The Long Distance Triathlon - Part 3: The Black Forest

I had chosen the Nordschwarzwald Triathlon as my long-distance triathlon because it did not charge exorbitant credit card fees. Its base is in the Swabian/Baden town of Nagold, known to me especially for the palindrome “In Nagold legen Hähne Geld, log Anni” (“In Nagold, roosters lay money, Anni lied”). Since my old steel bike, can calmly withstand the leaning of other bikes often necessary on railway cars, a relaxed journey through the idyllic Nagold Valley with the Deutschlandticket was possible. In the long-distance event, there were just under 200 participants at the start, which made everything more manageable and accordingly more relaxed. The start was at the Nagold Reservoir, about 20 km from Nagold into the Black Forest, and 200 m higher. As June had been very dry, the reservoir had a very low water level, which even the rainy July could barely improve. In the days before, temperatures had reached around 30 degrees Celsius, which was unwelcome for running, but about 30 degrees Celsius, which was unwelcome for running, but on the other hand, the water was pleasantly tempered at 20 degrees. The start in the lake at sunrise was impressive. Two laps were swum, each with a turning point near the dam. Due to my legs sinking down in the water, I couldn't maintain the freestyle for very long and had to switch to breaststroke, occasionally also floating on my back to relax, until I was ready for freestyle again. I took 1:43 hours for 3.8 km, but it took a while to get out of the wetsuit and onto the bike. 

Through various summer bike tours, I had already gained heat experience, but at the triathlon, there was a completely different time pressure. The elevation profile looked manageable despite some climbs, without me having to worry about walking the bike. The ride consisted of three laps; the first part of each went out of the Nagold Valley and moderately uphill (at Mindersbach there was a fan zone on the climb, at least in the first two laps) and then from the turning and refreshment point, a bit steeper downhill and back towards Nagold. Already at 40 km, tension in the lower back became noticeable and made me think about giving up. Apparently, my back was not yet accustomed to aerodynamic cycling and therefore stiff. This tension could be relieved with a bit of gymnastics on the saddle, so it was hardly a reason to give up.

A terrible thought had kept me awake in the nights before – what would happen if I got a flat tire? So I packed tools, a spare tube, and a pump on the bike – but this mainly served to help me sleep better before the event. Although I had slept quite well the night before the triathlon, during downhill rides a feeling occasionally occurred that almost felt like drowsiness. Could it perhaps have been caused by the heat combined with the repetitive perhaps due to the heat combined with the repetitive movement and the position of the head? Surely the thought of falling asleep on the saddle is almost as creepy as that of a fork break, even more so than the worry about a flat tire. Realistically, though, a flat would have caused me big problems with the time limit. But after just over 7:09 hours, I had completed the 180k cycling course without a crash, with air in the tires, and almost no sunburn, and all worries had vanished.

Finally, only the marathon remained, by far the best managed discipline, because when running, you can still walk if things aren't going well. By now, however, it was mid-afternoon, and the temperature in the valley was 29 degrees Celsius, which fortunately was lower than on the days before and after. The heat affects running more than cycling, but since I had taken quite a long time for the previous disciplines, the sun was already a bit lower, and trees and buildings cast shade in places, which I would, of course, take advantage of. After being at the back following swimming and even more so after cycling, I was able to make up some places while running. The course ran several laps through the city center, past a sculpture (surely these were the money-laying roosters), along an out-and-back route by the river, and finally once more across the river to the finish. Fortunately, there was a sponge station every kilometer, which helped to cope with the still heated road. Compared to other events, the weather was still relatively pleasant.

Other events, such as the London-Edinburgh-London bike tour and the Heidelberg Triathlon had to be canceled due to bad weather, and at the World Games in China, there was tragically a death during the orienteering event in 42 degrees Celsius heat. Even though I was significantly slower than the average in swimming and cycling, I was still in good shape during the marathon, and it was enough for a decent target-60 time (4:04 h). Afterwards, I was also able to easily ride back, now with bike lights on, to the accommodation not far from the start. Would I do a triathlon of this length again? Maybe, maybe not. Finishing is not unlikely, competition is out of the question. But after all, it's not really a defined game where winning is the goal, but an open-ended game.

Towards the Long Distance Triathlon - Part 2: The Swimming

Swimming would be something new: I had never swum longer than a few hundred meters on a time before, so I would need to catch up on all points here. After getting my ear professionally cleaned so that the sea would not stay inside for an undue time, I noticed an advert for a Liveguard swimming course at my nearest pool - something I always wanted to do. To successfully qualify as a voluntary lifeguard, you need to demonstrate some competence in the front crawl style, so this would hopefully provide some incentive to look into this technique (along with distance diving). I have a major problem commonly experienced by male swimmers, that my legs are quite dense, and they tend to sink down if swimming too slowly. With the help of this course, I was able to extend this speed from a few strokes to two pool lengths.

