It doesn’t take long before one gets to the week leading up to a race and you wonder what has happened to all those weeks of training. You start worrying if you have done enough and feel like you need to do some more training in at the last minute. Fortunately I am lucky enough to have a very supportive and understanding partner. She always encouraged me when I was lacking in motivation and she also provided me with reassurance when I worried about a missed session. So a big thank you to my gorgeous girlfriend. Good luck for your race in Zurich! I know you will do great!!!
There was a large group of us travelling to St. Polten and being the bank holiday there were quite a few other athletes heading over to Austria. We arrived at the airport and got an airport bus to Vienna and then caught a train straight to St. Polten. I must say that everything was like clock work and we were in St. Polten before we knew it. I would highly recommend travelling with a proper bike box though (www.bikebolxalan.co.uk) as this will make your journey so much easier.
Arriving in St. Polten we noticed a few ironman flags on the street lamps and this was a good sign that we had made it to the right place. We managed to find our hotel without too much hassle and checked in and unpacked. The race venue itself was just outside of town so we decided to take the bikes for a spin and head to the expo to register and pick up our race packs. The expo had the usual shops selling all sorts of tri gear and stands displaying bikes and nutrition etc. We headed back to town and headed out for an early dinner.
Saturday we had to check our bikes in along with our bike and run bags so that meant being organised and making sure you have packed all the right things in the right bags. We cycled down to the race venue and went about checking our various bags in. For any beginner reading this I would recommend tying something (ribbon, string or something visible) to your transition bags as this way when you approach the bag rack you will be able to identify your bag a lot easier amongst the thousands of other bags. The bags are numbered though and they are placed in numerical order but there are still quite a few bags on one rack and you can easily grab the wrong one.
After check in we headed over to the lake and had a bit of down time before the race briefing and pasta party started. We wondered over to the events tent and once we got inside were shocked to see the place packed. There were athletes having to stand as they didn’t have enough seating for the 2400 athletes along with there partners and friends. We luckily found some seating even though it was a squeeze and tried to listen to some of the briefing. People started queuing for the food as there were quite a few hungry athletes and once they had finished the briefing there was a mad rush to get in a queue for some food. I had requested a separate meal as I didn’t want to eat any gluten the night before so was lucky to avoid the queues. We all decided to eat up and head back to the hotel as the pasta party was just becoming a waste of time and energy.
I arrived back at my hotel and decided to get all my stuff ready so that I can get an early night. Unfortunately, due to race nerves I was struggling to fall asleep and although I tried reading and listening to music I was still wide awake and with a four am alarm waiting to go off I needed to sleep.
The alarm went off at four am and I was glad to finally get up after a restless night. I had some breakfast and started getting my race kit on. I had a look out the window and saw it was overcast and rather chilly. Perhaps the weather had turned after it had been very warm and sunny and we were in for a rainy day. We had a taxi booked and we all made it over to the race venue with the exception of our taxi driver who was reliving her racing dreams and was determined to get us there in the quickest time possible.
I headed over to my bike to rack my bottles that I had made up in the morning and saw Chris McCormack checking his bike. I knew that will be the last time I see him as once the pros start then they are off and finished within four hours. I checked my tires and made sure they had the correct tyre pressure and then after some deliberation I decided to clip my tri shoes into my pedals which meant I had one thing less to worry about at transition and I could also jog barefoot to my bicycle rather than in my bike shoes.
With the time edging closer to the start we walk over to the swim start and started getting ready. This was the first time I was swimming in my new wetsuit and was a bit nervous at it now being comfortable. NB! Make sure you are comfortable in your wetsuit before a big race… I got my wetsuit on without any fuss and went for a quick warm up swim. Once I was in the water I was rather surprised at the buoyancy and comfort and felt happy about the swim.
The race was about to start with the pros heading off first and then the various age groups starting in separate waves. We watched the pros head off and made our way to the swim start. I got myself into a comfortable position and before we knew it, it was 7:15 and we were off. At first there was a bit of pushing and shoving but after the first turn the rest of the swim was rather peaceful as starting in a wave meant the groups were smaller and you could position yourself out of harms way.
We had a 200 meter run between the two lakes and this was surprisingly a nice break and got the blood flowing away from the arms and by the time I started swimming my second leg I felt rather fresh. There were a few people from the previous wave that we had to swim pass and after the last turn could see the swim finish. I exited with a 34 minute swim which I was very pleased with considering the amount of training I had done.
It was a short jog towards T1 and I got my bike bag and headed for the changing tent. My transition was very easy and I had my bike gear on and was on the bike course in 3:31.
The bike course was relatively flat with the exception of two climbs with the first being 20km’s in and the second at 60km’s. You head off on the high way with a slight head wind. I maintained and high cadence and kept an easy pace as I was trying to get my heart rate into a comfortable zone. There were a few people who thought otherwise and were hammering down the high way trying to catch the leaders. The first climb was a nice break to the flat and also gave you the chance to take in some beautiful scenery. The decent was quite fierce and one of the corners took a few casualties. We are on the next part of the course which was mostly flat with a few rolling parts but you could get up to a decent pace without too much effort. Not before long we turned left and started up the 8km climb which had a maximum gradient of 17%. I seemed to pass a few people with aero bikes and disc wheels as this climb was causing some pain for those who had not done much hill training. Once we got to the top it was an easy descent to the bottom and then we had about 15km’s to the finish. I finished my bike leg in a comfortable 2:51:23
We approached T2 rather quickly and I just remembered to take my feet out of my shoes rather than unclipping. I racked my bike and headed towards the run bags. I managed to change and head for the run start in 2:07.
I felt fine at the start of the run although I had a stitch to deal with and was hoping it wasn’t going to cause me any problems later on. I kept my pace steady and found a nice rhythm that I settled into making sure I kept some energy for the second lap. My hay fever started getting the better of me as the run course was amongst loads of trees and flowers. One of the highlights of the run was the mini stadium we had to run through. It was full of atmosphere with spectators cheering you and loud music to give you a boost. The second lap went much quicker and I was able to pick up the pace. With 3km’s to go I could hear the announcements of people finishing and decided to pick up the pace once again. I felt strong and with the last turn into the stadium I sprinted to the finish and managed to finish in 1:46:44.
I was really happy with my race and felt that by pacing myself properly I set myself up for a comfortable and strong finish. I did personal bests in all three disciplines even though it was only my second half ironman. This race also gave me an idea of were my fitness was at for my upcoming ironman in Germany in six weeks.
I headed to the athletes area and got some food, a shower and a much deserved massage which I would recommend to everyone. With another race in the books I now am focusing on the next race which I am really looking forward to. I can certainly recommend to anyone wanting to do a triathlon that they must do at least a half ironman as with the right training is very achievable.
See you in Frankfurt!