Preparation
I was hoping for redemption in this race after my horrible and frustrating last race. Did this race last year so familiar grounds. No significant injuries leading up to this race, just had a blister that stopped me from running 1.5 weeks before the race.
Goals for this race were to save the legs a bit on the bike (as far as possible on this hilly course!) to be able to have a decent run:
- Bike: keep the power numbers in check, aiming for around 270W NP
- Run: keep the overall pace under 5'/k
Location
Start, T1/T2 and finish line are all located at the old camping grounds of Anhée. So from a logistics point of view this race is very easy. The run replacing the swim was a 2.5k loop along the Meuse, bike course was 2 loops of 35k each and the run course was 3 loops of 6k each.
Stay
As the race venue wasn't to far away and there was no need to leave the bike the day before the race, we didn't opt to stay close to the venue and just made the trip on race morning.
Run 0:11:37 AG-33/47
- A few days before race day we got the notification that the water quality check didn't gave the desired results. The concentration of E. coli was around 6 times higher than the allowed upper limit, however as the sample was taken a week before race day the organization gave the athletes the choice: swim or make it a duathlon. As I dint felt like taking any risks with E. coli and getting sick afterwards I opted for the 2.5k run instead of the 1.5k swim.
- Actually got really late to the start line, had to do my calf warm up exercises first! Didn't want to do anything crazy for these 2.5k, just the start of a long day, so keeping things in check.
- AG 70% is actually surprisingly bad, I guess lots of people went pretty hard for that short distance. (4:20/k pace)
T1 0:01:24 AG-18/47
- Easy transition, just take of running shoes and put on cycling shoes, helmet and go. (AG 70%)
Bike 2:19:40 AG-19/47
- 2 laps of 35k each, very rolling terrain, barely any flat, only the part following the river is a real "tuck and TT" stretch. Already familiar with this course as I did this race last year and the bike course didn't change.
- Tried to stick to the plan of staying around 270W on the flats and keep it under 330W during the climbs, actually even pushed less than 270 on the flats and on the climbs it was sometimes impossible to stay under 330W or you would fall over! On the first lap flipping from the big to the small chain ring my chain got stuck between the frame and the chain ring so a hard stop there. It took me some time trying to pry the chain loose, no idea how much time exactly. After that it had to pass all the athletes that I passed earlier again, always funny. Near the end of the first lap my left calf was already starting to cramp up so I took in extra salt and started to drink more, this helped as the cramping faded away little later. Same nutrition approach as last year, started light (no bottles behind the saddle) and use the aid station from lap 2 onwards, just had to stop and turn back once as the bottle popped out and I was running low on water. Also had to pick up a gel in the aid station as somehow I lost 1 on the way.
- AG 40% - 30.8km/h - NP = 269W, 70.2km - 1095m elevation. So actually right on the 270W NP I was aiming for.
- Compared to last year my lap times were significantly slower, around 6 minutes! (Total 2:08:40 vs. 2:19:40) But last year my race was over in T2 so I went close to all in on the bike, this time I never went into the red and tried to keep things under control to be able to still run off the bike.
T2 0:01:20 AG-15/47
- Always an exciting moment, jumping of the bike and hoping you don't cramp up those first few steps 😅 , no issues with cramping this time. (AG 32%)
Run 1:14:26 AG-19/47
- 3 laps of 6k for the most part along the river Meuse, slightly inclined and with head wind on race day on the way out.
- After a few hundred meters my quads were already screaming so I was afraid they would cramp up pretty soon. However they held on and the cramping went away by drinking 2 cups at each aid station and taking in extra salt. Energy wise I felt ok (1 gel @ 5k and another one @ 10k) till the last 5k, those felt horrible, not really a surprise as I had maybe 4 runs of over 14k over the past year. Watch didn't pick up the GPS signal, so not much confidence in those numbers, looking at the official timings the first segment (1.8k) of the run went from 5:38, 5:49 to 5:54. Second segment (2.5k) went from 11:11, 11:29 to 11:38 and the 3rd segment went from 7:25 to 7:41. So creeping up every lap. Looking at my heart rate I was pretty toast near the end.
- AG 40%, not to bad for having so little run mileage in this year, per my watch 4:36/k, per official timing 4:08/k assuming the distance was indeed 18k. Don't see myself running 18k at that pace currently so pretty sure it wasn't 18k in total. Started my watch a little late, so that one isn't 100% correct neither.
Overall 3:48:29 AG-19/47
- Actually pretty happy about how my race went, kept myself in check on the first run and on the bike, resulting in a decent run off the bike. So I do feel redeemed after my last race 😁
Some lessons learned
- Using the aid stations to fuel works well, advantage of starting with a lighter bike, especially worth considering on hilly courses.
- Great race course/venue to do again, as well for the spectators it's a great race with the 2 loop setup on the bike and 3 loop setup on the run.
- Saving the legs on the bike does result in a better run, who would have thought 😆
Result
- Run 0:11:37 AG-33/47
- T1 0:01:24 AG-18/47
- Bike 2:19:40 AG-19/47
- T2 0:01:20 AG-15/47
- Run 1:14:26 AG-19/47
- Total 3:48:29 AG-19/47
Tags: Triathlon International Haute-Meuse race report, race report Triathlon International Haute-Meuse
Comments
Post a Comment