A date that will probably be etched into my mind for the rest of my life. "Lets do IM Germany", Philo and Scibs said last July. "It's fast and we'll all get PB's........." None of us signed up to race in Sahara conditions on the hottest day officially ever recorded in Germany. 41degrees with at times a brutal hot wind that sucked the moisture out of you like a sponge.
I arrived Thursday after poring with trepidation over weather forecasts. My first thought on getting off the plane was "damn, this is a bit hot!" (re-occuring theme here). I caught the train into Frankfurt and found the Ibis centrum hotel. Checked in and waited for Mark, Paul, Rachel, Jo, Kitty and the bikes to arrive. Which they duly did after running the gauntlet of striking Frenchmen. The hotel is excellently situated on the run course, is fairly cheap and the smallish rooms have air con. It's also just round the corner from the bus pickup for the morning of the race.
Friday we registered and had a look at the expo. Expo was impressive. More of a triathlon trade show.
Saturday we had to get the bikes to racking. Not easy as Frankfurt being a split transition has the swim about 8 miles outside of the city. On a hot day all the locals want to swim and play at the beach. We ended up having to walk about 40mins in blistering sun to transition from the car park. Not good when its the day before a race. About 35-40 degrees so I think we all felt it. Impressed by Rachel playing the helpless woman card and getting marshall assistance to rack her bike and even had him carry all her transition bags. Who says feminism is dead?
Race Day
Up early and buses to transition from the inter-continental hotel. Spent the usual 10mins "faffing" with my bike, sorting tyres and bottles etc.
Swim
Non wetsuit swim with water being at 27degrees+. Lake is beautiful to swim in, but with 3000 athletes lining on beach for a running/walking start it was going to be crowded. The canon went off at 7am and we all.... actually stood still and did nothing for good couple of minutes as we waited for hundreds of people to slowly amble into the water. 2mins before my feet got wet. First loop was crowded and very, very slow. Frustratingly slow. 37mins for 1500m ish is soul destroying. At the turn buoys everyone just stopped for few minutes and either treaded water or breaststroke. Half way there is an Australian exit after the first loop and then a longer second loop of 2300m. The second loop was the same. Slow and completely boxed in. It was half way round the second loop that I realised Germans are generally rubbish swimmers. They seem to swim front crawl for a couple of hundred metres then take a breaststroke break to catch a breather. This has the effect of slowing everything down and general congestion. Eventually exited in a disappointing 1:24:50.
T1
Okay I guess, just a very long way to run up the hill and round the massive transition. 8:40.
Bike
After 5mins on the bike I knew I was in trouble. I felt like I had a really bad hangover. It was half eight in the morning and seriously hot. I was struggling to hold any pace and even the flat, fast section back to Frankfurt was a struggle. After the initial section back into the city the course is a repeated two loop circuit. It is slightly undulating with three decent climbs. The names of the climbs are actually worse than they are to ride. The first one is the Beast. Its probably the hardest and I spun up it. Bit of a leg burn but okay. After a decent fast descent you cycle through a small cobbled town which was interesting. Support was brilliant but a bit of a bone shaker. The next climb after another few miles is the Hell. Again its just a long drag. Kills your speed but nothing major. The descent was awesome. Checked my Garmin and I hit 45mph. Then the course is undulating until you hit Heartbreak hill about 10km from Frankfurt. This is a great climb with crowds lining the road cheering you on. By the time I hit this for the first time I was in bits. Rachel had caught and passed me, I was seriously nauseous and overheated. My one complaint about the bike course would be the gap of 17miles before Heartbreak hill to a feed station. On a day where it was reaching 41degrees it wasn't enough. The support from the locals was amazing though. They were out in force all over the course hosing us down.
By the time I got to the end of the first loop I was spent. I almost turned into T2 to quit. The stubborn streak in me didn't allow it. Still not sure it was the right decision to continue. Unless you have raced in conditions like that I can't really explain. The burning sun was debilitating.
