Well, my last triathlon appearance this year is behind me. To be honest, I'm happy. The weather was more than modest. The water was 15.3 degrees and I almost had a heart attack jumping in. The competition was held as a team sprint, ie our team from TSV Altenfurt had to stay together the entire time.
In the morning there was an 850m swim and a 3.75km run on the program. And in the afternoon with the same line-up a 25 km team time trial and a final 2.5 km run. It was super cool and the race was great fun. It's a shame that some of the leagues' races go under. Spectators felt like zero on the track, as was the case with continuous rain all day?
There were really many and very good athletes at the start who easily win individual triathlon races. In the public, however, these performances from the leagues are hardly appreciated or seen. I'm not talking about my performance now, it was at most average on Sunday and rather subterranean when swimming.
general criticism of league operations:
Nothing helps here and these races have to be integrated into large existing events in order to attract spectators and attention and the dates are usually completely inappropriate. Instead of holding most events in the middle of the competition season in summer, where all top performers start in other races, the league races should all take place in May and June. They are great in preparation for the competition season, and at this point the clubs would not have any personnel problems. The last races could also be held in September, which is a good time again. In addition, the schedules should be revised on the day itself. On Sunday we started our first part around 10 a.m., which lasted about 25 minutes and the second part only takes place at 3:30 p.m. Nobody wants to sit in the outdoor pool in Weiden all day. One hour break is enough and off you go. They are all athletes and not mimosas that you have to handle with kid gloves.
What is also not possible in my humble opinion are 2-day events. For an hour at a time, spread over two days, to have to spend the night somewhere in the pampas. I really have other things to do for the weekend. But these are all changes that do not require much effort. Because the races and the race formats themselves are super cool and I advise everyone to start in the league if they have the opportunity.
Okay, back to the race. After 300 meters it was really exhausting for me, four weeks without swimming training made itself felt and my team mate Robert had to push me the whole time. As soon as I got close to the bank, I immediately jumped pike to make up a few meters.
That's why I opened the suit for him, teamwork 😉
After a brilliant change that lasted far too long, we then ran our lungs out.
The worst hit was Michi, our best swimmer. Still on the move in the water at Rekom's pace, he suddenly had to go towards his maximum heart rate.
Teamwork then of course also means that the others push or pull him. After the first part we were only 1:13 minutes behind the leading team in 6th place. What really amazed me after my swimming performance.
