Almost a year later: Lost Soul Ultra 100 km race report

Lost Soul Ultra 100k – Race Report

About 4 weeks ago, I finished my first 100k foot race: The Lost Soul Ultra (LSU). It took place in the beautiful Oldman River valley in Lethbridge, which is known for its coulees. According to www.dictionary.com a coulee is a deep ravine or gulch, usually dry, which has been formed by running water. During the race, multiple of these coulees had to be tackled resulting in a total ascent of 2800 m over 100 km. Good thing I didn’t do the 100 miles!

Okay, but let’s start from the beginning. The race started on Friday morning and Sanja, Sean, Glenn and I arrived at the Lethbridge Lodge on Thursday evening. Without Glenn all of this wouldn’t have been possible. He made sure I get my nutrition at every aid station, helped Sanja to take care of Sean and also driving them back to the hotel when our little one needed his naps.

On race morning we got up at about 6am, had breakfast and I started up my warm up routine. I was still very worried if I am going to make it due to my lack of training and my recent knee injury. At some point during a training run a few weeks back I suddenly got medial knee pain in the right leg. That was extremely disappointing as I just recovered my long lasting hip flexor injury. Nonetheless, I decided to give LSU a try and hopefully be able to finish in less than 15 hours, which would qualify me to enter the lottery for the Western States 100 Endurance run next year in Squaw Valley, CA.

With an optimistic attitude and a smile, I started the run and the first kilometers were flying by. I still couldn’t believe that I just left for a 100 km run! The course is split into 6 segments: An initial 7.1k loop (south loop), followed by 8.3k to the first aid station (Softball Valley, or Pennaquim), 10k to second aid station (Pavan Park), then a 15.8km long loop (north loop) back to Pavan Park aid station, 7.8k back to Pennaquim aid station and 4.7k back to start/finish where I would begin my second loop going straight back to Pennaquim aid station. The 100-milers would do three full laps, including the south loop.

Getting to the first aid station felt fast. The up/down hills were great and I started liking it. My knee was okay too. At aid station #1, I quickly checked in and out, grabbed a new bottle with Heed Perpetuem from Glenn and took off. Everything still felt good, but’s that not surprising given that I only ran 16k at this point. Somewhere between Pennaquim and Pavan Park aid station, I caught up to Oleg Tabelev. Since I was new to Ultra running, I only knew him from the results lists. We introduced each other and ran for a while. He’s a very good ultra-marathoner and well known here. He told me that I am in 3^rd place in the 100k (he did the 100 miles) and that I should run it smart. Since I didn’t really know what smart means in a 100k race, I just did what he did: Walking up the hills, running the flats and cruising down the hills. I would usually pass him going up, and he would catch me going down. At some point though, it seemed as if I was pulling away from him.

Keep on rollin'!

I reached the next aid station first and left when he came in. From here on we had to cover the big 16k north loop with only an unmanned water station. Right out of the aid station you had to run a little bit on the road, but then a sharp left turn and up the hill. Once I crested the hill, there was a big wide-open area with knee high grasses. I kept on running straight but couldn’t see the little marker flags anymore. Did I miss the turn? I kept on going for a while because I felt I was right. Still no flags. I recalled the race organizer telling us, if you cannot see a flags within 20-50m, turn around, you are running in the wrong direction. Well, okay I thought, let’s go back. I ran back and saw Oleg again as he reached the top of the hill and did a 90° turn to his left. Crap, I was off course. I ran back, probably too fast, trying to catch him again but I did not see him again.

At this point things became more difficult for the first time in the race. My hamstrings were acting up and started twitching. Not cramping yet but I knew it’s just a matter of time. I slowed down quite a bit, hoping that would make them happy again. The north loop is relatively flat which was great at that point. After about 10min, I was able to pick up speed a little bit and came by a table with flats of bottled water. I wondered whether this is already the unmanned water station. I checked my Garmin and given the distance I ran, this couldn’t be the case. Then I recalled someone saying that a person who lives out there provides athletes with extra water. Very nice I thought grabbed two bottles, drank one right on the spot and filled up my hand-held bottle with the other.

