Originally written in German. Translated to English by AI — please excuse any awkward phrasing.

… or me and the race marshals…

It already started on Saturday at bike check-in, when my TT helmet failed inspection — more on that in the post about the bad omen. Today was the sequel: I picked up my very first time penalty in my triathlon career. More on that below.

Conditions today were significantly tougher than last year — fairly windy (last year was calm). This showed up in the swim as choppiness, and later on the bike with wind from every conceivable direction.

The swim went reasonably well despite the waves. I got pushed off course a few times and shaken around quite a bit, but still managed a time of 29:07 — a full 41 seconds faster than last year. The transition onto the bike was okay, but still has room for improvement.

On the first flat kilometers the goal was just to find a rhythm on the bike and get some nutrition in. That worked out fine — I covered the first 28km in 48:39, about 45 seconds slower than last year. A group formed fairly quickly that worked well together and rode fairly on the flat sections. On the climbs things naturally bunched up, and that’s where things got complicated for me… one person in the group had to catch the penalty, and I was the unlucky one. Drafting on a climb at 13 km/h — pretty laughable, but the marshal wasn’t budging.

So I pulled into the penalty box in Büchig, a completely new experience. They handed me a stopwatch and I had to serve my 4-minute penalty. At least I could use the time productively — eat something, use the bathroom, etc. Then there were the formalities: I had to sign to confirm I’d served the penalty. Pretty annoyed, I got back on the bike and had to burn off some frustration in the form of high watts. After a few minutes I looked at my computer and realized I was going way too hard — nearly 340 watts average. That wasn’t going to last and I would have blown up. I dialed it back, and the next segment went by in 54:14 — actually 40 seconds faster than last year. On the final bike segment I had to pay a little for that outburst and got cramps in my left leg, but I managed to keep them under control. That segment took 14:55, which was 14 seconds slower than the year before. Total bike time: 2:40:08, including the penalty. Without it I was about 2 minutes slower than last year, but I pushed nearly 15 more watts on average. Those power numbers make me very optimistic for the upcoming races — last year I’d gone too hard on the bike and faded badly on the run. The bike-to-run transition didn’t go as planned since I again couldn’t get out of my cycling shoes and ran through T2 in them. That’s definitely a problem I still need to solve!

On the run I immediately found my rhythm, but had to battle cramps early on. Cola, sports drink, and gels eventually got them under control. The heat on the run was intense — cooling down the body became the top priority. At every aid station I grabbed anything that promised cooling.

My ambitious run plan was to hold 4:00/km. I’d hit that in training during hard finishes, but never in a race. The first 7km lap went according to plan — actually 27:26 was maybe a touch fast, but it felt really good and easy. The second lap wasn’t quite as smooth but still 28:04, right on target. And in the last lap I actually got faster — 27:45 was the second quickest lap! Final run time: 1:23:13 — not too shabby for a half marathon in a triathlon.

Total time: 4:36:07, 67th overall and 14th in my age group. Despite the time penalty, 5 minutes faster than last year. Without that stupid penalty it would have been a top-45 finish…

Summary:

  • Swim: very happy
  • Bike: 15 watts higher average — great performance; time penalty very frustrating
  • Run: sensational

Overall a very solid form test — all those training hours paid off. A few small things left to fix, but I’m on a very good track.