Challenge Kraichgau - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

This was my first in-water start. Seemed to be a lot more contact than what I’m used to, but perhaps I just forgot what it was like because this was my first tri of the season. So the first 5 min or so consisted of swimming over and getting swum over, trying to find some space. Finally found some and began siting more to make sure I was on course. After a few minutes I thought it would be better strategy to just try to tag along behind somebody. Eventually I found some feet to focus on and stuck to them for about 10 minutes, including turning at two buoys. Somehow I later ended up following somebody else’s feet for the last 5-10 min. Felt like an okay swim overall. Finished right about where I expected to.

We ran through an area with our transition bags and benches, where we took off our wetsuits and stuffed them back into the bags (with volunteer help). I had my bike shoes in my bag because that’s what most of the others had done. I went to run to my bike with my shoes, hoping to throw them on at the exit of the transition, when a bunch of officials started yelling in German. Lots of confusion! I came to realize that I was apparently violating a rule; you either needed to run to your bike and exit the transition with your shoes on or initially setup your bike with shoes on the pedals and leave them there until you exited the transition. Oh well, we'll see if a penalty gets added to the official results. Also fumbled around a little at my bike trying to put on some arm coolers, but I was glad I did.

Wear arm coolers under wetsuit.

my legs were slightly sore when I started cycling, as they have been the past few days, which made me realize that I overdid it last Sunday and riding hard Tuesday. I got passed by a fair number of folks the first 15k, but also passed about an equal number of folks myself. I tried to stick to the plan of averaging 235-240W (based on feel b/c no power meter) and focus on nutrition. For the next 60k my position was pretty much set and was only passed occasionally. The hills were tough, but manageable. The descents were fast, but most ended up going through small towns and having technical turns toward their end. There was one turn at the halfway mark I took a little too fast and had to pop up on a small curb. This was enough to dislodge my specially-prepared water bottle with most of my calories and electrolytes for the race. I kept going rather than stopping and riding back up, thinking that I would just rely upon water from volunteers, gels, and endurolyte tablets I had on me. This “seemed” to be okay (more on this below). I started passing more and more people on the last two climbs and the final 10-15k, when I pushed it a little harder as planned. Power on the bike may not be my strength, but at least endurance seemed to partially make up for it.

Finished the bike with my feet on top of my shoes and dismounted fine. The transition was pretty straightforward, with people to catch and rack my bike and then empty my transition bag where they were gathered. I will note, however, that it was quite hot by this time. About 30 deg C (87 F), no wind, and no clouds. Funny to think that I was riding in my winter gear last weekend.

The first km was downhill with some flat stretches including some cobblestone-like places. Stomach felt a little bubbly, but did not think much of it. We turned and headed back up the hill past the start to a 5km loop. The first lap of the 7km course went according to plan with me making sure I did not go out too fast. It was hot, but surprisingly that did not seem to affect me too much (at least I don’t think it did). On the second lap, the downhill and stones were enough to jostle my stomach a little more. Fluid wasn’t sitting well, so I stopped for a quick pee when the course went through some trees. Felt better on the uphill and finished the second lap close to as planned. The third lap, however, it all came back. I don’t know if it was too many gels on the bike, too many sips of the race-supplied sports drink on the run, or what, but I had GI problems for the first race in a while. The first part of the last lap was enough to trigger them. Ran to use the bathroom behind a building, but luckily saw a port-o-let nearby instead. Popped in and spent a good 3-4 minutes resolving the problem. Surprisingly, I was able to start back running and then finish okay, dropping the hammer as best I could all things being considered. I only took small sips of water for the remainder and fought off some cramps, but did not want to risk anything with my stomach.

I was in rough shape post-race, with the GI problems back and the effects of being in the sun setting in. It turns out I got fried on my shoulders despite applying sunscreen the night before (after a shower) and in the morning. With the day at its hottest point, I felt nauseous at times. Thankfully this bad spell passed after about 2 hours.


Bad week leading up to race in terms of sleep and daily routine being disrupted; body not fully recovered. Nutrition plan thrown off during race.


Great event, would go back.