Last year around this time I was wondering whether I should sign up for Roth or not: thinking rationally I did not have enough free time to train properly for it, but on the other hand I really wanted to do an ironman/long distance tri, and Roth seemed like a really cool race. I ended signing up, and I am really glad I did.
Race preparation:
in the two previous years I had done three ironman 70.3, but the thought of going the full distance gave me a mix of fear/respect, so I decided that I should do enough volume in training, and aim for at least 12 hours per week. I took it easy until Christmas, being active but without tracking my training or a real training plan, and from then I did the three TrainerRoad Full Distance medium volume plans (base, build and specialty). However, life got a bit on the way and I had less time for training than I had planned, so basically I had to discard a few workouts each week during the whole training time. In the end I averaged 8h30 per week, including several weeks with less training and a few 12 hours weeks towards the end. In the first months I focused more in the interval workouts on the trainer to raise my FTP (got it up to 270W at 68kg, so almost 4W/kg) and increasing the running weekly mileage, and did less swimming. As the race came close I shifted the focus towards long steady rides in aero position, long runs and some 3 hour bricks, and started swimming more (these were the higher volume weeks). Because I live in Munich, which is a 1h20 drive, I was able to ride the course a couple of times during training, including the the full course at slightly below race-pace once. For TrainingPeaks users, my CTL peaked at 94 TSS/day before the taper. I did a two week taper, and the first week I felt like shit but as race day came close I started feeling great. At race day, my CTL was 80 and my TSB 25, and I felt ready for racing.
Race weekend:
incredible atmosphere, does not compare to any other endurance event I had visited. The whole town was involved, lots of activities during the weekend, big expo and all the pros were around. I met a few pros, including Ryf, who, when I met her, was spending time with the fans, taking pictures and chatting with everyone (I mention Ryf specifically because of the Yvonne van Vlerken complaint). The day before the race I had dinner at 7:30 and went to bed at 9pm. I was a bit nervous but managed to get a good few hours of sleep before waking up at 3:30. On race morning everything went smoothly, no last minute issues or stress, and when I realized I was already at the starting line.
Swim: 01:09:54
I intended to swim around 1h07, as I had done that in open water training and the pace felt comfortable, but in the end I was slightly slower. I was happy about it though, as I felt really comfortable and strong during the whole swim, and felt good at T1. I found the rolling start good, since it was possible to swim comfortably from the beginning. Sighting was easy but the water was quite dark, so it was difficult to see below the water (e.g., looking for feet). I managed to get the feet of a guy that seemed to swim a steady pace and quite straight and swam behind him most of the swim leg. As we overtook slower swimmers from previous waves we had to deviate a bit rather than swimming straight, but it wasn't that much (I swam 3900m according to my Garmin, so extra 100m).
T1: 2:49
Did the T1 relaxed but trying to loose the least amount of time possible.
Bike: 5:18:14, 178.6km, 1590m elev. gain, 175W AP, 186 W NP, 33.7 km/h
I planned to ride on 180W AP/189W NP, which according to BestBikeSplit would give me a 5h23 bike split, and the power seemed conservative according to my training rides. I had good legs from the beginning, but the heart rate slightly high. I took the first km slightly easier until the heart rate came to normal values and then got my power up to my target. I had a great time during the ride, feeling well the whole time and passing quite a lot of people. I had pre-ridden the course so I knew where the climbs and descents were, and that was a psychological help. Because we would have 30° Celsius during the run, I drank as much water as possible. I had liquid nutrition, with all my calories in a single bottle. Because I had experienced problems during training when taking too much calories, I decided to err on the lower side just in case, and took 60gr. carbs per hour. I was quite scared of having a problem with my nutrition, as I had not been able to properly adjust it. At a few points I felt a bit bloated, and backed off power slightly and waited a bit before taking more calories. When I realized I was already coming to the end of the second lap, with the power on target, 34km/h average and without having had any specially difficult moment. I did some quick math and saw that I was going to go below 5:20, and that a sub 3:30 marathon would make me go sub 10. I was still feeling great, but decided to ease up the last 10-15km to set everything up for a good run and make sure to go sub-10. I stopped pedaling on the descents, stretched my legs, and tried to hold my speed applying the least amount of power possible. My speed and power came down a bit, but I think that was a smart choice.
By the way, Solarer Berg, was as just as crazy as everyone says, could not help but smile the whole time and had to watch my Garmin, as I was pushing much harder than I should!
T2: 2:03
The helpers were great, they took my bike, gave me my bag and put me sun cream (which I had forgotten). I tied my shoes and off I went for the run, still feeling great.
Run: I guess not everything could have gone perfect at my first try, so I bonked here. 3:46:57, 41.7km according to my Garmin, with 230m elev. gain (this year was a new run course, much hillier).
