver Weber (3rd), me - did I mention it was not only raining but foggy also?)


Nonetheless I am quite content with what I have been able to gather concerning racing shape during those two weeks in training camp on Mallorca and am looking forward to the next races of the season. Until then there is still some four weeks to get my running legs back. Seems like there’s nothing to really worry about in 2012. Except perhaps that tiny pain in my right knee… again. But we’ll see how a few days of rest after the race will work as a cure for that.

Cheers


Tim


Results Kinzigtal-Triathlon Gelnhausen:

1. Marcel Bischof 0:59:06
2. Paul Schuster 1:01:09
3. Oliver Weber 1:02:22
4. Tim Stutzer 1:02:50