Some thoughts on the race and my race experience from the BOP.
Background:
Signed up in the pre-Christmas December 2017 opening. Was already signed up for an IM in 2018, so took the deferment option and eventually deferred until 2019.
Third IM - gone from 13:37 to 12:57 in the last two. 24 week training programme, very consistent, increased swim and bike volume, but eased off on run training due to long-term chronic injury. Averaged 7-8 hours a week - peaked at 11 for one week, 10 another.
Logistics - not for the feint-hearted:
Flew in from HK with family on the Wednesday before the race, hired a car from Munich airport. Bit of jet lag, did not sleep well in the days before the race but was not too active. I’m a bit of a worrier, so if you’re similar, this race will put you through the the wringer. Booked an apartment in Pleinfeld - around 25 mins drive from both Roth (registration, expo, T2 and finish line) and Hipolstein (swim start and T1). Not ideal, but couldn’t find anywhere to stay closer to race venue. I did find a hotel in Roth for the Saturday and Sunday night, but couldn’t justify $400+ per night.
The week:
Test ride on Wednesday - rear derailleur was playing up.
Registered on Thursday morning, nice lunch in Roth. Tinkered with derailleur, test ride in the afternoon - still playing up.
Practice Swim on Friday morning. Found a local bike shop in the afternoon, no mechanic present, but told to return first thing Saturday.
Saturday morning - mechanic was there and fixed gears in 10mins - I have to get better at this! Bike check-in in Hipolstein from 11:30am, so went early - fairly smooth and because of the split transition, had to drop off Run bag only. First rookie mistake - Vaseline in Bike bag, so nothing in Run bag.
Athlete briefing was 3pm in Roth - supposedly mandatory, but wanted to rest so skipped it.
Race Day:
Advice was to get to Hipolstein early due to traffic and road closures, so family dropped me off at 5:30am, even though my start was not until 7:55am. That’s a long wait, and not helped by the rain which started just as I got to T1 and hung around most of the swim. Lots of hanging around in the cold, damp. Not a fun start. Pros started 6:30, saw them finish the swim and I still had 30mins before I started!
First nightmare:
Water temp was 24.4C so wetsuit swim for AG but not for Pros. 10 mins before my start, I decide to pull up my wetsuit. Guy behind me volunteers to help and pulls the bloody zip off! I take it off, can’t get it back on. I asked around, and the general consensus and comment was “you’re f***ed”. I ditch the wetsuit.
Swim
It’s a group start - around 200 each wave. Settled down but was eventually swam over by the only two individual waves following 5 and 10mins after me (relay started 9am). My first IM swim (wetsuit) was 1’32, but I trained hard and next one (also wetsuit) was 1’23. I trained even harder for this one so really felt I could go sub 1’20. Not sure what happened, but I was slow, slow, slow and came out at 1’34. Did not enjoy the swim - canal water felt heavy.
Bike:
Loved the bike course - lovely scenery and lots of support all the way through. Some hills in there, but lots of fast sections too. Solar was great first time through, but a bit flatter second time round. I don’t have a power meter but was aiming to keep my average at 30km/h which I did until 120km, but tired with the increasing wind and finished with a 6’11 bike split - fastest of my 3 IMs.
Run:
Great start through the town and I ran well until around 10km in the canal. Canal a bit tedious, but I’ve had worse run courses - at least it was flat and quite a lot of support. Did my usual IM Marathon tactic - shuffled for the next 20km, before picking it up for the last 10km. Garmin lost battery at 27km (11 hours), so the last 15km was run blind and I got a bit lazy. (Using a 735xt, which is supposed to last 14 hours - lasted the full 13 hours for my previous IM). Back into town - great support all the way through. 5:04 split which was a bit slow - I think I could have gone sub 5 if I had the Garmin.
Finish:
My family waiting for me and they allow family to run down the shute with you, so my (big) kids ran with me. Lovely end to a long day. 13 hours flat - could/should/would have gone faster with a wetsuit and Garmin, but who cares, a great event and family there with me.
Overall:
I’ll never KQ, so this was my Kona. It’s an amazing race, definitely one to do if you get the chance (get lucky). As I said though, I’m a worrier and the logistics kind of got to me. The support was great and one thing sticks in my mind - the bibs have your name in large letters and your home flag, so you get a lot of random shout outs throughout the day - mostly on the run of course. I’m hurting today, but lots of great memories and if this is my last IM, I’m happy with that.
Another issue with people on here lots and lots of time to devote to training. Not everyone is retired.