By the time I got to the top of the Beast I was starting to weave. I stopped at the feed station and did the only sensible thing. Stuck my fingers down my throat, vomited, then doused myself in water head to toe. My nutrition of malt loaf wasn't digestible with all the blood on the surface away from the stomach. I then switched to simple sugars. Coke went into the front bottle and gel every 30 mins for the rest of the race. At that point I felt like the light switch went on. For the next 30 miles I got my head down and actually started passing people. Tipped water over myself constantly and started to enjoy it. At the 70 mile point I knew I was going to finish the race no matter what happened and I was just relieved to get through a seriously rough 4 hours or so. My splits don't actually show a massive increase in pace but I felt as if I was flying. Constantly passing groups of cyclists. People were dropping all over the course and I saw loads and loads carted away in ambulances or receiving treatment by the roadside. I passed Rachel with 20 miles to go in about the same place she went past me the previous lap. Brief chat but had to be careful as the race refs were seriously over zealous. Constantly warning and handing out penalties. The last 20 miles were brutal. A mad hot headwind built up all the way back to Frankfurt and it felt like someone had a hairdryer in my face. Survived it though and only a little run to go... Split 6:39:30. Not the 6hrs I was hoping for.
T2
Vaseline on the feet and tried not to look at the naked German shoving his butt in my face. 7:36
Run
This was hell. Started slow and got slower. 4x 10.5km loops. Half of which was in direct sun. The other half in broken shade and stifling air. I walked every feed station. Again doused myself with water which evaporated after 5mins each time. Survived on coke, water, bananas and gels. I also took a salt tab every hour from the start and this seemed to work. I knew I was hydrating well as I needed about 10 toilet breaks. Basically I just kept moving forward. Aside from the feed stations I didn't walk until the bridge over the river at 25miles. The support on the course was brilliant. The locals really get this event. The medical help was great. There were people on drips in medical tents all over the place and I saw a dozen people go down and medical staff were with them very quickly. After 11 miles I saw Mark going the other way about a mile and a half ahead and this focused me to keep my rhythm going. I passed him a loop later. He was chirpy but couldn't run with cramp. I was getting feedback from Kitty and Jo and just seeing them each lap gave me a huge lift. At 20 miles I passed Paul and Rachel walking. 12:3ish on the clock and quick maths in my head made me seriously worried about them making the cutoff of 15hrs. The last lap was brutal. It wasn't really leg pain but just general fatigue due to conditions. I really struggled for the last couple of miles and the relief at turning up the finishers shoot was immense. I walked the finish trying to take it all in. After crossing the line I had a chat with Kitty. She told me about Paul being DQ'd and having to stop half way through the run. It always plays with my mind doing an ironman but I was really emotional at this point and had to make a real effort not to dissolve in front of her. The news about Paul not finishing really did tip me over the edge. I walked to the change area and was found by a marshal just staring into space. Once the focus of moving forward was gone I basically just mentally shut down for a while. The helper sorted me out and I headed out to wait for the others.
Mark came in shortly after and Rachel just after the cutoff. Gav had blazed a 12:01 earlier. To be honest I was just relieved that everyone was safe.
Run 5:16:22
Overall 13:36:58
(three minutes faster than my first IM, 1hr 20 slower than my last one)
Negatives
Despite being impressed with the overall logistics of such a big race, the volunteers and location, there were a few criticisms of WTC here. I felt they didn't prepare adequately for such dangerous conditions. Not enough feed stations on the bike, the locals really saved the day. On the run there was no sunscreen or salt tablets, despite being told at the briefing there would be. Refereeing was ridiculous and they gave no leeway at all. People were being warned for outside assistance when being helped with water and sunscreen. I know rules are rules but in conditions like that you have to use common sense. My other more personal disappointment was the finish. I have waited years to have my name called out with the famous "you are an ironman" I was ignored and they were actually playing an advert on the big screen. Post race food? A few dried out rolls, rubber processed cheese and over boiled hot dogs.
As I say its a bit churlish to grumble but its the little things that count. I must admit I preferred the more family feel of the Outlaw. The race organisers were there at the end and really made you feel special. WTC made you feel like a customer.
Conclusions
The aim was sub 12hrs. I am happier with my 13:36 on such a brutal day than any sub 12. All three splits were dreadful if you didn't look at the conditions. In normal conditions I could ride 112miles faster on a bmx than I did on Sunday!
I've been doing this triathlon stuff for 9 years now. I always wanted to get to the point where I laid it all down on the line and got to the finish completely empty.
Sunday 5th July 2015 was that day.
At the end I was totally spent. I couldn't have run another 10 metres. I wanted to see how far I could push myself physically and mentally and I have achieved that.
There will be other races. There may even be other ironman races. However I will never, ever push myself to that extreme again. I am married with children and I think risking my health like that again is probably the most selfish thing I could do to the ones I love most.
Sounds dramatic but unless you were out there its difficult to comprehend.
For now it's recovery. I've shelved the Garmin and the running shoes and will have at least a month off. I suspect my season is done but we'll see.
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