Preparation
Picked up a minor injury 2 weeks out, probably some tendon in my left food. Didn't get better after a couple of days so 1.5 weeks before the race I decided not to run anymore until race day to give it some time to heal.
Goals for this race were:
- Olympic distance - 1500m swim: wet suit legal race and an Australian exit, so not really anything to compare it with from past races (last year it was a non wetsuit race). In 2022 in Triathlon International Haute-Meuse I did (26:04) in a wetsuit so that is somewhat of a reference.
- Same target for the bike as last year: NP of around 280-300W, course was a bit longer than last year, so not a one to one comparison either.
- Run: with the limited running I have been able to do this year so far and the foot injury leading into the race I was hoping for something around 4:40/k but most of all just hoping to not pick up any injury.
Location
Swim, like last year, is a 2 loop Australian exit setup at the Barefoot Beach which is about 8km from the city center. T2 and finish line both were located in the city center of Lommel.
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 day.
Swim 0:26:01 AG-29/124
- Water was as clear as last year, although due to the colder summer this year it was wet suit legal vs. non wetsuit last year. No wind/chop to speak of during the swim so perfect conditions.
- During the mass start I made the same mistake as last year of starting to far near the back, that's ok if you want clear water to swim in, but not so much if you want to find some fast feet to hang onto. Until the second buoy of the first loop it was pretty crowded but it remained civilized 😁Tried to swim my own pace and got onto some feet from time to time when I had the chance. Jumping in for the second loop I bridged up to a group slightly ahead and was able to hang on with them till the end of the swim, didn't feel to gassed during the swim.
- AG 23% is slightly better than last year (29%), 1:44/100m isn't brilliant and I think I'm able to swim faster than that, lets just blame it on the Australian exit taking time 😏. Last year I did 28:13 without a wet suit at the same course and for the same distance without an Australian exit I did 26:04 in Haute Meuse.
T1
- Had a hard time taking my wet suit off, unable to grab the velcro strip in my neck and unable to find the zipper cord. Hurt my heel a bit during the long run on the tarmac, still feeling it a few days after the race.
Bike 1:07:49 AG-19/124
- 2 lap setup, no incline worth mentioning with some very fast stretches alongside the canal, strong headwind on the northern part of the canal this year.
- I had a hard time getting my power numbers up from the get go, hurting to even push 270ish watts, guess my bike shape isn't where it should be. As usual I started to catch up to people and during the second loop I felt a little better. Looking back at my heart rate during that first lap it probably was still very high due to the swim/long run into T1, that might explain why I felt so bad even at low wattage. I actually didn't watch my heart rate during the bike, I was just focused on the wattage and getting my nutrition in on time.
- AG 15% - 39.0km/h - NP = 271W - 11m of elevation, 42.4km. So NP not up where I wanted it to be (280-300W), last year it was 280W/40.1kmph/40km but back then I knew I didn't have to run of the bike.
T2
- Quick transition for my standards, really need to learn how to get my feet out of my shoes while still on the bike 😄
Run 0:43:35 AG-45/122
- 2 loop setup with a long out and back and a passage through the city center with quite a big crowed cheering us on.
- I thought my watch didn't pick up the GPS signal so I didn't trust the pace it was giving, in hindsight it seems like it was correct however. Basically ran on feel the whole run and I think I looked at my watch once at the halfway point just to get an idea of what my total run time would be. Last 2k heart rate creeped up, so looks like I couldn't really have run any faster than I did.
- AG 37%, so not super good nor super bad, 4:24/k pace - I don't think with my current running shape I could have done any better to be honest. Looking at the splits the second loop was a little slower compared to the first loop, I might have gone out a bit to hard with a 4:10 followed by a 4:20.
Overall 2:18:19 AG-25/123
- Actually pretty happy with how I felt during the race, the bike felt harder than it should have been for those power numbers but the second lap the legs came around a little more. Also the feeling during the swim was good and during the run I felt like I could keep a decent pace without dropping into a slow jog and most importantly I didn't pick up any injury during the race!
- AG 20% so not bad at all for my standards.
Some lessons learned
- Maybe take a few minutes in the beginning of the bike to catch your breath, to avoid feeling crap the first 30 minutes on the bike because your heart rate never settled after swim/T1.
- Great race course/venue/atmosphere to do again, finally have a target time now for all 3 legs, so hopefully I can try to beat this time next year.
Result
- Swim 0:26:01 AG-29/124
- T1
- Bike 1:07:40 AG-11/124
- T2
- Run 0:43:35 AG-45/122
- Total 2:18:19 AG-25/123
Tags: Hoeks Triathlon Lommel race report, race report Hoeks Triathlon Lommel
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