Originally written in German. Translated to English by AI — please excuse any awkward phrasing.
Questions upon questions — still no clear answers on the remaining races for 2014.
A look at the already (or not-so-already) confirmed schedule:
- Challenge Kraichgau on June 15, 2014
- Challenge Roth on July 20, 2014
- Heidelbergman as relay cyclist on July 27, 2014
- Pacemakers cycling marathon over 342km on August 2, 2014
- Another middle distance race in September
- Ironman Hawaii on October 11, 2014
If I hadn’t qualified for Hawaii everything would be a bit simpler… Well, first world problems, as they say.
Since I want to start in better shape there this time, the question now is how to structure the preparation. Without another Ironman that would certainly be easier, but I also don’t want to skip the start in Roth.
Everything on the list above stays except Challenge Roth — that’s the only open question. A middle distance race always works — you can manage that reasonably well. Same with the 40km relay in Heidelberg. The 342km is a different beast, but in the end the only damage is a sore backside.
For Roth there are essentially 3 options:
- DNS
- Race it, but with a “relaxed” marathon — either dropping out on the run or treating it as an aid-station taste-testing tour
- Go for sub-9 (and maybe a sub-3 marathon) and chase a personal best
Option 1 is very unlikely at this point — Roth is just too good to skip.
Option 2 is something I’ve always wanted to try. Stop at every aid station, work through the full menu of food and drinks, then move on to the next one — that’s the dream 🙂 Now would be the chance.
But: the form is still too good for that, and I can still do it a few years from now. So option 3 after all??? Sub-3 marathon in an Ironman — that’s also the dream 🙂 🙂
Let’s see how the next few weeks and further preparation play out — I already have a feeling how this is going to go.