I was really lucky with
my home-stay allocation, and stayed in a really nice part of the city with a wonderful
woman and her daughter who did everything possible to provide the perfect
environment for my final race
preparations. As a result I felt unusually relaxed in the days before this
race, despite knowing that my placing here in this European Championships would
determine my chances of achieving this year’s ambition to qualify for
Hawaii.
Nonetheless, I slept
little on the eve of the race, and was wide awake before my alarm was due to go
off (this was fortunate for me, since I’d neglected to adjust the time on my
‘phone and would have been an hour late otherwise). The race in Frankfurt has a
“split transition” - meaning that
the location of the swim and T1 is some 20km south of the city in a local
bathing lake. This adds up to an hour of travel to the start in the morning,
and is the one aspect of this fantastic event that I’d wish were different. It
makes it more difficult for spectators to watch the spectacle that is the swim
start and adds further complication, and time, to the logistics of checking in
the bike and equipment on the day before the race, which is far from ideal.
That said – the race organisors provided frequent shuttle bus services for
athletes and competitors, and it judging by the size of the crowds of support
around the lake on race morning, it did not deter too many from making the
early morning effort!
I arrived at the start
site early as usual, prepared my bike (pump tires, set shoes on pedals, load
nutrition, check the brakes weren’t rubbing etc) and then found somewhere to
sit and listen to music and watch the scenes of two thousand, five hundred
athletes making their preparations. I greeted and wished good luck to a few friends
and acquaintances and got in line for one final trip to the porta-loo. The queues by now were long, and after
a 15 minutes stand, I’m having to run to the start (as usual). I seem to have
an ability to be rushing at the last second, no matter how much time I have to
start with!
It was a deep water
start, and there was some confusion amongst the Professional starters as to
where exactly the start-line was. It took a while for the water safety patrol
to explain that we were already about 500m into the course and persuade the
eager athletes to retreat! As the German national anthem played, our group was
slowly drifting forwards once more, and we were already virtually swimming when
the cannon fired. We were ready!
300 of the fastest
amateurs are allowed to start with the professionals, whilst the greater
majority of the competitors wait a further 15 minutes for the mass start. With
over 100 Pros plus the 300 faster age-groupers, this provided an excellent
situation for me – not so many people that it is very rough, but plenty of
bodies in the water to assist my swim pacing, sighting and drafting. As a
result I completed the 3.8km lake swim, a “figure –of – eight” course with a
“land buoy” after 2.1k, in 56 minutes which is a new record for me. (I should,
of course, credit my new Huub wetsuit also!)
The run from the lake
to transition was a cruelly steep climb up a 200m bank of sand ; certainly a
wake-up call for the legs! Here there
is no assistance from volunteers in the transition tents, but there’s not so
much to do here when racing in such fine weather : whip the suit off, glasses
and helmet on and un to the bike. I’d been swimming in sight of several other
pros, hard to tell if male or female (we all had the same yellow caps), which
always motivates me to get on my bike fast and pedal it hard!
The 182km bike course
starts with a flat 25km on the highway, which has been closed for the event,
from the location of the lake to the city centre. The surface is good and this
section is a good opportunity to get into a cycling rhythm. I was feeling very
good and my Powertap was showing some rather high figures. I suspected that
actually there was an error in the offset, actually, but it’s not something
that I was able to easily fix whilst riding at such intensity. I do not rely on
Power data during the race - it is there as a reference for me and for analysis
after the event – but made some calculations as to what I felt the offset could
be to ensure that I maintained the same level of output through the next five
hours. I was pleased that there were several women on the start list that I
have had close finishes to in Ironman races over the season, and that I might
be able to use as a gauge of my progress. In particular were Nina and Monique
who had pushed me in the last lap of the bike in South Africa and then beaten
me on the marathon – which I felt was due to my own poor performance on that
occasion. Also Kristin Lie, who had made me fight very, very hard to hold off
in the marathon at Wales after she had suffered some very bad luck on the bike
course (I’ll mention her again later!).
Despite featuring 4 climbs in each of
two laps, this tends to be a fast course – and there are several reasons for
this. All of the climbs are short and steep, but offer long and open descents.
Other than these hills, the terrain is generally open and rolling which makes
it ideal for the use of disc wheels and every other aerodynamic advantage money
can buy. It’s well suited for big powerful riders (which Germany is famed for)
and attracts those who excel on the bike and in this terrain; thus it’s somewhat
self-fulfilling. Another factor is the great road surfaces and the complete
closure of the roads on the route enabling cyclist to take a wide line around
corners in safety. With one notable exception! “The Hell” is a cobbled
section of hill through the town of Hochstade – it’s really hard to ride, but
also great fun – I find it difficult not to laugh as we rattle over this short
section which is well populated with spectators, of course. It’s important to
get into a low gear near the start of this section as it gets steeper and
steeper and you cannot let go of the bars to shift with everything rattling
around like that!
I felt that I was
riding well, and enjoying my first race on the Specialized Shiv that The
Sketchers-ActiveInstinct Performance Team has issued me with, though I do
perform significantly better on hills than on a very flat course. The
conditions were beautifully warm at that time of day, perhaps too warm for some
already, but rather windy. There are also many sharp bends through the
villages, which I found difficult at speed and noticed that I tended to loose
ground on the riders that I could see around me when it came to negotiating
these sections. Whether this is that I am still getting used to how the new
bike handles, a skill that I am lacking in or just a matter of nerve, I’m not
sure- either way, it can only be improved with more practice. Mind you – I did
see several guys with torn clothes (including one guy who’d unfortunately
ripped the arse right out of his shorts!) and bloody limbs as I rode, so a
little caution was justified!
