Roth is a wrap. I’m sitting here still not quite able to believe that I managed to complete a full iron-distance triathlon. Anyway, I’ll try and put into words how it went. Sorry for the lengthy post but it’s sort of fitting for the race distance.
First, what an absolutely amazing triathlon experience. If you want to do a long distance race then you need to do Challenge Roth. It was my first attempt and it sort of feels like it’s only going to be downhill from here (unless I ever make it to Kona).
I knew that I was well prepared but there was always a lingering doubt in my mind that the wheels could come off at any point in the race. There were the usual pre-race nerves and near-scares, like almost walking out of my hotel room on race day without my tri-suit in my bag. In the end I had everything and the pre-start ritual (including what felt like 73 trips to the portaloo) went smoothly.
The swim goes off in waves of about 200 and went pretty much to plan and my time was almost exactly what I’d calculated. There was the usual jostling for a line with toe-tapping most of the way but otherwise all smooth. T1 was smooth and was out on the bike in a couple of minutes.
Despite the organisers’ “promises” of gentle winds there was a steady and fairly strong wind following on from thunderstorms overnight. Whilst this had helped cool down the air, it made for tough going on the more exposed parts. Despite using the same nutrition as during training I started having problems after about 50km. A quick stop helped somewhat but it never settled properly after that. This put me in a bit of a dilemma. Should I carry on with my “food” or take what was on offer and risk it getting worse. In the end I did a bit of both and got to the end of the ride without further incident. As far as atmosphere goes the well-known hotspot of Solar Hill was unbelievable and probably something unrivalled in triathlon. Got in to T2 a little under 6 hours. In hindsight I’m a little disappointed with my time as the course definitely lends itself to a faster ride but my stomach stopped me from going according to plan.
On to the run there is a risk of going out too quickly as after about 500m it heads straight down. I made sure though I stuck to the pace discussed with my coach. This however turned out to be unsustainable after about 14km. Thinking back, had I realised the extent of the tummy troubles I should have knocked it back a bit from the off. As it was I had no option but to switch to my backup run 9/walk 1 plan. Adjusted it according to refuelling stations which were every 1.5-2km. Most of these I walked to make sure I could get sponges and take any food and drink I felt like having. In the end I held on and made it to the finish. I’d hoped for a 4 hour or better and ended with a 4:21 run. The support though on the run is out of this world. The new course introduced this year means you never have much more than about 500m of “quiet”. Otherwise there were supporters or organised stands with music and dancing. Helped take my mind off the pain for a brief moment.
The final cherry on top is the arrival in the finish stadium. The thousands of people make you feel really special. In the end whilst not everything went to plan, my overall time of 11:43 was under my target of 12 hours. Would I do another long distance race? Definitely. I know I can improve my time and with the experience of this one I feel a few small changes could make a big difference.
whytri.ch 