OPEL Ironman Germany 2005

Race Report

July 10th, 2005

Drew Hartman

 

So after all of this training, racing, coaching, eating, sleeping (kind of), buying yet another case of gel that lasted me only 5-weeks when I thought I was good until race day, gulping another 7-gallons of diluted Gatorade a week, and once again loving every minute of it, we found ourselves packing up the gear and heading to Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

 

I think it’s fairly typical to magnify every little piece of drama in your life during the taper time of an Ironman. The “what ifs” and the doubts creep into your head. What if I get sick just before the big day? The smallest throat scratch has you diving for meds. What if a car forces me off the road during one of those easy taper rides? What if I roll an ankle during that easy run?  All of this stuff you start to think about when normally you hit the road and hammer and flip off the occasional jackass that thinks it’s cool to whiz his mirror past your elbow doing 80mph. This time around the taper hit its lowest point during the 2nd week of a three week’r. Everything took effort and I had so little power it was driving me nuts. Then I manage to get a monster splinter in my big toe while working on my deck with bare feet. Yeah, the deck is getting old. Then I managed to slash the same toe with my weed-eater the next day. Big dumby. Wait, it gets better. On the way to the airport I unloaded the bike case and felt something give in my right foot. Next thing I know I’m limping through the terminal in O’Hare and Kate’s running around to find ice. I cramped the thing up somehow and it was fine the next day, but you get my drift. All magnified drama because you put every single last possible egg in that basket of yours for this race and you don’t want a dang thing to mess it up.

 

I signed up for Ironman Germany for a couple of reasons. For one, Germany has always interested me. I’m a Hartman, what can I say? The race itself looked to be very special with its thick crowd participation throughout the entire experience. As I’ll get to later, they went beyond anything I could have imagined. Mainly though, it would serve as some kind of indicator to see if getting to Hawaii will ever be possible. I didn’t go with the hopes to get to Kona for this race, but I wanted to see if I was progressing towards that goal. Maybe when I turn 80 I’ll have it figured out! J

 

Ironman Germany is known to have the most competitive age group field outside of Kona and this is one reason they have 20 more slots (120 total) than the rest of the IM races. By race day, 27-slots were allocated to my 35-39 age group and that’s just unheard of, but when nearly one fourth of the entire field is in this age group you can understand why. I also decided to try something new and that was hire a coach to push me along. I did my research and decided on Tony De Boom. Most people in the Triathlon world know who Tony is as well as his brother Tim (2-time IM World Champ) and Tim’s wife Nicole. They’re all veteran IM athletes who know how to win. After talking with Tony a couple times I felt his philosophy would work for me.

 

Training with Tony officially started November 14th, 2004. Up until January it was the same old thing. Long boring swims, long boring bike rides on the trainer, long boring runs with even longer more boring swim/bike/runs on the weekends. By the time February came around I wanted to go hard so bad I could taste it. So he let me play a little at the BroMenn ride then a burst release down in Florida for the Great Escape (the rain) Triathlon. After that it was back to the long boring stuff for a while then it got real interesting. Without getting in the specifics all I can really say is I thought I used to train a lot. Tony introduced more volume and more structure/consistency in my training and it made a world of difference. It also made a big difference in the amount of time I had for everything else. Yeah, none!

 

So with all of that I suppose I could actually get around to talking about the race. The race was on Sunday and we arrived Thursday afternoon. There was a slight issue that arose that could have really turned out bad, but did not. Just before we started boarding our plane in London the bombs went off. The News channels were flashing the alerts, but they hadn’t locked down security yet at the airport. We got out of there, but my bike didn’t. I ended up getting the bike Friday night so all was good, but it was a bit nerve racking waiting for my baby!

 

There is a 7-hour time zone difference so it takes a bit to adjust. As it would turn out I don’t really think I ever adjusted to the time change. I tried, but it never really worked out. My mind was going a million miles a minute so sleeping became very tough. I slept maybe a total of three solid hours the two days before the race. I was eating fine and avoiding as much German food as possible, but sleep was a problem and I was worried I would make some bad choices during the race. When you have to put in the kind of prep time and thinking during an ultra you want to be firing on all cylinders. Dumb mistakes can sometimes equal bad road rash.

 

3am rolls around Sunday morning and I’m tossing and turning. Kate wakes up and she can see I’m wound up tighter than a clock.  She put me at ease and got me remembering why the hell I do these things. Not to get all bunched up in a tizzy about performing, but rather take advantage of another opportunity to breath big air and experience something real special. I felt this huge weight lifted off my shoulders and suddenly I was so ready to go. Of course, no matter how happy I was the lack of sleep was an issue, but there’s nothing I can do about it now so be it.

