Double UltraTriathlon Lensahn 2024

The plan this year is simple: after fully committing to the Quintuple last year, 2024 should become an “easy” year… Meaning there’s still room for a crazy plan, but not one that needs the 200% focus in training (and in life) the entire season… Time to train a bit more relaxed, and put no pressure on myself… So a “Double” it is!

The 31st(!!) Triple in Lensahn (Germany) hosts a Double for the third time, nice to be on the “short” distance of an event, that makes it feel a bit more relaxed. The days before the race is spend swimming, cycling and running a bit (as if I’m not going to do enough of that during the race…), putting up the tents, going through registration, the athlete-presentation and the pastaparty… Since the ultra-family is a small and crazy group of people, it’s awesome to catch up with old friends here, and a lot of new friends will be met during the race as well!

So far it’s all very relaxed; Jacomina and Stijn joined me on this adventure, and they have supported before, so they know how this works. There is a plan, there are a few backup-plans, and there is the trust in the team that we’ll improvise when needed…

Lensahn, July 26th 2024, racemorning

The Triple starts early in the morning, and The Double only starts at 12 (when most of the Triple athletes have left the pool…). Since we camp just 200 meters from the pool I spend most of the morning either in front of my tent, or at the pool cheering for the Triple athletes. There are no nerves, but at some point there’s just that “I wish we’d just start” feeling… Waiting before the race is always uncomfortable…

 

Then it’s finally time to get to the pool for real, meaning; bring the bike and racekit! I rack the bike, and since I’m swimming without a wetsuit I don’t need to do much else… Get some final nutrition in 10 minutes before the start, and 2 minutes before the start I take off the dryrobe, jump in the pool and swim to the start… Let’s do this!

 

 

 

 

Swim: 7,6km – 152 lengths in a 50m pool

The swim-start of an ultra is always the complete opposite of the start of a “normal” distance. No-one is rushing, since winning a few seconds here will mean nothing by the time you reach the finish. So no “fighting” at the start, and with 7 swimmers in lane 4 we start a nice adventure…

I haven’t been swimming a lot of miles this year, so my pace is a bit slower than it was before, but the goal is simple; have a nice and easy swim, and conserve as much energy as possible. So an easy swim it is…

Every 1500 meters there’s a short stop to get some food in, and before I know I’m swimming the final 1500-meters (actually 1550, since the swim-start and exit are at the opposite side of the pool the strategy was: 1550m / 3 x 1500m / 1550m). I’m in my happy place, swimming easy, counting the laps… When there’s 100meters to go the lane-counter should put a “100m-to-go-sign” in the water, and traditionally that doesn’t happen… So far on all my ultras the lane-counter has somewhere missed a lap (and yes, my own count was right, confirmed by lap-times, the watch, and my awesome team that was counting as well…). Not to worry, it’s a long swim anyway… But when I do the next length I start wondering: “Have they miscounted 1 lap, or more? How long will I have to swim extra?”. Luckily the “100m-to-go-sign” is there the next lap, so I only have a 100 meters bonus-swim today…

After 7,7km I get out of the pool, really enjoying the day so far!

bike: 360km – 45 laps of 8km

Transition goes smooth, and before I know it, I’m on the bike. The loop is just over 8km, basically a straight line with a turn-around at the end. A little bit of elevation on every lap (which will add up over 360km, so the final laps it will feel like “a lot of elevation” per lap!), but other than that a fairly simple task; ride, drink, eat, and keep riding…

To make sure I force-feed myself I have fixed points on the course for my nutrition; at the “climb” after the first roundabout I have to drink my sports nutrition, after the turnaround point a bite of my sports bar, and after that some water. Every 6 laps my bottles should be empty, and 1,5 bar should have been eaten. This helps to give structure to the nutrition (which for me is always the hardest part of a long race), but the “breaking it up into 6 laps” also helps to keep the distance manageable. I am never “riding 360km”, all I do is “6 laps”, and 1 lap is quite short, so how hard can it be…

The legs feel good, the bike rolls smoothly over the pavement, and the atmosphere on the course is nice; at the turning point at the far end the locals (and the awesome volunteers who direct the traffic!) are partying, and at “basecamp” all support crews create a nice “crowd” as well. I’m taking it slow and steady, but there is a small issue…

Some light stomach-issues make it that I’m not really comfortable, and I also have to pee a lot… On a positive note this means that I’m probably drinking enough, but it messes with my focus, rhythm and therefore with my mindset… Eventually it takes about 150km or so before I can finally settle into a relaxed cycling-mode, basically by now adapting the “it is what it is” mindset that doesn’t get distracted too much by everything that’s not going perfectly…

When it gets dark riding becomes a bit harder; it’s now easy to lose focus, and all there is around you is the little bubble of light in front of you, and all the bright lights coming towards you (that’s a downside to an out-and-back-course). Then there’s also the temperature that’s dropping, and some light rain at various parts of the course, so making sure to stay sharp, and not crash on a slippery roundabout is the main goal!

I ride steady through the first part of the night, not going fast, still needing a lot of toilet-breaks, but the legs still feel good. The plan is to have a short (maximum 10 minute) break after 250km to get some pasta in; this will not only help my nutrition later in the race (getting some real food hopefully helps me to keep digesting all the sports nutrition!), it’s also a nice milestone to work towards (instead of riding 360km, all I have to do is 250, or “5 times 6 laps”, and after “diner” it’s “only 100km to go”). These small mental games always help a lot, especially when tired and sleep deprived!

