Ironman Regensburg, June 17th, '12

Almost a year passed since my first full distance tri and now I finished my second one. One hour faster than last year - not bad for an old man ;-)

Anyway the day started out with a ''real'' triathlon swim in Lake Guggenberg; after some hits and hitting I got out of the water 1:10:08 after the start, a new PB for the 2.4 mile swim.

The bike leg was as hard as expeceted with the long climb up to Brennberg twice. Since I had a feeling I had pushed a bit to hard on the first loop I slowed down on the second loop and managed to get of the bike in 5:37:25 (this time without a penalty).

Legs felt awesome again but I did not yet trust that feeling. Of course the very first Ks were way too fast and I knew I'd better slow down a bit or the boiling hot summer day would get me...in the end I did slow down but managed at last to run the whole marathon and finish it with my second best marathon time yet. I did cramp on the very last K but once past the finish line all pain was gone! Not feeling totally exhausted at all I was able to enjoy this finish much more than last year's ''march of pain''...The journey continues...and I am already looking forward to Ironman 70.3 Zell am See in August...and one day we will see each other on Big Island!

Challenge Roth, July 10th, '11

Time has gone by fast these last weeks and then the big day was suddenly there. After a short night with not much sleep I got up at 4 AM to get some breakfast and prepare my bike bottles...once I was all ready I woke up little D at around 4:30, of course he wasn't happy at all to get up this early...Mom and Dad were ready to go and thus the day started...with this early start, getting to the swim start at Heuberg wasn't a problem. I checked the bike, wheels and put the bottles in place, then back to give my pump and extra gear to my folks, a big hug and kiss for D and of they went to get a good spot on the bridge over the Main-Donau channel. Time went by quick and with the rise of the sun the pros started their day at 6:30 in waves of 5 minutes the rest of the field took of...At 7:25 it was my turn...due to my broken rips I picked a place farther back in the group to stay out of any mess...I ended up putting together an excelent swim and got out of the water after 1:14:14, sub 1:15 and I was on schedule as I had planed it. I even got a fast T1 with some 3 minutes and off I went on the bike...

I was aiming at a 32km/h average (19.88 mph) in order to be able to put together a good run...so I caught myself quite often going too fast...but managed to stick to my plan...I did actually quite enjoy the ride especially in Hilpoldstein at the ''Solarer Berg'', thousends of people were cheering you up that climb, amazing. I even got a climpse of my folks...and on top was passed by Andi Raelert and a bit later by Sebastian Kienle...towards the end of the second bike loop I was passed by a very strict and picky race marshall who thought I had been drafting and thus gave me a 8 minute penalty... I was just hoping that this was goinig to matter in the end and because the last penalty bos was only  6 Ks from T2 it wasn't too bad...

Coming into T2 I felt great. 5:44:44 (including the 8 min penalty) I was at exactly 7 hours and perfectly on time...I went through T2 in 3:51 and with a great feeling on to the run...The first 5k or so I was able to do a 5:30 pace and really happy and still feeling great. Since my heartrate was a bit high and it really had gotten hot now I decided to slow down a bit. at around 10 ks  my thighs started to cramp a bit but nothing I couldn't handle...Well at the turnaround in Schwand (where my folks were waiting) I was having a hard time with my calves starting to cramp. But with my youngest sister cheering me up I was able to keep going as far as KM13 there my calves blew up and I had to walk in order to get rid of the cramps...Looking at my watch I knew I had plenty of time but I also knew that 30 more Ks to go was a l o n g way to go. Well as it turned out I wasn't able to run another full K untill the 41K mark . So my marathon turned into a quite long walk/run session but at last I never thought of quitting..I wanted that shirt and medal so bad and I wanted to make it to the finish line no matter what...At around the 34K marker all hell broke loose and big thunderstorm hit Roth - at that time I didn't care at all I was on a mission...So putting all my strenght together I tried to at last run the final 1.295 meters and so I did. Coming around the corner before the finish line my nephew and little D waited for me to grab my hands and finish with me...Once passing the line it was overwhelming...I had done it - Ironman - before turning 40...in 12h 34 min and 19 sec.

I am still hovering above the ground...but will get down to business soon to figure out what went so wrong on the run and made me have to do a 5:28 marathon...

One thing is for sure...this was not my last 140.6 mile race...I will be back, stronger, faster, smarter!

