"This race rock
s! The course is great and the German spectators are even better. The swim was in a harbor right off the Rhine - temp was @ 74 degrees - I was one of three ladies (out of about 260) that didn't have on a wet suit - funniest thing when everybody is in black and you aren't!
The bike - crap there are a ton of hills around here! There is no flat ride - EVER! But the cool thing about going up - you get to come down! I got up to 42 mph. Anyhoo, bike was @ 3:50 - a great challenge and I'm happy to say I made it!
My goal on the run was to not stop and that's just what I did. I thought my legs would be toast for the run but they felt amazingly okay - funny, it was more my mind that was wavering. The Germans were complaining of the heat - it was 85 in the shade and with a breeze. I thought back to Honu and laughed! I finished the run in 2:09 for a race total of 7:00:32. Yippee!"
Coolest things about this race:
- Our race numbers had our names on them so the spectators kept yelling your name - very cool!
- There were so many local Germans watching the race - they were out there sitting on their lawn chairs cheering everyone that went by the villages. They had cow bells and noise makers and posters - they kept chanting "up up up up" as they would sit at the bottom of one of the many hills and motivate you. They were all over the run too - just the greatest feeling ever!
- As much free beer as you wanted at the end of the race. In the "athlete's garden" after the finish you got a huge meal and all the good German beer you could drink without having to take your wristband off!
- The entire bike course was shut off to traffic - you could go as fast as you wanted down the hills and not worry about getting hit by a car - you did have to watch out for the turns that were lined with bails of hay - that's right, hay to stop you from slamming into the guard rails.
No comments:
Post a Comment