This stretch was on some sort of a road and seemed a bit boring to me. On this road my knee pain came through and intensified quickly. I told myself to forget about the knee and pay more attention to the flags making sure not missing another turn. After a while, the course made a sharp right turn, straight into the grass and up another hill. This was a steep one and my hamstrings signalled me right away to keep it easy. I did not oppose and slowly walked up the hill. 

Some winding up downs followed until the course came down the river. I remember there was quite some bushwhacking at some point. Now, the course followed the river but also directed us through thicker brush at times. At this point, I was not in the best shape anymore and couldn’t wait to finally get to the unmanned water station. And there it was finally, a little tent with gallons of water inside. Great, I thought, filled up and tried to not waste any time. Then to my surprise, I could see the 2^nd placed runner in the 100k in front of me (maybe 300m away), but I was never able to catch him although it did motivate me very much (In fact, this guy won the race eventually with a negative split over the two 50k laps!!).

This north loop was mentally really hard and I wondered how I would feel here during lap number two. I kept on checking my Garmin more often now, which was clearly a sign that things are getting tough now. I made it to the Pavan aid station and saw Sanja running toward me. She was yelling and cheering and ran a little bit with me. Then I also saw Glenn who was playing with Sean. I checked-in and Sanja and Glenn did an awesome job supplying me with food and drinks. I told them that my legs were cramping and Sanja massaged my legs with ice bags. As I was almost ready to go again, the 4^th person in the 100k rolled in. Her name was Alissa St. Laurent and she looked fresh and happy. When I saw her, I knew it’s only a matter of time when she will pass me.

It was hot!

I left Pavan and headed straight into the next uphill. This was a monster! I managed to get over it but I knew the ups and downs wouldn’t stop till I reach the next aid station (Pennaquim). I started cramping again and had to stop and stretch a few times. From now on it was walking/running/stretching. I managed to get to Pennaquim where my amazing team was waiting for me. They took care of me and gave me drinks and Sanja stretched out my legs again. At that point Alissa passed me and was gone. I got ready again and left shortly after.

Now it was much flatter till headquarters and I was able to jog again. Once I saw the big train bridge that goes across the river valley I knew it wasn’t far anymore. I kept on moving and soon arrived at the big hill right before start and finish. This thing is steeeep. I walked up and ran into the headquarters aid station, which also marks start and finish. Wow! I finished the first lap! As excited as I was, I knew there was another lap coming… another 50k of pushing forward. I switched socks, got all my drinks and Sanja took care of my legs again. At that point I could already see that my little toenail will go but it didn’t hurt. It took my about 5-7 min once I was ready to leave again.

From here on things started to turn worse. I was able to maintain jogging/ walking/ stretching for another 10-15km, and then I decided jogging is over and I walked the rest of the remaining 30+ km. I kept a swift stride though but even that slowed down. It was an interesting feeling when even walking is so painful that you have to slow down. For the rest of the race there was nothing exciting happening. Although I was walking, I didn’t get passed for a long time. Then sometime after the unmanned aid station (north loop) I got passed from another 100k runner.

Heading into Pavan, I was in pain. My support crew did a great job in keeping me motivated and I headed out again. Sanja walked with me a little bit and did an amazing job dealing with me at that point. Mentally, I was on the edge of breaking apart but I just looked down and kept hiking up and down the coulees. 

I am not sure how long it took from Pavan to Pennaquim but heading into this last aid station I started to feel somewhat better. Glenn was waiting there for me and Sanja was already in the Hotel putting Sean to bed. At that point it was dark and I had to wear my headlamp when I left the aid station.

