The double start project by Marcus Smallbone

Zug Triathlon was the end of a long term test of what is possible for body and mind. Back in January I made the plan to race Saturday night PRO race and Sunday morning Olympic distance because I wanted to test and challenge myself. I trained within serious time constraints specifically for the PRO race double sprint – 300m Swim – 7.5K Bike – 2 K Run– 300m Swim – 7.5K Bike – 2 K Run. Along with my training partner Erik Hoogerwerf and the Tempo-Sport bike department we made a plan that I would ride the road bike on Saturday and the time trial bike Sunday. Because of this, my wife and 3 kids decided that I had better stay in a hotel……they have been very supportive of my plan, but still family life and work come first. Many of the training methods that I have developed over the last few years have been to achieve the best possible in the minimum time. Erik and I train late at night after our kids have eaten and gone to bed. We are neighbours so often we return home at 10:15 from a run or swim.

After last year I had to reassess my goals. I do not bike enough to race Ironman properly, I believe you need to ride more than 3 hour training’s, and these training will not work with a good family life. So I decided that a big challenge would be to race the PRO double sprint, aiming for a top place, and then see how close to my time from last year I could get the next morning in the Olympic distance Age Group race. My main focus was the PRO sprint; I did not think about the other race until after, but I still had to be organised enough to have both bikes and the correct gear and nutrition ready.

The Pro race was very hard. In the water I found Sven Riederer and Ruedi Wild, so I just stayed with them but some younger guys broke away. I had to work harder than I wanted to stay in the group on the bike, and so for the first run I could not find my rhythm. This was frustrating because I can run fast normally, but on the day when it mattered I could not. So I had to race the second round with the 2nd group chasing the first. In the end we had to race for 10th place, and I got 11th, but I gave everything that I had at the time. Then I started the recovery and next phase of the project. I did a full warm down which consisted of a 10 minute swim, a 10 minute run and a 20 minute bike. During this time I took energy drinks, but I did not have any protein available. I ate pizza with the family then got back to my hotel at 22:30. More energy drinks while I changed the wheels from the road bike to my P3 bike….oops the back wheel took me a long time to get on! Then I changed pedals, set up my drink system, and got ready for bed……at 02:00 I was still reading my book because I could not relax! My alarm was set for 05:45 so I knew it would be a short night sleep! In the morning I decided to keep things simple and just relax. I ate pasta and bread, drank energy drinks and went to the race.

I used the start of the swim as a warm up for the race, so I swam with rhythm and controlled my breathing, but I was surprised that I felt quite fast, even though I was tired. The Sailfish wetsuit moved well for my swimming and I didn’t fight the suit. Out of the water I kept things simple and decided to find a rhythm on the bike first. I biked at a level that I knew I could run off, but I was very worried that my legs would not be able to run. As I came towards Cham I saw the time on the church and I knew that I was going better than I expected, so I began to think of the run, and hope that the Haupklasse guys were not too far ahead of me (they started 15 minutes before!). Transition was smooth (easy after the night before pro race!) and I started the run; I was so relieved when my legs started to move with a good cadence! So I took each km at a time, ‘good so far ok now onto the next one’ etc…with 2 km to go I finally decided that I could finish the race, so I stepped up to full speed and went for the line, hoping that I might get a fast enough time to win the overall race. When I crossed the line I punched the air and said to myself ‘job done’ then ran straight to find my family and be with them. I would like to thank Tempo-Sport and my wife, Mary Sue for the support they have given me this year. Now I will try out what I have learnt on some of the athletes that I coach!

Marcus Smallbone.