Roth Race Report - 9hrs21 - A Wet Day in Many Ways

Hi Guys,

Finished the Roth Ironman on sunday and I have to say I am a little disappointed in how things went. No excuses, just couldn't get the running going. Good times for others including a new world record for Yvonne Van Klerken in the womens event and a win for Patrick Vernay in the mens. I just couldn't put together the 3:10-3:15 hour run that I was aiming for. Until I get this run right I am not going to make any great improvements on the leader board. However, I had a good comfortable swim and bike under the conditions (torrential downpour on swim-bike) and my first half of the run went well. Now is a bit of a break and then it is time to focus solely on my run for the next few months (which is has been the plan from coach since day one post roth).

The skinny: Swim 49:56 Bike 4:49:48 Run 3:37:55 Total 9:21:31 New record for number of pee's on the bike of 15 and 6 on the run! (This is not a good record).

Swim: Plan was to keep in the big lead group and swim fast but comfortable sub 50min. Got into a few scuffles with people who have no idea how to draft and someone undoing my wettie meant I fell off the back of the lead group at the 2km mark. Could not make it back up without redlining for a while so swam strong but comfortable. Sub 50min so ok, but dissapointed lost the main group and 1-2mins. Swim training is going well as I thought I would have swam slower after losing the group.

Bike: Plan - to ride comfortable in heart rate zone, spin hills, work hard to get in a good position early on but not expend much energy, and set myself up for the ability to test my training and have a good run rather than getting a fast bike time and holding on in the run. Actual - found myself riding well and fast picking up the guys in front of me from the swim. Hit a big group about 35km mark which must have been the big swim pack. First part of course is downhill and some technical parts so the group was travelling faster in the rain with some locals knowing the course better to pick up time. Quickly went through the group and just concentrated on higher rpms, heart rate, and feeling comfortable. Dropped group and rode off front without any effort. Kept up a good comfortable work rate and focused on myself rather than groups etc. and confident in training and race plan. At about 55km mark I had my first pee and this continued every 10km til the end of the bike (and long ones also, not this hit and miss stuff). Hitting the famous Solarberg was an awesome sight. Even in the terrible conditions people were everywhere and the sound was unbelievable. I made a conscious effort to not get caught up in it when I passed road supporters (including the beer mile - people with tables of steins lining the road and having a good ol' party at 9am). Kept it going, and at 90km special needs station Matthias informed me I was less than 10mins behind a flying lead group and on the verge of the top 10. I could see a group of 3-4 guys ahead of me by a few minutes but I could not make any inroads without going all out for a fair bit. So kept it controlled and stayed to the plan. Around 115km mark I was joined by a few guys hammering the bike who had gone top 5-10 here before and we kept a good distance between us but paced well off each other. Was still peeing all the time and body felt bloated but not in the stomach. Just couldnt stop peeing huge amounts about 1min+ each time. Tried to keep the nutrition going. Ride was feeling very easy and worked on spinning and getting the legs ready for a good run. I knew I could ride much faster and harder but stuck to the plan and was looking at a 4:45 easy bike. Most comfortable 4:49 I have rode given the 15 pee stops, the rain slowing the technical parts, and no pushing it to take to much energy from my run. Bike training is going well and I am confident I can ride 4:40's or better comfortably now for Ironman anywhere.

Run: Plan - First 5km and last 5km take care of themselves, other parts need to be on pace and comfortable so I can work it from 25km onwards. Actual - Feeling good off the bike and ready for a good run knowing I had taken the bike as planned. First 10km good comfortable 4:30-4:37ish pace, next 10 km 4:45-5min pace (still peeing). This was ok as still on target and just had to hold it together for next 22km for a 3:15 and good sub 9. Next 10km started to falter and time was blowing out. Couldn't get the acceleration going or high knee lift. Was turning over legs ok, just no real push off no matter what trick I tried. This pretty much continued all the way to the end. Disappointing as I have worked on this and at no point did I walk (shuffle peeing must have been fun for the spectators). Body was bloated all day in the skin-muscles and I just kept on peeing. Have to sort this out also as sure it did not help my cause. Grabbed the Aussie flag from Matthias and was handed a bouquet of flowers from the Quelle girls for the 100m finish shute loop and finish photo. First thing you see in the finish area past the cameras is the Erdinger Beer Table staff handing you a pint of beer. Ah! That and a toilet stop (again) and I was a happy man ready for a leg massage.

Will write up also about the overall experience of the race. It is truly as people report and you see in the magazines with people crowded in like tour de france hill stages. I can only imagine what it would be like on a day where it is not cold and without a torrential downpour all day and there are even more people out.

Bevan resting up for now,
Ciao.