Challenge Almere-Amsterdam 70.3, 10 Sep 2022
This was my first ever international middle distance race, held in Almere in the Netherlands. I signed up to the race with a small group of friends and we travelled over by car on the Thursday before the race. On Friday (the day before the race) we took our bikes out for a short spin and I checked my TT bars were correctly adjusted and at the right height (I hadn’t actually been training with them on my bike for a while…!) Later that day we drove over to the race venue for race registration and bike check in. It was then that I realised the scale of the event that we had signed up to. Over 2000 competitors were scheduled to race there over the long weekend! The European Long Distance Triathlon Championships were also occurring that weekend, and the competitors would be on the same course as us on race day. It was a big event!
On the morning of race day, our bikes were already racked and our transition bags were packed in the changing zone so there was not too much to prepare. This eased some of my pre-race nerves. However, about half an hour before we were due to start, the heavens opened and it began to pour it down with rain. The nerves kicked back in as I worried about how careful I would need to be racing on the bike if it continued to rain the whole morning. The elite waves and long distance athletes were set off half an hour before the middle distance competitors. It was then time for us to find my way to the starting pens for the swim. It was a rolling start to enter the water, so I positioned myself towards the back of the fastest group of swimmers.
I had a good swim. The water temperature was warmer than the outside air temperature and there were so many people on the course (from both the middle distance and long distance triathlons) that I easily found a number of people to work with and draft to make the swim easier and conserve my energy for the harder parts of the race. It was like a game of cat and mouse in the water as I jumped from swimming with one group of swimmers to the next! Very little sighting was needed because there were so many people around me, all heading in the same direction. I got around the course in 32 minutes, which was good enough.
Transition covered a large area, with the bags racked in a changing tent which was separate to where the bikes were located. It was a short run to grab my bike and loop around the transition zone before the mount line.
The bike started off on cycle paths along the lake we had just swam in and, fortunately, the rain had almost stopped. The tarmac road surface was still wet so I needed to be very careful to begin with. The cycle path fed us out on to the main bank along a large lake and headed out North-West. It was one extremely flat loop (there was 93 m elevation over 96 km - unbelievable!). This meant that there would be almost no break from having to put out constant power in the same position the whole way round. We were also very exposed to the wind (no wonder there were so many wind turbines in the area!).
The section along the lake was near arrow straight and I could see the other athletes all strung out ahead of me. I managed to get ahead of a large number of people at this point. About 20 km in, I got caught up in a wave of the elite long distance men who were already on their second lap of the course. There was a motor bike and filming crew alongside them. It was an incredible experience as I was swept along at 39-40 kmph, whilst effectively being shielded from all the wind. I realised what an advantage this was and desperately tried to hang on for as long as I could. I must have ridden with the pack for at least 10 km. I was very happy with my bike leg, given I have a natural advantage on hillier courses and I wasn’t riding a TT bike. I managed to average over 34 kph!
As much as I enjoyed being on the bike, I was beginning to fade towards the end of the course and so I was glad to enter transition. As if out of nowhere, my friend Justin also came in to transition at the same time as me! I had a few issues in T2. Firstly, frantically running up and down many rows of bike racks to locate exactly where I should hang my bike, and then in the changing rooms I had trouble detaching my bike helmet from my sunglasses, which were also tangled in my hair! When I eventually sorted myself out, I was on to the run. Nearly there!
I had managed my fuelling well on the bike and started the run feeling strong. I was just wary that it was beginning to get very hot and humid as the sun came out. I needed to ensure I kept hydrated (in my last 70.3 race I made a fatal error not drinking enough on the bike and becoming hyperglycaemic on the run). I managed to overtake a few women who had passed me earlier on the bike and caught up with Justin. We ran a few kilometres together, at a good pace. This was a big morale boost. The run course was 3 laps of the lake. There were regular aid stations and music stands, as well as supporters, providing plenty of distractions along the way. However, it was a tough end to the race. My pace really dropped towards the end. The heat did not help matters and I was throwing cold water over my head at every aid station. For the final few kilometres, it was a case of mind over matter. I couldn’t have been happier when the end was in sight, and I sprinted the final stretch along the red carpet all the way to the finish line. I completed the run in 1 hour 39 minutes, to finish the race in a total time of 5 hours and 10 minutes.
Justin followed me into the finish and we celebrated our races together in the finishers area. I treated myself to a large helping of chips and to the various other treats on offer at the end. It was a fantastic event, very well organised and the atmosphere was unbelievable! It was such a privilege to get to race alongside the professionals at the same time. My time put me 27th woman over the line and 9th in my age group! For my first international event, I was very pleased with the result.
Jennifer Carter