The alarm woke me up at 04.15 am. I hadn’t slept very much this night. I think I was excited and/or nervous about the longest sport day ever in my life. The days before had been great. During the day before my German team-mate as well as friend Ralf showed me and Lars (my other team-mate and friend) the city of Frankfurt. Here the expo as well as registration was located. I took some photos of the prominent skyscrapers.
After staying in bed several minutes I went up to the kitchen in the flat where I lived with Ralf and Lars. Then it was breakfast. I ate some bread, cereals and fluids. No fibers because I didn’t want to sit on the toilet just before the start.
At 5.30 am the taxi was waiting outside our flat. We stepped in and then we went to the start. This competition is unique because the two transition areas are placed in two different places. Transition one where the swim takes part is located approximately 12 km south of the city of Frankfurt and transition two is located in the heart of Frankfurt.
I saw many tired athletes while walking along the lake to the start. We had to walk a bit because the taxi couldn’t drive as long as possible – parts of the road were closed. My first sight in the transition area was the pro athletes transition places. They had their names upon in. I was very sad because I didn’t see my role model Normann Stadler’s bicycle below his name. He was injured they said on the radio. But that’s the way it is at this level when every second counts.
But I saw Eneko Llanos’, Cameroon Brown’s, Faris Al-Sultan’s as well as Chris McCormack’s bikes in the transition zone. I have to admit, they’re really nice looking. It’s like candy for the eye.
The entrance to the transition zone was a yellow bracelet which we got on the registration the day before. Despite the clock only was ten minutes to six in the morning there were lots of people in the transition zone. I thought – six o’clock in the morning? Normal people are sleeping now. It’s a lifestyle. I just pumped my tires, placed my cycling shoes on the ground in front on my bike, placed my aero-helmet on the bike and placed fluid bottles in the bottle holders as well as my bars in my small bag on my frame. After all that the time was like 6.15-6.20 am and then I wore my wet-suit and vaseline to prevent friction on my skin. Now it was time to go down to the water. I went down the hill from the transition zone and stayed on the beach a while. It was a great atmosphere, the greatest I’ve ever experienced.
6.40 I was in the water. There I met Ralf and we wished good luck to each other. 6.45 the professionals were starting and it was a beautiful start with fireworks and such. When they left the start, me and thousands of other age-groupers swam to the start.
The swimming was in two loops. They were very equal to each other but the first loop was a few hundred metres longer. The countdown to our massive start begun like 5 minutes before. I was in the front, not on the first row, maybe third or second. “Booom” the cannon blowed. It was lots of elbows and ankles in the start but I didn’t get hurt. Now my every single cell had woken up. After a few hundered metres I got more space.
When I exited the water the clock was on 59 minutes. I couldn’t believe it. Wow, what a good start I thought. Then I ran up the hill from the swim exit up to the transition zone. My first transition was okay. I had to ask the volunteer just before leave if they brought the wet-suit to transition 2 in Frankfurt. He said yes and wished me good luck. I got a scholarship for this wet-suit and I didn’t want to loose it. Now it was the bike. 112 miles or 180 km. That’s a long way, even in a car. The morning was beautiful. Not much wind at all. The first 10-12 km (7-8 miles) was great. During those miles/km we rode from the lake to the heart of Frankfurt. The roads were totally closed and during the ride to Frankfurt I saw the prominent skyscrapers. I really appreciated the non-traffic course. It was a Tour de France feeling when I rode up the three challenging hills on each loop. There were people everywhere. In the city of Frankfurt just before riding into the second loop I heard my parents yelling – “Heja Gustav” which means “Go Gustav” in English. During the bike course I passed lots of triathletes with nice bikes and many of them passed me as well. I had
My second transition was very slow. I got some help from a volunteer to tie my shoes etc. In the transition tent a guy from the red cross gave me some massage on the back. I couldn’t run the first 500 metres because the pain in the back from the cycling. I really have to change my sitting position to prevent that pain in the future.
The run 26.2 miles or 42.195 km. That’s a long way too. We ran four loops on the run course. My first loop was great except the first 500 metres but then I had pain in my legs. I got cramps, especially in my calves. Then I walked and then I ran, everything wedged between my dreams. On the run course there were lots of people who shouted my name, we (all triathletes) had a race number with our names on. I have to admit that there were nice girls who shouted my name as well. On the last loop my parents said – Gustav, you can make 11 hours, come on.
When it was 1.5 km left or a mile it was I hill. I walked in the hill, I walked in every hill because of the cramps. Then a man with a funny accent, Australian I think, said this to me: Oh mate, come on you only got less than 2k left, I have two loops left. After he said that I speeded up the last metres to the finish line. It was a fantastic, a stunning, an excellent feeling to run the last 100 metres on the red carpet with the fantastic crowd beside me. I made it below 11 hours; 10 hours and 51 minutes actually. I never thought that I would made it because of the slow run.
After the race I got some massage on the back and some electrolytes in my body. My parents were a bit worried because it took a while but I finally met them. I got a nice finisher-medal, a diploma and a nice yellow finisher t-shirt. This stuff as well as the experience I will have in my mind forever. It’s a mental battle to start 0700 am in the morning and to finish 1751 pm in the afternoon.
Lars and Ralf who have done Ironman races shared their experience to me and helped me to be much more prepared than I would have been. They both had great times, Lars had 10 hours and 12 minutes. Ralf had 10 hours and 33 minutes. Unfortunately this was Lars last Ironman in a while. I hope me and Ralf can change his mind because of his excellent performance in Frankfurt. After the race we all three had a nice time together before walking back to the railway station and further to our flat. We ate ice-cream on the railway station. In our flat around midnight we all three discussed the race and shared our own race experiences.
I have ordered some pictures which you can see here in a while.
In a few years I’ll qualify to Hawaii. We’ll see how long the statement goes but I’ll have a try.
Thanks for reading
Aloha
No matter if you're the first or the last. Everyone is a winner after 3,8 km swimming, 180 km biking and 42,2 km running. To cross the finish-line in an Ironman Triathlon is a thing you will never regret and you will remember it for the rest of your life. You will also be able to brag for the rest of your life. Normal limits don't apply. It's physically, emotionally and mentally demanding. The human body and its force is fantastic. I think the best part is the bike because it feels like you are a car. You're passing km 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 70....110..150..170 and then 180. 180 km is a lot even in a car. You also eat a lot during the bike. It's like Thanksgiving or something. Coca-cola and chocolate bars are some examples.
Below you can see my class. This is our third year out of three. The fourth of June next year we will all go different ways. We have had great memories together and I hope everyone of us will be happy in the future. Now we have 7 months left together so it's not over yet.
Me and one of the prominent skyscraper.
Ziel, which means goal in English. This is the finish area the day before the race. As you see everything isn't done yet.
The registration the day before the race. I got a nice yellow bracelet which is gone from wrist now. Then we went to the expo where I got really excited about the following bikes.
Part of the running course along the river the day before the race. It was much, much, much more crowd here during race day.
A view of the beautiful lake after the bike check-in. The lake is called Waldsee Langer. Me, Ralf and Lars also had a short test swim without wet-suits.
The hilly way from the swim exit. It was very nice people along the sides during race day.
As you see, it's not a small hill.
24 hours later I made it. Woohooo!
The boat between Germany and Denmark on the way back