To gradually see which swimming distance length was still manageable and to get used to the organisation effort, I registered for the middle-distance triathlon in Heilbronn, a well-established event an hour away by train. As I got on my way to the train, I noticed just before departure, that I had not placed the inner tube in correctly, and over time it had been damaged. Luckily, at the last minute that I found a bike shop wthat was still open. Though on the verge of closing and not having time to replace my tube, they still lent me some tools that were better than mine. Everything fixed on the spot, I made it to the bike check-in in Heilbronn.

The 1,9 km swimming took place in the Neckar river, the same river I pass or cross almost every day. Fortunately, it hadn't rained much beforehand, but the current that had to be swum against in the first half was still impressive. Since I could hardly make any progress with breaststroke and I could not keep up the crawl for long, I switched to the more forceful backstroke. Because the current was stronger in the middle of the river, I swam along the edge. However, this came at the price of occasional contact with vegetation and submerged rocks. Luckily, my old wetsuit was sturdy. The lifeguard course also helped ensure that I was not among those who had to give up. Thirty participants had to get out here, some with bloody knees. The way back felt like it only took a few minutes. I was not the last to finish.

The cycling part of the race was hilly, through fields, vineyards and villages. The local audience was also well involved, complimenting my bike with "condition over carbon". In Iine with this, I was still cautious to use the tria handlebar especially on high-speed downhill sections, and the gearing was more suitable for flat terrain. At registration, we got only one bib, which I attached to the front of the jersey. However, a cycling referee made me turn the shirt, causing a sunburn at the resulting neckline.

Apart from this, the running part through town centre was the least complicated, as expected. The sun was now behind clouds, temperatures in the high 20 degrees with a slight distant rumble of thunder that soon passed, as I steadily made it to the finish.

Towards the Long Distance Triathlon - Part1: The Mental Preparation

I decided to participate in a long distance triathlon. But there were several things to be checked: Did I have the strength, technique and endurance, and finally, did I really want to do it?

So first of all, I wanted to see if I still had the desire for effort. So I signed up for a local Silvester run. The traditional cross country run, held in the woods near Stuhr every New Year's Eve, stretches about 10 km through sandy geest, forest, and over meadows (the open country necessarily a bit windy). It went great, and I even managed to get a Top 5 position! It still flows!

So the feeling was still there; now the proper challenge was to maintain this momentum over a longer period of time. To practice that mentally, I planned to participate in a few longer endurance events of different types.

In February, a 50 km run would take place very close by, namely in Ubstadt-Weiher. Even as part of the German Championship – it's never too late to participate in something like that! The run consists of several laps around a pit lake and is actually not so different from the New Year's Eve run in terms of the course. The weather was cold and unexciting, so excellent conditions for running. But going round and round, especially in dull weather, soon became a bit monotonous, although enduring boredom was exactly what was meant to be trained. The motivation was maintained by anticipation of the well-equipped food stations, which I passed on every lap. In this way, I managed to cover the marathon distance well, but then my left hip started hurting slightly when lifting my leg. So I had to reduce the pace a bit and occasionally walked, finishing in 4:24 h. Though the mental endurance was strong, the body might show some limits, requiring a bit of attention and, if needed, moderation in the future.

In order to put less strain on those stressed tendons, I next looked for something that could motivate me for a longer bike tour. The cycling part of the triathlon takes far more time than swimming and running combined. Though I had previously done some long events, for example 400 km cycling Brevets, I had not much experience of riding under real time pressure, since these Audax/Randonneur events are long, but not very intense, as they require only an average speed of 15 km/h.

Studying lists of Audax brevets, I found that a 200 km brevet would start from Prague in April. The timing was convenient, it was easily accessible location-wise, and above all, transport of the bike by bus and train was also possible. I used my everyday bike for this. Although construction work caused massive trains delays once again, that completely ate up a generous buffer time for transfers, I still made it to the start on the outskirts of Prague in time. The Czech randonneur scene is very small, with about 10 participants at the start. Like for the British and Germans, riding was more of a solitary activity. Exiting the Czech capital, the route initially ran flat along the Elbe Valley on quiet side roads – designated bike paths were hardly present, except in Mlada Boleslav. Apparently, one can go far in Czech politics if one rants against bike lanes. However, the road surfaces were mostly in good condition and there was not much traffic on the road. Historical cobblestones, however, sometimes took a toll on a water bottle. Rural route, slight headwind, cloudy. From afar, the high point and turning point came into view - the 1,017-meter-high Jested.

In the 1970s, a futuristic tower was added to this mountain, and it looks like the elevation profile of the entire route. Going up caused a bit of sweat, but going down made me realize it was just a few degrees above zero, and so I started to shiver downhill. The route back was the same, and even the man loading my bike into the bus was the same who had unloaded it in the morning.

Since running and cycling for a long time was not so much of a problem, the challenge would be getting to swimming - to be continued.