1/8 Zandvoort Triathlon 2011

This was the race I was looking so much forward to since the day it was announced. I wanted to race it, I wanted to swim in the North Sea, and I wanted to cycle on the Zandvoort Circuit…..pretty much due to the sea swim, I decided to go for the 1/8 format. A nice 500m swim in the always rough North sea, 20km ride on the F1 circuit and 5km run in dunes.

About 14 days prior to the race day, I started to monitor the weather as I knew this would be one of the deciding factors on how the race would be held….so would it be a Triathlon or would it be a Run Bike Run Duathlon?
At that time it was just boarder line….Saturday was going to be rainy and Sunday cloudy but dry. Temperature was always going to be a favorable factor. As the time drew closer, it was becoming worse and worse and what should have been my best race mentally almost became my nightmare to the point that day before I was actually looking through my window and thinking this will not happen for me. So on Saturday morning I tweeted about it and you will not believe the replies I got….I was called all sorts names that I will not name on this nice and decent blog hahaha.
Reason for being a bit afraid was that in all honesty I still have less than 1500km on a race/TT bike experience….and believe it or not but in Netherlands summer is over and what we had in March/April/May were perfect sunny record breaking days so I had no chance to train in wet and rain conditions…therefore my fear of going on a bike in these conditions coupled with the pretty hard win of 60-70km/h that was forecasted.
So what did I do after the tweets? I went in the afternoon for a 90min bike ride…easy does it…the idea was to attract all the clouds and beg them to rain….finally half way my training that happened, so I got a little bit of rain coupled with strong wind. It felt like riding a bike when being drunk…from left to right…but then being completely soaking wet. I was ready for Sunday race!!!

Oh yes….prior to this I also heard that the tire/wheels combo I was riding for my races is not really what is called safe…. Thanks @EJVNL and @tweetiris for alerting me of this fact. Apparently my Zipp carbon firecrest wheels don’t get along with the Schwable R.1 tires….as these tires just by itself let go of the wheel…incredible! In any case, better safe than sorry….I bought some Conti 4000S tires that are apparently good, so equipment was also ready.
I also mounted my GoPro HD video cam on the bike…but more on that later.

Weather at this stage (still Saturday)…not looking good….my feeling is that the swim will be cancelled as it would just be too dangerous. Nice and challenging but too dangerous.

Sunday was not only a big race day, but also a Father’s day….so after waking up early and unwrapping the best dad presents, we were off for Zandvoort.
After a short drive this is what we saw....

One thing was sure and that is that wetsuit is staying in the car. Upon picking up my race number 447, this was also confirmed. It was now officially a run-bike-run race.
Forgot to mention that wind was so strong that on my way from parking to the registration desk I had hard time keeping balance. It was strong and gusty! First thoughts that crossed my mind were not very positive....I thought I took the wrong set of wheels with me (404/808 combo). In fact, at the beginning I didn’t see anyone with the high wheels let alone a brave person with a disc in the back.
Air temperature of around 16C was just perfect.

Just before setting up T1/2 I sneaked out onto the race track to see how the conditions are and to give a little spin to the new tires I mounted day before. Wind was just a little softer on the track as circuit is a somewhat hidden by the dunes.

Transition area was set and I was ready for the race.

First run loop was going to be about 2.5km and started on the circuit. Whole 2.5km were on the circuit that had a few turns and a some gentle uphill and downhill tracks with net elevation gain according to my Garmin of 8m. Run started with a pretty fast pace, for my standards of 4:06 per km, bringing me to T1 after some 9:35, with average HR of 165.

Into the T1 it all went smooth, and biking started. I felt really strong on the bike, and from start of cycling it seems that I have been overtaking people and gaining ground on the leaders. Bike course was technical with many turns that were nicely doable on a bike without hitting breaks too much (even in aero position). It was all about anticipating the right gear going uphill and downhill. I think I did quite a good of a job there....and to my nice surprise I had absolutely no issues with the high wheels!
Overtaking other athletes was not very easy as everyone wanted to get the best line even though they were much slower than others…so on many occasions I had to overtake from right which caused extra seconds.
Luckily I had my GPS with me that was telling me approximately how far I was...as I lost count of how many laps I did. As I was approaching km 18 I saw people getting off the course and going into T2. I was a bit puzzeled, and didn't know if I was doing the right thing but in the end went out and into T2. Though of being DSQ did cross my mind, but I just went on and concentrated on fast T2 and the 5km run that was in front of me. Average speed on the bike course was 36.9 km/h and my average heart rate at 170. Max speed recorded on my Garmin was 57.5 km/h. Average cadence 84.
Lastly, my lap times were as follows: 6:12, 6:47, 6:49; 6:44...pretty consistent.