There was a small
amount of to-and-fro with some of the other pro women that I mentioned earlier,
but not a great deal. At random locations along the route, my sister and her
boyfriend Andy would appear, evidently they were running between points on the
course to surprise and give me a huge cheer! As always my legs and neck were
feeling more and more painful as the ride went on, but I’d judged my nutrition
and liquid intake well and was able to maintain a relatively steady power
through the ride, feeling strong throughout. None-the-less, I could tell that I
would not be finishing the bike spit faster than I had ridden in 2008, which
was a little disappointing considering how much stronger I am not generally on
the bike – possibly attributable to the windy conditions (I don’t remember how
it was in 2008), slight variation in the route, or the motivation that being in
direct contention for the age –group title had provided me with on that
occasion.
The bike to run
transition was in a different location, near the finish and due to the pre race
logistics, we’d not seen the area before. The dismount line caught me by
surprise and I was lucky to get my feet out of my shoes and stop the bike in
time! I was sure glad to get off it :o)
I knew that there was not much separation between myself and Nina and
Kristin at the end of the bike split, but had confidence in my recent run
training to post a much improved marathon performance than I have executed in
my last few races, and really this was to be my motivation for the whole
event. I knew that I was currently
in around 20th position, and my goal for his race was to a top 10
finish. It was a very hot day, and after a hard bike ride, anything could happen
out there. In the next 3 hours things could chance a lot, and I could not
afford any doubt that I’d make steady progress with a well-executed run.
The marathon course is,
for me, always both the best and the worst part of the day. Of course, starting
the 42km foot race in the heat of the, with 185km of racing and a massive
calorie deficit already behind you, is really the last thing that you want to
do and is always painful - but it also signifies the final challenge of the
Ironman, and it is the portion of the race where the athletes receive the most
support. In Frankfurt this is particularly so since the whole city, plus the
thousands of visitors that accompany the athletes, are out in force to encourage
us every step of each of the 4 laps of 10.5km alongside the river Maine.
I felt great on lap one and had to make
an effort to control my pace after the first km. I passed two other Fpros
quickly, one of them I recognized as Kirstin, and she was walking; she was in
for a hard afternoon. I knew that, as always, things would get tough for me too
pretty soon, so I focused on relaxing and not pushing the pace, and to wait and
see who else was up the road. It
was getting very hot – and I could
see that this was taking it’s toll on many of the people who were already out
on the course when I joined. I wasn’t particularly feeling the heat, and it was
tempting to run through the aid stations on my first lap rather than slow to
pick up drinks, but I didn’t want to have to deal with the consequences later
in the race, so I took drinks at each alternate one. Sure enough the leg ache
starts to set in after only 12km or so and after that I start to break the race
down into mile-stones: 1/3rd done (14km) half-way, 3rds, penultimate
lap etc. In Ironman the second half of the marathon usually comes down to a
mental battle to just get through it, and to that damn line. I had many bad and
good patches, my overall pace had dropped and I could tell that I was not going
to make my target time, so I focused on staying ahead of those behind and
trying to reel in anyone ahead who might be in a similar situation!
My sister and Andy were
now positioned on the run course, and had found a location where they could see
me as I passed on my way to the most eastern turn-around, and then again about
3km later to relay the information.
I find this incredibly motivating – whether I am in pursuit or being
chased and in this case it was a re-enactment of ironman Wales 2012 with Kirstin
closing in on me through the first half of the run, but receding further and
further behind in the later stages. It was very nice to see other familiar
faces out on the course – my home-stay family and their friends, Linda from
Easy Bike Transport who carried my bike for me and has been with us on camp,
and even the taxi driver who picked me up from the airport!
The last lap was a real
struggle – but it was also the last lap!
I only had to endure another 50minutes of this. I started to walk
through aid stations – and it was in the last 4km when, doing this allowed one
of my competitors to pass me! She was running well and slipped through Lotte
and Andy’s radar (by this time in the afternoon, the run course was well
populated with people on different laps, making it harder to spot people). This gave me the motivation to chase
hard for the last section, but I was only able to make ground back up on her very
gradually, and was still 25 seconds off at the finish line. This was a disappointment to me of course
but it was also a stark lesson; don’t loiter at aid stations!!
I crossed the line in
9hours 50, and in 15th place. I had very clear goals for this
race, which were to beat my previous best time here and also to rank in the top
10. As the race approached and the starting list grew, the latter became a far
more challenging target – but I did believe that on my best day, with full
focus it would be possible. I’m
sad that I missed out on achieving the time target by a narrow margin (by 10
minutes - in talking to other athletes, of all standards, the consensus was
that it had been a particularly hard day due to conditions. But, isn’t it
always?) and a final ranking of 15th means it’s unlikely that I have
a chance to go to Kona this year. But, there are aspects of my performance that
I am pleased with, as well as areas that I can see I must do more work. I
really enjoyed the course , the race experience that such a Championship event
in this wonderful city provides, and the opportunity to compete in a high class
field.
In a strangely sadistic
way, I’m looking forward to getting back to training and my next racing
opportunity in Ironman UK!