I started running and had good legs, I ran the first km in 4:30 min even though I was reminding me to take it easy, as I just needed to run just below 5min/km pace to go sub-10 (which should be easy, as running was my strongest discipline). Not much later my stomach complained a bit when I tried to eat something. I decided to slow-down a couple of km to try to avoid having any GI issues, and pick-up the pace later. Around km 4 or 5, I was feeling better and started winning back the lost time (which wasn't that much), and was soon again on track back to sub-10. Whenever I tried to eat something my stomach complained again, so I ate just enough to keep going while avoiding bad GI issues. By km 10 I realized that I should let go the sub-10 goal (I was still on pace) and be smart, as I had taken just 60gr. carbs/hour on the bike and was taking almost none on the run, and I had still over 30km to go. From there I was on damage control, swallowing my pride and trying to be smart, to loose the least amount of time possible while making sure I did not break down and have to walk the later part of the marathon. The course seemed hard, but there was a lot of spectators and support, and lots of aid stations, so that helped. I was able to run all the time outside of walking every aid station, and could see that I would finish without issues. The km markers seemed accurate until a certain point towards the end, when my garmin started to read shorter (I write this openly, as many people ask always about short courses, and this course was new, but take in mind that this is N=1, and several parts were through forest, where the GPS accuracy was surely not that great). I kept thinking on the present and making progress, and the km kept going by, and it was clear that I was going to finish relatively ok. Towards the end I noticed that I could finish below 10h20 and upped the pace in the last 2km.
Total time: 10:19:55, 431 overall from approx. 3500 individual starters. 42 out of 132 finishers in my AG (25-29).
After race: After getting the medal and finisher T-shirt I sat down, and then had a bad moment when I felt myself quite weak (much worse than while running). I had ran most of the marathon basically without eating, and I knew I needed to eat something, but at the same time my stomach felt "closed" and eating was the last thing I wanted to do. After 20-30 minutes I was able to get up and walk to the tent with the food, I drank some liquid yogurt and ate a piece of cake, and after that I started to feel better. Then I got a massage and a shower, and ate pasta and was feeling fit again, but I got a bit scared during those low minutes after the finish.
Overall I am happy with the result, as I knew before the race that I had not done the training for going sub-10, and that I could only aspire to it with a perfect race. I am slightly disappointed with my marathon, since I had good legs and if it weren't for the nutrition I feel I could have run much faster, but at the same time I think I managed the problems well and made smart decisions, and also gained experience, so quite positive for my first race. I enjoyed the race and felt strong until the marathon, which was a positive surprise, as even though I felt good and fit during training, I was a bit scared due to the lowish training volume. Next year I will probably focus on half distance again as I think I enjoy it more and it requires less time, plus I want to get faster before going long again. But I definitely plan to do Roth again sometime, and I really recommend it!
I don't usually write here, but I typically read the forum, and I really learned a lot doing it, without the knowledge I got from slowtwitch my race would probably had gone worse. So thanks! If any of you has any questions about Roth just ask, and I would answer them as best as I can.
Race preparation:
in the two previous years I had done three ironman 70.3, but the thought of going the full distance gave me a mix of fear/respect, so I decided that I should do enough volume in training, and aim for at least 12 hours per week. I took it easy until Christmas, being active but without tracking my training or a real training plan, and from then I did the three TrainerRoad Full Distance medium volume plans (base, build and specialty). However, life got a bit on the way and I had less time for training than I had planned, so basically I had to discard a few workouts each week during the whole training time. In the end I averaged 8h30 per week, including several weeks with less training and a few 12 hours weeks towards the end. In the first months I focused more in the interval workouts on the trainer to raise my FTP (got it up to 270W at 68kg, so almost 4W/kg) and increasing the running weekly mileage, and did less swimming. As the race came close I shifted the focus towards long steady rides in aero position, long runs and some 3 hour bricks, and started swimming more (these were the higher volume weeks). Because I live in Munich, which is a 1h20 drive, I was able to ride the course a couple of times during training, including the the full course at slightly below race-pace once. For TrainingPeaks users, my CTL peaked at 94 TSS/day before the taper. I did a two week taper, and the first week I felt like shit but as race day came close I started feeling great. At race day, my CTL was 80 and my TSB 25, and I felt ready for racing.
Race weekend:
incredible atmosphere, does not compare to any other endurance event I had visited. The whole town was involved, lots of activities during the weekend, big expo and all the pros were around. I met a few pros, including Ryf, who, when I met her, was spending time with the fans, taking pictures and chatting with everyone (I mention Ryf specifically because of the Yvonne van Vlerken complaint). The day before the race I had dinner at 7:30 and went to bed at 9pm. I was a bit nervous but managed to get a good few hours of sleep before waking up at 3:30. On race morning everything went smoothly, no last minute issues or stress, and when I realized I was already at the starting line.
Swim: 01:09:54
I intended to swim around 1h07, as I had done that in open water training and the pace felt comfortable, but in the end I was slightly slower. I was happy about it though, as I felt really comfortable and strong during the whole swim, and felt good at T1. I found the rolling start good, since it was possible to swim comfortably from the beginning. Sighting was easy but the water was quite dark, so it was difficult to see below the water (e.g., looking for feet). I managed to get the feet of a guy that seemed to swim a steady pace and quite straight and swam behind him most of the swim leg. As we overtook slower swimmers from previous waves we had to deviate a bit rather than swimming straight, but it wasn't that much (I swam 3900m according to my Garmin, so extra 100m).
