mytrilife

World LC Triathlon Champs - Frederica

A thousand years ago, the Danish Vikings took to the seas and plundered much of Europe. It is against these descendents of these feared warriors that I would do battle with in Fredericia at an iron-distance race called appropriately "Vikingman". Had 40 years of protective socialist government policies made the Danes soft? I would find out.

How did I end up the only North American competitor in a mostly Danish field in Fredericia anyways? It started in July of 2004 when Lyndsey qualified for the 2005 ITU World LC Championships at Great White North. After a brief discussion we thought it would be a cool idea to do a Euro trip in 2005, so she signed up for the Canadian team.

My race schedule last year did not include this qualifier, so I was not eligible to compete. After some investigation on the race website I found out that the race organizers would be also running an iron-distance "citizens race" the day before the championship, open to anyone. Perfect! Lyndsey and I could both compete the same weekend and watch each race.

To avoid a more expensive flight and several layovers, we chose a direct flight to Frankfurt, Germany and would drive the 8 hours north to Fredericia. The last time I was in Germany was in the summer of 2003… and the temperatures were scorching all over Europe. I packed all my light summers clothes expecting much the same. As we disembarked the plane on Wednesday morning, the weather was cool, with dull grey overcast skies. This weather would persist for our 12 days in Europe.

The first 3 hours in Frankfurt involved lugging our bike boxes through the airport, into a bus, onto a train, through the train station and up much too small escalator. How foolish. I should have left Lyndsey at the airport, retrieved the car, then pick up our luggage there. Lugging the boxes around had pulled my back and shoulder muscles completely out. As we drove to Hamburg that day my whole upper body was aching.

We arrived in Fredericia early Thursday morning, exiting the freeway on the main road nto the city center. With the large port facility (Denmarks largest) dominating the shoreline on our right and picturesque Danish streets and housing to our left, we drove aimlessly through town not quite sure where to go. After passing through the port industrial area and turning north we came upon the transition area! However, any thoughts of a little exploration were ended by a sudden downpour, and we decided to seek out the location of our home stay.

After a few wrong turns, then finally asking for directions, we arrived at the home of Steen and Tine Jensen. They had a beautiful brick home on the edge of Fredericia, only a short 10min drive from the race start. We unpacked out luggage and set out to explore the town further. The afternoon was quite busy. We registered for our respective races.

Lynds did her team picture and athletes parade to the town square where the opening ceremonies took place and the popular Danish band Zididada played a one hour concert for the athletes. Some catchy tunes… but my race prep was calling and I made my way to swim start area to get in a quick swim.

I've swam in the ocean before in NZ and Hawaii with no problem, but I have to say, this is the first time I've really felt unnerved in the water. For starters, it was cold. Someone said 17C, but that was definitely optimistic. Looking across the deep blue waters of the Lille Bælt (Little Belt straight) to the island of Fyn, the water seemed so much more daunting, almost dangerous. Maybe it was the several jellyfish I saw floating around the dock as I changed, my first time seeing them. I was stung in Hawaii unknowingly in March, but had never actually SEEN one before. I was freaked out. I spent about 15mins in the water getting my arms lose, but never really swimming far from shore.

My back was bad, far worse than I imagined. My muscles were not responding well to even the light swimming. I decided to pull the plug, and hoped I would be ok by race day. Lyndsey and Laura came down to the beach from the concert and we headed off the carbo-load. We ran into some Scottish friends racing for the UK team and had some good food and good conversation. Our jet-lag was still fairly bad so we headed back to the homestay and went to bed early.

Friday dawned cold and windy once again, the constant tap-tap of rain outside our bedroom window gave us an indication of the day to come, as it would pour all day. I decided I wasn't going to take my bike out in this, I didn't need to get cold and miserable and cover my bike in mud and destroy my chain for a lousy taper workout. At this point I hadn't been on my bike since Monday in Canada though, so I was really hoping it would clear at some point.

That afternoon we skipped out of the participants meeting early and rushed out to Vejla, and small city only 22km from Fredericia, to catch the end of one of the stages of the Tour of Denmark (Danmark Rundt). Somehow I managed to weave my way through heavy traffic and with some pure luck we found a parking spot only 500m from the course in town where the stage would do 4 loops of a nasty crit style loop which include a hill of 10% (or more!) grade. The cyclists were just heading up for their second lap when we arrived. He eventually dropped the whole field and went on to win the stage, and eventually the tour of Denmark. Probably not the best way to spend the day before an ironman, running around cheering, but the chance to catch some pro cycling was a priority!