Unterallgaeu Tri, Ottobeuren, June 26th

 

Due to the fact that my big race is in twi weeks I only did the sprint at my ''home'' triathlon this year. This is also the place where I did my first Tri ever in 2008 (also the sprint).

Of course I wanted to finsih faster than back in 2008. To make it short I did finish faster: a total of some 26 minutes! This of course ment I also moved up in the results form close to the end in 2008 to the front. I finished 26th total and 7th in my age group.

TriStar 111 Germany, Worms May 29th

 

Late but here it is...What can I say...a perfect race...(at last for me it was)...

The 1000m swim leg went really well and I got out of the water in 17:23min...I guess T1 would have been ok but we had to walk/run a distance to T1 of about 500-600m and than T1 one was quite ''big'' as well so in total it cost me 7 or so minutes...

Off to the bike...and that was where I hit it. 100Ks in 2:49...despite the headwind time flew by and I still felt great. So the final 10K run did not really hurt much and I managed to finish in 4:05:04...

A great race with cool ''distances'' and a big convidence boost for Challenge Roth!

Halfmarathon Kempten, April 10th

 

First real test for this years season...Since it was only a halfmarathon I decided to do it as a training session combined with some biking before the run...(depending on the weather)...Well it turned out to be a beautiful sunday morning so I dropped little D at his Grandparents, telling him we would see eachother in a couple of hours in Kempten for his Kidsrun and Daddy was going to ride the bike there because running only is too boring...

 

So back home I changed into my bike gear and took off...Of course the wind had changed during the night and I had a headwind all the way to Kempten. Starting with an average speed of around 27 I got a bit worried I wouldnt make it there in time for D's run (not knowing the exact way to get there and how far it actually would be) so I pedaled a bit harder and got up to around 29...and got there way early.

 

Grandfolks and D turned up just as I took of my helemt and so we got ready for his race as always he really had a blast...after his run he had a snack and I started to change into my running gear...Even though I had rode my bike I decided to do a little warm up session accomponied by D...

 

By now temperature had got up to around mid 70s...I positioned myself around the 1:44 pace maker since I aimed at getting under 1:45...Markus Greth from Immenstadt whom I got to know in St. Poelten last year and I decided to start of togther...

 

Soon after the race start we picked a spot in front of the pace maker and got into our own rhythm...looking at my Garmin I was afraid it would be way too fast since we had a 4:25 pace/KM at the beging, but I felt good and I told Markus that I was fine with it...Half way through round 3 I had to let Markus go but still felt good also pace was getting slower...for the first time I had changed my tactic around and started of fast and getting slower towards the end whereas before I always tried to be faster during the second half...Anyway during round 4 I started to hurt a bit but was able to keep up a decent pace and crossed the finish line in 1:40:37.

 

Instead of just under 1:45 I almost made it under 1:40 but nevertheless it is a great PB for me with 7 min faster than before...and I have to say I am very happy with that!

 

Mainfrankentriathlon, August 14th, Kitzingen 1.65-41.5-10

 

Once again real lucky regarding the weather, rain all week long but perfect weather on race day! I hooked up with Matthias Eberhardt (TSV Ottobeuren) for the 2 hour trip to Kitzingen. We got there early, race start wasn't untill 1pm and had plenty of time to look around and get familiar with T1IT2. The river Main had a ''nice'' current, was brown and did not look too pleasing to swim in...

 

After the race briefing we boarded a bus that took us upriver to the swim start. Due to the heavy current the water start was called of and we had to start from a sand bank. The 1650m turned out to be my fastest ever...15min47 and this includes a ''traffic jam'' at the timing box upon entering T1. After a fast transition I felt great on the bike and it showed with an average speed of 40km/h during the first 14ks...in the end I managed to do an average of 34.65 (fastest this season) and got off the bike after 1h 11min...Legs felt great this time and I started quite fast knowing I'd get slower anyways...which I did but still managed to get my fastest 10k time down in triathlon race 48:59min. Overall time was a new PB on the olympic distance will most likely stand for a long time because swimming downdriver doesn't happen too often ;-)

 

Very good and fast race in a lovely surrounding! And awesome to finish of this years tri season.

Allgäu Classic, July 31st, Immenstadt 2-80-20

 

Second highlight of this years tri season and also my second half distance or in this case to be specific middle distance. Lucky again regarding weather conditions after it hab been too cold and rainy for end of July it turned out to be a perfect race day. Chilly (6.5 C) and foggy in the morning it got up into the mid 20s but from the beginning.

