Ironman Maastricht - Triathlon

this was beautiful. The water was incredibly clear, super easy to sight because you swam straight up and straight back and the water temperature was perfect.

give athletes a chance to go in the water in advance other than the vague comment that you could go 2.5 km down the river and find a harbor to try it. I did find what they were talking about a place called Funland where people would pay seven euros to go in and play with their kids or you can go to the campsites on the river and jump in the water in their area

transition was also an interesting experience for someone first time doing a European race. There was no enclosed area. Instead it was a tent with no sides on it where everyone just sat on the benches together and changed clothes in full view of everyone. Next time you see somebody naked in a transition area at a triathlon in the US, know it is a European.

there were no wetsuit strippers but the wetsuit came off relatively easily. Also, as far as sunscreen, prerace there was two bottles of sunscreen put down on the benches for all the athletes to use. By the time I got to transition, there was no sunscreen to be found.
as I was sitting in transition putting on my bike year, I couldn't help but hear the announcer's comments about the people still in the water, "no disrespect to the swimmers still in the water but even your grandmother could swim that fast so clearly they will make the cut off." lol. maybe if your grandmother was straight off the boat from Europe. my grandmother definitely could not.

nothing. I could've been a little faster but I had already decided I would enjoy the race as those Europeans are tough bunch and I wasn't going to hit my normal 50% or better percentile in iron distance races. I met a couple who was on their 4th Ironman in the fourth week. Also several couples who were doing your second Ironman in a month. Tough bunch of people

the aid stations did an excellent job. I had worried that hydration on the course would be pretty sparse. I did have a problem with the very first aide station as I was told they were handing me water when in fact it was some sports drink that I proceeded to puke up 5 miles down the road. other than this little mishap, they did an excellent job, all of the drinks were in water bottles so you could put them on your bike and be assured they would stay put as you went to the cobblestoned part of the race, and they even offered cola in water bottles on the course.

The first part of the race, just take part of the lollipop or you went out to the tulip course was quite fast as it was very flat, with a little bit of technical difficulty as you went around a bunch of corners to get to a couple of the particular water stops, which were technical enough to make it fun but not so difficult that it was well difficult. Once you got to go to the part, we hit the hills. Now the meters above sea level that the hills show on a map are actually quite a bit steeper than you would expect because of course Holland itself is below sea level and all of the dikes and canals. having done Lake Placid, I never had to get off the bike. This race - in addition to having to dodge the locals zipping down the hill at you from the opposite direction as you tried to climb,mthe one hill was so steep quit a few people stopped mid climb to catch their breath. i made the first loop climbs but second loop, I too got of the bike. Second loop an Italian flagged down a race official to see how much more climbing or should he give it up. If anyone should be climbing form, it should be the Italians, right? it was tough. The whole day I saw very few other cyclists as there wer so few races, although on two different occasions when I passed someone in latched onto me and started to draft and I had to chew them out to get them off my tail. other than cheating, I found this quite dangerous as the course itself required considerable sudden breaking with pedestrians on the race course sharp turns and cobblestone streets.


my nutrition was pretty solid and other than the early mishap of ingesting sports drink, the bike went well. I would highly recommend having the computer on the bicycle wearing your garmin watch during the race because even though you're able to convert kilometers to miles when you're not tired, your brain doesn't work as well when you have been climbing hills and dodging motorcycles and the occassional tractor for several hours and I found it quite difficult to determine what distance I had left when I saw mileage signs in kilometers.

I decided to do a complete change of clothes during transition and put on running shorts. This meant full on strip down for everyone to see given our "changing tents" but you shrug and say to youself -'it is Europe so i will not get penalized for the public nudity." now I understand why there are people who do races in the US and where nothing under their wetsuits – Europeans. as I was changing, there was a German woman asking for volunteers to find her husband – his bike was not yet racked and she said normally he's faster than her on the bike and if he had pulled out of the race, there was no point in her doing the run. I tried encouraging her to get out and run regardless as I know sometimes when you're tired and the days been hot your decision-making is not always 1 foot in front of the other. i was happy to see her out on the course later and she shouted to me, he's OK he's just slow today. They had done Frankfurt a few weeks earlier. ( and my encouraging her had nothing to do with her being out there. ha),



honestly, the next race I'm going to have a bigger snack waiting for me in transition. Perhaps a peanut butter sandwich or some boiled potatoes or something more substantial to give my stomach some substance to soak up liquid. (added note, i tried the boiled potatoes and pnut butter sandwich for the next race - copenhagen, and those potatoes were pretty nasty sitting out all day. unedible)

here's where the locals were absolutely amazing. The first two loops I did well and the locals were out cheering for everyone. I witnessed them doing lots of fun things for every runner. on the third loop, my run fell apart quickly. I started throwing up and I stopped counting at heave number 30. that aside, the locals were out cheering people on and did not leave until the last runner came in and they lined the entirety of the course to cheer people on, spray people with water and really cheer for all. I heard the words "respect" numerous times during the course. I was at a bike race three days later and again all the locals route hearing. If there's anything the people in the city enjoy, it's sitting with a beer in hand cheering people on in sports ventures

after I finish the race, I was given an IV but the female doctor. They are on the second IV bag, a male nurse came over and started pulling it out before it finished with the drip. The female nurse came over and said that the female doctor had said to do the second bag but the male nurse told her it was not necessary and everyone including the doctor deffered to the man because he was the male. weird. he had not been there the entire time. He had not taken my vitals he had not seen that my blood pressure was 90/50 he did not have the history and he had not talk to any of them before he just randomly came over and pulled the IV out.

