It's been a few days since I crossed the finishline at Challenge Penticton on Sunday and I needed these few days to think about the race what was good and what went wrong. I have to say not many things went really wrong but most things were just not 100% prefect- and when it went wrong it was really bad!
The days leading up to the race were great. The training went smooth and we had fun at our homestay. Jenn and I stayed with Kelly Hopkins, who is the marketing manager of the race and with her stayed also Simon Cochran, a pro from NZL, who I met a few years ago in Denmark for the first time. We couldn't have more luck with this combination as it was so easy and relaxed but at the same time focused towards the race day.
The first big surprise happened at the race briefing on Thursday when they told us that the chances are really high that it would be a non wetsuit swim. In general a thing I don't mind but in this situation not ideal as I didn't have a speedsuit. The chances that you have a non wetsuit swim in Canada are very small so I never bothered my wetsuit partner HUUB to get a speedsuit. That changed with this announcement. I fired Deano, the HUUB CEO an email directly after the briefing and he forwarded me to Simon, the Canadian distributor. Simon was amazing and less than 24hrs after our first email could I hold the speedsuit in my hands as he overnight fedex'ed me a suit! THANK YOU FOR THIS AMAZING SERVICE!!!
The two days before the race were not really warm and it rained a bit so I was pretty sure that that this action around the speedsuit was for nothing- till 5:30am on race morning. Many of us were surprised when they announced that the pro race will really be a non wetsuit swim. That changed the tactics and the race directly. I knew I would not be able to swim with the former ITU guys but I thought I should be able to swim with the 2nd group while other guys would have to work much harder to stay in this group. I was right. Directly from the start was a group with 5 guys going, I assumed that 3 of them were the ITU guys + Symonds and a guy I didn't know who it was (later I knew it was my homstay roomy Simon, who couldn't hold the speed and swam most of the 4km alone). 4km? Yes, the swim at in Penticton is around 200m too long. It was always a waterstart when it was still IRONMAN but it is a beach start now while they still use the same spots for the buoys that's why the course is a bit longer. I was leading the 2nd group for about 400-500m and everybody in this group was resting on my feed enjoying my draft. I decided that I will not do all the work alone and basically stopped swimming to force the others to pass me. From there on I just sat on Chris Bagg's feet for the rest of the swim. It was a bit slower than I was hoping we would swim but I decided to safe energy and and stay in the group instead of trying to take my share of the work and make it faster.
I started the bike in 7th or 8th position and felt really good. I wanted to go slower for the first 100km than I did last year as I burned to many matches during the first 100km in 2013. I got passed by Nathan Champness, who rode the fasted time of the day. I stayed with him for a bit but realized that it would be too fast if I want to stick to my plan. Next I rode up to my roomy Simon and we rode together for the next 80km or so... Riding up Richters Pass we could see that a group of 3 guys was closing up on us and we decided to wait for them instead of trying to get away. Shortly after we were 5guys getting ready to hammer over the rollers, but there was not much of hammering. I was hoping we would go faster but at the same time was I happy that it felt so easy. We rode together and caught up to Josh Seifert who was first out of the water and were now a group of 6. Most of us took their turn in the lead and all of us were trying to ride as fair and clean (maintaining min. 12m distance) as possible. At the special needs Simoan and Matt attacked and I couldn't follow directly as I was too busy with my bag...they were gone... the other 4 of us maintained in our group and rode fair and still not really fast. Coming from the out and back back onto Hwy 97 we got slowed down in the turn for safety as the Hwy was open to the public too. Our group got for about 200m closer together than the legal 12m and shortly after the turn did 3 of our group get a 5min penalty. NO warning no nothing before for a situation that was kind of forced by the course and did not have any effects on the race... it is not worth it to start a discussion with the referee but I was mad!!! I rode up Yellow Lake as hard as I could just to make up some time and was about 2,5min ahead of the other two guys who also got a penalty- not that helped me at the end but it made me feel better in the moment :)!
I finished the bike in just over 5hrs (incl. the 5min penalty) and hit my goal to ride under 5hrs- technically.
