In 2013 I finished IM Frankfurt in 11:23:38. In 2013 it was 27C which, coming from the UK, was just about my limit for being able to still perform without overheating. I went back in 2014 for my 9th IM looking for improvement and hoping for cooler weather. I thought about doing some heat training but 2 weeks out the forecast was 23C with light rain. Perfect.
For anyone thinking of doing Frankfurt it's a fast course. The swim feels like you are in a sort of pleasant quarry. Visibility in the water is limited but the water seems pretty clean and sighting is easy. The bike has 4 small hills on each loop, and quite a few sections winding through German towns. Although the course is a nice mix of rural and urban riding, because it is relatively flat, it's not particularly scenic. The run is 4 loops around the river in the middle of Frankfurt. There are thousands of spectators on the run and although it's a 4 loop course, I didn't get bored of the course.
I stayed in Hotel Miramar which, is a 5min walk away from the finish area. In the days leading up to the race the temperature forecast just kept going up and up until I checked for the last time on the bus to the start. Final forecast 31C. F**k.
Swim: (Huub Aerious, Zoggs predator flex)
1:08
5 weeks out from Frankfurt I did 70.3 Switzerland. In Switzerland I started out way too hard in the swim, got into the middle of a melee at the first buoy, and for the first time ever in an OW race, I started hyperventilating and had to cling to a boat for a couple of minutes to clam down.
In 8 previous IM races I've never had any issues in the swim, but I was now worried about having a panic in the swim. Leading up to start I floated on my back in the lake and tried to relax. The gun went and within seconds I was in the middle of the usual sea of neoprene. There wasn't much contact but I could feel a bit of anxiety begin to surface. I made an effort to just relax and go with the flow. I took long deep breaths and found that the anxiety was being kept in check. Each time I got to a turn Buoy I got anxious, but the swim passed without incident. I didn't take any notice of my swim time as it doesn't really tell me anything. I swim according to RPE and the time is what it is.
T1
05:32
I had a bit of a struggle with my wetsuit, so I think I will invest in some body glide in future. Helmet, suglasses, number belt on. Tic Tac box with salt pills and a mini sun lotion tube into the back of my shorts.
Bike: (Planet X stealth, 404Fr, 808PT Disc cover R. Giro Advantage)
5:18 (191Np)
Leading up to the race my FTP was 285, so the plan was to ride at 200-205NP. As soon as I started the bike I settled into my target watts and aero position. I started to pass other athletes straight away and made steady progress for the first 20-30km. At this point there seemed to be a lot of bunching up on the course and the road was blocked by groups of cyclists riding 4 abreast with no place to pass. I put the hammer down to pass a couple of the groups, but would just find myself behind another one. I didn't want to cross the white line or keep pushing FTP watts just to get past the groups, so I hung back 7-10m off the group ahead of me. Even at 10m behind a big group the daft is significant so I was sort of caught in no mans land with a choice of either doing a series of FTP intervals or cruising in Z1 pace behind a group. I opted for the Z1 pace and just tried to stay the legal distance and wait for the field to thin out. After another 10km a few marshals came by and started busting the groups for drafting. After a load of cards being shown and gesticulating unhappy athletes, the groups began to disperse and I could once again make progress. I could already feel how hot it was on the bike so I made sure to keep drinking lots of water and popping the salt pills. My nutrition plan was for 325cal/hour. One bottle of 350cal for the first hour and then a concentrated bottle of 1,300cal for the next 4 hours. I kept on top of the calories and kept pounding the water. I was drinking so much fluid to counter the heat that my stomach would bloat out for 20min, gradually go down before I pounded down a load more. I didn't piss once on the bike which, considering how much I was drinking, told me how hot it was.
After 4 hours on the bike my concentrated bottle of calories got so warm, I just couldn't face any more of it. I chucked what was left and switched to cold coke from the course. At about 100miles or so I started to get seriously fed up with being on the bike. For me the last 10-12 miles on the bike just sucks. By that stage I've had enough and just want to get off the damn thing. I could see the high rise buildings of Frankfurt in the near distance, but they just never seemed to get any closer. At the bike finish I was a little disappointed to have only pushed 191watts when I knew I was capable of 200-205. Some of that was the problems with the bike packs, and some of it is just that I need to push a bit harder.
T2
1:55
I saw the race director in the change tent and asked him to organise some rain. Sadly he let me down. ( Please note WTC, your race directors should be able to change the weather )
Run
4:49
As soon as I started the run I knew I was in trouble. I was overheating and in survival mode right from the start. At the first aid station I grabbed all the ice I could. I put it down my top, down my shorts, in my mouth, on my head and held ice cubes in my hands. It still wasn't enough. I was overheating and I resigned myself to a death shuffle to the end. I was just managing to jog from aid station to aid station. The run in Frankfurt is 4 laps and every lap seemed to get hotter. On the last lap I was running away from the sun, and I could feel the sun cooking my ass in my black shorts!! I thought about jumping in the river to cool off, but had visions of being swept off downstream. I looked at my watch and could see that sub 11hrs was gone, but beating my time from last year was a possibility. The closer I got to the finish, the closer it got to being able to beat last years time. As I got to the finish shute I was within seconds of beating my time. I began to sprint, and just gave it all I had to the finish. I couldn't see the clock as I finished, but figured it must have been close.
After getting a shower, some food and a beer, I went over to get my medal engraved. When I got it back I looked long and hard at the time. It seemed very familiar. I got my phone out of my bag and looked up my time from last year. Here is what I found:
IM Frankfurt 2013: 11:23:38
IM Frankfurt 2014: 11:23:38
I'll be going back next year to Frankfurt but first I'm doing IM W.Australia. I'll be doing some serious heat training for that one.
