Thor Beach Triathlon is an extreme triathlon in a country without high mountains like the Norseman i Norway or the Inferno in Switzerland. The race is held in the western part of Denmark - the whole course is exposed to strong winds (and this year also the heat).
They offer 3 distances - 1/4, 1/2 and 1/1 distance. The swimming is in the North Sea (with either waves or strong current), the bike is flat around an inlet (with strong wind from the sea and no protection against it) and the run is on the soft beach (fighting the sand and the wind - after 26 km you have to climb over the dune with 50 meters of elevation and a rope to help).
My swim ended at around 4.500 meters because of the current, the bike was 188 km and the run was 42,6 km - no need to worry about too short courses. ITU worlds was cancelled this year and I decided to upgrade from 1/4 to the 1/1 distance - testing myself against the nature in this unusual year.
Short summary:
The swim was hard with a strong current around the first buoy (1st out of the water in 1.06), the bike got really hot after 120k slowing me down (1st off the bike averaging 39,4 km/hr) and the last 21k of the run was brutal (finishing in 3rd place after a long 4 hour 26 minutes run). Finishing the race in 10 hours and 29 minutes - really really happy, as I hit my goaltime, but the conditions were much worse than expected. My legs were trashed the day after the race, but not totally destroyed like after a run on asphalt - only soreness, no "bad" pain.
Longer summary:
My goal for the "race" was not to race the others, but to race myself and finish between 10 hours 30 minutes and 11 hours (depending on the conditions). The event is only 40 minutes away from my home and the bike course is one of my favourite training rides. Two years ago I swam and biked in a relay with my dad and last year I raced the 1/4 distance. This would be my second full distance race, my first was last year in Roth - with an epic meltdown on the run and a 9 hours 39 minutes finishing time.
The Swim:
I knew that I would be one of the faster swimmers in the field and I lined up at the front for the first wave. I knew my friend was on a relay team and that he would swim faster than me, but it was nice to know that I needed to let him go right from the gun and not overpace myself. The swim is 4 laps with a short run on the beach after each lap. Swimming toward the first run after 300 meters, I had a feeling that the buoy was moving to the left and away from me, because I wasn't getting any closer to the buoy. Turns out the current was really fast and against us, because some guy forgot to close the dam from the inlet we had to bike around. It was like swimming in an endless pool, not getting closer to the turn and I had to sprint all out to just get to the buoy - that was early to burn a match, but necessary to finish the race. Only my relay friend and myself got around the turn in the first try and most of the field had to swim in the same spot and wait for the dam to get closed. It was strange to get back to shore and look back and see nobody behind me. I really swam as slow as possible, saving energy for the next time at the buoy - not knowing if the current would be as strong as the first lap. It got better and I spend the rest of the swim focusing on long strokes and get as much lactate out of my blood as possible after my sprint. I finished the swim in 1 hour and 6 minutes and with a long T1 - I was on the bike after 1 hour and 14 minutes. Turn out I had a big gap to the later 1st and 2nd place - both upcoming pros, but I didn't knew at the time. From other I can see that the swim was between 4500 and 4900 meters because the first lap pushed us so far out of the course after the crazy turn.
The Bike:
3 laps of 62.6 km - 1st lap was fast with almost no wind, 2nd lap was with a bit more wind and the 3rd lap was slowest with heat building and stronger winds. My only goal was to get calories in, stay aero and not push too hard. First time ever that I managed to dial down my power, stay calm, patient and dial down my power even more when the heat was starting to hurt. I pushed 230 w avg averaging 39.4 km/hr - not bad riding alone and being 194 cm and 81 kg. I was waiting for the two guys to blast by me, but I didn't see them on the bike - and before the race I told my family and friends to not give me too many splits. As mentioned I wanted to race myself and not make a bad decision based on the others - I knew the run would be LONG! The nicest thing was that I was able to hold my position was the whole ride and a massive PB - when comparing power to speed. I had 360 grams of carbohydrate from Maurten Drink Mix 320 and 120 grams of carbohydrate from Maurten Gels and 400 mg of caffein on the bike - my ridetime was 4.46 for the 188 km and I exited T2 after 6 hours and 3 minutes.
The loooong Run:
I knew I had to stick to my plan - start slow and try not to slow down too much. Being a heavy runner - I knew the run on the beach would not be in my favour and I knew I had 4 hours and 27 minutes to finish under 10.30 ! In T2 I changed from trisuit to running clothes and I took my trail pack for nutrition, mainly because of the heat. The first 12 km was "okay" and I ran right at the water edge - and yes, my shoes was soaked after 3 km, but no blisters at all (which was my biggest concern before the event). After 12 km the beach and dunes got worse and worse, after 21 km we had a headwind for the rest of the day. Biggest highlight was "The Climb" after 26 km - 50 meters of elevation and only a rope to help, but it was the first time that day to see my son. That gave me some spirit for the last part of the run - but the last 12 km was still very very tough. But I didn't do a epic meltdown like last year in Roth - the pace just got slower and slower. I finished in 4 hours and 26 minutes - just in time for a 10 hours and 29 minutes finish.
Beating my goaltime, but the course was slower than expected - and I really did way better than what I expected before the race. Really really happy with my performance - and I was a great confidence booster for my sub9 goal for 2021. I was 39 minutes from the 1st and 2nd place, they really did great on the run - with a 3.30 and 3.44 run split - beating all the run splits of the relays. IMPRESSIVE! Great job to Jesper and Jesper.
Thank you for reading my report and if this sounded like a fun day - check it out on http://www.thorbeachtriathlon.com
If you're planning it for 2021, please send me a DM - and I'll guide you with accommodations etc.
