Ironman Frankfurt Race Report
Here’s my Ironman Frankfurt race report; you might want to get yourself a big cup of tea, buckle in, this is a long one!
Ironman Frankfurt was my ‘A’ race of the season, I did a few other smaller races but Frankfurt was my focus, everything I did was geared around racing well there. In the months running up to the race, training was going well, very well in fact, and as a huge bonus I was injury free (always an issue when you pile on the training miles).
A Royal Air Force friend of mine and I decided to drive over to Germany as we thought this would be the most hassle-free option and we could take as much kit as we wanted (extra wheels, spares, helmets, etc). The road trip started well enough, but issues with striking French ferry workers meant delays both at Dover and Calais, but to be honest it wasn’t that bad. After a detour in Brussels (worse traffic than London!), we ended up in a town called Leuven for the night (a very picturesque town), before heading down to Frankfurt the following morning.
We knew from the weather forecast that it was going to be hot in Frankfurt, but we weren’t quite prepared for the 36’c heat in the days running up to event. It was boiling! To cut a very long story short, we spent far too much time on our feet and in the sun in the run up to the event than we should have (registering, doing the expo, race brief, doing a recce of the swim & bike course), but unfortunately there was no way round it.
As it was so hot we pretty much knew that wetsuits would be banned, so I ended up buying a swimskin from the expo to use on race day. I was lucky to get one as they were selling like hot cakes once the official decision of no wetsuits was made.
Race day was upon us and we were up at 3:45am. We grabbed a quick breakfast and left the hotel at 4:30am to get the shuttle bus that would take us out to the lake (the lake was about 15km away from the city). We arrived in good time, pumped up our tyres, put our drinks on the bikes and were good to go!
After a leisurely warm up, we watched the pro men go off, then the pro women, then next up it was my wave. I was in a wave of 500 and after us a huge wave of 2500 would follow!!! The usual euro-pop was banging out on the PA system, a drone was in front of us getting some good camera shots, however it was time to get my game face on! My room mate James and I gave each a quick ‘good luck’ and we were now ready to go.
The canon went off and myself and 499 of my new best friends ran into the lake and the race was on! The "biff" you get from other triathletes in these types of races is usually huge, with arms and legs everywhere, but today that lasted all of about 3 or 4mins and then I had some free space. I got the occasional knock or kick, but this was nothing compared to previous Ironman races.
The swim at Ironman Frankfurt is a 1500m loop, followed by an Australian exit, followed by a larger 2300m loop. The first 600m or so went without issue, there was a bit of a melee at the 1st turn buoy but nothing to write home about, we then turned again heading back in the direction we’d just come from and I couldn’t see a thing! The sun was low and I had no chance of spotting any buoys in front of me. No problem, just follow the guys in front, they’ll be heading in the right general direction (famous last words!).
At this point I was swimming next to a guy in a light blue swimskin (very easy to spot), we were swimming at the same pace so I decided to drop back and sit on his feet for a while. With his distinctive swimskin he was very easy to spot, he was swimming well and when I could actually see a buoy, he was bang on course; this guy was my new swim buddy!
I followed him all the way into swim exit, a quick run on soft sand and back into the water for the next 2300m. At this point I Iooked at my watch and thought I was swimming really slowly, I did a quick bit of mental arithmetic and confirmed that it was very likely that this non-wetsuit swim was going to be my slowest Ironman swim to date (which was disappointing as I’d worked hard on the swimming in the last 2-3 months).
Anyway, I jumped back on the feet of my new swim buddy and drafted him for the whole 2300m. I was getting tired towards the end, even cramping a few times and I could feel my stroke unraveling. I kept telling myself to just concentrate on the feet in front of me, keep my elbow high, keep my palm facing backwards and finish off the stroke at the back end; easier said than done sometimes!
My new swim buddy and I stood up at the swim exit, I looked at my watch and saw 65mins, I was very happy! This was the time I had wanted to do in a wetsuit, so this was a great start to the day. A quick run up the sand bank and I was into T1. I took my time here as I knew it was going to be a long day, so made sure I got all my nutrition in my pockets, put some extra sun cream on and headed out on the bike.
James and I had recce’d the bike course so we knew what was coming, some nice smooth roads, a few big man hole covers to avoid in the city itself, some rolling hills, fast descents, a couple of ‘bigger’ climbs and “The Hell” which was a 400m cobbled section of hill.
The first part of the bike is a slight uphill followed by a smooth fast descent towards the city. As soon as we went up the hill, some of the uber bikers were already out of the saddle, thumping it up the hill. This was definitely not my plan for the day! As I am not a great biker I knew that loads of guys (and gals) would be passing me on the bike, this was fine by me, I had my race plan and I was more than happy to stick to it. And I guessed that they were either much better than me anyway or they were going too hard too early!