Race Day
I woke up at 4am race morning and ate my usual oatmeal and coffee. Oddly enough the dawn showed a clear sky. As soon as we left the house though, I knew it was going to be a tough day. Our Opel station wagon rental car was covered in dew and the dash temperature gauge read 8C. Brrrr! As the sun came up, so did the wind as well. Fredericia is one of the windiest places in Denmark, and today would be typical. The flags were flapping loudly already.

I quickly set about preparing my transition area, remove the plastic protecting my bike from the rain, and getting my wetsuit on early so I could keep warm! Just after 6am, the race announcer declared that the swim would be 1.9km, due to the water temperature being only 14C (once again, an optimistic reading!). There are specific rules in European racing which dictated the change. Usually, I would feel disappointed at not being able to complete the full distance, but the conditions were marginal for hypothermia already, so I wasn't complaining! The swim would still be two loops, but we would turn back to the swim start at the halfway point buoy.

Fredericia is one of four towns in Denmark surrounded by ancient medieval earthen walls or ramparts, built during the reign of the Vikings. The transition area was just inside the wall. I climbed over the wall and along the dirt path down to the scaffolding ramp which takes you over the road (and part of the bike course) and down to the swim area. With much trepidation we all jumped in the water and waited for the starter gun. DAMN, it was cold! I was doing jumping jacks and anything to keep heat going. A warm up swim was out of the question!

I heard, "You are in the hands of the starters, one minute to go". Then ten seconds later, Boom! And we were off, so much for a minute! I immediately started to feel a burn in my shoulder muscles. It wasn't the usual lactic burn of a race start, but the burn of tired, weak muscles. Nothing I could do though but keep the arms moving and hope it would get better. I got bumped a bit, got some clear water and swam scared. I need to swim hard to keep warm, and the jellyfish were out in force today.

As I swam under the dock and stood up, I checked my watch. Almost 18 minutes.. what the?!?! Very slow for me! Oh well, had to keep moving and hope the second lap was better. The field had drawn out considerably now and I could see clearly as I hit several packs of jellyfish. I knew I was stung but was too cold to feel it! My calves started spasming from the cold water too. This wasn't going well. Under the dock again, and I crossed the timing mat in 37:43, over 7mins slower than I last swam than same swim distance 5 weeks earlier. I figure that the course was slightly long, the cold weather, my weakened muscles had something to do with it. I later learned that there is a very strong current in this area as the water squeezes from the Baltic to the North Sea through this tiny straight. It can actually be against you both ways! Ok, enough excuses… on to the bike.

I scaled the ramp and over the earthen rampart into the cold grass of transition. Nothing like cold grass to numb the feet even further! I tried to be quick, but my hands weren't working, I was shivering and my calves were still cramping. Somehow I managed to get all my warm weather gear on and out of transition in just over 5mins. It felt like 20. Funny note… as I was changing I noticed at least two guys completely naked in transition! Nudity is not as big of deal in Europe apparently, so no change tents are provided. And no, I did not see any naked ladies, as there were only three in the race (I found that odd).

The Bike
The bike course in Fredericia is fabulous. A real mix of scenery. The first 35km loop takes you past the port and industrial area, out and under the bridges that cross Lille Bælt, and down a rolling countryside highway past the village of Skærbæk. As you come back to transition you head down to the beach via a road and under the swim ramp and out to another 25km loop into the Danish countryside through the village of Trelde, some picturesque farmland and finally some forest at the second turnaround point. Repeat this 60km 3 times. While not that hilly, the wind was ferocious, and certain sections required some tricky handling through some tight turns. Much tougher than the elevation profile would have you believe.

The first lap zipped by fairly uneventful, I kept my pace easy, tried to get warm and started getting some calories. 1:50. Perfect. The pace was comfortable enough and that would give me my 5:30 bike split I was hoping for. My back however, had other ideas.

As the second lap progressed, my back pain was getting worse. I had certainly done a number on it in Frankfurt. I was forced to sit up and soft pedal every 20-30 as the pain became unbearable. I couldn't put any real power to the pedals without bringing tears. I didn't bother checking my lap 2 split, I didn't want to know. It took all my effort to head out for that final 3rd lap instead of quitting.

