I did Roth and it was AWESOME!

Challenge Roth Race Report by Abbey Bonner

Race Date: 7th July 2019

Introduction

In 2016 I set my sights on completing an Iron Distance triathlon and implemented a 3 year plan to achieve this:

2017: A couple of Olympic/70.3 Triathlons plus the main event:  “Cotswold 226” Swim and Bike:  A local Iron distance triathlon that incorporated a separate Iron Distance Swim and Bike option - this enabled me to hone-in my Long distance swim and bike skills.

2018: A couple of 70.30 Triathlons/bike sportives plus the main event:  “The Long Course Weekend Wales”.  A 3 day event consisting of a separate Iron Distance Swim, Bike and Run, each taking place over 3 consecutive days - EN report here: https://www.endurancenation.us/team-en/road-to-roth/

2019: The Finale:  Challenge Roth

Challenge Roth Race Overview

The 3 year plan worked! Not only did I Finish Challenge Roth but I exceeded my expectations!

I followed Run Durability over the Winter, then The OutSeason Plan and then finally The EN Minimalist Training Plan.  Level 1 or 2 for Swimming, Level 1 for Running, & Level 2 for Biking.

I am not time-restricted on the weekends, and my husband (fellow EN Tem-mate Karl) is also a Triathlete, so I “Over-Biked” my Long weekend rides, which meant I targeted a longer Total time target than prescribed on the training plan for these rides.  This gave me huge gains in fitness/endurance and gave me a great big “go all day” diesel engine transferred over to the sim and run.

On Race Day I made a conscious effort to soak up the atmosphere, to appreciate the amazing sideline support and also the volunteers.  I knew this was a one-off special race, and really wanted to enjoy the day. It did not disappoint. The sideline support was continuous from the Swim to the end of the Run.  Apparently the Roth locals view this day as their annual festival and they really do come out to support in droves. It’s an amazing experience. Solar Hill did not disappoint and deserves special mention, but all the other hills, bends and little villages that we went cycled through were packed with supporters drinking German beer, playing Euro-Pop and dancing...and it was the same on the Run course hee hee hee! It makes me smile just to think about it.  

I didn’t have any disasters.  Yes, I had a few hiccups; and at times on the Run I doubted if I would make it to the Finish Line, but I genuinely think that following the EN Plan, doing the Race Rehearsals and sticking to the 4 Keys meant I was prepared.  I had no major surprises on Race Day and I had the ability to deal with problems that arose in a rational manner. I think I now truly understand the saying “Train Hard, Race Easy” - I’d already gone through a lot of hard Stuff in training so on Race day I could deal with it.  

The Race in more detail:

Swim:  

Felt fantastic for first half of the swim, then suffered from leg cramps.  I expected this is something that started in my last few training swims. I don’t think it’s a swim fitness issue or electrolyte issue (I take salt-sticks, bananas etc to combat it) - it’s something to do with my legs being horizontal in the water for a prolonged period.  Anyway I coped with it, by bending my legs and swimming near the banks of the canal. Apparently this was the fastest place to swim due to the shallow water and the pull from the other swimmers so my time came in on target…bonus!

Bike:

This was a process more than anything else.  I kept repeating to myself “this is merely a vehicle to the run” .  My total IF came in low at .64 (I was targeting .66) , but that equalled my last Race Rehearsal so would probably have been a more realistic target.  It didn’t matter, though, because I came in 38 minutes faster than expected! I felt good in the aero bars, and on the 2nd lap I overtook loads of people who had clearly smashed themselves on the first lap and were now sitting up like sails in the wind moaning and groaning with every pedal stroke.  As I was going over the brow of Solar Hill on the 2nd lap, a guy pulled up alongside me huffing and puffing saying “geesh that was hard the first time around!” - I smiled at him but inside I was thinking “seriously?!...how the hell are you going to run a marathon?!”. I guess he could have done with the EN Lesson on climbing hills as a triathlete.

Run:

I ran to heart rate and felt happy and smiley until around mile 17.  Then it got hard. I was supposed to go harder at mile 18, but I was too fragile, so I decided to re-assess at mile 20.  Mentally, the wheels nearly came off between 19 and 22. The run course went from flat gravel to hills and cobbles, yuk! I kept going though.  The final turn-around point was around mile 22. I tried to push harder, but had a few false starts. I decided to lock on to someone overtaking me and tried to stay with her.  I couldn’t stay with her but I then locked on to someone else (thank you Mr DHB tri suit) and managed to stick with him for a few miles. This increased my pace. I was running as fast as my little legs would go (which was actually really slow).  The final 0.5 mile was gruelling and I was in a word of hell but when a supporter shouted out “You’re gonna be an Ironwoman!” I realized that yes, I am going to do this, and then a glimmer of joy entered my system. Run time was 5:03 - expected time was 5 hours, so it turned out better than it felt.

The Finish:

Crossing the Finish line was a surreal and wonderful experience.  I will never forget it.  

Coincidentally, the volunteer who gave me my medal was the same volunteer who I registered with a few days earlier.  At race registration, I told her it was my first Iron Tri and I wasn't sure if I would finish. She replied in a very German matter-of-fact way and simply said “You Will” - and she was right!

I had a little cry on the bridge and then I heard Karl (my husband) shouting my name in the athlete tent...Yes! He’d finished too and now it was time to celebrate!

I had an AWESOME time.  This is the craziest thing I have ever done.  I still can’t believe I did it, and as I write this report, 7 days after I am still psyched!!

I was too nervous/superstitious to set a target time, but my expected finish time according to my training numbers was 13 hours 50.  Being conservative, I told Karl that I hoped to finish around 14-14.5 hour time frame.

My actual Total Finish Time was  13:18:25 ...so I am pleased as punch!

Will I do another one?  …without a doubt!

Thank you Team EN and Karl for enabling me to do this!

Potential EN International Key Race?

I highly recommend Challenge Roth, I can’t fault it.  It would make a great International EN Key Race. Tickets are near on impossible to buy when released, but we bought our race entry with one of the Challenge Roth approved Tour companies.  It turns out that all the different approved Challenge Roth Tour companies offer the same package (same hotels, shuttle buses , bike course recce etc) as they group together once actually in Roth and provide a service to everyone under one banner called “Challenge Roth Tours”.  They provided an excellent service that ran like a well-oiled machine.