This last part was actually quite fun now! Navigating in the dark in the Lethbridge River Valley was awesome! It wasn’t really difficult as there were little marker flags with reflectors so you could definitely not get lost (and lose your soul in the dark). I passed a female racer in the woods and tried to be very loud so that I would not scare her. It was pitch black and kind of scary. Knowing the finish is close kept on making me walk quicker and quicker. And then finally, that last big hill! I walked it up and made my way to the finish. I didn’t even attempt to run across the finish line and just kept walking. I thought it was kind of silly after I was walking for 30+ km to suddenly start running for 100m. But that’s just me. Sanja was waiting in the finish and I was extremely happy to see her there. I sat down and chatted with a few other racers and their experience. At that point I didn’t feel any pain. I ate 2 hot dogs and after 30min I wanted to get up but it didn’t work! Sanja helped me up and I was limping with her to our room. My knee was busted.

In the end it finished 4^th in my age group in a time of 13:38:32. What a tough race! 100km, 2800m of elevation and I cannot believe I actually made it!! If you want to check out my race on Strava, click here. The scares of the battle: a messed-up right knee, a pulled left hamstring, two bloody toe nails and the soles of my feet felt like they got sandblasted. It took my knee about 4 months to recover but it was a great experience nonetheless, however without Sanja, Sean and Glenn I wouldn’t have been able to finish the way I did. THANKS GUYS!

In the finish and happy to be done!

Yes I am still alive!

This year (and partly last year) has been really busy with work and also slowed me down due to various nagging injuries. In the next few days, I will finally post my long due Lost Soul 100k race report plus Blackfoot Ultra 50miler and today's River Valley Revenge 50k. If you are interested in reading it, check back soon.

Enjoy the weather!

Stefan

Injury update and Skyline Trail

Hi all!

It's been a while since I posted here the last time. If you followed my blog, you probably read that I head some hip flexor issues. Good news is it finally healed up, bad news is now my right knee is somewhat uncooperative recently. Due to the hip flexor injury, I wasn't able to participate in the Blackfoot 50-miler, which I was really looking forward to. Now with the Lost Soul Ultra (100km for me) coming up, I am a little bit afraid what is going to happen there ... Not only that the knee is troubling me, but also due to both injuries, I wasn't able to really train for the Ultra distance. Now I am consistently asking myself whether it will be a good idea to give it a try this weekend or whether it will lead into even more injury ... But since I already pulled the plug for the Blackfoot 50-miler earlier this year, I will now at least toe the start line, give it a try and see how things unfold during this hopefully sub 15h journey.

Nonetheless, I also had a wonderful longer run with Pat and Ben when we ran Skyline Trail during August long weekend. It was also Pat's bachelor party :) Here the video if you are interested: Skyline 2013.

I tried to take a time lapse of this run with my GoPro strapped on my forehead but this resulted in a awkward running technique to keep my head levelled. In the end the whole time lapse didn't work out and Pat's little videos were WAAAAY better as you can see in the Youtube clip.

This was a great run and it gave me some confidence that I can, even with barely any run training, have good long run. With this run in my legs I decided to try Lost Soul and see how it unfolds.

Stay tuned if you are interested in the Lost Soul race report :)

Happy training!
Stefan

Great White North Triathlon 2013: Race Report

Yesterday was the day of the GWN triathlon and it was a great day! A lot of records were broken, the weather was nice (most of the time), and it was also the first race in which Sanja and I were able to race together since she gave birth to our little boy Sean. THANKS to Glenn and Ingo for taking care of the little guy! Sanja finished her third triathlon and first half iron distance race yesterday. She did her first triathlon in 2009 (sprint), another race in 2010 (Olympic), and yesterday her first half iron distance race! I am very proud the way she finished this race as I know how long and painful it can be! You can read all about it here.

My race went pretty much the same as the Edmonton ITU race two weeks ago, except that my swim was better. The bike felt great again and I was going as hard as I could. Since I knew I had no run fitness due to my messed up hip flexor, I went all in for the bike. I made it all the way into 2nd place, which felt pretty good, especially given the small amount of training I put in. Thanks to Kevin for his Hed tri spoke and Josh for his disc wheel. This aerodynamic advantage certainly helped getting that bike split! Too bad though that the bike course was different this year, as I would have loved to see how this result would have compared to the previous bike splits.

