Pickup the race Bag at the race office in Frankfurt Roemberg Area, pack the transition bags and then head down to the Langener Waldsee to check in the bike. Luckily the temperature at the lake was 22\u00b0C so wetsuits were allowed even though it had been hot all week. Checking the bike in was relatively straight forward as every one of the 3000 athletes is assigned a \u201chelper\u201d who takes you down to your allocated slot, checks the transition bags and covers the bike in a plastic bag. A photo is also taken with you and your bike for security purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then back to Frankfurt for the expo and some dinner in the Hotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wake up early, head down to breakfast and then catch the 5:30 bus to the Langener Waldsee. I soon realize how windy it is, but it hadn\u2019t started raining yet ! I watched the \u201cPro\u2019s\u201d start at 6:45 am and then jumped in the water for a quick warm up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7:00 am is the main start, as you can imagine it’s a \u201cwashing machine\u201d with almost 3000 athletes heading for the same turning buoy. Round the 1st buoy and everyone starts to settle down. I\u2019m able to find some space and settle into a nice rhythm. I then climb out onto the beach for a short sprint before jumping back in for the 2nd longer loop. More space this time, but you can\u2019t really tell where you\u2019re going since somebody parked a sailing boat in the way !! (probably should have gone to the pre-race briefing on Friday for more details, but I had to work). Reach the turning buoy and then head straight back to the beach for the transition area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As soon as I get out of the water, the heavens open and it starts raining heavily – unglaublich! Transition wasn\u2019t the fastest since I spent quite a while cleaning the sand off my feet before jumping into the bike shoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Onto the bike and the first 20k head back into Frankfurt. Within minutes my shoes fill up with water from the rain \u2013 something which I have never trained for, but at least it\u2019s not too cold. As I head out of Frankfurt for the first loop into the countryside, I become more exposed to the weather and can really feel the strength of the wind. I return into Frankfurt for the start of the second loop and eventually it stops raining. It\u2019s still windy on the 2nd loop, but at least more spectators are out providing more encouragement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Head back into Frankfurt for the run transition, my back and neck are beginning to ache by now. I was hoping for a nice cool run, but as soon as I exit the transition tent, the sun comes out and the temperature rockets into the 30s \u2013 but at least the back ache has gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The run is basically 4 x 10k laps along the Main. Luckily, there is an aid station every few kilometers where you can drink lots of water and throw ice under your cap. The first 2 laps are without incident, but on the 3rd I started to become tired. After fuelling up on all sorts of energy drinks I manage to get round the 4th lap (with about 5mins of walking) before sprinting into the \u201cRockstar\u201d finish!! I pose for a quick photograph under the clock and then get my medal. Another \u201chelper\u201d escorts you to the athletes garden for food, shower, finisher t-shirt etc and then I go and pickup my bike. Back to the hotel, order a huge burger from room service and then sleep!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The following morning I\u2019m on a flight to Chicago with some work colleagues. They tell me I look like sh*t, I just grin and reply \u201cYeah, but at least I\u2019m an IRON MAN!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Derek Webster<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Derek Webster 12:34:27Place 329 in age group M35-39(1:15:44 Swim, 6:20:58 bike, 4:38:16 run, 0:19:28 transition) Saturday 7th Juli Pickup the race Bag at the race office in Frankfurt Roemberg Area, pack the transition bags and then head down to the Langener Waldsee to check in the bike. Luckily the temperature at the lake was 22\u00b0C […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-594","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.djk-feudenheim.de\/Triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.djk-feudenheim.de\/Triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.djk-feudenheim.de\/Triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.djk-feudenheim.de\/Triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.djk-feudenheim.de\/Triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=594"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.djk-feudenheim.de\/Triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":603,"href":"https:\/\/www.djk-feudenheim.de\/Triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/594\/revisions\/603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.djk-feudenheim.de\/Triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}