christianlee wrote:
Just got the email that I was accepted for SwissMan 2022. So stoked...I've been trying to get in for years.
Now the reality setting-in...how to prepare. I've done one IM (Tremblant 2018) and CanadaMan twice (2019, 2021), but SwissMan is going to be very different. Those SUPER long climbs vs CanadaMan's neverending punchy 18% climbs. I've done the Jungfrau Marathon before, so I don't think the run will surprise me.
I'm not exactly a lightweight, either...will have to skip the turkey this Christmas. 😬
Any advice??
First, congratulations. Swissman is by far my best triathlon experience, mainly because you are doing it together with family and/or friends. So enjoy the planning with your team. Also worth to pay some attention to that, eating, clothing etc. It is a longer day than normal, for me about 4-4.5h longer than normal IM.
Bike is great, long climbs, but not extremely steep, typical alpine main pass roads, 6-8%, max maybe 10% or so. The first one, Gotthard, is cobbled, so grade could be effectively a bit steeper, but it is just such an awesome climb, you wont notice, just enjoy!
As reference, I rode with my IM power and ended up about 2h45min longer than my typical IM bike leg. I would ride road-bike everytime, just much more enjoyable for proper climbing and descending, for me at least. Note, descends are fast, long and have very deep ditches :) . In the end, the time doesnt really matter, unless you're trying to win it.
Run you know. I had my wife on a mountain bike carrying food and liquids up to Grindelwald, it was great fun doing it together. Although, it is a long and tough day for the support as well and at the beginnng of the run it is very steep, so she was actually really struggling with energy to keep up. Same towards the end. So should not be underestimated.
Also the final climb from Grindelwald is very steep (Jungfrau marathon goes from Wengen side?) especially at the beginning, but you're almost done, so it is enjoyable as well. I had paced the race well and I think I passed about 10-15 people on the final climb (9k or so).
Good luck, it will be great!