But let’s start with the swim first!

Just in time for GWN, I got my new Nineteen Rogue wetsuit. This wetsuit is a significant upgrade to what I had before. The flexibility is enormous and I was able to get my arms moving almost as good as in the pool. Since we were a bit late on race morning, I didn’t get a warm up swim in. Instead I did some arm swings while I was waiting for the gun to go off. And then without countdown, the gun went off and the race was on. During the entire swim I felt good and my arms were working well. This was pretty much the first wetsuit swim I really enjoyed! I also liked the fact that this we only had to swim one big loop. I exited the water at 25:38 min and was pretty happy with my performance. Transition was quick but was not timed separately.

The bike went very well and I had again a good time out there. As I mentioned earlier already, this year I had a disc wheel and tri spoke. In fact, I was riding a disc for the first time in my life, and it felt great! I am definitely considering getting my own disc wheel pretty soon! Shortly after the first turn around, I moved up into 3rd place and shortly after the start of the 2nd lap I moved up into 2nd position overall. I knew that this ranking will only hold for as long as we are on wheels, so I enjoyed every single kilometer. In the end I finished the bike in 2:12:54. T2 felt pretty quick, but again no splits were available.

I started running the 2 lap run course and the first person I saw was Grant Burwash zipping by and I thought I was standing still. Then Ben also passed me within the first couple of metres into my run. We had a quick chat and he looked really strong, then he was gone. At that point there were no signs of quad cramps and I was still happy. Then after the first aid station both quads cramped up so badly that I had to squat to stretch them out. I was sitting there for about a minute trying to relax them. I kept on looking back but I didn’t see anyone coming yet. Then it slowly got better and I was able to move again. The rest was just hanging in there and not losing any time. The greatest thing on the run however was when I came by Sanja to spank her bum and tell her to keep it going. She looked amazing and I was extremely proud of her. I asked her if she wants to run together for a while but she just said GO and RUN! So I kept on moving. The rest was just grinding it out and get to the finish. At last I finished the race in 10th place overall with a 1:36:03 run and a total time of 4:14:34.Not a personal record for me but definitely a good performance.

Congratulations to everyone out there on the course breaking records or not, to all the volunteers and race organizers, the spectators, my friends from the Edmonton Triathlon Academy and the UofA Triathlon Club.

The overall results can be found here.

Cheers!
Stefan

Edmonton ITU Triathlon and Provincial Championships

Yesterday, I competed in the Edmonton ITU Olympic distance triathlon in Hawrelak Park. This was my first Olympic triathlon since Lake Chaparral in August 2010 as the focus of the past years was set on Ironman distance racing. However, being a coach with the Edmonton Triathlon Academy (ETA) got me excited to try the shorter distances again and focus a bit more on speed.

This all sounds pretty awesome except that I am practically injured since April, which you can read about here and here. This groin/hip flexor injury prevented me from running at all and whenever I tried to run the following days did not feel good, but at least I was able to get a few bike rides in here and there. Swimming on the other hand went really well! I logged up to 6 km swims and also swam quite often with the elite athletes of the ETA, which is the main reason for my current fitness level.

Given all that, I went into the race with no expectations just hoping that I will be able to finish the run without inducing more damage to my groin.

The weather on race morning was very nice and it didn’t look like it would rain at all (although showers were forecasted). I set up my transition area and visualized myself a few times coming out of the water, heading into T1, doing a lap on the bike course, coming back into T2 and doing one run lap. I felt very positive and was actually looking forward to compete again.

The race started in different heats, so it was not a mass start and hence it was also quite difficult to see how you were doing in your age group. Sure, everyone got body-marked but the visibility of this black marker quickly fades after putting on your wetsuit, sweating in it for some time while waiting for the horn to go off, and eventually trying to pull your limbs out again. My heat was scheduled for 9:55am containing women and men 30-34 as well as 35-39.

