This year I took part in my very first 70.3
race. I could imagine this was going to be a really hard race. I have never
done these distances before. Looking at
the Pro start list was scary – I even saw the name of a previous IM World Champ
amongst them. Racking the bike on the previous day, race briefing and warm up, was
all things I haven’t experienced before. But luckily my dad and brother was
there to help me and keep me focused for the race. My mom was there as always
to support. On race morning I was feeling good and focused but also very
anxious.
The swim was very similar to a normal Olympic
distance race as the pace was quite fast but not too bad. I exited the swim a
few about 20sec behind the leaders. After the swim the big test started with
the undulating 90km time trail. I was stressed because I have never done this distance
before in a race and the field was very strong. I managed to get to a good transition
and was out on the bike in 3rd position. It only lasted for about 10km until
the group caught up to me and I was content to sit at the back as I was still
new to this. At about 25km there was a huge increase in the pace and I tried to
go with the group, but after about 5km of hard effort, I dropped back because I
knew I can’t keep up with the pace. Doing a time trial for 90km on a difficult
route is physically and mentally demanding, but it was fun, I enjoyed all of
the cycling. The 90km didn’t feel that bad and I was glad I could start with
the run soon.
On the run I felt kind of fresh from the cycle.
I started out at a too fast pace, which was a bit of a mistake. The race was
longer than what I was used to so I had to hold back a bit. I felt good until
about 5km to go when my legs started to fall of quite badly. My legs felt like
jelly and I was tired, I kept on counting the meters down one by one until I
reached the finish.
I was really happy, as everything went almost perfect
for my first race. The weather was perfect and also my body. I couldn’t have
asked for a better race considering my limited experience in this and also with
the amount of training I did. I ended up in 15th position in the Pro category,
with a decent time as well. I took a lot of positives out the race and also it
was a great boost mentally for having a good first race of the season.
That was the perfect building block for the
rest of the season, I just needed to focus on the races and take it one race at
a time.
Thank you to my parents, brother, coach Lindsey
and all my sponsors.
Cheers
Rudolf
