2011 Ironman Austria by Abilio Vieira

Jul 14, 2011

July 3rd, 2011
2011 Ironman Austria, Klagenfurt
Saturday, May 14th, 2011, I was six weeks away from Ironman Austria and I had met up with the Saturday morning cycling group, getting ready to go out for a 100km ride. Now normally at this time of my Ironman Training Schedule, my main concern would be trying to keep from overtraining. However, that was not the case this time around. A little bit of mental burnout from Ironman Florida, a busy work schedule, and a leg injury from the Boston Marathon, had all impacted on my normal Ironman preparation.
Within a few minutes of the ride that morning I was struggling to keep up with the pace. I was dropped very quickly going up Creditview, and when I met up with the group at Old Baseline, I just waved them ahead and went off on my own. It took me just under four hours to ride 104 kms, and by the time I got back to my car I was exhausted but surprisingly not demoralized.
I love challenges and getting myself in shape to do Ironman Austria was going to be a challenge. I got home, mapped out a six week training program, taking into account some of the club activities (Muskoka Training Weekend, Rideau Lakes), and began the process of training for Ironman Austria.
On Saturday, June 25th, 2011, I had once again met up with the Saturday morning cycling group, and this time I rode with them, 98Kms in 3 hours, 11 minutes. I had followed my six week training program and I felt I was ready for a decent effort at Ironman Austria. I was talking to Rick during the ride about my expectations and I told Rick that I was hoping for a sub 12 hour Ironman. I told Rick that I was hoping for a 1:20 Swim, 6:30 Bike and a 4:00 Run.
Pre Race:
Rose and I arrived in Frankfurt, Germany on Tuesday June 28th, and drove to Munich, where we spent the next two days sightseeing and shopping. Munich is a vibrant city with lots to see and do. On Thursday morning, June 30th, we made our way to Klagenfurt, Austria where Ironman Austria takes place.

Klagenfurt, has a little bit of a Muskoka feel but with the mountains in the background you know you are in Europe. Immediately upon getting into Klagenfurt you could feel the energy in the air and the non-stop activity of triathletes/cyclists riding their bikes and running around the lake (Wörthersees). The area was gorgeous.
Rose and I spent the next couple of days sightseeing but we did take in the carbo loading dinner on Friday night. It was very well organized, lots to eat and of course free Austrian beer.

Saturday, was spent getting my bike ready. Now, after my adventure with two flat tires at Ironman Florida, I was determined that I was going to be ready for everything. I carried two spare tubular tires, CO2 cartridges, tire levers, tubular tape and a hand pump. Using duct tape, I managed to get all of this on the back of my seat tube and saddle. Flats weren’t going to spoil my race this time. Rose would just shake her head and say things like, "So tell me why you spent all this money on a carbon bike because it would be lighter". I hate it when she makes sense.
I dropped my bike and race bags off in the afternoon. The transition area was very well organized and they even had large plastic bags for every athlete to use to cover their bikes.


Race Morning (Sunday July 3rd, 2011):
A 3:45am wake up call, OUCH! I will never, ever get used to waking up this early for a race. The Hotel we were staying at arranged for breakfast to be available for those doing the race starting at 3:00am. I met up with two guys from Munich, I had befriended on the first day we arrived at Klagenfurt and we ate and chatted about Munich and Canada.
Our Hotel was 6 kms from the Race Start, so I drove to the parking lot near the Transition Area. I had plenty of time to do the usual prerace rituals; pump up the tires, fill up the water bottles, squeeze into the wetsuit and it was time to make my way to the swim start. I met up with some fellow Canadians that I knew from the Ontario Triathlon circle and we chatted on the beach waiting for the swim start.
3.8 Km Swim:

The Ironman Austria swim course is basically a rectangle but the unique part of the course is that the last 900 metres have you swimming down a canal to the swim exit.

It is a beach start with a nice wide area. I positioned myself on the far right side and waited for the 7:00am start. There was lots of activity with music, air balloons, and a large crowd cheering the athletes.

The water temperature was nice, cool enough for a wetsuit but not too cold. I got into my pace pretty quickly and the wide beach start really made for a nice swim with very little bumping. There weren’t too many swim buoys like in Lake Placid but there was a large red buoy which I could use to sight on. I made the first turn and at this point I couldn’t see the next buoy at all. No problem, the Munich guys had told me about using a church to sight on and sure enough there it was.

My right goggle had been leaking from almost the very start so I emptied it out and started swimming towards the church. As I got closer to the church, I finally spotted the next buoy and made my way there. Things were getting a little bit more crowded but still not too bad.
I made the turn to swim back to shore and the entrance to the canal. This is where things got interesting. We were swimming into a bright morning sun and you couldn’t see anything. Swimmers were all over the place, swimming in all sorts of different directions. I basically tried to swim in the middle of the different groups but I really had no idea where I was going, and the leaky right goggle was proving to be a nuisance. The Munich guys had told me that the entrance to the canal was hard to spot but that normally there would be boats at the entrance to the canal. After a while I spotted some boats and saw some swimmers going in that direction so I just followed them.

Luckily they were swimming in the right direction and sure enough it did lead to the entrance of the canal. Okay, swimming in the canal was a little bit weird. There were people lined up all along the canal cheering the swimmers on, and this got all the swimmers excited who started to pick up their pace as if we were swimming a 100m repeat. The problem was that we had to swim 900m and we were in the canal what seemed a very long time. Also, things started to get a little tight the longer we swam in the canal and the sun was still in our faces.


After what seemed a very long time I reached the swim exit.

