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Ironman Austria: Klagenfurt, Austria July 5 |
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Jami’s race: “I self-seeded on the far right - a strategy to minimize the
ensuing knocks I’d receive from over 9000 swinging arms and legs in the 2.4
mile swim. We were on the beach when the cannon fired, but where adrenaline
would normally launch the pack off the start line, hesitation took its place.
A slow motion wave that never peaked was the result, whose energy was more of
a ripple. It quickly became clear that I placed myself amongst slower
swimmers so I navigated toward open water to get around them, but that
quickly became a secondary concern. Without the chance to leak-test my
goggles before the start, I found out that they indeed did leak! The good
news is I had found open water (and a lifeguard piloted kayak) at the time my
goggles filled so I was able to make a pit stop to adjust my goggles. I had
to do this three times before I got it right! Aside from this nuisance, I
felt great on the swim. I pushed to the point of minor discomfort and felt that
my pace was swift. However my choice of line was not so ideal and was too
wide. I avoided a lot of the body bumping in exchange for more distance.
That, coupled with the traffic jam I found myself in when I reached the
“Lendkanal” (which was probably all of 25m wide), lead to a painfully slow
swim time. Once I reached land, though, my thoughts went directly to the bike,
which I viewed as a new beginning.”
“In my last Ironman race a year ago, I
followed all the heart rate rules as instructed by our coach, which was to
stay within my aerobic zone and only allow it to go over by 10 beats if the
terrain was hilly. I posted a one hour slower bike split than my best that
year. The reason? An under-developed aerobic engine. One year later, it had
reached its “toddler years”, but still had yet to become efficient enough for
me to go the speeds I’d gone in the past while staying within my aerobic
zone. All this was confirmed in my training/racing leading up to this Ironman
so I decided ahead of time that I would push my effort like I had in the
past. My pace was on target and I felt strong, but a growing back spasm - a
symptom I had felt when climbing in training but had passed after an adjustment
and massage - was an indication that I was in trouble. Luckily, I had put
Motrin in my Special Needs bag which I got halfway through the bike. I
couldn’t feel the pain anymore on the second loop, but I think the spasm
still compromised my strength and power as evidenced by a 2mph slower lap
pace. I felt a rush of disappointment
as I realized my pace would be slower, but it was soon replaced by a deep
sense of gratitude that I was racing in such a beautiful country!”
“I took too much time on both my T1 and T2 transitions trying
to figure out where to put my gear bags. On my transition to the run, I even
took the time to tell a race volunteer that I had put my bag back on the rack
instead of a pile that I never saw - I may as well have stopped off at
Starbucks! But I couldn’t wait to run and right off the bike I was running
sub-8:00/min miles. At around 3km when I started slowing down, I increased my
effort, but my heart rate was also going down - the first indication that my
body needed more calories. At the next aid station, I walked through gulping
a round of cola making sure I got every drop. The caffeine and sugar boost were
immediate and I began to feel more pep in my step. Nevertheless, my heart
rate kept dropping so in subsequent aid stations, I continued pounding the
cola and sometimes gel with caffeine and also Infinit energy drink for
electrolytes. My steps became livelier as the race progressed and I clocked a
2nd lap that was almost seven minutes faster than my first
resulting in my fastest Ironman marathon to date!”
“I
was so excited to finish. The crowds were loud and treated us like rock
stars! Although, I didn’t set a personal best, my time was one of my fastest
Ironman times to date. I enjoyed the breath-taking scenery, the loud and
gregarious crowds, and the opportunity to race in an amazing country that was
Austria. I felt so lucky!”
Sherwick’s race: “Boom! The canon went off before I was even
ready! We were all expecting an in-the-water start as stated in the rulebook with
the Pros 40m ahead and the resulting confusion lead to a slow wade into the
water instead of the usual chaos in the beginning of an ironman! Lake
Wörthersee was clear, clean and the perfect temperature. I had a solid pace
going with a 1 left/3 right breathing pattern. Apart from a cap that was
constantly slipping off and getting kicked in the goggles, I had a rather
enjoyable swim. We were funneled into the last 900m of the “Lendkanal” and
the cheering spectators on both sides of the canal were deafening! Although I
came out of the water about four minutes off my best, I felt great and looked
forward to the beautiful bike ride.”