I started the run, felt good and wanted to stay in my race. I didn't care if somebody passed me or not I just wanted to run to the best of my abilities. Everybody who is reading my blog on a regular base knows that I am battling with injuries for the last 2,5years and I could only run 4 runs over 1:30hrs this year in total. NOT enough!!! I knew I can run well just by staying focused and wanted to proof myself that I can run a race like this with the head-more than with the body. I did well and was mostly on pace until 25km into the run. At about 27km I started to throw up and I thought my body would shut down. I threw up 7 times between km 27 and 30 and this 3km took me about 45min in total. I wasn't able to take any liquid or food in for the last 12km but was determined to run this race home as good as I could. At the end I ran 40min slower than I wanted and 30 of this 40 minutes did I lose within this 3km. Frustrating but at the same time encouraging that I can really do it as long as my body cooperates. I had no idea who many people passed me during this 3km as I was too busy with myself but it looks like as if the women's race was super exciting and close as a bunch of them passed me and I didn't even notice/remember all of them passing me...
Again, I missed my goal for this race, but I had one hand on it and I know that after all the changes I made this year and the lack of running I had to deal with for most of the year I am moving in the right direction and it is just a question of time till I will complete the puzzle and put the last piece into it during a big race! I will keep on trying!
A very special moment for me was after my own race was when my girlfriend Jenn crossed the finishline! She is is my biggest supporter and help on a daily basis and I couldn't do all of this without her! She didn't race for 3years after a bad bike crash and it was great to be there and see her finish! I am very proud of you!
I will get another chance to do better in 9days when I will race the Esprit Triathlon in Montreal, an independent longdistance race in downtown Montreal. The course looks very special and I am excited about this different mental challenge!
Last but not least would I like to thank my partners who supported me again for this race Huub, energyLAB, FELT and Smith optics! I couldn't do it without your support!
Donnerstag, 28. August 2014
Montag, 11. August 2014
A triathlete gets sidetracked!
Hi everybody!
The last weeks have been really busy as usually! I trained a lot and did a few bike races which was great fun! When I would have to pick my favorite sport in triathlon it would be cycling so it's not really surprising that I enjoy pure bike racing as well! I raced 4 races in the last 2 weeks had a lot of fun while I gained some good fitness and learned a lot about the differences in triathlon and road racing! The biggest difference (beside the fact that you can draft) is the permanent speed change... For me as a triathlete it is the goal to sit on the bike and try to maintain the highest possible speed for the longest possible time without building too much lactate acid so that I am able to run afterwards. It's a totally different story in road racing. The speed wasn't the same for longer than 2 minutes in a row as there is always somebody who things it is good to go harder or to slow it down... This permanent speed change was really hard on my legs and during the first races of the season I cramped up badly towards the end of the races. I made some nutrition changes and worked on this short and fast attacks on the bike and I didn't cramp up once this entire last weekend.
The last weekend I participated in the Jason Lapierre memorial race which is a 3 day bike event. It starts with a individual time trail Friday evening and is followed by a criterium on Saturday evening. Before the race weekend comes to an end on Sunday with a road race. I don't want to go too much into the details of each race but to recap the weekend I can say the time trail and the road race were fun and I was lucky that I could win both races in my category and I really suck at racing criteriums. This is the kind of race where the speed changes and riding fast corners are really important and these are also things I really have to work on if I want to be able to place better in these races next year.
I expected to do well in the time trail as this is the kind of race that comes the closest to my usual races in a triathlon. That I would win the race with a 1:30min lead surprised me a bit-but I take it! As mentioned the criterium was an experience and I am happy that I didn't crash and that I wasn't last (but fairly close to be last)! My goal before the weekend was to try to upgrade into the next category within one weekend. That means that I had to win the TT and place at least second at one of the other two races- as I mentioned now a few times, the criterium wasn't the place to do that for me.
So all cards on the road race! I drove the course with the car before the race and was sure that it would fit my skills very good. No too steep climbs and the last 13km of the lap which we had to ride twice was flat or rolling. Just the finish, which was on the top of a hill and wasn't necessarily my ideal finish-line. I knew that there was one spot on the course where I should start an attack and riding the first lap of the race confirmed my plan so that I decided to attack after a downhill with 13km to go to see what happens. It was an "all or nothing strategy". I could motivate 2 other riders to go with me and we were able to build a gap fairly fast. I didn't notice directly that I dropped the other two going up over a roller but decided to keep the speed high instead of waiting for them. My gap got bigger and bigger and at around 3km before the finish I started to believe that I could really bring it home. I knew the final climb before the finish would take everything out of me and there was still a good chance that I blow up and get passed- I didn't! I was really happy and couldn't believe that I really won two of the three races and that my plan worked out so well! I enjoy bike racing and I enjoy working with a team. I am lucky to have a great group of riders in my club and we work very well together.
