Another week gone, another good week of training. Under clear blue skies most of this week, and temperatures between 30 and 36 degrees Celsius, I had two key sessions in my preparation for World Champs in just 2 weeks time.
Tuesday was a run/cycle/run “brick” session (training with all sessions done back to back). The first run consisted of 1000m’s repetitions on the track at 3min30/km pace with 30sec rest. Then straight onto a 100km cycle at moderate pace on the race route, followed by 15km at 4min/km pace. Even though I felt tired, the session went off well, and the legs felt good when they needed to go fast. A good confidence builder.
Thursday was another track session, this time one mile repeats. Again, although the general fatigue from the last 3 weeks of hard training was there, the legs managed to tick over in good time. In fact, slightly better than at the same period just before Ironman SA. Hopefully a sign of good things to come.
My long rides are usually reserved for Saturdays, and this Saturday’s 150km was the first time since we arrived in Germany that I got rained on. Normally, when in Europe, you can expect rain at least 2-3 days a week. But we’ve been really lucky during our stay, and when the heavens opened up half way through my ride, I couldn’t complain. Seven weeks in Europe and I only had to clean my bike once, certainly better than Port Elizabeth. The rain also gave me the opportunity to experience the race route in the wet. All I can say is that if you thought the course was hard in the dry, well, it’s a whole different beast in the rain.
The highlight of the week was the much anticipated race at Challenge Roth. Of course I wasn’t racing, but it’s always enjoyable sitting at the PC watching how the competition unfolds. Roth has always been one of the biggest races on the calendar, but with so many Ironman races in close vicinity, it’s definitely losing some of it’s popularity. None the less, a strong field still turns up to duel on the route where the world record is held ( and where I did my PB of 8h07 last year).
This year saw a German rookie take on the pace early on, but former Olympian, Rasmus Henning from Denmark came away with the win after an incredible 2h39 marathon to win in 7hr52. With 2009 IMSA winner, Marino Vanhoenaker’s 7hr52 at IM Austria 2 weeks ago, these two guys must certainly line up in Hawaii as big time favourites.
But the performance of the day must without question be that of Chrissie Wellington. Not only did she finish 7th overall in a race that almost saw a men’s world record (at one stage she moved into 6th after passing SA’s James Cunnama, but he later passed her again), she smashed her own record from last year by 12minutes to finish in 8h19, a very impressive PB for any male athlete. Her time included a 2h48 marathon, 4th fastest of the day including the men, and a time that is 1minute faster than my run PB. So instead of sitting here typing up stories for you to read, I’m going to go train my butt off - so that she doesn’t beat me in HawaiiJ
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