A quick check of the watch, showed Swim Time: 1:23:43. A little bit over my goal time but I was happy with my swim. I have repeatedly said, "The swim is the easiest part of the Ironman" and this time was no different.
T1:

It was a bit of a run to T1, but the road was covered with a nice carpeted mat which made things easy on the feet. No wet suit strippers and in fact there was a rule that you could only strip your wetsuit down to your waist until you entered the Transition tent.


I grabbed my Bike bag and entered the Transition tent which was a beehive of activity. There was a separate area for women to change but EVERYONE was changing in the same area. I took my time to change into my biking clothes and headed off to start the bike leg.
Time: 07:30

180 Km Bike Course:
The Ironman Austria bike course is well known as being a fast course with a couple of climbs. It is a two loop course.

I had not ridden any part of the course nor had I driven the course other then the first 15 kms which Rose and I covered during a day trip to Villach. So I was going to be in for a surprise. Luckily, this is not a very technical course, no switchbacks or steep descents like at Ironman France.
The first 15 kms, are pretty flat and parallel the lake (Wörthersees). It was gorgeous and I was having a hard time staying aero because I just wanted to sit up and look around.

I was riding in the big ring powering up any of the short climbs. I was starting to pass some other riders but I was also being passed by a few. Europeans can ride their bikes.
I did a short out and back section:

This led to really the first hill in Velden which again I was able to climb in the big ring. A nice descent and now I was surrounded by the Austrian countryside:

Needless to say these are not photos of me but I hope they give you an idea of what I was experiencing. However, I have thrown in one of me, showing off my ‘spiffy’ aero dynamic bike tire carrying case. Duct tape, don’t leave home without it.
At around 30 kms in St. Niklas, I had the first significant climb where I had to get into the small ring and try to spin up the hill. Not long but pretty steep. Back in the big ring for another nice long descent and some flat sections. I was feeling pretty good.
At the 60km mark I found myself averaging over 32 km/hr and I was being conservative. It was at about this point that I caught up to another rider who told me that Rupertiberg was up ahead. I had read that this was the big climb on the course. Back into the small ring and up Rupertiberg I went. This was a much longer climb then St. Niklas and a little steeper. There were people lined up on both sides of the hill a la Tour de France cheering on the riders.

I was pretty gassed by the time I got to the top but there was a nice long descent that allowed you to recover. In fact the last 30 kms were pretty well downhill or flat with the exception of a couple of short hills.
Just when I was having thoughts of a sub 6 hour bike, a tendon on the outside of my left knee started to ache. I had something similar happen at Rideau Lakes as a result of riding in big gears. I shifted to an easier gear I could spin but the ache was not getting any less. Goodbye sub 6 hour bike, and let me just finish loop 1.
I finished loop 1 and started out on loop 2 with an achy left knee and the prospect of having to run a marathon on that knee.


I was much more conservative on loop 2, lots of spinning instead of trying to muscle big gears. Loop 2 was definitely more work then loop1, especially the climbs. Overall I think the Ironman Austria bike course is a fast course but this is not a pancake flat Ironman Florida course. My nutrition on the bike consisted of water, a Gel every half hr, ½ a power bar every hr, ½ a banana every once in a while and a salt tablet every hr.
Bike Time: 6:12:28
T2:

I ran into transition and racked my bike. So far, so good, the knee was not causing me any issues as I ran. I grabbed my Run bag, back into the change tent, into my running shoes, run shorts, and a quick 'Porta Pottie' break before heading out for the run.
Time: 06:06

42.2 Km Run Course:

The Ironman Austria run course is flat and fast with lots of shade in the event of hot weather. It is a two loop course.

Now I haven’t mentioned weather up until this point. It was a sunny, mild day with low winds. In other words perfect race conditions.
I came out of transition running at a pace that I felt I could maintain for the entire Marathon. At Ironman Florida I had run the entire Marathon on a similar flat course and that was my goal this time as well. I knew that a four hour marathon would accomplish my goal of a sub 12 hour marathon.

Halfway through my first loop I was passed by Hans Porten who was running his second loop. We exchanged a few words wishing each other well and Hans went off to a 9:50 Ironman finish, placing first in his Age Group. Congratulations Hans, very well deserved.
The second half of the loop took me into the streets of downtown Klagenfurt and circling the town square.

I finished loop 1 of the run and headed off on loop 2. The knee had not been an issue at all during the run and although I was beginning to hate the taste of Power Bar Green Apple Gel my nutrition plan for the run seemed to be working (Water every station, mouthful of Gel every third station, one salt tablet every 45 minutes).
I circled the town square for a second time and bid goodbye to "Lindwurm", Klagenfurt’s most famous monument :

I was headed home and I was feeling pretty good, I knew my goal was within reach. I circled the park for a final time and crossed the finish line which was lined on both sides by screaming friends/fans:

Run Time: 3:59: 36
Official Time: 11:49:24 (1580 out of 2347 overall, 113 out of 207 M50-54)
Post Race:
This was the second time that I have raced in Europe and both have been amazing experiences. I thoroughly enjoyed Ironman Austria and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
I had a few aches and pains when I woke up Monday morning but those were quickly forgotten as Rose and I took off for the rest of our European vacation which took us through Vienna, Salzburg, Luxembourg, Brussels and finally back to Frankfurt.
The highlight of our European vacation, the beauty of Austria ... "NO", the rich history of Vienna ... "NO", the majesty of Luxembourg ..."NO", the highlight was no doubt the Manneken Pis in Brussels or as Rose likes to call him "Pee Pee Man".

There is just something about a statue of a guy pissing in public that is irresistible.

Bill