I was actually really looking forward to swim (since I trained so much), the only thing was that I am still swimming in a used Nineteen Pipeline wetsuit which, once you did a few strokes in it, is comparable to a deltoid muscle workout in the gym. Since most of my races were in the ocean somewhere in the subtropics, I never bothered to get a new one. Now I finally ordered a new one (Nineteen Rogue), which unfortunately has not yet arrived.

At 9:55 the horn went off and the face-down thrash-fest began. The first couple of metres felt good, then I got a little bit short of breath, caught myself again and just kept on swimming for the remaining distance. During my second lap, my stroke rate went down as my deltoid muscles were signalling fatigue. I pushed through it and exited with a time of 21 minutes and 11 seconds, which wasn't too shabby but also not as quick as I have hoped. Transition 1 included quite some running over to the bike racks but everything went quite smoothly (T1: 2:32 min).

On the bike I had a blast. I don't know how and why but I had a lot of steam in my legs! With each lap I got faster: Lap 1: 14:41; Lap 2: 14:33; Lap 3: 14:18; For lap 4 I didn't get a split. My strategy was to pedal up Emily Murphy in my lowest gear without pushing it to hard. This was the best place to stretch out a bit and grab a drink. Also since I am pretty heavy these days (fluctuating between 84-85 kg) there was no point for me trying to make up time on this steep climb. I decided to put all my effort into the descents and the more gentle uphill on Groat Road. And this strategy seemed to work out fine resulting in a 59:00 min. I headed into Transition 2, where it took me a few seconds to find my place on the bike rack, then helmet off, shoes on and out. It felt very fast and I was wondering if I had forgotten something. While running out of T2, I had to touch my head to see whether perhaps the helmet was still on, but everything seemed fine. Fast transition I thought and indeed it was (T2: 55 sec).

On the run I could feel my quads cramping right away. This was not really surprising given the lack of run (and running off the bike) training this year. My actual injury however, did not affect my running, but I knew that the pain will come the next day at the latest, and actually it came on the same evening ... ouch! I was running at around 4:10- 4:15 min pace per kilometre which was the fastest my quads would allow me to do. During my last lap I tried to turn it up a notch, which partly worked, but did not result into any significant change of my overall time. After I crossed the finish line in 2:05:50 (full results here), I was super happy with what I had accomplished that day given the circumstances.

I guess the most important thing to improve, besides getting rid of the injury and being able to train again, is to get a better wetsuit. As I already mentioned I ordered the Nineteen Rogue, which comes with a lot of flexibility in the shoulder, and which hopefully will arrive before the Great White North Triathlon on July 7th. Also, spending more time open water swimming would be beneficial, although this is not easily achieved in Edmonton. That's why we will move to Australia next year ;)

I would also like to thank everyone out there who was cheering for me, including my parents who were visiting us for 4 weeks, Sanja and Sean for their amazing support, as well as the entire ETA crew and the volunteers on the course.

Cheers!

Stefan

Blackfoot Ultra without me / A few notes on injuries

So, it is official - I won't start my first Ultra marathon this month due to a nagging hip flexor/groin injury. This past weekend I ran one loop of the official Blackfoot run, and man I have to say WHAT A BEAUTIFUL COURSE!!! If you ever have the chance to fit this race into your schedule, do it! You won't regret it.

This test run however, also showed me that my leg isn't really ready yet to run for multiple hours. With this race off my list, I am looking forward to what comes next and hopefully get this injury healed up.

A quick note on injuries:
Almost all the major injuries I had so far (= injuries were I was barely able to walk), were caused not by doing too much volume but rather by doing too much AND too quick (a.k.a. stupid things).