 

If anyone tells you that most of the German population understands English tell them they’re…A-BIG-FAT-LIAR!!!! We found that a large number of Germans in public situations did not speak English and our German was rough to non-existent. The language barrier did take away some of the energy you tried to absorb at the pre-race meal and the race itself. The pasta dinner was mostly in German and the only time they spoke in English is when they interviewed Cam Brown and Lisa Bentley on stage. So Kate and I would just nod and smile and clap when people clapped. Of course, we were guests of their country so we weren’t complaining, but just struggling a little. We did see Stormin Norman Staddler as well as Stefan Holtz, who won the race the last couple of years. Anyways, back to the language barrier; I had to hop a shuttle to get out to the lake and I could see everyone was excited to race, all gabbing to each other, but all gabbing in their native tongue. I felt pretty much alone on this bus since I’m not the most extraverted person to jump in on a conversation with the hopes they speak English. I just sat back, closed my eyes, and thought about what I needed to do.

 

The bus unloads us at the reservoir, which is normally a public nude beach area. When Kate and I were out there the day before to drop off the bike there were plenty of Euro-Nudies laying out. Funny. Anyways, as I’m getting my bike setup I’m smelling cigarettes. A guy parked two bikes down is getting ready smokin’em down because he has them. Only in Europe!!! We eat a lot of fast food, they smoke a lot. I looked around and nobody else was thinking anything of it so I just continued with my business.

 

We all got the wetsuits strapped on and made our way down to the lake. The whole time I’m looking around for Kate, Mohammed, and Chuck because they had to come in with the car and I wasn’t sure if they would get in. The traffic and the amount of spectators that make the 12-kilo drive north to the lake is pretty heavy so it was a mystery if they would even make it. After you exit the transition area and make your way to the lake they have it gated off so spectators are separated. There must of have been at least a thousand people along those gates cheering us on. You see all of the “good luck” signs written in multiple languages. 41-countries were being represented today!!! I would pick up on a little English here and there, but the main thing was I knew what was about to start. As I get into the water you can see all of the athletes who have already made their way out to the buoyant start. It’s a very cool site and it’s very similar to Wisconsin. With about 5-mins to go I make the plunge and swim out and placed myself in the middle. They play the Federation of Germany’s national anthem then the gun goes off. You don’t get the big canon like you get in the States, but some wimpy hand-gun that goes POP. Either way, it’s now time to bring it!

 

The Swim (2.4 miles / 3.8 kilometers)

The swim course is a 2-loop course where the first loop is a shorter inner rectangle and the 2nd loop is a larger triangle. You would have to go out to the site to get my drift. The first loop was your typical body bashing session. The goal was not worry about speed, but to protect myself from the thrashers. The water current that gets generated from such a mass start can make up for the bad swim form at the beginning so I wasn’t too worried about time. As I got out of the first loop and got on land I started looking for everyone and see Kater knee deep in the mud waiting for me. What an Ironman!!!! I grabbed her and gave a good sloppy kiss then headed back out.

 

 

It was so good to know they made it out there. I need my support crew!!! The 2nd loop felt more like racing. It opened up considerably and I swam with long, gliding, powerful strokes. I felt amazingly comfortable so I just kept at it. When I finally hit land for the last time I looked at the watch and it read 1:01. I was stoked. I finally felt like I nailed a good swim and stopped questioning the 300,000+ yards I logged for this race alone.

 

 

As I make my way up the shoot to T1 I see Chuck and Mohammed and they’re hooten for me and give me a high-five. I then see Tater and can also hear her cheering me on as I’m getting my stuff on.  I didn’t need a change tent for the bike so I did everything right there by my bike, but it still took a couple of minutes getting everything on. I hop on the bike, give them a final hoot, and I’m off.

 

The Bike (112 miles / 180 kilometers)

I never got the chance to drive the 2-loop course so I didn’t really know what to expect with the six climbs that we would have to do twice. Three of the climbs were rather significant and all had their own names. Climbs such as “The Beast”, which was a 3-mile ascent and “The Health”, which was the famous climb on the cobblestones, and “Heartbreak Hill”, which is another long climb of around 2-miles and known for its huge crowds. None of the climbs got crazy steep though. All very do-able for us Bloomington folk, and with every climb came a rewarding descent.

 

Since I’m not the slowest guy on the bike course and 75% of the people I pass do not speak English you have to communicate.  We joked around before the race because I wanted to be able say “on your left” in German and planned on saying it all day! Ha ha! The word “Links” is left in German so that’s all I used. When I got into my groove I was yelling out “LINKS!” with a thick German accent. There’s a Rammstein song called “Links 1-2-3” so I had that jamming in my head and blurted it out when I needed it. Yeah, I’m a dork!  When I got to “The Beast” for the first time I think a lot people were still rolling out of bed so the crowds were a little low, but still not bad and probably better than I’ve ever had. My legs felt great so getting up the first big climb wasn’t a problem. As I made why through the countryside I could look over and see a speeding train from time to time coming in and out of some tunnel. Something I would probably never see in the States.

