My big event for this year! For me, hard to believe: I had
actually had made it to the starting line despite of my continuous
series of injuries and illnesses. My running shape was far
from optimum. I had been hardly able to build up endurance
and hadn't run more than 10km this year. Besides, this was
only my third triathlon ever and therefore you might still
consider me a complete greenhorn. However, the day before,
when we checked-in our bikes it became very obvious that the
organization of this event was just about as perfect as can
be. I haven't experienced an event of this quality ever before.
The excitement before such an event is awesome. Everyone is
hyped. Obviously, there seems to be much more at stake in
terms of money and training-effort than for an MTB race.
Sunday, beginning at 8:00h AM, the first competitors divided
in age-groups were sent into the water. My friend Michael
and I, starting as M40, were scheduled for 8:50h. Before we
went in, the first pros already came out. 24 minutes for the
fastest! My fans had brought themselves in position and had
hoisted the flag.
The swim-course was a straight-forward 1.9km out-and-back
through the harbor. Even for the comparatively large M40 group
there was enough room to largely avoid "bodyslapping".
My strategy was to start unspectacularly, avoid any panic
and to increase the load once around the turning point. Paying
dues to my state as greenhorn, I couldn't manage to get any
benefits of water-drafting. But even so, I was able to out-swim
my best time from training. After 35 minutes I came out of
the chilly Schierstein harbor, unfortunately with a cramped
calve. However, I was happy to see that in swimming there
is still room for improvement!
During the transition I must've slipped off my transponder
along with the leg of my wet-suit. Thanks to a lady-official
who had spotted the device on the ground, I was still in the
race. I can only repeat: perfectly organized event!
We had inspected the bike course some weeks before. 90km loaded
with 1500hm were speaking a clear language. On climbs I usually
have an advantage. So this was the part for me to shine. A
"not very tall" Spanish competitor addressed me as "a beautiful
girl". Well, he didn't get to see too much of that girl. Perhaps
he had pumped too much creatine into his awesomely masculine
shoulders. After all this climbing I zipped down the last
descent into the no-passing zone of Wiesbaden. Just shy of
2:46h meant a 32km/h average. OK for this course, but with
more experience I would probably have invested a bit more.
The transition to the running (my currently weakest discipline)
perhaps went a bit too relaxed. With my lack of experience,
I gave in for too long to the feeling of "legs of concrete".
This resulted in a rather unsatisfying 1:46h on the 21.1km
loosing an uncomfortable number of positions. But now I know
what to do during the winter.
Coming in on the final stretch rewarded me with an uplifting
experience. Wiesbaden had to take notice as the speaker commented
on my Pink Pirate dress. In the Athlete's Garden I immediately
started my recovery program by consuming fruit, sandwiches
and Red Bull in an alarming speed and quantity.
My total time was 5:17:51h, 53rd of the M40, 269th of the
Men, 290th overall. Many people said that I should be very
proud of this result as a beginner. However, I think for next
year I'll rather focus on ATTACK !!!
As a "funny" anecdote:
After the event I went having an ice-cream. I slipped on a
curb and found out the next day that this had actually resulted
in a pulled ligament.
This goes to say that having an ice-cream can threaten your
health in many ways.
Upcoming event will be the Hirschberg MTB marathon as a sort
of "recovery".
But only if my foot will allow me to do so ...
Many thanks to Bine and Adrian for the support and the photos!
Take Care Peace
Alex a.k.a Captn. Crook