Neben der Arbeit und einem Studium dreht sich in Ihrem Leben fast alles um den Triathlon. Sie startet vor gut einer Woche beim Ironman in Mexico und konnte sich dort mit einem 6.Platz der Frauengesamtwertung beweisen. Eine respektable Endzeit von 9:59:20h stand am Ende auf der Uhr!!!
In den folgenden Zeile könnt ihr den kompletten Race report lesen. Diesen Artikel und noch mehr Infos über Annett gibt es auf ihrer Internetseite: www.ilovetriathlon.com.
Ich sag an der Stelle nur: Annett – weiter so!!!
Race report – Ironman Cozumel
First Ironman Race in Mexico, ever. And a good one in many ways: location, organization, spectators and my own personal race.There were definitely a couple funny things in Mexico – e.g. speed bumps on the road were smoothened out by putting more concrete down the day prior to the race; people got timeslots for the transition setup, which nobody really seemed to care about; the swim course got changed in our favor, so we had to swim less against, and more with the current. But now to my race…When we arrived at the transition area on race morning it was pitch black. The couple floodlights they had were in the pro-area (lucky me ;-)!), but for Jason and Nathalie it was hard to know for sure if they taped the gel onto their own bike or onto the neighbor’s J! But, it got light, and it was a beautiful calm morning. The Ocean was basically flat, not the kind of whirlpool we experienced during our practice swim two days prior. (The official practice swim was actually cancelled, but as late risers we missed that announcement and thought we better try this out, so we are prepared in case race day is gonna turn out that rough).
There were about 50 pros on the start, and I had three goals for the swim:
1] Get some feet (who wants to swim on your own for an hour in the big blue)
2] Don’t get the feet of #49, haha…
3] Swim “pretty”…as apparently I am actually swimming faster, when I am trying to look like a swimmer and not like I am wrestling with the water.
So, the gun went off, and everybody went out fast. I got behind somebody, hoping his feet would be a good pair to follow…they were for about 400m, then the guy, was getting too fast for me. Luckily, I saw another girl swimming a bit to the side, merging in, so there we go…feet swap. And, yes, this worked. (Whenever it felt like I would be losing her, too, I used my imaginative mind to picture a shark around somewhere, and then I asked myself if I REALLY want to give up these feet and swim on my own or not – very effective technique to give you that extra little kick ;-)). However, after another 300m or so, I was confident that I can stick with her, and so I did. I followed her the whole way, while couldn’t help but noticing the amazing visibility, even saw a stingray floating on the ground. We made it back to the dock, and once out of the water, I passed my swimming companion on the run to the change tent, grabbed my stuff and kept on running to my beautiful Storck. On this little 500m run I got a first impression on how enthused the crowd is. It was so much fun, and I hope I was smiling at my friend Teresa, who was right at my bike cheering me on.
I “hopped” on my the bike, rode across the brand new concrete (finished on Saturday ;-)) to the main and only road around the island. We started off with a tale wind, which was nice to get settled into your rhythm before hitting the beautiful, but windy backside of the loop. I expected a ton of wind, so I was mentally prepared. I was also prepared for a lot of heat and humidity for an Edmontonian, who rode the last couple outdoor rides in 2 to 4 degree dry weather. I made sure to drink lots of fluids, to take electrolytes and eat bars rather than just gels (again because of electrolytes). I had all that food stuffed into the legs of my cycling shorts, as my race outfit has no pockets. I must have looked like a hamster preparing for winter. Anyway, the wind was strong, but not that strong to worry about being pushed off the road. For the last part of the loop you had the wind in your back, and thus were flying into town. Once you hit Cozumel you were flying, just because the spectators were so amazing. And, again, I saw my friend Teresa cheering for me. She looked a bit surprised the first time I came around. I took that as a good sign ;-)! Also, the fact that I had passed a couple girls on the bike during this first loop already, made me quite happy. Hitting loop number 2 you knew what I was getting into in terms of the wind. But now it got quite a bit hotter as well. Sometimes, it would just hit me, and all I could think was that I have to make it to 3pm, and it will “cool” off…Nothing changed on the final lap – the wind was still blowing, the heat was still on, and I tried to stick to pushing my prescribed wattage no matter what. It is actually harder to do so with the wind than against it. But then, when you manage, you go sooo fast ;-)!
T2 was the shortest Ironman transition possible. You hopped off your bike at the line, the volunteers grabbed your bike, you picked your bag about 2m further down, “run” (or I should say hobbled into the change tent another 15m further down, and then exited the transition area just 5m later.While I had expected to feel a bit stiff coming off the bike, I was shocked when I saw how white my formerly black pants were. Wow, I didn’t know if this is normal in this weather or if this means I am in deep sh…So, I took two of my electrolyte pills right away and started the run. Again, lots of spectators along the Boulevard we were running on for the first mile. I had one spectator telling me my gap to number 5 (thank you!), so now I knew I was in 6th. I was thrilled about that, and just told myself how much fun this all is (something that felt harder during other times of the run) and to keep doing my own race. It went pretty well for the first 15km, then I had to use the washroom. Coming out of there, I dropped all my electrolyte pills. Oh, oh, not good in this climate. But, what do you do…”only 25km to go” I thought. From then on I basically stopped at every single aid station, and tried to take in as much as I could in terms of Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium…I would have a bit of banana, wash it down with Gatorade, or take a bit of gel, a bite of a powerbar or even peanuts with water. All in small doses. Thanks God, I was a race walker as a kid, haha. Eating and walking was manageable without losing too much time on the aid stations. I would also stuff ice into my shirt and continuously pour water over myself. I couldn’t feel the much-wanted cool down effect after 3pm. What I could feel was my left calf not liking this run anymore…with only 1km to go. I shuffled a bit more, to give my calf a bit a break…I didn’t want to stop for a stretch as I knew the 10hour mark is getting close…Luckily I turned around the corner and saw the clock at 9hr59min and only a couple seconds. I had a whole minute to finish the last 30m, and I was there crossing that line in 9:59:20, as 6th female pro of the day. Another PB :-)!
The post-race experience started “normal”, with a short stop in the medical tent, but I got better pretty quick and left, then I got my massage, smiled for the finisher photo, picked up my gear and waited with Teresa for Jason and Nathalie. But then about 1.5 hours later, I suddenly went downhill. I barely remember 10min out of the next 2hrs…all I know is that it started with me hanging over the fence, and ended in the ambulance. I was so happy that Teresa was with me the whole time, holding my hand (or should I say stretching my stiff and cramping hands), and calming me down while I was hyperventilating, and making sure I am not falling asleep after they gave me a sedative. After hanging on the drip for 2 liters of fluids I felt ok again, and shuffled home. Next morning, I was back to being a “normal” ironman finisher in terms of sourness. Overall, I had a great race and time together with my friends Teresa, Jason and Nathalie.
Flying back home from 26 degrees and humidity into -16 degrees and snow chaos..it is not that hard right now to take a break from cycling and running ;-)! New plans for 2010 are in the working though…
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