Olaf Ortmann from VfL Bergheide was at the Ironman 70.3 in Kraichgau.
Here is his experience report.
Two years ago I decided to take a little break from ultra running and to compete in the triathlons in Kraichgau and Frankfurt. Due to Corona, these events did not take place.
In the meantime I have long since returned to ultra and mountain running, but I still had my starting place for the two Ironman events.
So I decided to start at the Ironmen 70.3 in Kraichgau last weekend.
In the morning at 8 a.m. the start took place in the Hardtsee of Ubstadt. At a water temperature of about 18 degrees, the 1.9 km long distance was swum in a neoprene suit that was completely unfamiliar to me.
Finding the ideal line was a problem
The biggest problem for me in the water was finding the ideal line. The crawl swimming itself was a bit unusual, I had never practiced orienting myself. So I got out of the water after 47 minutes. However, my watch showed 2.4 KM.
It doesn’t matter, get out of the suit as quickly as possible, put on your cycling gear, look for and find the bike.
Now it was 90 km through the hilly landscape of the Kraichgau. I live in the Ruhr area. It’s flat there. It was a great and new feeling to drive on roads that were completely closed to traffic. After 3.5 hours it was time for the running track. 3 laps a 7 KM through Bad Schönborn. There was a great atmosphere here. Similar to a city marathon. Since I wanted to keep the regeneration time as short as possible, I took it a little slower on the running route and ran the half marathon in 2:10 hours.
In three weeks we will continue in Frankfurt
All in all an exciting experience. What was particularly impressive was the organizational effort that the organizer and the more than 2,000 helpers put into getting such an event off the ground.
In three weeks I’m looking forward to the Ironman in Frankfurt. Then double the distance. After that I will prepare for the Trans Alpine Run from Germany to Italy in September.