So according to plan I get a short break after 250km, and in just under 10 minutes I’m on the bike again. Until now the energy was good, but now, pretty late into the night, the sleep deprivation starts to kick in. There are a few moments where I almost hit the curb, and crashing (especially in a downhill) was definitely not part of the plan… So back at “basecamp” I get off the bike again, get some sugar and caffeine in, and try to reset… A few more laps, and the story repeats… Another short break, another try… I’m worried that I at some point need to get some sleep, that never happened before on a race that was “just going through one night”, so mentally I’m not in the best place now…

Then a car pulls up besides me; it’s one of the race-marshals that points out that my rear-light is turned off. This is a literal wake-up call… I’m guessing me or the Team switched it off at a stop, so I turn it back on, to later see that it’s off again, so it must be defective… So back at basecamp Jacomina mounts a backup-light onto my bike, and I’m going again, now fully awake, since nothing wakes you up like a little adrenaline-rush!

The final 50km I’m riding comfortably, the dark night slowly turns into a lesser dark night, and finally there’s some light, and the sun is coming up. Happy that the ride is over, but overall having enjoyed a long ride I’m into transition…

Transition is slow, but focussed. Change of clothes, getting some food in, and using the mantra I used during last years Quintuple: “fix minor issues before they become big problems” I re-tape my Achilles – the Achilles was a bit sore before the race, so I taped it up, but during the swim the tape got a bit loose… With 84km to run it’s the smart move to take care of this now, since it’s a long way to go, and lots of time to get injured!

All refreshed I’m exiting the tent, and filled with the usual “we’re almost there” energy I start to run…

run: 84,4km – 66 laps of 1,28km

The run course is short, and my (mental) strategy is to break it up into 8 laps at a time… Of those 8 laps I will be walking every 5th one, to recover and get some nutrition in, all the other laps I should be running. Not only does this help me break up the DoubleMarathon in terms of distance (I’m never “running 84km”, all I do is “run 8 laps”), but the “walking lap” hopefully helps to maintain some rest, and will prevent a huge energy-crash too early into the run…

I’m really enjoying this run! The energy is good, there’s lots of athletes on the course (mainly the Doubles and the 24-hour runners, but more and more Triple-runners are starting the run further into the day), and the support crews are creating a great atmosphere… Jacomina and Stijn have set up their basecamp at the campsite (“campsite” for this weekend meaning: the strip of grass next to the soccer pitches and athletics track of Lensahn), and they soon found a place in the shade. Lots of other supporters are at that part of the course as well, and some make a great party out of it… Passing those teams every lap gives a huge boost of energy!

The first marathon is flying by; I don’t have a clue how fast I’m running (I never look at the watch during these long events, since the pace is what the pace is…), but it feels really, really relaxed and enjoyable… This is a first for me, normally the energy drains pretty fast during the run, but today it feels amazing…

The second half of the run is getting harder; the sun is coming out, and it’s a hot day, and most of the course has no shade… So from now on it’s a fight against the heat; sponges, wet towels (thanks to the Polish supportcrew who gave every athlete a new wet towel every lap!!) and just trying to survive the heat… Nutrition is getting harder as well, I now shift from all the sweet stuff more towards the salty stuff; potato chips, salty potatoes, soup, peanuts, salted melon… Just trying to get anything in.

On the far side of the course there’s a small incline, but by now it feels like a huge mountain, and I can’t keep running here, so I have to walk this part. Later I hear that other athletes have named this road the Himalaya, and I completely agree… But other than this part, I can still stick to my “8 laps, the 5th lap being a walking lap” routine (although the running is getting slower…). It’s all a mental game now; no matter how much the legs hurt, no matter what the body is saying, I’m doing one lap at a time, eventually “only having to do 8 laps” (and always trying to “forget” the total distance, although it’s always somewhere in the back of my mind…)

Eventually the body starts to break down, and I have to walk the final 6 laps… I want to run, but I am so lightheaded and dizzy that I know if I push just a little too hard now things will go wrong, and I will lose a lot of time lying down by the side of the road… So walking as fast as I can, counting down the laps, and looking forward to the finish-line…

The final lap is the victory-lap; the ultra-triathlon tradition is that you “run” the last lap in the opposite direction, wearing your nations flag, celebrating your finish with all other athletes and supportcrews. Jacomina and Stijn join me for this lap, a lot of high-fives follow, and tired and happy I reach the finish-line…

Two sips of an ice-cold alcohol-free beer follow, and then the body decides that’s it had enough, so time to rest and recover…

afterthoughts

 As always there’s some things that could (or should) have gone better/different, but overall I’m pretty happy with the entire weekend. It was a hard race, but I really enjoyed it (especially the swim and the run!). The Ultra-Triathlon-Family is a great (but maybe a little bit weird) group of likeminded people, and because of the short laps there’s plenty of time to talk to each other and get to know each other a bit. It’s been amazing to meet so many new friendly athletes and support-crews, to catch up with my old friends, and to finally get to know a few people that previously I only knew from online interactions… Hope to see you all somewhere again!

A big thanks to all the volunteers and race-organisers, and the local community who has been supporting this event for the last 31(!!!) years. And off course a huge shout-out to my supportcrew Jacomina and Stijn, who have done an amazing job keeping me on the move during the hard parts of the event, but also behind the scenes making sure everything was set for me to stay focussed during the “easy” parts of the race as well… Ultra-Triathlon is a teamsport, and I’m so happy with my team!

Congrats to all finishers on all the different distances, and to those who didn’t reach the finish for various reasons: you gave it your all, well done!

• Double UltraTriathlon Lensahn
• 8th place – total time 28 hours 56 minutes 17 seconds
• 7,7 km swim – 2 hours 35minutes 09 seconds
• 360 km bike – 14 hours 36 minutes 00 seconds
• 84,4 km run – 11 hours 17 minutes 11 seconds