 

So now I’m about a third of the way through the first loop and I get into a town and I can see the thick crowds coming up. And with that I can see that cobblestones. I thought the cobbles were something I could prepare for. I even thought all the chip-sealing going on around in Bloomington would have given me some help. Once I hit the cobblestones I knew it was something I’ve never ridden on before. Heck, I could feel the crowns in my mouth loosening. It literally felt like an earth quack riding those things. I have a whole new level of respect for the pro cyclists who have to race entire stages on the cobbles.

 

 

 

 

I had my gel fuel in a water bottle and in one of my cages. I look down and it’s bouncing around getting ready to launch itself to the moon. I keep a constant check on it because that’s basically my only fuel aside from the reserve stuff I had along. However, I was stopping if that stuff launched so I kept an eye on it. It never got away from me, but I made dang sure it was in a different cage for the next loop. Whew!!! Through the town thousands lined the streets all looking for a hand slap. Kids are lined up one after another looking for that hand slap, even this little guy in a wheelchair that I happened to see and made sure he got some skin. I was just loving it and I thought it couldn’t get any better, but I was so wrong. It became very obvious that there is a world of difference on how the Europeans love their cycling compared to the U.S. Every little town I went through or even along some desolate areas you would always see people cheering us on, yelling “UP! UP! UP!” on all the climbs. Heck, there was even some kids on a descent where I was cooking along and they wanted hand slaps. I thought I would have taken an arm at that speed, but they didn’t care.  They just loved the event.

 

The body is still holding up well and I’m staying as loose as possible other than a numb left arm. I’ve got some aerobar tweaking to do before IM Wisconsin I suppose. I get back to The Beast for this sucker and I see Kate and the gang waiting for me. Their plan was to get to the top of the climb, but I beat them too it. Ha!!! Me likey bikey!!!! Just another loop and a marathon and its German pretzel and gummy bear time!!!! Mmmm mmm mm!!!!

 

I finally get to where I heard the crowds of all crowds existed and that’s at Heartbreak Hill. The picture below shows one small chunk of this 2-mile climb.

 

   

 

 

As you get to the top the crowds really thicken and it’s truly a tour-like experience. I’ve got people running along aside me yelling German stuff I can’t understand, but loving it anyways. I’ve got people smacking me on the ass and giving me little shoves to boost me up. More people screaming “UP UP UP!!!!” and throwing water on me to cool me down. It was just unbelievable and I was smiling the whole way. When I got to the top all I could think about is how I can’t wait to come back around for another climb. I never wanted to climb so badly as I did at this race. When I climbed Heartbreak Hill a second time I literally thought about how I could make my way back down and do it again. I didn’t want it to end and I will never forget those two climbs. Unbelievable!!!!

 

As I cruised into town for the final 6-miles or so I see the support crew again and once again surprised them. I was having a good ride and it was throwing Tater off a little. They then bolted to T2 so they could catch me on the run. I reached the end of the bike excited and ready to run. Other than a now VERY numb left arm, which ended up so numb I had to use my right arm to shift into the big ring, I was one excited tri-geek. I got off the bike in 5:20, which I think averages around 21mph. So far so good. Everything is going according to plan and I’m pumped!!!

 

The Run (26.2 miles / 42.2 Kilometers):

 

I hand my bike over to the volunteers and fly into the change tent. Both men and women use this change tent so theirs nakedness on all sides. A lady who spoke very good English helped me out as I dropped “trou” in front of her. Trust me, in Europe this is not a big deal, and it’s no big deal to me either. She helps me out and I hit the run.

 

 

My plan was to carry a bottle full of calories for the run, but that plan failed because I forgot to pack it in my run bag. I didn’t have access to this bag after bike check-in due to the point-2-point transition so I just used what I had left on the bike. I get into the run and my legs feel awesome and I check the watch it reads 6:29 for a total time. I’m thinking I’ve got a shot at breaking 10hrs, but this one is going to hurt and that’s what all that training was for so I went for it. As I started taking in the calories it just tasted horrible. My taste buds were gagging to the Cytomax. I couldn’t hack the stuff any more so I chucked the bottle. One of the many unique differences about this IM is you do not have special needs bags. You can, however, have a support crew and they can hand you stuff as long as they hand it to you within 50-meters of an aid station. So I gave Kate some bottles before the race in case I needed it. When I got to her she was pumped to see me running and I was running well. She showed me the bottles, but I decided not to take them. BIG mistake #1!!! I started clipping off the kilometers and kept telling myself to slow down so I did. I hit the 5K in 23:30 so I know I need to conserve and get more calories in me. I take a powerbar gel from the aid station, but for the life of me, could not get it open so I chucked it. Big mistake #2. I continue to take in fluid and the body seemed to take it well. I hit the 10K in 46-something and keep telling myself to hold off a bit. Lots of running to do yet. I see Kate and the gang and their excited to see me and can tell I’m having a good run. I slowed myself down some more and walked the last couple of aid stations so I reached the first of three 14K loops in 1:12. I thought, OK, now lets just keep to the plan and life will be good. But as a lot of you know, the bonk comes out of nowhere. I felt the mood swing hit me like a ton of bricks so I when I hit the next aid station I tucked a napkin in my jersey and started to dine. OK, I just ate the friggen table to get me going. This helped so I was back at it.