The first ‘pack’ of riders went past as we hit the city. There were about 20 of them and they were clearly not concerned with the non-drafting rules we have to abide by in Ironman! It is cheating, plain and simple. It is tempting to jump on the back of one of these packs, especially when you are chasing a PB, but that’s not the way I wanted to get my PB! Fortunately a race official come up on a motorbike and started blowing his whistle at them, trying to break up the pack, which seemed to work, everyone was racing legally again; well, until the motorbike had gone anyway!
The bike was a 2 lap course, quite flat and fast in parts with a few larger hills in each lap. The bike started well, the sun was out but it didn’t feel too hot (yet!) and I seemed to zipping along quite nicely. The plan for today was to ride on feel, but have my pre-planned power and pace numbers in the background, just so I didn’t push too hard too soon.
The first lap went quite quickly, the bigger hills didn’t seem too bad, the cobbles on “The Hell” were interesting (lots of people were losing bottles, bike computers and tools on this section) but it was now beginning to get quite hot. I was very conscious of fuelling properly (with my own gels, bars and energy drink) and taking a bottle of water and energy drink at every aid station. The water went straight over my head and body to keep cool and the energy drink was quickly stored on my bike. No issues here but I saw a lot of people dropping bottles and people having to make quick maneuvers to avoid hitting them!
I completed the first 90km in about 2hr37 or 2hr38, which equates to about a 5hr15 bike split. This was much faster than my predicted time, but I was going well, spinning up the climbs, taking on plenty of fuel, so decided to continue at this pace. It was at this time that I saw a few of the cheating drafting guys in the penalty tent, ah, karma!!!
On the second 90km lap it was getting hot, the wind was picking up slightly and the bigger hills started to bite a little bit too! It was at this point were I had a slight ‘wobble’ for 10km. It was hot, I was totally on my own, the landscape was amazing but very, very open and I felt very flat. My power was fine but I was just tired.
I took another gel, ahead of schedule, and told myself to get back in the game! A few guys passed me which gave me the lift I needed. I started to feel good again and was back in the mix!
At this point I got into a group of guys who were all riding at the same speed, for about 30k we all rode together (legally!) each taking a turn and keeping the pace up. Eventually some of the guys got a little too close for my liking, but I was very, very conscious of not drafting, that’s not the way to ride an Ironman bike leg in my eyes; so I made a move and gapped the majority of the group.
It was now starting to get very hot! You could feel the heat bouncing off the tarmac, I needed to keep cool and used several water bottles at each aid station, squeezing it over my head, chest, shorts, legs and feet, everything got a good dousing!!!
The heat was affecting many, many people on the course. Lots of guys who had passed me earlier were slowly going backwards and the general mood on the bike was very flat. No one was really pushing on the bike now, a lot of people went into survival mode (including one male pro whose day was clearly over) and just wanted to get back to T2.
As I approached T2, I could see that my bike split was slower than anticipated, I had slowed down by about 5mins over the second 90km, which I was really pleased with as it was so hot right now. A quick check of my bike computer revealed a bike split of 5hr21, very pleased, now onto the toughest part of the day – the run!
Ironman Frankfurt has a slightly different racking system to other Ironman races that I’ve done. In fact you don’t rack your bike at all, you simply hand it off to a volunteer! Awesome!
I pick up my run bag, run straight into the transition tent, pour the contents on the floor and start to change. I changed my top from a cycle jersey to a t-shirt (to protect me from the heat), don my cap, put my trainers and socks on, slap some more suncream on and I was ready to go. Except at this point my room mate James tapped me on the shoulder. This might not sound too strange, except he should have been on the run course about 10mins before me!
All he said was “I’m probably going to walk most of this” and he was out of T2. I was confused, but tried to put that to one side and concentrate on myself for a few moments. A quick pee stop was in order and now I was ready to go!
The crowds in Frankfurt were massive! As I left T2 and started the run, the noise was deafening, this crowd support was going to prove pivotal in the next 26 miles! As I left transition I was already doing the math in my head regarding possible finish times. This was a little stupid of me, so I put it to the back of my mind and got on with the matter of a 26.2 mile run!
I headed out and felt good, but there was something else I could feel. Oh yes, that would be the heat! I’m not overestimating it for effect; it was boiling! Most reports say it was 36’c on the run, but there are some pictures floating around of thermometers showing 40’c!
The run is a 4 lap course, through the city, and along the river Main. There were plenty of aid stations on the run course and due to the heat the event organizers had inserted two extra water only aid stations and brought in 14 tonnes of extra ice – I think they thought it was going to be hot!!!
I quickly caught up to James and he said he really felt the heat in the final 2 hours of the bike leg. He was suffering and it was going to be a long day for James!
