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Paul O Doherty set a new Irish record in Ironman Frankfurt last weekend. The race involved a 3800m swim / 180km cycle and 42.2km run.
The swim portion of the race took place in the "Langener Waldsee", a popular recreational lake just 12km south of Frankfurt. The bike involved a 2 loop course through the spectacular downtown of Frankfurt and through the landscapes of the surrounding countryside. The run was a flat course along the river Main. Over 1800 entrants took part with approx 20 Irish representatives from all corners of the country. The ironman event is becoming increasingly popular among the Irish with over 40 athletes already signed up for Ironman Austria 2007.
The Irish record had been held by Eoin O Connell for a number of years - Paul O Doherty set a new record in Austria in 2004, this was beaten in Austria earlier this month by 26seconds but Paul regained his title in Frankfurt in an impressive 9:19.26 with a run split of only 3hrs 16 - a fantastic time after a 180km cycle!! He came 33rd overall, 6th in his age group and has qualified for Ironman Hawaii in October.
For more information check out www.triathlonireland.com.
European Ironman Championships 2006
Paul's Race Diary
Fantastic!! This is probably the best word to sum up my race in Germany!
Race Week
As race week approached Europe was in the middle of a heat wave and had been for 6 weeks. The weather was going to be very hot and a new concern was that it may be a non wetsuit swim as the lake temperature was rising daily.
An added incentive to have a great race arose when my Irish Record of 9hr26min was broken in Austria the previous weekend by 26sec and I wanted it back!
At the race briefing we were told there would be NO WETSUITS! This was to be the first ever non wetsuit Ironman swim in Europe and I didn’t see it as a problem. OK, it would effect my overall swim time by approximately 4mins but other weaker swimmers would pay a higher price.
Race Day
We headed for the lake at 5am and when first light arrived there was a lot of cloud cover. It was a case of hoping that the sun wouldn’t burn it off too early and we would get some respite from the scorching temperatures forecasted.
Swim
I took to the front row and when the gun went off I settled into a great early pace. I was amazed after about 300m when I realised that the person swimming to my right was Andrew Cairns. Imagine, out of 2500 people I ended up swimming with my training partner! We both swam together and hit the beach with exactly the same swim time. 57min58sec was a good start to the day.
Bike
Out onto the bike and the weather was now very stormy. Thunder, lightening and heavy rain ensued. Andrew and I remained within 10sec of each other for the first 40km and we were both focusing on keeping our HR low.
I had a very solid bike ride. I was riding easier than I had been in training but was riding a faster time than I had planned even though the weather conditions meant that even the eventual winner crashed in the slippery conditions. I was 3min up on my predicted bike split at 90km so instead of increasing the pace on the second lap as planned, I decided to back off and save energy (and my legs) for the run. I just managed to nip under the 5hr mark with a 4hr59min split.
Run
Towards the end of the bike the sun came out and this would mean a very hot and humid run. The run course was 4 laps and I set out at a good pace. I was feeling great and got a boost when I ran past Normann Stadler (Former Hawaii winner) at 8km. OK, he was a lap up on me but this meant I had just unlapped myself and was actually running faster than some pros! At 9.5km I was passed by the eventual winner, Cameron Brown. He came past me looking super smooth and was hot in pursuit of Timo Bracht who was 3min ahead. I held everything together until about 28km when I suddenly became aware that my legs now HURT! I started getting a lot of cramps in my hamstrings and was having to strop and stretch every time they locked up. I tried to increase my pace in the last 2km but actually lost time as the cramps were getting worse. I was running faster but having to stop and stretch more often which was frustrating. I ran 3hr16min for the marathon and needless to say I was so happy to see the finish, I jumped into the air as I crossed the finish, suddenly acutely aware that my legs might give way when I landed! They didn’t!
With 9hr19min on the clock I knew I had achieved both my goals, Hawaii and my Irish Record back.
The Result
I ended up finishing 33rd overall in the first ever European Ironman Championships. I was 6th in my age group and the 20th non professional athlete. I had achieved what I had come here for and was mighty happy.
I would like to say a big thanks to my sponsors, ZIPP, Totalcycling, Saucony, Giro and SwimBikeRun.
I now have to get my head around doing another Ironman in 14 weeks time in Hawaii!
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