 

Little D and I got up at 4:30 with some early breakfast.After all my gear had been loaded into the car off we went to Immenstadt. Parking close to the swim start and bike checkin was no problem. So after I had T1 prepared I went back to the swimstart where I met my support team, mom and little D. Heavy fog over the lake made orientation impossible but 2 min prior to the race start it cleared up and the sun came out. Blue skies and blue water.

 

The swim leg was ok no record time again but around the time of St. Pölten. Transition went pretty fast but I noticed I hadn't started my watch...ok did it then and set my mind for the 1300m of climb to come...First time up the Kalvarienberg I held back as good as I clould to save energy for what was to come...in the end I managed to get an average speed of 28km/h done which I was quite happy with. Getting of the bike felt good this time and I actually did look forward to the 20ks to come...the first 4ks went great but once getting out of town the problems started. No cramps this time (not yet) but legs got heavy and I could barely lift my knees anymore. Even the tiniest climb was painful and I got slower and slower. So in the end I had a running time of 2h 3min something...

 

Oh well overall time was 5:45:45 and thus sun 6 as I had it planned.

Königsbrunn Triathlon, July 11th, 1.5-44-10.8

 

One H O T race it was...weather forcast showed mid 30's Celsius and yes it did get up there.

So kind of bad news in the morning, no wetsuits allowed because the lake was just too hot. Oh well luckily I had done a few swim sessions without my ''Neo''...and nevertheless expected a swim time of around 30min...but again I was slower than I had estimated and hoped for...

The bike leg was good and around 2min faster than last year...after a fast T2 it was time for the two rounds of running in the midday heat...and yes it was hot out there but I managed to get through without any cramps and was even able to go faster on the second loop, what I always like to do but most of the time, have a hard time doing so in tris.

Total time was some 2min faster than last year and a move up in the overall ranking of about 100 places or about 13 in my age group...

Unterallgäu Triathlon, June 26th, 1.5-40-11

 

Way better weather conditions compared to last year - and in deed it was going to be a hot race. After a change to the bike course due to raod works a total of 4 climbs had to be mastered. Since it is more or less in my backyard and thus knew what to expect I had no problem with it.

 

After having put on my wetsuit I didn't really feel good, way too hot (outside the water), once in the water it was better but still had a terrible swim day, oh well once on the bike things turned out for the better and I started to pick up some folks...T2 flew by and I was on the run...and do I hate this running course...uphill throughout the whole first half of it...legs felt good and for a change I had no cramps...the only good thing is that most of the run is in the forest with lots of shade...So I managed to finish round about 10min faster than last years race  and was even considering the horrible swim pleased with the outcome...

Ironman Austria 70.3 St. Pölten, May 30th, 1.9-90-21.1

 

Mission accomplished...Slowly recovering and digesting impressions from my first half ironman distance race. Wow, what a great feeling.

 

Race day started very early at 4am with two slices of toast and honey. Upon arrival at the T1 area I cheked on the bike and the transition bag one more time and then went to the swim start. The Pro wave started their race at 7am...55 min to go untill my wave. There were about 400 athletes in my wave M35 which turned out to be no fun at all at the first two turn arounds...it all came down to a swim time of 41:51min which was 6min longer than I had planned and hoped for with way to high an heartrate as well...also since T1 was very large transition time took me forever...

 

Finally on the bike I felt good, heartrate still too high but I flew done the first 18KM on the Autobahn part of the course passing a lot...Already then I was hopping I wasn't pushing too hard but didn't really hold back...I finished my bike part in 2:42:58 way faster than I had anticipated :-)

 

Another quite big T2 area came dwon to another long transition time of 3:54min and than it got ugly. As soon as I left the transition tent and went into the first lap through the event arena, my front tigh muscles started to cramp...afraid I wouldn't be able to go on when stopping to stretch I bit my teeth and kept going...at that time I wasn't sure I could keep this up...but pace was not even that bad...and so I kept going, sometimes almost crampfree at other times it got worse. At the begining of round 2 I saw my folks and my little boy who started to run alongside for a bit and there I knew I had to keep it up no matter what. Reaching KM19 the cramping got real bad and pace got slower and slower but I managed to go on without having to walk...crossing the finish line with little D in front of me in 5:40:44