My run strategy was to run easy and walk through every aid station, so this is what I did. At every aid station I took 2 cups of water, one cup went straight over my head and I drank the other one. Next was one cup of coke and one cup of energy drink. I walked past the remaining aid station items (gels, bananas, orange, pretzels and snacks) until I got to the ice and sponge tables. I took 2 cups of ice at every aid station, one cup went straight down my shorts (this made the volunteers laugh every time I did this!), the other cup either went under my cap or I held the ice in my hands, then I grabbed a couple of sponges and put them down my t-shirt. This was my routine and I stuck to it religiously.
Lap 1 felt easy! It was hot, but it felt easy. I was running sub 8min/mile pace (including my walk breaks), but even now most people were walking. I consciously tried to slow down but it was difficult with such an amazing crowd willingly you to run faster!
Lap 2 started smoothly, that was until I got half way round this lap. Then it started to become very hard! My pace was still good, but it felt so much more difficult. Almost everyone was walking and people were dropping like flies! It was at this point I had to force myself to keep running. I wanted to walk like everyone else, but my stubborn mind wouldn’t let me! From this point onwards I running from aid station to aid station, just telling myself to keep running, it would only be 10mins of running, then I could have a walk break and take on more nutrition.
Lap 3 is always the hardest lap on a 4 lap course and this lap was by far the worst! It was carnage out there, with people hiding in the shade, taking cover in the aid stations or having a lie down at some of the Red Cross points on the course. Something strange happened at the start of this lap……I felt cold. I knew this was a sign of heat exhaustion. I also knew there was little I could do except keep up my aid station routine of water, coke, energy drink, ice and sponges and just kept on moving. I had to keep moving. I was telling myself a mantra that my first triathlon coach told me to use when on the Ironman run “Just keep on trucking!”. This was invaluable when I wanted to walk like everyone else.
I then spotted James up ahead. I was about to lap him. This wasn’t right. As I passed him we had a quick chat and he said he’s been in a dark place, it was only after the race I found out he had a 20min lie down during the run course!
It was just after this point I was passed by one or two female pro’s (they finished 4th and 5th), and then later I was passed by Eneko Llanos (top male pro) like I was standing still! These guys can really move!
I was so tired now. My pace was still OK but I was so fatigued. My stomach started to complain too. It was telling me to stop and have a toilet break, but every time I got to the aid stations it started to feel OK again.
Somehow I managed to get to the end of the 3rd lap. The support here was amazing! As I started lap 4 I did some mental arithmetic and I knew I was on for a new PB as long as I didn't explode on the final lap, easier said than done!
The final lap was a nightmare! I felt cold again and like on the previous lap I had to ignore it and just keep on moving forward. I was running from aid station to aid station, just trying to keep moving, just trying to get to the next aid station. It was that bad. “Just keep on trucking” went through my mind in between every aid station. I was almost dead on my feet. I kept telling myself to trust in the training. I had done the hard work, I could do this!
Everyone was walking and the little devil on my shoulder was telling me to join them! No, just keep on trucking!
With about 5km to go I really had to dig deep, but knew if I kept going I could be at the finish in about 25 or 26mins. Surely I could keep on trucking for 25mins???
With about 1.5km to go I passed the final aid station (I didn’t stop this time) and gave it everything I had. Some knowledgeable supporters could see that I had 4 bands on my arm and knew I was due to finish and gave me a huge shout and encouragement to push on to the finish!
As I approached the red carpet I had a massive, massive smile on my face. The finish chute in Frankfurt is in the main square with a huge stand for the crowds, almost making a small amphitheatre, which made the noise deafening!
As I was running down the finishing carpet I had the whole finish chute to myself, I was lapping it up and high 5’ing everyone who had their hands out, it was an amazing feeling! I could now hear the commentator calling my name, I could see the clock, my smile was getting bigger, a new PB in incredible conditions was just 50m or so in front of me.
The feeling when you cross that line is simply amazing, all the pain, suffering and hard work somehow seems worthwhile. I had a new PB of 10hr19 and I was spent. Absolutely done. Finished!
I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to a little emotion after crossing the line. I had trained really hard for this race and the Ironman journey is a long hard road with many twists and turns; crossing the finishing line is such a huge release.
Overall, Ironman Frankfurt is an amazing race. The split transition is a slight pain, but nothing that can’t be resolved with a little bit of planning, apart from that the course is excellent and certainly a quick course (but not flat!). The organisation of Ironman is always very good and this was no exception.
I was very, very pleased with my race. My goal was to get a PB (my PB was 10hr33 from Ironman Regensburg 5 years previously) but due to the non-wetsuit swim and the incredible heat I would have been very happy with a time with 11 at the beginning, I seriously would have. But to get a time of 10hr19 in those conditions is very satisfying, I really couldn’t have asked for anything more.
A huge thank you goes out to my family and friends for supporting me throughout the whole Ironman process. I trained very hard for this race and it does somewhat take over your life for a few months; my wonderful wife, Sarah, has been so supportive that I literally couldn’t have done it without her; thank you, it was a great team effort!