My first Achilles tendonitis was due to a steep 5km hike. I never did this sort of uphill hiking before, but since I was in good physical condition, I went up that hill pretty quick. The next day, I could feel the tendon the first time and shortly after my life turned into a 6-months nightmare. During the 7th month, I was able to slowly start running again and was fully recovered a few weeks later

My second Achilles tendonitis (on the other leg), was initiated in the gym while doing squats with weights. It was the first time for me in the gym during the off-season and instead of being smart about it, I ramped up the weights to quick and my second 6-months nightmare was about to begin. Luckily, it was the off-season and by the time summer came by I had it under control. 

My most recent longer-lasting injury (about 5 weeks now) happened while cycling too hard and too quick after a period of being off the bike for almost 6 months. I took part in a research study that involved hard cycling 14 days in a row. During the second week, I could feel some irritation in my hip flexor/groin area but kept on going hard. Again, I set myself up for the next injury, which now prevented me from participating in my first ultra marathon.

Writing it all out here will hopefully help me to identify these stupid things ("too much-too quick") right away and to respond "You know what, that sounds intriguing, but I pass!".

Stay healthy!

Stefan

My first 50-miler is coming up and I have groin pain - yeehaaaw

The Blackfoot Ultra is coming up (May 25) and I am dealing with some groin issues in my left leg for about three weeks now. I tried to run a few minutes every now and then but I still cannot get back to training. This is very frustrating but I guess I have to swallow that pill. Hopefully, it will heal up soon so that I am able to start at least and see where it takes me. The reason why I got this groin issue was that I participated in a research study that involved 14 consecutive days of intensive cycling. I was hoping that this study will get me into training and racing mode, which it did, but my legs, or rather some muscles in my groin area got over-used in the process. Looks like I was a bit too optimistic to agree to such a study after 6-months of no cycling at all. The result: perhaps no 50-miler for me and most likely no road racing next weekend, i.e. Velocity stage race without me :(

This winter/spring hasn't been the best start in the season. Besides the groin issue, I also pulled my right lower abdominal muscle while swimming (flip turn too far off the wall and pushing my legs into nothing). This lower abdominal pain never really felt extremely painful but was very persistent and took 4 months to totally disappear. Since I kept on running, I also started to developed a mild Plantar fasciitis on my left foot most likely due to favouring the left leg in order to minimize the pain from the injured abdominal muscle on the right side. Yeah, it crazy I know. Now since these conditions are gone, I recently added the groin issue on my list of injuries for this year.

Anyway, at least I am able to swim long and quite frequently without any problems. I wonder how long this will last for though - haha ;)

BTW, I also signed up for the Iron Horse 100 (100 km) in October this year, and for the Edmonton ITU Olympic Triathlon (June 23).

After this bumpy start into the season, I hope my time will come and I am able to excel during the second half of the year :)

May the 4th be with you!

Stefan

Next Stop: Western States 100

I few days ago I finally signed up for the Blackfoot Ultra running race. You can choose between 3 distances: 50 km, 50 miles and 100 km. I opted for the 50 miles as I know I can to run 50 km, and a double marathon seemed to be a more challenging endeavour. 100 km on the other hand was a smidgeon too much ... is it? No, actually also signed up for the Lost Souls Ultra 100 km race in September, which conveniently, is an official qualifying race for the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run. CRAZY, eh? Yes, I think so too, but maintaining challenging goals in your life is what keeps life thrilling! However, even if I would qualify for the Western States 100 (Lost Souls 100 km < 15 hours) there is still a lottery ahead. Every person who qualifies will enter a lottery from which the actual participants will be selected (see here for more info).

Seriously, I have no clue how this will turn out but I am very excited. For some reason I think I would be able to deal with this sort of races --- but who knows.

How about triathlon? I think I got a bit tired of doing Ironmans, or rather travelling with the bike on the plane, paying for the ridiculously high priced entry fees, accommodation etc. However, I certainly have some business to finish in Kona but this will most likely happen when we can afford it without having to recover from the financial damage for 6 months. But I will still participate in local races every now and then and of course, as I mentioned in my previous post, pick up triathlon coaching. I really feel that it's time to pass on what I have learned during all these years.

That's all for now. Stay tuned and lace 'em up!