T1: 2:49
Did the T1 relaxed but trying to loose the least amount of time possible.
Bike: 5:18:14, 178.6km, 1590m elev. gain, 175W AP, 186 W NP, 33.7 km/h
I planned to ride on 180W AP/189W NP, which according to BestBikeSplit would give me a 5h23 bike split, and the power seemed conservative according to my training rides. I had good legs from the beginning, but the heart rate slightly high. I took the first km slightly easier until the heart rate came to normal values and then got my power up to my target. I had a great time during the ride, feeling well the whole time and passing quite a lot of people. I had pre-ridden the course so I knew where the climbs and descents were, and that was a psychological help. Because we would have 30° Celsius during the run, I drank as much water as possible. I had liquid nutrition, with all my calories in a single bottle. Because I had experienced problems during training when taking too much calories, I decided to err on the lower side just in case, and took 60gr. carbs per hour. I was quite scared of having a problem with my nutrition, as I had not been able to properly adjust it. At a few points I felt a bit bloated, and backed off power slightly and waited a bit before taking more calories. When I realized I was already coming to the end of the second lap, with the power on target, 34km/h average and without having had any specially difficult moment. I did some quick math and saw that I was going to go below 5:20, and that a sub 3:30 marathon would make me go sub 10. I was still feeling great, but decided to ease up the last 10-15km to set everything up for a good run and make sure to go sub-10. I stopped pedaling on the descents, stretched my legs, and tried to hold my speed applying the least amount of power possible. My speed and power came down a bit, but I think that was a smart choice.
By the way, Solarer Berg, was as just as crazy as everyone says, could not help but smile the whole time and had to watch my Garmin, as I was pushing much harder than I should!
T2: 2:03
The helpers were great, they took my bike, gave me my bag and put me sun cream (which I had forgotten). I tied my shoes and off I went for the run, still feeling great.
Run: I guess not everything could have gone perfect at my first try, so I bonked here. 3:46:57, 41.7km according to my Garmin, with 230m elev. gain (this year was a new run course, much hillier).
I started running and had good legs, I ran the first km in 4:30 min even though I was reminding me to take it easy, as I just needed to run just below 5min/km pace to go sub-10 (which should be easy, as running was my strongest discipline). Not much later my stomach complained a bit when I tried to eat something. I decided to slow-down a couple of km to try to avoid having any GI issues, and pick-up the pace later. Around km 4 or 5, I was feeling better and started winning back the lost time (which wasn't that much), and was soon again on track back to sub-10. Whenever I tried to eat something my stomach complained again, so I ate just enough to keep going while avoiding bad GI issues. By km 10 I realized that I should let go the sub-10 goal (I was still on pace) and be smart, as I had taken just 60gr. carbs/hour on the bike and was taking almost none on the run, and I had still over 30km to go. From there I was on damage control, swallowing my pride and trying to be smart, to loose the least amount of time possible while making sure I did not break down and have to walk the later part of the marathon. The course seemed hard, but there was a lot of spectators and support, and lots of aid stations, so that helped. I was able to run all the time outside of walking every aid station, and could see that I would finish without issues. The km markers seemed accurate until a certain point towards the end, when my garmin started to read shorter (I write this openly, as many people ask always about short courses, and this course was new, but take in mind that this is N=1, and several parts were through forest, where the GPS accuracy was surely not that great). I kept thinking on the present and making progress, and the km kept going by, and it was clear that I was going to finish relatively ok. Towards the end I noticed that I could finish below 10h20 and upped the pace in the last 2km.
Total time: 10:19:55, 431 overall from approx. 3500 individual starters. 42 out of 132 finishers in my AG (25-29).
After race: After getting the medal and finisher T-shirt I sat down, and then had a bad moment when I felt myself quite weak (much worse than while running). I had ran most of the marathon basically without eating, and I knew I needed to eat something, but at the same time my stomach felt "closed" and eating was the last thing I wanted to do. After 20-30 minutes I was able to get up and walk to the tent with the food, I drank some liquid yogurt and ate a piece of cake, and after that I started to feel better. Then I got a massage and a shower, and ate pasta and was feeling fit again, but I got a bit scared during those low minutes after the finish.
Overall I am happy with the result, as I knew before the race that I had not done the training for going sub-10, and that I could only aspire to it with a perfect race. I am slightly disappointed with my marathon, since I had good legs and if it weren't for the nutrition I feel I could have run much faster, but at the same time I think I managed the problems well and made smart decisions, and also gained experience, so quite positive for my first race. I enjoyed the race and felt strong until the marathon, which was a positive surprise, as even though I felt good and fit during training, I was a bit scared due to the lowish training volume. Next year I will probably focus on half distance again as I think I enjoy it more and it requires less time, plus I want to get faster before going long again. But I definitely plan to do Roth again sometime, and I really recommend it!
I don't usually write here, but I typically read the forum, and I really learned a lot doing it, without the knowledge I got from slowtwitch my race would probably had gone worse. So thanks! If any of you has any questions about Roth just ask, and I would answer them as best as I can.