My bike season is over now and my focus is full on towards Challenge Penticton in less than two weeks. I will also ride my bike there, alone, 180km and I am really looking forward to this great event! Until than I still have a few hard days of training and I can't wait to do my last long run on Sunday before race week starts and the excitement raises!
I also would like to thank everybody who wrote me after this weekend to congratulate me. It is really nice to see and feel that people are happy for me, when I do well!
I will give you an update before the race!
cheers,
Elmar
The last weeks have been really busy as usually! I trained a lot and did a few bike races which was great fun! When I would have to pick my favorite sport in triathlon it would be cycling so it's not really surprising that I enjoy pure bike racing as well! I raced 4 races in the last 2 weeks had a lot of fun while I gained some good fitness and learned a lot about the differences in triathlon and road racing! The biggest difference (beside the fact that you can draft) is the permanent speed change... For me as a triathlete it is the goal to sit on the bike and try to maintain the highest possible speed for the longest possible time without building too much lactate acid so that I am able to run afterwards. It's a totally different story in road racing. The speed wasn't the same for longer than 2 minutes in a row as there is always somebody who things it is good to go harder or to slow it down... This permanent speed change was really hard on my legs and during the first races of the season I cramped up badly towards the end of the races. I made some nutrition changes and worked on this short and fast attacks on the bike and I didn't cramp up once this entire last weekend.
The last weekend I participated in the Jason Lapierre memorial race which is a 3 day bike event. It starts with a individual time trail Friday evening and is followed by a criterium on Saturday evening. Before the race weekend comes to an end on Sunday with a road race. I don't want to go too much into the details of each race but to recap the weekend I can say the time trail and the road race were fun and I was lucky that I could win both races in my category and I really suck at racing criteriums. This is the kind of race where the speed changes and riding fast corners are really important and these are also things I really have to work on if I want to be able to place better in these races next year.
I expected to do well in the time trail as this is the kind of race that comes the closest to my usual races in a triathlon. That I would win the race with a 1:30min lead surprised me a bit-but I take it! As mentioned the criterium was an experience and I am happy that I didn't crash and that I wasn't last (but fairly close to be last)! My goal before the weekend was to try to upgrade into the next category within one weekend. That means that I had to win the TT and place at least second at one of the other two races- as I mentioned now a few times, the criterium wasn't the place to do that for me.
So all cards on the road race! I drove the course with the car before the race and was sure that it would fit my skills very good. No too steep climbs and the last 13km of the lap which we had to ride twice was flat or rolling. Just the finish, which was on the top of a hill and wasn't necessarily my ideal finish-line. I knew that there was one spot on the course where I should start an attack and riding the first lap of the race confirmed my plan so that I decided to attack after a downhill with 13km to go to see what happens. It was an "all or nothing strategy". I could motivate 2 other riders to go with me and we were able to build a gap fairly fast. I didn't notice directly that I dropped the other two going up over a roller but decided to keep the speed high instead of waiting for them. My gap got bigger and bigger and at around 3km before the finish I started to believe that I could really bring it home. I knew the final climb before the finish would take everything out of me and there was still a good chance that I blow up and get passed- I didn't! I was really happy and couldn't believe that I really won two of the three races and that my plan worked out so well! I enjoy bike racing and I enjoy working with a team. I am lucky to have a great group of riders in my club and we work very well together.
My bike season is over now and my focus is full on towards Challenge Penticton in less than two weeks. I will also ride my bike there, alone, 180km and I am really looking forward to this great event! Until than I still have a few hard days of training and I can't wait to do my last long run on Sunday before race week starts and the excitement raises!
I also would like to thank everybody who wrote me after this weekend to congratulate me. It is really nice to see and feel that people are happy for me, when I do well!
I will give you an update before the race!
cheers,
Elmar
Abonnieren
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