Will
For anyone thinking of doing Frankfurt it's a fast course. The swim feels like you are in a sort of pleasant quarry. Visibility in the water is limited but the water seems pretty clean and sighting is easy. The bike has 4 small hills on each loop, and quite a few sections winding through German towns. Although the course is a nice mix of rural and urban riding, because it is relatively flat, it's not particularly scenic. The run is 4 loops around the river in the middle of Frankfurt. There are thousands of spectators on the run and although it's a 4 loop course, I didn't get bored of the course.
I stayed in Hotel Miramar which, is a 5min walk away from the finish area. In the days leading up to the race the temperature forecast just kept going up and up until I checked for the last time on the bus to the start. Final forecast 31C. F**k.
Swim: (Huub Aerious, Zoggs predator flex)
1:08
5 weeks out from Frankfurt I did 70.3 Switzerland. In Switzerland I started out way too hard in the swim, got into the middle of a melee at the first buoy, and for the first time ever in an OW race, I started hyperventilating and had to cling to a boat for a couple of minutes to clam down.
In 8 previous IM races I've never had any issues in the swim, but I was now worried about having a panic in the swim. Leading up to start I floated on my back in the lake and tried to relax. The gun went and within seconds I was in the middle of the usual sea of neoprene. There wasn't much contact but I could feel a bit of anxiety begin to surface. I made an effort to just relax and go with the flow. I took long deep breaths and found that the anxiety was being kept in check. Each time I got to a turn Buoy I got anxious, but the swim passed without incident. I didn't take any notice of my swim time as it doesn't really tell me anything. I swim according to RPE and the time is what it is.
T1
05:32
I had a bit of a struggle with my wetsuit, so I think I will invest in some body glide in future. Helmet, suglasses, number belt on. Tic Tac box with salt pills and a mini sun lotion tube into the back of my shorts.
Bike: (Planet X stealth, 404Fr, 808PT Disc cover R. Giro Advantage)
5:18 (191Np)
Leading up to the race my FTP was 285, so the plan was to ride at 200-205NP. As soon as I started the bike I settled into my target watts and aero position. I started to pass other athletes straight away and made steady progress for the first 20-30km. At this point there seemed to be a lot of bunching up on the course and the road was blocked by groups of cyclists riding 4 abreast with no place to pass. I put the hammer down to pass a couple of the groups, but would just find myself behind another one. I didn't want to cross the white line or keep pushing FTP watts just to get past the groups, so I hung back 7-10m off the group ahead of me. Even at 10m behind a big group the daft is significant so I was sort of caught in no mans land with a choice of either doing a series of FTP intervals or cruising in Z1 pace behind a group. I opted for the Z1 pace and just tried to stay the legal distance and wait for the field to thin out. After another 10km a few marshals came by and started busting the groups for drafting. After a load of cards being shown and gesticulating unhappy athletes, the groups began to disperse and I could once again make progress. I could already feel how hot it was on the bike so I made sure to keep drinking lots of water and popping the salt pills. My nutrition plan was for 325cal/hour. One bottle of 350cal for the first hour and then a concentrated bottle of 1,300cal for the next 4 hours. I kept on top of the calories and kept pounding the water. I was drinking so much fluid to counter the heat that my stomach would bloat out for 20min, gradually go down before I pounded down a load more. I didn't piss once on the bike which, considering how much I was drinking, told me how hot it was.
After 4 hours on the bike my concentrated bottle of calories got so warm, I just couldn't face any more of it. I chucked what was left and switched to cold coke from the course. At about 100miles or so I started to get seriously fed up with being on the bike. For me the last 10-12 miles on the bike just sucks. By that stage I've had enough and just want to get off the damn thing. I could see the high rise buildings of Frankfurt in the near distance, but they just never seemed to get any closer. At the bike finish I was a little disappointed to have only pushed 191watts when I knew I was capable of 200-205. Some of that was the problems with the bike packs, and some of it is just that I need to push a bit harder.
T2
1:55
I saw the race director in the change tent and asked him to organise some rain. Sadly he let me down. ( Please note WTC, your race directors should be able to change the weather )
Run
4:49
As soon as I started the run I knew I was in trouble. I was overheating and in survival mode right from the start. At the first aid station I grabbed all the ice I could. I put it down my top, down my shorts, in my mouth, on my head and held ice cubes in my hands. It still wasn't enough. I was overheating and I resigned myself to a death shuffle to the end. I was just managing to jog from aid station to aid station. The run in Frankfurt is 4 laps and every lap seemed to get hotter. On the last lap I was running away from the sun, and I could feel the sun cooking my ass in my black shorts!! I thought about jumping in the river to cool off, but had visions of being swept off downstream. I looked at my watch and could see that sub 11hrs was gone, but beating my time from last year was a possibility. The closer I got to the finish, the closer it got to being able to beat last years time. As I got to the finish shute I was within seconds of beating my time. I began to sprint, and just gave it all I had to the finish. I couldn't see the clock as I finished, but figured it must have been close.
After getting a shower, some food and a beer, I went over to get my medal engraved. When I got it back I looked long and hard at the time. It seemed very familiar. I got my phone out of my bag and looked up my time from last year. Here is what I found:
IM Frankfurt 2013: 11:23:38
IM Frankfurt 2014: 11:23:38
I'll be going back next year to Frankfurt but first I'm doing IM W.Australia. I'll be doing some serious heat training for that one.
Will