This is how the GoPro camera was mounted on my bike.

This is how the bike race look from the HD video camera mounted on my Cervelo P2.

 

T2 was also smooth, and I was out on the run course. First 300m were hell. My left leg hamstring was cramping to the point that I needed to stop and stretch. After the stretch and a Powerbar gel it started to feel better. Pace during the 1st km was slowest as it should be after T2 but also due to the cramp. Run course was very up and down....and it was steep up and steep down. I felt the uphill parts nicely in my legs. Once on top of the dunes, westerly wind was very hard and on the final stretch headwind.

On top of this, just to add to the complexity, the ground was made up of sand and loose (sharp) stones so good balancing was needed...like I didn't need any other challenges besides carrying 88kg across the dunes as fast as I could. Unlike in cycling, I was passed by a few athletes during the run which I know is my weakest link.

As km's were passing I tried to speed up, and following were my run paces per km:

4:36, 4:31, 4:27, 4:17; 3:15 for average of 4:26 which considering really strong wind and the up/down hilly course I am actually very pleased about. Average heart rate of 171, with net elevation gain of 17m.

After 1:00:43 I crossed the finish line. Extremely happy as I knew it was a good score. I was placed 13th overall and 9th in my age group....if I was placed in the higher age group (only 4 months away) I would have been 2nd in my age group...nice.

Official results:

Run      11:15 (including T1)

Bike     29:16

T2        2:04

Run      18:10

TOTAL 1:00:43

My first run was ranked 46th, bike ride was 4th!!!!, so overall I started the 2nd run as 7th, and lastly the final 5km I was 20th...overall 13th! Nice. Happy.

Now a little bit about the race itself. I strongly believe this race has potential to become one day an Ironman 70.3. No doubt in my mind that it will succeed. Location is great, facilities also, and it will be nicknamed Lanzarote 70.3 of the North!!! Are bookies taking any best yet?

But in order to get there, I do think that next year some things need fundamental changes. 

For example, and it could be only me....so this is my personal opinion:

- I wasn't sure how long the first run was going to be...maybe it was mentioned but I didn't catch it (dutch is no excuse as I understand it well)

- I didn't know where the start was...I think it moved last minute

- I wasn't sure what it meant to cycle 4 laps....where does a lap begin? Maybe a screen with counter next year (thanks for idea @EJVNL)?

- My wife wanted to take a finish shot of me and after asking several people she still didn't know as apparently nobody knew where the finish line was...at Nike they say...there is no finish line...but hold on this is a KSWISS event...

Anyway, these are some minor things that belong to an event that is being held for the first time.

On the other hand, there are many more things that organization and volunteers did an excellent job at...and I applaud them for this. A nicely organized event that I think put organization into a little logistical nightmare after the swim was cancelled.

So to conclude, am very happy I was part of the inaugural Zandvoort Triathlon that has a very very bright future, and with little help of @Maca944 sea will be better next year also so we can swim!!! While you are at it...no jellyfish either please.

I will be back next year! Look forward to it already.

For the GPS lovers, here are the details:

Run 2.5km

Bike 20km

Run 5km

...and last but not least some photos courtesy of my wife Ksenija...

Thanks Peter for the following photo...you will come across this action also on the video:

And some more action shots thanks to Bauke. More photos here.

1/4 Triathlon Huizen: heavy rain....and tears

After 1/8 Ter Aar and 1/8 Nijkerk it was time to get serious....and go for a 1/4 triathlon meaning 1000m swim, 40km bike and 10km run.
Not only was this my first 1/4 triathlon but it was also the first competitive swim in open water. I did two  open water training sessions, so it was not totally new.

Preparations for Huizen started on Thursday, day after the 1/8 Nijkerk race, with some recovery spinning and a massage. Friday was only a nice easy 35min run, and in the evening home made pancakes and PowerBar drink. Needless to say pancakes a'la Ksenija were excellent!!!!

Weather forecast for today was changing hourly...sun, rain, thunder, everything flew by. One thing was sure, temperature was going to be around 16C, which would be great for the race.
In the morning my Tanita weight scale showed 87.5kg....a new record.

Target time for today was at 2:20, which days before race was reduced to 2:18....but looking at weather conditions on day itself I went back to 2:20.

Saturday morning after packing the car I was off. First met with Dennis and Hans, my swimming buddies, who will be doing the Olympic distance and we all drove to Huizen.

Having arrived at the AV Zuidval (the local running track), I went to pick up my race number...263, but unfortunately my race number and tags were not there....hmmm....so I had to go and get the improvised numbers done. That was quick and I was off to set up my transition zone.

