Immenstadt
7. August 2010
Greetings All
The last few months of triathlon training were put to the test last weekend at the World Long Distance Champs in Immenstadt, Bavaria, Germany.
Coming out of the New Zealand winter I elected to arrive in Immenstadt 10 days before the race to acclimatise. Rainy cold weather not much different from Auckland questioned the cunning acclimatisation plan but fortunately race day was fine. It was also very hot.
The Immenstadt area in the heart of Bavaria is beautiful hilly farming country and the hosts of my rented apartment 4km out of Immenstadt town centre have been fantastic with true Bavarian hospitality.
Race day was an early start with bike transition opening at 5:30am for the 800 plus competitors to set up. Once the bike was set up in transition it was memorising the transition from swim exit to the bike mount line, some last minute nutrition and then warming up. At 7:30am the gun went and a big day was underway with a 4km swim in a very nice lake just on the outskirts of Immenstadt.
1 hour 13 minutes later I came out of the water and into transition. Less than three minutes later I was on the bike and heading for a very tough 130km ride. The bike course was brutal with what seemed like never ending hills. Fantastic scenery but my legs thought otherwise. The steep winding downhills were fun with speeds up to 70km/hr and fortunately it was a dry road.
4 hours 43 minutes of solid cycling and I was in transition two, slipping the running shoes on, and heading out for the 30km run. The run was three laps of a great course that started in a stadium, went out into the town centre, back into the stadium and then out onto 7km of gravel tracks. My first lap was pretty good but things started to go downhill from there. The hot day had been felt on the bike and was really having an effect now. I had been disciplined with my bike nutrition and hydration race plan but on reflection it needed amending for the high temperature on the day. By lap three of the run the mind was struggling with the task at hand and I really had to focus to just keeping going. 30km, 2 hours and 35 minutes of running and the finish chute was a welcome sight.
A very tough day at the office and the most intense effort I have put into a race. I gave it absolutely everything I had and being 17th out of 69 in my age group on the world stage was pretty pleasing.
There is still more improvement to be had, particularly with the swim and bike but that is another day. Now it is a recovery week and then focus on the World Sprint Distance Champs in Budapest on 11th September.
Regards
Ross
Posted on: Saturday, August 7, 2010 at 01:12 