Stefan

A new year and new goals

The last year has been quite turbulent and demanding, but was also successful. I had some really good races, experienced my first DNF, received my PhD, started a postdoctoral fellow position at the University of Alberta, started coaching with the Edmonton Triathlon Academy, and most importantly became father to a little baby boy born on August 23 named Sean. I still can't believe that all that happened last year.

Anyway, 2012 is over and 2013 is in full swing. What will be my part in 2013? Besides spending most of my time with my little family, this year I definitely won't be as competitive as I was last year. This means, I will race for the sake of having fun and not try to reach a certain time goal. So far, I am only signed up for the Great White North Triathlon (GWN) in July, but I am also considering participating in the Black Foot Ultra 50 mile running race in May. I always wanted to know how it feels to run (walk) 50 miles ;) Since there are no major triathlon goals this year, now it would be the best time to try it out. Anyway, we will see what happens. I am also really looking forward to bicycle racing this year again.

Besides my goals as an athlete, this year I will also put a major focus on starting up my coaching career. Last year I shadowed Bill Humby from the University of Alberta Varsity Swim Team as well as Kevin Clark from the Edmonton Triathlon Academy (ETA). Both taught me many valuable things I am really grateful for. This year, I continue working with Kevin who is currently mentoring me  coaching the swim session of the ETA age group program.

That's a rough schedule of what lies ahead of me.

If you like, stay tuned and as always happy training!

Cheers,
Stefan

Ironman Hawaii 2012 Race Report

So, race day went by and I had to drop out after developing some intense low back pain on the second half of the bike course. I was actually hoping to write a different kind of race report but this time it just didn't work out... Now, I have to think about what happened, why it happened and how to go from there. Here are a few first thoughts.

1) Did I push too hard on the bike?
I would say that this wasn't the case per se. My quads felt good and my nutrition went perfectly well. I ingested about 1600 calories of CarboPro, had one bottle of water on every aid station and another bottle so spray on my arms, legs and through my wicked water hole in my aero helmet :) Energy-wise I was ready to go. The weak point this time was obviously my lower left back which couldn't handle the force and therefore in a way I did push too hard. In this situation I had to decide whether I want to keep on pushing and stay on schedule, or just roll back into town and give my back some rest. I then asked myself why am I here? The answer was clear, I wanted to place top 5 in my age group and not just finish another Ironman. So, I decided to push it and see how things will turn out during the run. After I came into transition, my back was very sore and I had hard times putting on my runners while bending over. I ran out still hoping the problem will resolve but the pain just didn't want to stop. Then, after the first eight miles or so, I felt a decision and stopped running and dropped out of the race. It was a strange and new feeling for me to not finish a race. That's my first DNF, however, in some way it also feels like a valuable experience since it clearly showed my limits and what has to be improved.

So, what to do? I certainly won't stop doing long distance endurance events,  BUT I have to accept that I need to take more care of my back, core and other stabilizing muscles. I actually did feel the same issue at the Great White North triathlon (2km/90km/21km) but not as severe and it disappeared after the first couple minutes into the run. I also had the same experience on a few longer training rides, but again it resolved by itself. It may sound silly but all this tells me I am reaching an age at which I have to take more care of my back and core muscles or else I won't be able to keep on performing at these levels of intensity. Unfortunately, I just cannot jump on my bike anymore and hammer it out. SO, for the next season I will spend some time in the gym strengthen my back and core on a regular basis.

2) Maybe it just wasn't the right time to accomplish such a goal?!
Since I also became a father to a wonderful son (August 23), plus finished and defended my PhD in the same time period (September 7), plus spending time training with only a few hours of sleep (all the moms and dads out there will know), I should have decreased my expectations and rather adjust my goal than push through it. In the end that would have probably been the smartest move given the situation. However, I decided the way I did and this DNF is a result for which I am fully responsible and which cannot be blamed to anyone/anything else.

