Aloha...

Hawaii here we come...

 

3rd time lucky.
I have now finished my 3rd Ironman distance triathlon with a finish time of 10 hrs 10 mins and 52 seconds. My goal was to finish under 10 hours, before the race I did my calculations. Swim 1hr, Bike 5hrs 15mins and run 3hrs30 mins-3hrs45mins. I knew that I could swim around the 1hr mark, the bike leg with a average speed of 35 km/h no problem, it was just a matter of running a consistant km split of 5 min/km over 42,2km. That was definately the unknown going into the race.

My training schedule after Ironman China was a little up and down due to our work committments. It took me 4 weeks to recover, then just as we returned to normal training our priority turned to our events. The Mountain Bike Marathon with over 2000 competitors and a week later the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup with over 20.000 spectators. Two mega events in two weeks, which left not much time to train. I recovered quite well after the events and got straight back into training and racing. The first triathlon was in Worms, the tristar 111, 1km swim, 100km bike and 10 km run. Here I had a great race, the first ameteur over the finish line and 4th overall with pros. Things were looking good. A week later I placed 3rd in the Willingen Bike Marathon with 120 km and 3700 climbing meters. A fantastic race for the mental strength and strength endurance on the bike. After Willingen we spent a week training in Ötztal, a nice break from the office with fresh air and great training. With only two weeks left to prepare I did very specific training, reduced the hours and left the taper to only one week. Worked perfect!

 

Going into the race I knew I was in top shape. It´s something you can feel. I was also very focused and very excited about racing. I had a little bit of a shock moment before the start and in the first kms on the bike. As I was walking down to the swim start I noticed slight pain in my left quad. I knew exactly what this was, over the last 10 years I have battled with a pinched nerve that causes pain in my quads and butt. It pops up every now and then, which required me to go to the physio to release the nerve. And this before the Ironman had even begun. I tried to stay carm and didn´t say anything to Jörg, just tried to stretch it out. During the swim I didn´t notice any pain, even running out of the water to the transition zone all good. It wasn´t until I put my bike shoes on and ran out of the transition zone that my legs totally cramped up. I call it cramping however it is pain, a real deap buring pain in both quads and my butt. Why now? I mounted my bike and started to ride, maybe the pain would go away. This was not the case, the pain seemed to intensify. I rode for 2km and then pulled over to the side and stretched my lower back trying to release the trapped nerve. My legs were shaking for pain. I thought to myself, okay there is nothing I can do, I´ll ride back to the hotel my race is over. After riding another 1km I saw a first aid van. I pulled over and asked if there was a physio that could help me. The first reaction when I explained the symptoms was slipped disc. Whilst I received a light massage in the lower back the referee entered the van and told me I am not able to receive outside assistance and I must either continue to race or pull out. I said I want to try however I think I will pull out anyway. As I started to ride I didn´t have any pain anymore and felt very strong. So I continued to race. It was like a miricle. Usually the physio must crack my back to free the nerve. The light massage seemed to do the job. I was back in the race!

 

My bike leg was fast. I clocked up an average of 35,5 km/hr over the 185km course. I think I lost over 10 minutes with my two stops. During the bike leg I was not sure if I could run as the cramps/pain usually come during running. As I started the marathon I didn´t feel any pain, the legs felt awesome. The first 10km split 4mins 53 sec tempo, second 10,5 km in 5min07 sec, 3rd 10,5km in 5min30sec and the last 10,5km in 5min39sec for a total marathon time of 3hrs43mins. Very happy with that. I was lucky to still finish 4th in my category after the lost time on the bike and 14th overall is just amazing. 

 

Double success

Jörg had a good race considering he had not trained very much over the last few months. He was extremley tired after organising our events and needed a lot of recovery. He had actually decided not to start 3 weeks before as he was just not fit. A week before he raced a 5km run and a sprint distance triathlon which gave him the motivation to start in Frankfurt. His finish time of 9hrs31mins placed him in 54th position overall and 14th in his age group and secured his slot for Hawaii.

 

We have managed to fullfil the dream of most Triathletes, a Kona start. It is the pinnacle of triathlon. For now the number one priority is organising our Triathlon here in Offenburg on the 31st July - 1. August along with lots of recovery!!