Triathlon Huizen is unlike other tri's that I have done so far where all transitions take place at the same place. In Huizen T1, T2 and finish are all at different locations some 2km's apart.

T2 was at the AV Zuidval running track, so I set up T2 and took all things I needed for the swim and T1 in my backpack. I made sure my running shoes were in a plastic bag as there was big chance of rain. once all this was done, I was on my bike and off to T1 and swim start position.

After a few km's we were there. Bike and helmet inspection and we were in the T1. I didn't set up T1 just yet as I wanted to see my buddies start there Olympic race. I learned a lot from it and based on it decided my swim start strategy.
Dennis, Hans, and Klaus who also came later did great. They were out of the water and flew out of T1. After cheering them on the bike it was 30min to my race and it was time to put the wet suite on and set up T1.

Wet suit was on, with some help of my transition neighbor, T1 was set, with towel, socks and cycling shoes and it was time to go to the start.
Once at the start I was nicely surprised at how warm the Gooimeer water was. My swim start tactics was to start far right in order to avoid the big swim rush, elbowing, kneeing, etc...
The music started which meant it was 2.5 minutes to start. As soon as the music ended we were off. During these 2.5 minutes it all got emotional (not sure what is happening to me)...but luckily the music stopped and we were off.

The swim course was swimming to a buoy 250 meters off the shore, and then 2 laps. The first 60ish meters of the swim was actually running as the water is so shallow that swimming would not be possible, but after the 60 meters I was off. Started very fast to get the heart rate high, a few hundred meters later I slightly slowed down. Swimming went nicely, I did get a few elbows, but nothing serious. After the first lap it was shallow water again, which meant I had to do some running which felt like running under influence of alcohol, but as I jumped into water again and started swimming it was all good. Second lap went well also. As I was coming towards the end of the swim and the shallow water my head and hands were wrapped in the green water plants....I felt like one of these creatures from Pirates of the Caribbean.... On my way out of the water I unzipped my wet suit and got my arms out while I was running towards the bike. At the bike I got the wet suit out but not without any complications. My left foot just would not get out, so after some 15-20 seconds of pushing and pulling I finally managed. Socks on, shoes on and I was off.

Once on the bike my heart rate was at 165, but later in the race it dropped to below 160 which was great. On bike I managed to get some decent speed. Some parts of the bike race were quite windy. My biggest fear was that it would rain but luckily rain was delayed....apart from one cloud that lasted only 1 minute with very cold rain that at the speeds above 35km/h felt like needles on the skin. Bike felt good, bike set-up also after I shortened the aero bars yesterday by another 1cm. I was passing many people, even to the point that around 20th km I was alone and didn't see anyone in front of me and at some points even wondered if I was on the right course. At km 30 I got passed, and I believe that was the only person that passed me. Averaging just under 36km/h over the 40km I came into the T2 that was very long....some 250m of running with my bike.

T2 was quick, and I was off for the run. 10km run, 2 laps of 5km. After only a few hundred meters rain started and it started raining cats and dogs.....it was pouring down, and at some point even with hail stones and thunder. Question....do they stop triathlon races when there is thunder in the sky? Anyway, we went on...pace was good. My target was to stay around 4:30 per km. It worked well for 8km, on average I think I achieved it, but in the last 2km I had to push really hard in order to keep it as close as possible to it. Race finished in the Oostermeent shopping area with many spectators considering the weather conditions.

The finish was quite emotional with tears of joy as I saw the official time read 3:11....as 1/4 race started one hour later than Olympic meaning that my time was 2:11.....wow!!!! I finished 15th overall, with one woman in from of me, so in mens 14th place.

I still can't believe the result. How do I beat this time in the future? I don't know....one thing I do know I need to improve my transitions and swimming as well as running. This is where I think I can get the most improvements.

In any case, Huizen triathlon will remain in a very good memory not only as it was my first 1/4 triathlon and the great result but also as it was a great event that is recommended to everyone.
Event would have not been possible without many many volunteers and sponsors....so to all those a big thank you!

Now its time for some recovery, and pure enjoyment of my result and on June 19th its 1/8 in Zandvoort.

Unfortunately something went wrong with my Garmin 310XT today so no GPS maps.

Photos courtesy of Bauke Wagenmakers and Wouter.

RESULTS:
Swim 1000m      19:30 (19th position)
Bike 40km       1:10:24 (14th position, including the T1)
Run 10km           41:09 (27th position, including T2)
TOTAL:          2:11:02

15th place overall in 1/4 out of 135 starters, while in mens category 14th out of 115 men that started.

Flitstriathlon Nijkerk

My first flits triathlon…as the word says…it's a fast one! This time in Nijkerk, a small little town just north of Amersfoort.

