Things are slowly getting serious. There are only 35 days until Challenge Roth and the really long sessions are coming up. 5h bike, 6h bike, 26km run and a test race in the middle distance.
In general, training has become increasingly difficult to integrate into everyday life over the last few weeks. Short periods of illness with sore throat, family visits and weddings have repeatedly ruined training sessions on the schedule.
I would like to give a brief status report here to show where I stand.
Swim status:
I’ve been swimming about twice a week so far. The distances have always been around 3km. However, I have never swum more than 3.8 km. This is still a barrier for me that needs to be broken before the competition. I might also have to swim 4 or 5 km without paying attention to my pace. So far this year, I’ve swum a total of 86km in around 30 hours. Only once with a wetsuit. It felt much easier than I thought, but I still have to get used to the unrestricted shoulder freedom. It’s important that I make sure I put the wetsuit on correctly beforehand. That makes a big difference.
The 1:10h swim target I set myself seems very unrealistic at the moment. Over the distance, a pace of 2min/100m seems more realistic. With the right water shade and a few more times with a wetsuit, longer distances
Bike status:
I bought a new bike at the beginning of the year.
Used, but well maintained:
Canyon Speedmax CF 8.0 Di2 (2018).
Black. Simple. Fast enough.
I’ve spent around 125 hours in the saddle since January. My FTP should currently be around 300W (82kg – 3.65W/kg). I should actually be well prepared here. Actually.
However, I realized how much 1,500m is and that the course in Roth is very demanding. I tested the course on Rouvy. Virtually, but real enough to understand what I was getting myself into.
I equipped the bike with three bottle cages from Profile-Design and built my own anti-bottle-launching solution. I’ll probably carry 1x1000ml front, 2x750ml + 650ml Canyon aero bottle rear.
Problem areas: Seat area, ISG and front thigh
I have the most problems when cycling in the seat area. After a long time in the saddle, the chamois cream wears off and the almost non-existent seat pad of the triathlon suit no longer helps. As a result, I can’t hold the aero position for so long.
In addition, I have knee pain on one side, which restricts me relatively severely when riding, but usually only occurs after a long time on the bike. I’ve noticed that this mainly occurs on longer routes with lots of climbs and descents. On descents, I always have my right leg down and my left leg up. I suspect that this leads to more and more tension on one side. I have to remind myself that I sometimes do it the other way round.
After long bike rides, I mainly notice the front thigh muscles the days after. The hamstrings, on the other hand, tend to be less strained. I suspect that the sitting position is simply not 100% right yet. I hope that this will not have a negative effect on the marathon and that muscular overload will not occur.
DIY Bikefitting:
As the nearby bike fitting service didn’t have any appointments available until August, I had to customize the time trial bike myself as best I could. I discovered and used the BFF EZ app for this. The app shows you what corrections you need to make to get into a better position. Unfortunately, this is limited to saddle height and saddle position for the time being. As you can see from my first photos, my latissimus was very active and tense, my back was very round and my knee was too far in front of the pedal. Overall, the position looked very squat.
The result:
The new position is longer overall and the back is significantly flatter. The knee angle is wider and the distance between knee and pedal is shorter.
Anti-Bottle-Launching: For Anti bottle launching I used rubber bands and 3D printed tool based on Wovebike. The 3D printed part because it is simply easier to grip than the rubber bands and also easier to find by hand at the back if you can’t see exactly what you are gripping.
What I still need for cycling is a suitable aero helmet. I’ll probably just use my Abus Gamechanger if there’s no cheap version on offer in the classifieds. I find it very difficult to judge which helmet will ultimately fit and suit my posture based on position alone. It would be cool to have some kind of tool where you can place the helmet on photos.
Run status:
When it comes to running, I’ve been running consistently apart from one week off due to a heel spur. However, the distance has left a lot to be desired: sometimes it was only 25km, but sometimes more than 40km. Unfortunately, more distance was not possible due to the other disciplines.
The heel spur is still with me and has never really gone away. Even though I haven’t noticed it when running in running shoes, even over 26 km, it is still there sometimes when I run barefoot and hurts a bit. This still worries me a little.
Nutrition plan status:
– 1h before coffee
– 20min before the swim start 1x 40g gel
– 1x 40g gel directly after the swim (preferably on the way to the transition zone)
– 100g/h on the bike (2 bottles with maltodextrin/fructose mixture 1:0.8 and fruit bars to eat something solid)
– 80g/h with maltodextrin/fructose mix and gels
I’m still not sure about the sodium supply. So far I’ve only used salt in my bike bottles. I still have to work out a suitable strategy here.
Strength Training status:
Due to a lack of time, I only really did strength training marginally with some stability exercises. It seems crazy to me that people still have the time to go to the gym and already doing three other sports in a week of training.
Costs:
I have broken down here how much money I will and have spent on Challenge Roth:
| Description | Costs |
|---|---|
| Registration Challenge Roth: | 734€ |
| Hotel costs: | 572€ |
| Travel costs: | 115€ |
| Registration Middle Distance: | 125€ |
| Tri-Suit (Fusion) | 450€ |
| Bike (Canyon Speedmax CF 8.0 Di2) | 2.200€ |
| Saddle (Gebiomized Stride) | 120€ |
| Bike-Accessories: | 150€ |
| Carbon-Shoes: | 250€ |
| X swimming pool visits | 6€ / swim |
| 4.716€ |
Already available: Neo/wattmeter pedal/cycling shoes etc.
Even if this is probably still very little money, I think the amount invested is considerable. Unfortunately, it’s a sport for those who can afford it. As much fun as I enjoy the sport, unfortunately it still depends on how good you are. Unfortunately, the difference between good and very good is not necessarily measured in hours of training, but in euros.
If you just want to get there, a solid setup is enough. But as soon as you become more ambitious, a silent spiral begins: you need this, you need that: lighter wheels, watt-controlled training, bike fitting, aerodynamic optimization, training camps, coaching, competition trips.
Thanks for reading and listening to my story.
Jan
