Just ask „Kona,
anyone?“ and they all show up (preface)
It’s funny
just predictable the minds of us triathletes work. Over the last years it
looked as if the Ironman 70.3 European Champs in Wiesbaden was slowly losing
its significance among age groupers. The last beating the race took was last
year when the proud race was down to only 1.300 individual starters from a once
proud 2.800 in the early years. So what as WTC what do you do to attract a
larger field. It seems, it’s quite easy: Put Kona slots on the line and they’ll
come. And come they did after WTC offered 30 of those coveted Kona spots very
late in the season. A jump from 1.300 to more than 2.400 starters is more than
a testament of just how many guys & girls think that they would have a shot
at Kona.
So much for
politics and now let’s get down to my race.
The four
of us Euro Triathletes on the Timex Multisport Team got a few free starts for
Ironman events here. Being already qualified for Kona I went for the Wiesbaden
70.3 because even though it’s only 30k from my home I’d never done it before.
With its brutal bike course that “offers” some 1.500m of climbing on 90k it
should also suit my strengths I thought. I would not be a triathlete though if
I would not have had some kind nagging of injury hampering my training. This
summer it’s my right knee that does not take running all too well. So after my
last long run on July 4th I had a total of 60k of running under my
belt going into the race not knowing whether the knee would hold up. The MRI I
had done in race week though had shown that there was no (additional) damage
present in any cartilage and that I’d just have to stand the pain should it
come. I was quite confident in my cycling though as I had just beaten out Faris
al Sultan, Timo Bracht and a few other pros on the bike a week before at
Frankfurt City Triathlon.
Nonetheless
the podium in my age group I thought was just impossible to get to. First
because of the fact that I did not taper for the race at all – Kona is the top
priority in 2013. Second because of the competition: The guys had on the podium
were just another level than me. In first I had the reigning Kona age group
champ Christian Müller who posted an incredible 8:28h in Roth just five weeks
ago. My PB: 9:04. I expected a close race for second between Dutchman Dave Rost
and Austrian Alexander Frühwirth. Both of them have competed on a pro level no
more then three years ago, Alexander having a PB of 8:11h. Nonetheless I was
really looking forward to racing and hoped for a decent swim & bike and
then look just was to happen on the run. The only drawback was that they sent
us old guys in the 40-44 AG off in the last wave of 2.400 individual athletes.
On a course like this, that would make for some interesting overtaking I
expected.
Swim
So at
8:35am off we went and the two loop swim went by rather uneventful except for
me almost losing my all too small swim cap three times. You can see jsut how small these caps were from the - upside down - pic below with me and Daniel aka BÄM! Kasack!
After a slower
transition as usual I got the first official card of my triathlete life. I had not clipped my shoes into the pedals and put them on in front of my bike.
Shame but no time penalty on me. I then slipped on the carpet leading to the
dismount line. Head first I crashed into
the grid ling the course and so had to recollect myself and my two water
bottles. A bike crash before even mounting the bike - hey that’s a good start
to the day.
Bike
From the
first kilometer on the course was full. All too full! Way too full. At first
that was not too bad as first come some rolling hills and not too fast a
descent. I heard an incredibly loud “Tiiiiim!” at the climb to Wicker. Timex
Teammate Ann Parthemore had spotted me. Thanks Ann and Eric for the support.
On the
first descent though it became apparent that the I’d have to be very careful today.
The sheer number of people and variety bike proficiencies lead to quite a few
dangerous situations. So I decided to take the descents easy and attack the
climbs. The best opportunity to do that is at the big hill of the course the
ascent to “Wiesbadener Platte” a good 5,5k on which you climb some 350m for an
average ascent of 6,5%. Things went along quite nicely there and a steady
output of about 320 watts was possible with not too much of an effort. From
there it’s rolling hills again in the Taunus Mountains and there the drafting
problems started: I noticed two guys obviously working together a team approaching
them from behind. Obviously this was about the front of my AG and when I passed
them they immediately stuck to my rear wheel. This went on all through the next
15k. I turned around a few times and told them to stay back at least 10 meters.
Nothing happened. On the next roller I let the two pass in order to once again
tell them to stick to the rules. No reaction at all. Right there we had been
overtaken by the first relay cyclist. I when I saw him slowly disappear up the
road I seized the opportunity. He would, I thought ideal in clearing the road
ahead for me on the next descent. And so it was. Even though I kept a distance
of at least 50 meters the plan worked. What I saw there really scared me
though. The told at the race briefing that on this day and course it would be
ok to overtake two guys at the same time. That would mean three guys riding
next to one another. At no point though we would be allowed to cross over to
the opposite lane! This guy was opening up a sixth lane to pass five guys at
once. I kept thinking “This is going to end baldy any second.” but nothing
happened. On this descent on the next small roller I was so able to lose my two
shadows and did not see them in the bike any more. We went back to “Platte” and
there started one crazy descent. I’ve been told that a German pro once rode
more than 100kph there, for me the max speed on Sunday was “only” 86kph. In no
time I had covered the last7k to T2 - total bike time: 2:32h. For those interested, here's the power file:
Run, yes run, not jog! :)
All through the bike I had wondered whether
the temperatures would stay so low as for me to be able to have a good run and
they did. When I headed out onto the four lap run course it was no more than
20C and I was fine. So fine actually that the first two kilometers went by in
less than 4min each and I had to actually slow down on purpose in order not the
overdo it. My plan had been to run in the mid 1:30h range. But with the temps
being as they were and my legs and knee holding up I decided to give a sub 1:30
run split a chance. And here the home turf advantage really came into play.
There were literally dozens of friends and sports buddies lining the course
cheering me on. Not the least Ann and Eric who gave me that enormous “TIIIM!” every time I passed them. Still I dumped some three cups of water on my head at every single aid station:
 |
| Thanks to Karsten for the run pic! |
Rant of the day
On run lap
two though it was time for the bike shadows to come back. I had memorized the
two guy’s numbers and first names and when they passed I was really annoyed and
especially let Alexander Frühwirth from Austria know. We actually got into an
argument right there and then but a relay runner calmed us both down. Thanks
for that. Nonetheless, dear Alexander that style of racing is just pathetic and
not worthy of a guy who has been in the sport for so long. On the other hand I
have heard that this might, just might, just have been your style of racing all
the time. In the end I had to let him go though and settled back into a good
rhythm. And guess who went on the grab the last spot on the podium? Yes, Alexander behind Dave in first and Christian in second.
Push it one more time
When I
entered the last lap I looked at my watch for the first time and thought that
if I gave it one last push I just might still get a time of under 4:30h. So I
really pushed and gave it a try. I was not overtaken by another athlete but
barely missed out on the sub 4:30h finishing just behind good friend Daniel
Kasack in 4:30:53. That would have been good for second place at last year’s
race here but was “only” good for 6th place in 2013. No reason to be
ashamed though rather to be proud of especially a surprisingly strong run.
Next stop Hazelman,
17.08.2013!
