Faster than Faris on the bike - The “BÄM!”* is back! – Frankfurt City Triathlon Race Report

Awards were given out in forn of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange

It’s been held right in front of my doorstep for four years now and never did I race in the Frankfurt City Triathlon. And if not for my father having had to pull out due to an injury it would at least have taken another year to race here. Things being as they were though I had my father’s slot transferred to me and entered the race just three days before it was held last Sunday.

 

With my knee not really liking running these days the objective was clearer than ever for the race: Try not to lose too much time in the water, put my head down on the aerobars for the whole 45k of the bike course and then pray for at least a decent run. The non wetsuit swim in Langener Waldsee where they also hold the swim of Ironman Germany went by quite uneventful. I was racing in the first of eight waves together with a star stacked pro field that included Ironman 70.3 world champ Sebastian Kienle, 2005 Ironman world champ Faris Al Sultan, two time Ironman Germany winner Timo Bracht as well as this year’s runner up at Ironman Germany, Jan Raphael. No way I’d ever see those guys after the swim start but at least I would try not to lose too much time on the pancake flat 45k bike along the river Main.

I lined up right behind the pros and when the gun went off tried to get into a rhythm as soon as possible. After some 100 meters I tried to look a bit further ahead for the first time and gone they were. Those guys just smoke the first 200 meters on the swim as if a shark is chasing them. Some 24 minutes later I exited the water with no one 50m in front or behind me. T1 with it’s 600m was a bit long but when I reached my QR the race was finally on. On like Donkey Kong! Not only is the course pancake flat, no the surface is also very, very smooth. And so even at only a bit over 300 Watts I was riding at about 44kph most of the time. As expected I never saw the real pro men again and the only people I kept passing on the first lap was the pro women. Due to my knee issues I really left it all out there and at a time really thought I could make the bike split in under an hour. When I entered T2 though my watch told me the truth of 1:01h.

A good day on the bike...

When I racked my bike I began to count the bikes that were already there and stopped at 8. Hey, that was a decent surprise. The surprise was even sweeter when I learned after the race that I had had the third fastest bike time of the day. Only Sebastian Kienle, third place finisher Florian Angert had gone faster than me. All the other guys including Faris, Timo, Jan had at least lost a minute on me on the bike. Those interested can find the power file here.

So I put on my running gear and headed out onto what is one of the most scenic inner city runs I can imagine: The 5k loop takes you to almost all of Frankfurt’s inner city sights. The old opera house, the Sock Exchange, Katharinenkirche, and if you try really hard you can get glimpses of the cathedral as well as the famous town hall  where the Germany emperors were crowned in the middle ages. Being a resident of Frankfurt for more than 15 years I know all of these sights and so was not distracted all too much from the job at hand.

 

... followed by a hard day on the run.

Lap one went by with only two guys passing me and I entered lap two with about a minute on the next guy behind. Regrettably though I was slowing down quite a bit and running kilometer times of more than four minutes. I have not done one sub 4min kilometer in training this year so what did I expect? Still I got passed by only one other guy on the second lap and entered the finish chute quite pleased finishing in 15^th place overall and first in my AG.

If only I can manage this knee issue the European Ironman 70.3 Champs next week could also turn out good.

 

I’ll let you know!

* For those of you wondering what the "BÄM!" is, please click here.