World Champs

Two world championships in five weeks! First Kona and then Clearwater 70.3 less than two weeks ago. What a year!

Hawaii was simply an awesome experience: magical, heartbreaking, humbling and tough as hell. Clearwater was fast , furious, impressive, but stands no comparison to Hawaii.

The organization of both events was excellent. The best I’ve tried so far in each category (Ironman and 70.3), but that’s what you would expect; both are the world championships. Some may complain that the issue of drafting in Clearwater should be included in organization, but I'd rather categorize it under “race execution”.

The setting for the swim in Hawaii is spectacular, and swimming the course a few days before the race I could really appreciate the beautiful waters. However, on race day the swim was pure mayhem and all business. With the mass start format this is what you would expect. Except in Hawaii everyone is a great swimmer making it absolutely crazy. I was boxed in all the way and spent the time defending my personal space from start to finish. Remarkably I had a good swim time completing in just under 1:01.

For safety reasons the swim in Clearwater was moved to the harbour side. I was looking forward to battling the waves and was disappointed by this move although I appreciate the organizers concern for safety. Visibility was zero and I had the sun in my face all the way to the first turn making it difficult to sight and also causing me to swim slightly off course. Towards the end there was an acute smell of diesel in the air from the surrounding boats, add to that a general feeling of unease during the entire swim and it was not a pleasant experience. Time 0:30.

In Hawaii the bike starts with a section through town before the real action starts on the Queen K. I powered along the first 60 km without holding back. As a result, I was passing riders as I normally do in Ironman events and gradually working my way up the field. This was in retrospect a big mistake. As soon as we hit the climb to Hawi and the subsequent head and cross winds my legs where toast. All the distance I had made up on the first part was lost. On the final 10km stretch to the turnaround the serious head wind started and I could only manage a pitiful 25 km/h. After Hawi (the turnaround) my legs slowly returned with some initial speeding around 65 km/h towards the Queen K. Back on the Queen K, however, we were hit by another massive head wind. I have seldom had to dig as deep as I did during the last 2 hours. Bike split 5:19, much slower than I had expected.

The bike course in Clearwater is flat, fast and furious. My strategy in Clearwater was to ride the bike section like I would ride an Olympic distance event. After having ridden for about 50 km it became clear the organizers were not marshalling the course properly and allowing big groups of riders to form. At one stage I had to slow because I could not pass a large group of riders in a pack. Shouting at them for 20 seconds finally got them to let me through (barely). One of the pack riders even had to the audacity to scold me for shouting at him. F%$¤ idiot. Anyways, although I was careful not to draft, some drafting was simply unavoidable. The narrow stretches with cars passing on the right also contributed to a drafting effect and towards the end I must admit that I was not as careful as I normally would be simply because it was obvious the organizers had lost control. My final time was 2:08 with an average speed of more than 42 km/h (see here for more details, bike is short b/c I pressed the start button late).

The run in Hawaii was fairly uneventful affair. With my injured foot I did a combination of walking and running. A few days prior to the race I had tested my foot on Alii Drive and knew there was no way it could run the full marathon. My walk/run strategy actually worked remarkably well. Only after the first 10 km did my foot start to give me any trouble. By the end no matter what I did it was painful, but there was no way I was going to DNF. Reaching the final turn onto Alii Drive a mere 400 m from finish line the pain vanished. Finishing in Kona is unique. The crowds and surroundings are great, but there is simply something mythical and indefinable about the final few minutes and the realization that you have just retraced the steps of the many triathlon greats. You will know when you try for yourself. My final time: 10:54. I’ve gone faster, but I’m not disappointed, not at all. Getting to Hawaii is an accomplishment. Finishing the race is an experience for a lifetime.

Jumping off the bike in Clearwater my legs were trashed and I wasn’t sure I could run at all. However, by taking it easy in transition I gained my composure and started the run feeling fairly good. After initially trying to push the pace (i.e. close to 4 min per km) I had to slow down in part due to an upset stomach and in part lack of energy. Luckily some deep breathing solved my stomach issues but I couldn’t hold the pace and settled into a more comfortable pace around 4:30 min per km. The worst part of the run course was negotiating the incline on the bridge crossing. I had no spring in my legs to help me across. My final time: 4:19. A PB.

This weekend the triathlon season ends with the annual Olympic distance triathlon event here in Cayman. Bring on the off season!