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Ironman Austria
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Ironman Austria - Triathlon
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 Swim
Comments: The rolling start was really well organized, but obviously some kicking at the early meters was inevitable. Water was good in temperature and visibility, although not as clear as it seemed the day before from the boat (guess 3000 athletes in the water make a difference...). Did not get a nice swim rythm till about 500m went by. When reached the first buoy @1500m, realized that my Garmin was off (!!) so pressed Start and missed this first part. Then, all good, swimming in the channel was fast due to some current. Volunteers helping us out were great. I saw my family in the transition zone, was a big high to move fast. What would you do differently?: Improve my OW technique, I am so used the swimming in a pool that find difficult to get a good rythm in open water.  Transition 1
Comments: Had like a 500m run to the transition zone, had some difficulties trying to get my wetsuit unzipped but in this "long run" had plenty of time. Kept my trisuit on, got rid of swimming gear, got helmet, dry socks and cycling shoes, and out! But it took almost 10 minutes....honestly, was not in a big hurry, my goal was to get to the finish line and 5 minutes more or less would not ruin my experience What would you do differently?: Nothing, may be practice to remove the zip from the wetsuit  Bike
Comments: Scenery was spectacular, some of the descents were a bit dangerous -I was a terrible accident on the 2nd loop- but this was my best part of the race. Organizers provided a sticker with the km where the aid stations were, and I found this tremendously useful: I grabbed iso in all of them (only drank iso during the bike) and ate every 20min religiously (half Cliff energy bar, gel or banana), plus a bottle of iso every hour. What would you do differently?: Nothing Transition 2
Comments: Removed shoes and shocks, got dry ones on and running shoes, kept the sunglasses and changed the helmet for a visor. I thought it was very fast, but again, this took me almost 10 minutes (again) - got 4 of the left over gels (salty peanut Power bar) on my trisuit pockets What would you do differently?: not much  Run
Comments: This is may weakest area, so was ready to run "two 10k sections" and then walk the rest. This part was full of people, great crowd! Every 2.5km there was an aid station and I decided to drink iso and water or iso and cola at every station, plus slice of orange or slice of real pizza, while walking the aid station for about 200meters. I was feeling not as bad as I expected, so when the 2nd "10k" was over I kept on running. Decided to get LSD approach rather than run-walk-run... At km 30th decided to walk a full km, as I was really tired, and it was the worst decision I took all day, as trying to run again at 31 was really, really complicated. So decided I would not stop again till the end. Final 12km, even though I was tired, takes you again through the town of Klagenfurt, charity bell ring, the crowd really pushes you, and I had the vision of crossing the finish line that was becoming a reality, so just kept going. My wife and kids were volunteers at the finish line giving medals away, so could not wait for that moment. In the last km I had a brief moment of "wow, I am going to finish, and in a quite decent time!!" and kept smiling all the way through. When you turn left, you see the finish line (as in the thousands of videos I have watched all these years of IM tv) and behind, Maria, Jaime and Carmela cheering and with my medal in the air waiting, was just incredible!! What would you do differently?: Improve my running, need to be stronger in this discipline Post race
Warm down: As soon as I crossed the finish line and heard the so-wanted words "Juan, you-are....an ironman!!, got my medal from my wife, big hug from the family and got one of those metal blanket, as I was freezing. Went to the tent to get some food (pizza and chicken) and drinks (Stiegl, local beer). The area was too crowded and needed to get my bike to hand it over to the driver who would take it back to Spain, so decided to go for dinner with the family to have some bratswurg and frankfurts with more beer (yes, I had to rehidrate....). Then we went for the bike, found the driver to hand it over and took a taxi to the hotel. Long shower and in bed by 11. What limited your ability to perform faster: Running could have been much better, but it was really good for my shape Event comments: This was my first Ironman, and was scared of being undertrained, of not being able to complete the distance and of the so many fears that newbies have. The atmosphere, the fans, the environment, the months of planned training (with the support of the BDAS group at this web) and very important, my family there with me, made me finish in a great time and had one of the best days in my life. Profile Album Last updated: 2016-11-12 12:00 AM
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 2017-07-07 1:44 PM |
New user  669    Madrid |  Subject: Ironman Austria |
| 2017-07-08 11:33 AM in reply to: #5223886 |
Veteran 1677 Houston, Texas | Subject: RE: Ironman Austria Great race, Juan....really great race! I don't think you went in undertrained....and if you hadn't said that the last 11k were a bit of a struggle, I would never have known -- with you jumping over the finish line at the end, and all I feel your pain about walking and then how much of a challenge (both physically and mentally) it is to start running again. Way to push through it though! |
| 2017-07-08 2:06 PM in reply to: #5223886 |
Extreme Veteran 1175 Langley, BC, 'Wet Coast' Canada | Subject: RE: Ironman Austria |
| 2017-07-10 1:07 PM in reply to: triosaurus |
Expert 4924 Middle River, Maryland Silver member | Subject: RE: Ironman Austria Awesome race - congratulations Ironman! |
| 2017-07-13 8:52 PM in reply to: #5223886 |
| 1941 , Vermont | Subject: RE: Ironman Austria Fantastic job, Juan!!! I'm so proud of you! You didn't just finish, you crushed it!!! Well done!! I can't believe you ate wursts and beer right after - that is impressive too! You have an iron stomach! Relax now a little, you deserve it for sure. Cheers! |
| 2017-07-14 12:37 PM in reply to: aviatrix802 |
| 1007 DeLand, Florida | Subject: RE: Ironman Austria Congrats Juan!! Great RR and absolutely FANTASTIC race! Killer bike split! I had the same issue when marathon training, btw. Was using the run/walk method for training and for the long runs it just became harder and harder each time to start running after a walk break. After run/walk training, ended up running my marathon nearly all the way start to finish. Much easier at the long distance to run slow than to run/walk, at least for me... |
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Austria
World Triathlon Corporation
22C / 72F
Sunny
Overall Rank = 1823/2869
Age Group = 50-54
Age Group Rank = 197/338
Arrived 3 days earlier - travelled by plane from Madrid to Graz, and then a van for about 1h to Klagenfurt. Went with the family and the kids, so had 3 days to enjoy the area, rented bikes to move around, fun swims on the lake and know the city a bit. Also plenty of time to spend on the race area to buy all type of gadgets and new gear to feel like I am "good". My family loved the atmosphere but my anxiety was increasing each day. Sent the bike through a courier and went to pick it up same day Eneko Llanos picked up his (he placed 2nd in the race), and while having a beer and frankfurters saw Frodeno (who won the race) running next to us the day before as if he was one more at the race (and not the Olympic champ he is). Attended the race briefing, that was fun and also useful.
The day before the race had early dinner (pasta and stiegl -lucky drink-) and went to be around 10:30 after getting everything ready for the day after.. And against what I though, slept pretty well. Got up at 4.30, dressed up with the trisuit and had breakfast (capuccino, a bowl of muesli with yogurt and 2 toasts with ham and cheese), and started sipping water. Went to the transition zone by bus, where place the bike computer, gels and enerybars and drinks in the bike and running bag, got my wetsuit on and walked to the lake 5 minutes.
Watched first line the pros warm up, the blessing by the Father with entered the lake dressed as a Father, and the pros start. My warmup was really find a quite place, sit down and enjoy the atmosphere: this was my first ful IM and several times I looked around and though "yes, this is what I have been dreaming and working for in the last 8 months, and I am here finally!"