“I went through
a customarily slow transition in order not to miss anything important needed
for the five hours on the bike. We were moving along with ease at 28mph along
the gently rolling shores of Lake Wörthersee. Avoiding the draft within our
dense pack proved to be fruitless until the first climb up to Faaker See when
we started to spread us out. Somewhere along the way I lost an Infinit water
bottle! Nevertheless, the aid stations were serving a similar (but less
concentrated) Infinit drink, so it was not a problem. I maintained a
conservative pace and soon was dropped from one group to be picked up by
another. I pushed the pace faster than planned in order to stay with this
group for the rest of the first loop. I had to stop briefly to get my Special
Needs which contained a second Infinit bottle and soon found myself all alone
along Lake Wörthersee. But by Maria Wörth halfway down the lake, a third
group had engulfed me. I was finally able to let my heart rate drop down to
130-140 and although my average on the second loop was 6 beats lower, my time
was 10 minutes slower. For the second time up the Rupertiberg climb (where
the gradient reached 11.7%) the spectators lining the course forming a tunnel
of sound not to be outdone by a DJ blaring dance music! It was during the descent
through the town of Ludmannsdorf for the second time that the crash happened.
As I passed a group of riders on an outside line, my front tire slid on some
small manhole covers. I picked up my bike, spun the crank to align my half-derailed
chain and quickly remounted. Apart from some time lost while I slowly pedaled,
cleaning out my wounds with water (still
water, please!) at the next aid
station, I managed to rejoin the group within a few kilometers – I guess the
adrenaline had kicked in! The rest of the ride was survived with one fewer
gel flask which had been dislodged during the crash.”
“Another slow
transition (this time mis-heeding the volunteers directions and going down the
wrong side of transition), lead to the start of the run. I had been looking
forward to the run in the days leading up to the race because the course included
three very cool sites: Krumpendorf where our host Hotel Gretl was situated,
Ironman City where the expo and transition area were based and downtown
Klagenfurt with its cobblestone streets and historic architecture. However
now I was expecting the run to be much more difficult as my throbbing right
hip portended in the latter part of the bike. Surprisingly, I was able to run
not only pain-free but improve upon from my opening mile of 8:00! My average
pace steadily improved on the trip through Krumpendorf down to 7:43 after 13km.
Nevertheless by the time I had reached Klagenfurt, the pace started going the
other way towards 8:00/mi. It was at this point around kilometer 17 after I
had completed the turn-around at the “Lindwurm” (Stone Dragon) in the middle
of Klagenfurt square that I started to buckle down. This was where the race would
really begin! With the help of some
cola, I was able to maintain an 8:00 average up to the half-marathon. I skipped
my Special Needs as I had already discarded my extra gels. When I saw 8:07 in
the second pass through Krumpendorf, I said enough is enough! I pushed even
harder until my Garmin then read 8:06, then 8:05, then 8:04...only after the
results were posted did I realize I had actually negative split the second
loop (1:46:19 lap 1, 1:44:19 lap 2)! With 2km to go a thunderstorm cracked
overhead and it began to pour. My stinging wounds spurred me on to give one
last push. The last km seemed so long as I ran past the finish line for the short
out-n-back with 9:58:00 reading on the finish line clock – I guess a sub-10
was not in the cards today!”
“I came home in
10:06:20 which was a personal record! I was especially pleased with my run
split as the fastest amateur was 3:18:19. Although I was the 5th
American overall, the international field was extremely competitive resulting
in a placing of only 245th out of 2006 and 45th M40-44
out of 483. They take racing very seriously in Europe!”
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Jami: 11:26:32, 10th W40-44, 65th
overall women Sherwick: 10:06:20, 45th M40-44, 245h
overall men |
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Enjoy the ride! --Team JaS
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