Underperforming

Sheesh, look at that guy – how can one run that slow? But why am I not getting any closer?
That's the classic situation during the final miles of an ironman run leg, when you get tired and run out of gas. And it describes precisely how I felt last saturday, during the last 14K of the Kalmar Järnmannen. Luckily, most of those guys (and girls, I admit, boohooohoo, I admit!) were one or two 14K laps behind me.
Still, I was disappointed with the result. I had moderate expectations for the race, knowing that I have not had a lot of quality running this year. Still, knowing Kalmar is a flat and potentially fast course, I realistically expected to finish within 10.10-10.20.
I had some problems leading up to the race: I hurt my hip during one of those final-I'm just doing this last workout–could as well be resting-just a little reassurance before the race–brick workouts. It really hurt my preparations, because I wasn't able to do much anything at all during the last four five days, and felt unsure about even being able to run come Saturday. As it turned out, it was probably just a minor overuse of some muscle.
I didn't get a flying start to the race, swimming like I had a rusty anchor tied to my wrists. The water was only 18 degrees, which may not bother some people, but is a factor in play when you have a 5 body fat percentage. A single 1.9K swim would be ok, but my toes and fingers went numb and my legs started cramping during the second 1.9K lap. I don't think the swim in Kalmar is very fast anyway, with lots of seaweed and spots with disturbingly shallow water. The waves wasn't an issue for me, even if I heard some complain about it.
The bike start was horrible and it took me at least 30 minutes going straight into the brisk headwind to find my legs. Luckily, it was a warm and sunny day, even if the wind speed was close to 10 meters per second. First 30K – 52.29. Bollocks. Second 30K – 48.00. Better. I decided not force the issue, but maintained this pace for the second 60K lap, overtaking, well, a whole bunch of mo'fuckers. During the last lap I dropped a couple of minutes but still managed to finish the bike leg in decent 5.04. I could easily have gone 4.55, even on a bad day like this, but I didn't want to repeat the mistake I made in Nice.
It was great to see how the competitors showed respect for each others and for the rules. I saw practically no drafting at all. The referees, there were plenty of them, seemed sharp, but I think the biggest difference compared to other races was the attitude among competitors. Nobody accelerated when you tried to overtake someone, and they always eased off and dropped back when you overtook them. Just as the rule book says. I wish all the cheating fakes competing in the largest triathlon event in Joroinen, as well as the organizers enforcing the rules, could see how things can be done differently and fairly.
That said, the referees were being very harsh when they hit the ultimate race winner Pontus Lindberg with a 4 minute time penalty – because he had lost his race number. He had to serve the penalty before crossing the finish line, but had a large enough marginal to win anyway. I would say it's the organizers responsibility to supply the competitors with race numbers that are of good enough quality not to fall off.
The run started off good enough, I kept my strides short, my step frequency high and a pace of 5 min/km.  During the second 14K lap, the lack of quality running was getting to me.
And the last lap was a battle. My right quad started cramping, and I tried to alter my stride to minimize the pain. Still, you don't quit an ironman with 10K to go unless you're really, really hurting. There was a strong sensation of deja vu, as I ran along the same course which I had seen so many times before.
There were positives: my stomach felt good and I was able to consume enough energy. I actually took mostly energy bars, one half at a time, during the run.
Part of the reason why I collapsed during the run leg was probably the lack of quality long runs this season, but I still feel like I underperformed. Anyway, I think I know what I need to do ahead of next season. Here are my results with split times: http://kalmar.r.mikatiming.de/2011/index.php?content=detail&fpid=list&id=0000170FF638F50000013EB8&lang=EN&event=KLM&ageclass=


This race was not one for the ages for my part, but it is always a positive when you finish an ironman in somewhat good shape. And the race in Kalmar is really well organized, the town is nice and people are friendly.
It was some ten years ago when I raced in Kalmar for the first time. Since then, the race has grown exponentially – from some 150 competitors to more than 800.
Still, it is striking how disorganized the transition area was. We checked in the bikes in the morning, contrary to most big races where you leave your bike in the guarded bike park over night.We had no transition bags – rather, we put all our gear, running shoes, towels, even change clothes next to our bike.This must surely change if the organizers go through with their plans to turn Kalmar into a WTC-licensed Ironman race next year.