All questions are welcome.
All photos by: barfodstossen
---
Long Distance PB: 8:25
Instagram: larsschmidttri
They offer 3 distances - 1/4, 1/2 and 1/1 distance. The swimming is in the North Sea (with either waves or strong current), the bike is flat around an inlet (with strong wind from the sea and no protection against it) and the run is on the soft beach (fighting the sand and the wind - after 26 km you have to climb over the dune with 50 meters of elevation and a rope to help).
My swim ended at around 4.500 meters because of the current, the bike was 188 km and the run was 42,6 km - no need to worry about too short courses. ITU worlds was cancelled this year and I decided to upgrade from 1/4 to the 1/1 distance - testing myself against the nature in this unusual year.
Short summary:
The swim was hard with a strong current around the first buoy (1st out of the water in 1.06), the bike got really hot after 120k slowing me down (1st off the bike averaging 39,4 km/hr) and the last 21k of the run was brutal (finishing in 3rd place after a long 4 hour 26 minutes run). Finishing the race in 10 hours and 29 minutes - really really happy, as I hit my goaltime, but the conditions were much worse than expected. My legs were trashed the day after the race, but not totally destroyed like after a run on asphalt - only soreness, no "bad" pain.
Longer summary:
My goal for the "race" was not to race the others, but to race myself and finish between 10 hours 30 minutes and 11 hours (depending on the conditions). The event is only 40 minutes away from my home and the bike course is one of my favourite training rides. Two years ago I swam and biked in a relay with my dad and last year I raced the 1/4 distance. This would be my second full distance race, my first was last year in Roth - with an epic meltdown on the run and a 9 hours 39 minutes finishing time.
The Swim:
I knew that I would be one of the faster swimmers in the field and I lined up at the front for the first wave. I knew my friend was on a relay team and that he would swim faster than me, but it was nice to know that I needed to let him go right from the gun and not overpace myself. The swim is 4 laps with a short run on the beach after each lap. Swimming toward the first run after 300 meters, I had a feeling that the buoy was moving to the left and away from me, because I wasn't getting any closer to the buoy. Turns out the current was really fast and against us, because some guy forgot to close the dam from the inlet we had to bike around. It was like swimming in an endless pool, not getting closer to the turn and I had to sprint all out to just get to the buoy - that was early to burn a match, but necessary to finish the race. Only my relay friend and myself got around the turn in the first try and most of the field had to swim in the same spot and wait for the dam to get closed. It was strange to get back to shore and look back and see nobody behind me. I really swam as slow as possible, saving energy for the next time at the buoy - not knowing if the current would be as strong as the first lap. It got better and I spend the rest of the swim focusing on long strokes and get as much lactate out of my blood as possible after my sprint. I finished the swim in 1 hour and 6 minutes and with a long T1 - I was on the bike after 1 hour and 14 minutes. Turn out I had a big gap to the later 1st and 2nd place - both upcoming pros, but I didn't knew at the time. From other I can see that the swim was between 4500 and 4900 meters because the first lap pushed us so far out of the course after the crazy turn.
The Bike:
3 laps of 62.6 km - 1st lap was fast with almost no wind, 2nd lap was with a bit more wind and the 3rd lap was slowest with heat building and stronger winds. My only goal was to get calories in, stay aero and not push too hard. First time ever that I managed to dial down my power, stay calm, patient and dial down my power even more when the heat was starting to hurt. I pushed 230 w avg averaging 39.4 km/hr - not bad riding alone and being 194 cm and 81 kg. I was waiting for the two guys to blast by me, but I didn't see them on the bike - and before the race I told my family and friends to not give me too many splits. As mentioned I wanted to race myself and not make a bad decision based on the others - I knew the run would be LONG! The nicest thing was that I was able to hold my position was the whole ride and a massive PB - when comparing power to speed. I had 360 grams of carbohydrate from Maurten Drink Mix 320 and 120 grams of carbohydrate from Maurten Gels and 400 mg of caffein on the bike - my ridetime was 4.46 for the 188 km and I exited T2 after 6 hours and 3 minutes.
The loooong Run:
I knew I had to stick to my plan - start slow and try not to slow down too much. Being a heavy runner - I knew the run on the beach would not be in my favour and I knew I had 4 hours and 27 minutes to finish under 10.30 ! In T2 I changed from trisuit to running clothes and I took my trail pack for nutrition, mainly because of the heat. The first 12 km was "okay" and I ran right at the water edge - and yes, my shoes was soaked after 3 km, but no blisters at all (which was my biggest concern before the event). After 12 km the beach and dunes got worse and worse, after 21 km we had a headwind for the rest of the day. Biggest highlight was "The Climb" after 26 km - 50 meters of elevation and only a rope to help, but it was the first time that day to see my son. That gave me some spirit for the last part of the run - but the last 12 km was still very very tough. But I didn't do a epic meltdown like last year in Roth - the pace just got slower and slower. I finished in 4 hours and 26 minutes - just in time for a 10 hours and 29 minutes finish.
Beating my goaltime, but the course was slower than expected - and I really did way better than what I expected before the race. Really really happy with my performance - and I was a great confidence booster for my sub9 goal for 2021. I was 39 minutes from the 1st and 2nd place, they really did great on the run - with a 3.30 and 3.44 run split - beating all the run splits of the relays. IMPRESSIVE! Great job to Jesper and Jesper.
Thank you for reading my report and if this sounded like a fun day - check it out on http://www.thorbeachtriathlon.com
If you're planning it for 2021, please send me a DM - and I'll guide you with accommodations etc.
All questions are welcome.
All photos by: barfodstossen
---
Long Distance PB: 8:25
Instagram: larsschmidttri