Originally written in German. Translated to English by AI — please excuse any awkward phrasing.
After a night’s sleep the world doesn’t look quite so bleak anymore. Where yesterday I was pretty disappointed with the race and how it unfolded (especially the marathon), today I’m already happy and satisfied with the result.
A clear improvement over last year, in significantly tougher conditions. 20th in the age group, 90th in the overall standings at a World Championship, 14th-best German overall and 7th-best German age grouper. What more could you ask for?
Yesterday’s conditions were very tough — the swim, despite plenty of chop and current, was still the more pleasant part.
The same goes for the bike, though “pleasant” is probably only the right word for strong riders in that context. It blew and gusted like crazy — some described yesterday’s conditions as the worst since 1998. As a Lanzarote-seasoned cyclist I didn’t find it that extreme — conditions like that actually suit me very well now and I can use them to my advantage. The fact that the bike split was still only 1 minute slower than last year is surprising nonetheless.
And finally the hardest part of the day — the run. Already on the bike I wasn’t tolerating the ice-cold drinks, which were basically near-frozen. On the bike I could compensate by just waiting before drinking — on the run that wasn’t an option anymore. So from aid station to aid station things kept getting worse, but “not drinking” wasn’t an alternative either. At km 25 the limit was reached and I had to vomit — from that point on I couldn’t take in anything at all. On Hawaii that’s about the worst thing that can happen to you. Things went “badly” accordingly after that — somehow I dragged myself to the finish. Where the energy for that came from is beyond me.
Oh well. Still leaves room for improvement if there’s ever another one…
Now it’s time to celebrate the result — and starting tomorrow, vacation on Maui with plenty of rest and relaxation.
A full race report will follow sometime in the next few days.