The third lap was an exercise in mental toughness. I knew I was using up my "pain points", but I had to just finish this damn bike! I knew that I could probably run well once my back was straight. After passing by transition out for my final 25km the pain was unbearable. I dropped my bike and lay on the ground trying to massage my back. It eased a bit, so off I went. Shortly thereafter, a medical crew on motorcycle asked me if I was ok. I waived them on, "No, but I just want to finish!". The followed me for about 5km. On a side note here, I have to say, I have never seen such well-trained and professional medical volunteers at a race as I did in Fredericia. They saw everything!

I entered T2 mentally toasted. Without being able to get aero for much of the bike and having to fight the heavy winds, my legs were a bit overdone too. I entered T2 in 60th position overall, 5:52:30 bike split. I was just glad to complete it, and I was going to have to use my usually strong run to get myself up to a decent placing now. Another slow 5min transition though, as I tried to get my body and mind back in the game.

The Run
The run consists of 4 laps of 10.5km (there is an extra .295 in there somewhere too). The first km takes you to the gates of the old town, through the wall, and into the streets of newer Fredericia, past cozy houses, underneath the train tracks, then past some (I thought) socialist housing developments and into the far end of town, going less than 500m from our homestay. As you re-enter the city gates you head back to transition down Denmarkgade which is the main walking street in town and then past the finish line to start again. There were a decent amount of spectators for the Vikingman, but the next day this run course would be packed with thousands of people, impressive for such a small town.

What can I say? I had a good run! Not up to my potential give my issues earlier in the day, but I powered through the course, although had a few rough moments. I remember on the third lap passing the medical team that had chatted with me on the bike and said "I'm still in it". I was so glad to be able to finish I had a big smile. Drank plenty of cola and managed to run myself up to 34th place! 3:54 run split. I grabbed a Canadian flag and ran down the finishing chute. The announcer spoke, "Greg Nicholson, from Canada!", as I crossed the line.

Overall time 10:34:07, although… what does that mean without the full swim? I don't know. I'm still happy to have salvaged a good race under tough environmental and physical conditions. I have a good feeling about my next iron-distance race.

On a side note… at 14 hours, there were ZERO athletes left on the course. I can't imagine that at a race in North America. The Danes and Euro racers in general are a pretty fit bunch. No mid-life crisis, lousy training, bag an IM finish in under 17 hours people here.

The next day I had loads of fun cheering on the Canadians, and everyone else at the World Champs. I hobbled around, had a few beers in celebration and soaked up the atmosphere of what is a great town for triathlon racing! Lyndsey has a fabulous race report you can read about her race as well.

That final night was a sad one. We said our good-byes to all the new friends from Team Canada, and headed back for a final beer with Steen before both of us, exhausted from our efforts on the weekend fell into deep sleep. We had many laughs and good conversation the next morning at breakfast with Steen and Tina, before saying our good-byes to them as well. Hopefully we'll be back sooner than later! Maybe we'll see them in Canberra at the World's next year!

I have to acknowledge the race organizers in Fredericia. This is the best run race I have ever seen… even more so than IMC. Everything was done perfect. The volunteers… WOW. I've never experienced that good of volunteers at aid stations. The medical staff, they were omnipotent I swear… If you bent over for 10secs, one would appear out of nowhere and ask if you were ok. The race announcers… these guys could speak, and I'm not kidding, probably 15 languages between the two of them. They greeted every athlete in their home language for the most part.

And I want to thank again our wonderful hosts in Denmark, Steen and Tina. Steen was the Volunteer co-ordinator for the race and put many, many hours into making this event a success. Tina brought the baby down and did turns at the registration tent as well. Their hospitality was overwhelming, they made sure we were well fed and had everything we needed. They made our stay in Denmark so special.

The next seven days in Europe we hit Berlin, Amsterdam, and Brussels… but that's another story before flying back from Frankfurt.

So, what's next? I think I'll give the cold weather races a pass for a bit! I'm going to look into somewhere hot, Lanzarote is a possibility. I might even make a return to IMC next year if I can snag a qualifying race spot. While I'm getting better at racing in the cold, I think I just want to do a race where I'm not near hypothermia half the time.

posted by Greg @ 8/06/2005