 

 

 

Notice the black arm band around my right arm. As I would complete a loop they would strap a different color band on me. By the time I finished I had the colors of the German flag on my arm (black, red, yellow). This was how they kept us from cheating because the course has a series of loops and down-and-backs. Pretty interesting, but MAN what a monotonous run course!

 

When I finished the 2nd loop and saw Kate and I knew the third loop was going to be somewhat of a death march. I took in all I could including lots of cola to keep me going, but the legs were seizing up and I was tanked. I could tell the body stopped absorbing fluids because I was having that same damn kidney pain I had back in IM CDA in ‘03. I started taking more of the powerbar fluid, but I would do anything for a bottle of chicken broth. No broth on this course so I was stuck with what I had. So if there was a mistake #3 it was not having some kind of endurolytes with me. With about a 5K to go I see Kate on the bridge and I can tell she’s video taping me and I’m just marching along. I was so bonked at this point that it was hard to even talk without letting all the emotions go so I was pretty quiet and she completely understood. That girl was so there for me and I just absorbed as much of her energy as I could. I kept looking at the watch and looking at my possibilities. What started as a possible 9:59 now went to 10:12 then to 10:20 then to the death march 10:30-something. It was at that point I realized that I’m making such a silly big deal out of this and need to not worry about time and just think about the kind of day I’m experiencing. I mustard up enough juice to run the last 1.5K and reach the start of the finish chute.

 

Thousands of people lined up the entire run course and this big finish chute. During the run you see so many people that you actually get numb it. There is not one area of the run course where there isn’t huge mobs of people. It is truly an amazing event.

 

I get behind a lady for the final stretch and everyone is cheering us on. I’m just so pumped that I’m screaming to see the line. The lady in front of me won her age group in the 45-49 AG. She is an amazing athlete and finished with the Kona slot.

 

 

There would be no Kona slot for me, but that’s OK. I crossed the line in 10:35 and was so happy. I proved to myself once again that hard work pays off despite some errors I made during the run. Those mistakes I can correct so I will continue fighting the good fight. I know I can get there some day whether I’m 40 or 80. I don’t care. I’ll just continue enjoying the ride.

 

After I crossed the finish a lady grabbed me and asked if I was OK with her very broken English. I said, ummmm….NOPE!!! Not really OK at all. She walked me to a Doctor and he asked me if I was OK. I said, well I don’t know with some nice blurry vision. He said, lets get you to the tent for an “Infusion”. At first I thought, “What the hell do I need a blood transfusion for???”  Then I came to my senses and realized he wanted to juice me up with some fluids. I was pretty delirious at this point.

 

So another unique thing about this race; the top three age groupers in both men and women get dope tested. Anyone getting an infusion also gets one. So I actually got tested for doping at this race. Yes, I tested negative despite what some of you question is in the thousand vitamins I take every day!! J They juiced me up with 2-bags of saline and that made a world of difference. I think I could have used a third though because the big urge to pee was never there, but it was certainly better than nothing and probably really helped my recovery. After about an hour I get out of there and find Kate who was worried sick about me because she didn’t know what was going on. All was good and eventually Chuck and Mohammed found us. We celebrated by having a big German pretzel on the street along with a big beer. Ahhhhh…life is once again…fantastic!!!!

 

 

After the race and a nice meal Kate and I made our way back to the finish line to watch the last athletes come through. In European Ironman races the cut-off is 16-hours so it comes a little quicker so we had to hustle to make it.

 

 

 

The crowds are crazy for the final hours and everyone is singing American music and laughing the whole time. They can’t speak a lick of English, but they can sing Modonna!!! Kate video taped some of it to help show some of this excitement. They certainly love this event. Outside of Kona, I’m told there is no other Ironman like this and now I believe it. Amazing!

 

So there you have it. Ironman #4 under my belt and feeling very proud. I learned a lot about myself at this race and I know it will carry on from there. Just want to say a thousand “Donkas” to all of you out there helping me along the way. I really really need you guys and wouldn’t find any pleasure in doing this if it weren’t for you.

 

Now for a break then back to training for Ironman Wisconsin. Can’t wait!!!

 

Take care,

 

Drew.