In comparison to the 1/8 this version has a shorter swim…about 400m. All other components are the same, 20km bike and 5km run.
Another interesting difference in this version, and what makes it extra fun and exciting, is that there is no mass or wave start, but athletes start in time-trial fashion; every 10 seconds.
Lastly, most races are in the morning, or early afternoon, while this one starts at 19:00…giving some additional challenges in eating and energy conservation after a full day of work.

Luckily for me it was only some 25 minute drive to Nijkerk from my work in Hilversum, so I was there on time even though I passed through a few traffic jams on A1.

Picked up the race number (234), set-up my transition zone and looked a little where you enter and exit the transition zones before and after the bike. Now that I mastered that part it was time to see how swimming is done as that is also a little unusual.

Swim portion is done in an outdoor pool of 35m, yes you read that correctly. So how does it work? You start in lane 1, and swim the 35 meters. At the end of the pool you change to lane 2, and swim lane 2 twice, and change to lane 3….etc…so in the end you swim 11 lanes x 35 meters = 385 meters but as you need to cross the lanes, it does come very close to the 400m.

First the race for teams started, and at 19:00 the individual race would start….every 10 seconds an athlete would mean that I would start some 45 minutes later. I lined up in the que and very soon after I had to jump in the water which was cold at first. Interesting thing is that normally before the training my heart rate is around 85, but as the adrenaline was pumping my heart rate was already almost in zone 1 at 110.

I think I started as the clock said 45:40….and off I was. Started very strong, and tried not to take air during the first 6-7 strokes in order to pump up the HR. It worked well. It was interesting swimming in a 35 meter pool as opposed to the 25 meter one…you kind of get used to 25 meter and expect the turn to come but this time I had some 10 meters extra which was actually an added benefit for me as I didn't have to make that many turns…my turns are poor and slow.
During the swim I don't think I was passed while I passed a few people on my way to 400m finish. I was out and my head was a little dizzy coming out of the water but this only lasted a few steps. My total swim time was 6:58.

T1 went smoother than in Ter Aar. I can't compare the actual times as I don't have the exact T1 time in Ter Aar. I dried my feet, put the socks on, helmet, the number and off I was. T1 was done in 1:40. Clearly there is lots of time to improve here as I teach my feet to cycle/run without socks, and as I learn how to step on the TT bike with clipped shoes on it….but that is for later in the season or even next year.

I was on the bike…and this time pedal clipping went good. I had no idea on what the bike rout was but was told that on every turn there would be someone pointing me in the right direction, and so was the case. Very well organized. Even to the point that cars were stopped in order to allow the athletes to pass. The bike course was on the asphalt roads, while in the beginning and towards the end there were spills of 500m and 3-4km where road was made of bricks meaning lots of resonance on the steering wheel and obviously, in my case, loss of speed. Not did I only lose speed, but due all the resonance at the 3-4km stretch, which was some 6km before the end, my right hand aero bar became lose and started turning which meant I could not steer properly in my aero position so had to be as low as possible on my handle bars….Overall, I was very please with my bike ride in 30:42 over the 20km….38 km/h average speed….

T2 was smooth, helmet went off quickly and without any problems….still overall T2 was not fast enough….and this time as I was lacing my shoes up and it took ages…so I really need to get those fast laces. Total time of 1:37.

Run started well, but after the initial 200m, my left leg started to cramp in the hamstring and calf. It was bad….to the point I would need to stop and stretch and even stop the race. I continued and fought the pain, and managed to overcome it by 1.5km mark, after which I tried to pick up on speed. Once the cramps were gone run went smooth and I was quite pleased with it totaling 22:16 over the 5km. Average pace of 4:26.

Summary of all times:
Swim        6:58      position 64 out of 228 starters
T1            1:40      position 162
Bike         30:42     position 23
T2            1:37      position 154
Run          22:16     position 87
TOTAL    1:03:11  position 56

Looking at this it is clear that I need to work on transitions….very important in the 1/8 triathlon version. Moreover, I need to improve on the running….but that will hopefully come over time. I am very pleased with my bike result!

Overall, happy that I learned form mistakes made in Ter Aar, and even happier with the time achieved.

Last but not least, many thanks to the organizers and all the volunteers that did an exceptional job. I look forward to staying up on February 1st 2012 to snatch my starting place in 2012!

For the coming 2 days it's very light training, recovery and a massage...and then its time for the 1/4 triathlon in Huizen.

Should some action photos of me appear on the net, I will post them here on at a later stage.

Here are the GPS logs of the race for those interested. Times may vary slightly vs. the official chip timing.

Due to poor Garmin 310XT performance in water I will not post any data of the swim.

Bike 20km

Run 5km