3) Miscellaneous (or things that shouldn't have happened)
a) I decided that for my next salt water swim I will just swim in my speedo and not risk chafing on my neck. I severely chafed and this in combination with sweat, sunscreen and the Hawaiian sun was not a great feeling. I guess the time you lose by swapping your speedo with a trisuit in the transiton tent is marginal if there is a difference at all. Or, alternatively, if you have the luxury to live at the sea test it and find stuff that works for you in the ocean.

b) Don't forget to put a towel in your T2 bag! It's an open water swim and it's on a beach (not in the local pool at home) -  so chances are high that the transition tent is wet and full of sand (a severe case of baby brain ... haha).

c) Make sure your googles are tight enough so that they not fill up with water all the time. Again, it's not a pool swim at your local pool, it's a mass start and feels like a washing machine (again, a case of baby brain?!)

d) Take your Garmin off the bike before running out of T2, or else you are running in no man's land. Then you better have a good gut feeling about pacing ---  if you are still able to pace at all at that point.

4) Okay and finally some impression from the race:
a) I did find a good spot before the swim start and was very happy. At that point I thought it will be a good day. Then the canon went of and the first couple hundred metres were still okay up until my goggles started to fill up with water. I had to stop a few times to fix that and right away people are swimming right over you. "Stupid idiot why is he seeding himself in the front and then starts breaststroking" :) Not even half way through the swim I could feel that my neck is experiencing some serious chafing. One good thing was that the turn around came pretty fast, or at least it felt that way. On the way back things slowed a little, possibly due to the current, but more likely due to the fact that I couldn't properly recover my arm anymore in order to minimize chafing. Finally the shore came closer and the last 100 metres were the hardest because the surf always pulled me back a little bit. I wonder if other people also felt this way... so if you did the race and read this please comment!

b) I went out of the water, hosed off a little with fresh water, grabbed my bag and headed into the transition tent. It took me a while to organize myself but made it out found my bike ride away and left T1 at about 1h:10min into the race. On my way up Palani road I could hear Sanja yelling and screaming "Stefan Go Go Go!!!" We first looped through the city and then we were off to Hawi. The first 60 km flew by and we had the wind mostly in our back. The climb up to Hawi was then a bit more challenging and things slowed significantly. I wore my cool wings again and they definitely helped me stay relatively cool, but most importantly also saved my skin from sunburn. After the turnaround I was expecting crazy gusts of crosswinds but it wasn't as bad as I remembered from two years ago and I was able to stay in my aerobars all the time. Then during the last 60 km my low-back pain flared up and intensified all the way back to town. I had to stretch and change the angle of my pelvis about every 10 minutes which interrupted the flow of pedalling. As mentioned above I decided to keep the speed where it was at and not back-off, hoping the pain will disappear during the run. I finished the bike leg in just above 5 hours.

c) I handed my bike to the volunteer, forgot my Garmin on the bike (which I realized about 10 min later), grabbed my run gear and tried to get my shoes on, which pretty hurt because of my sore back (see above). I ran out of transition and was in severe pain. I saw Darren who took pictures and giving me some info on times and placing in my age group, but at that point I wasn't able to say anything. I kept on running still hoping things would get better. After the first turn around point on Alii drive, I decided I will stop any second now. However, I still kept on running almost till I was back at transition. I just couldn't stand the fact people looking at me while I was walking home. Then I saw Andrea taking pictures of me. That's the point when I started walking. I didn't want to have any documentation of my misery. Of course she didn't know what was happening to me but I was so grateful that both Darren and Andrea also joined us to come here to Kona and help us out! Thanks guys!!! Andrea and I walked back to transition where we could see Pete Jacobs finishing. She told me also that Sanja was at the King Kam hotel, and after officially dropping out, grabbing a piece of pizza and ice cream, I found Sanja nursing our little Sean under a tree. Her back was towards me and I just sat down beside her and told her I dropped out. We both understood each other without a lot of words and I was really happy that this burden is off my shoulders now. Now I can finally start enjoying our little family 100% :)

Cheers,
Stefan