IV over, attempted to collect my morning close bag – and guess what, the sticker had indeed come off so it took quite some time to locate the bag with no sticker on it. Finally found my bag change into long pants and a sweatshirt and got in the bleachers to cheer in the final finishers. Finally there were only two people left on the course and they were both French one man and one woman so The announcer surmised that because they were French and they were the last ones on the course it was certainly something romantic going on and he would propose to her at the finish line. He did note that they were listed as coming from two French cities quite far apart from each other but repeated that he believed they would get engaged at the finish line. when they finished, they shook each other's hand and walked away to their respective loved ones. They just happened to meet each other on the course. quite funny being the same nationality and finishing together automatically get you engaged. the Finishline crowd was quite festive and made up almost entirely of locals, not racers who had finished and come back. they really embraced cheering people on.

I need to drink less. I think I start puking on the run because I take a water at every stop. I think I'm sufficiently hydrated insulted at the end of the bike and perhaps laying off the water is the trick

went to medical and was given two ivs after all the puking.


jet leg. I had not anticipated how tired it would make my legs. The week after the race I went back and climb the hills again with zero problems after putting in 80 miles before hitting the first hill. I had flown business class so I could stretch out and actually sleep during the flight but my legs we're still very tired.


I highly recommend this race. There were a few issues but given it's their first time, the issues are completely contribute a deal to a lack of understanding what was needed. For instance, they had believed everything and athletes need was going to be so that the Ironman store, this included non- Ironman branded stuff like inner tubes, air canisters, etc. This of course was not true. Also, they had not anticipated people even meeting inner tubes as most people with racing bikes in Europe have tubeless tires. The people at the information table seem to have the least amount of information and shared some bizarre advice, but they did a great job overall, the swim was absolutely beautiful, the bike was interesting and challenging, mixed in with a whole lot of flat as well, and the run was very well supported. it was a great race, the town is a fabulous town, and a great destination race with lots of athletic enthusiasm and history.

my advice for anyone doing this race:

- fly into Frankfurt and rent a car. I flew into Amsterdam and took the train but the trains are in summer schedule so the train took nearly as long as the flight with three train changes. Car-rental was quite cheap in Europe and Frankfurt is only a 3 Hour drive. Get the car, you'll be glad you did. for car rental companies, I recommend Expedia. I had also looked at autoEurope, and they were quite suspect with all the hidden fees that they didn't reveal until they sent the confirmation email and put it in the comment section. Expedia booking meant, unlimited miles, no pick up fee as you would pay with autoeurope, no drop off fee as they charge with autoEurope, and when I changed my dates, it was super simple as they use europcar who has rental sites all over Europe.
- Bring as many inner tubes as you believe you will want. I had intended to spend three weeks riding around Europe post race so I had plenty of tubes, but had you decided to save luggage space with the anticipation buy some at race, you might've been stressed
- Bring all tools you will need to do any adjustments to your bike with you. I brought my toolbox and was glad I did.
- Bring a hand pump that fits in your bike gear bag or on your frame as no air canisters for sale and you're not supposed to take them on the flight
- bring your nutrition with you, including power bars. The time for your stomach to adjust to different food is after the race, not before. The only power bars I was able to find were mango and cranberry flavored. I was glad I brought my own supply. same goes for Gu.
- for any running needs, Lopers was a great resource. One of the owners, Jan, it was incredibly helpful, has offered to help find cheap accommodations for anyone looking next year, and really knows sport.
- last minute bike needs, there is a bike store in Gronsveld - very close to Maastaicht (5 km). Rijksweg 56, Gronsveld, NL. they don't sell supplies but excellent bike mechanics. Owner is Herbert and when Armin told race organizers the night before they needed to come up with 20 bike pumps, he called up all his friends to bring their pumps to make sure they had enough
- there seems to be believed that the two-man chiropractor/PT practice that has a tent at the expo has the contract with Ironman and hence no massages are allowed on site. I don't know that this will hold true next year, but I found an outstanding deep tissue massage at Massagepraktijk Maastricht. I emailed him at [email protected] along with five others and he's the only one who responded. Great massage and great price. the website, www.massage-maastricht.nl has an English version too.
- do plan on staying in Maastricht area for a few days post race. Some great castles, under ground cave system with lots of World War II historical sites, beautiful architecture, and very relaxing