Ironman 70.3 Duisburg Germany (2024)

Image: How it started vs. how it's going ;) 

I don't remember who picked this race - me or Eva - but I remember we were both all in quickly and ready for some German triathlon'ing. Ha ha! This course is fast fast fast!! I should note right away that this years course was different than the previous years and the next years. There was some major construction this year and they had to move the swim and change the bike and run courses. 

Swim: 2,234 yards (2042.77 meters), 48:50

Our swim was two loops in Duisburg's inner harbour. I felt at ease right away with two loops and the completely flat, still water. What was neat is spectators were able to be around the entire loop so we always felt cheered for and well supported. Ironman had plenty of swim safety out there, big buoys to site and turn, and a cool inflatable arch to swim under to collect our time after the first loop. The self-seeded, 3 athletes every 3sec entry took FORever. We entered the water around 9:15 (after an 8am start). We jumped off a dock and were off. My swim was uneventful and successful! It was fun to swim by all the people cheering.

Unfortunately, it was after one swim loop that Eva had to pull out of the race. She had been battling a fever and head cold prior to race day and the coughing was too much to get through a second loop and continue. 

T1: 6:18

Transition was long, under a highway bridge (thank goodness for the shade as it ended up being one of the hottest days of the entire summer!). After a brief chat with Eva while climbing out of my wetsuit, I was on the move to grab my bike. 

Bike: 54.57 miles (87.8 km), 3:07

The bike course was a little short but FAST FAST FAST. Not really for me as I was super undertrained on the bike. Moving to Rome has been tough for biking. But consider, if I pulled off a 17.5 average undertrained, imagine what I could have done trained!! Athletes were passing me at 30mph and faster! The first place guy came in at sub 2 hours! That's a near 30mph AVERAGE. Crazy. It was two loops, basically an out and back twice. Given my late swim entry, after the first lap and watching all the lead athletes on their second lap, I was pretty much alone out there. Which was fine with me! We had about 1,200 feet (365 meters) of ascent - which is nearly flat - just a few short inclines. Not much to see out there on the course. Rather boring if I'm being honest. I can't say I was having fun; I was just getting it done and content. We did have a headwind on the return both times. I have to also admit, I failed my nutrition. I just didn't train well on the bike for this race and that included my nutrition. 

T2: 6:05

Same long transition.

Run: 13.05 miles (21km), 2:49

I had a hard time finding my legs. I chalk this up to my piss poor training on the bike. 

The run course was 4 loops. As I mentioned, it was hot AF. The days leading up to the race were in the low 30's. For some reason, race day, it was almost 40. That's over 100* for my imperial folks. I'm never a great runner in a race anyway, but that first 5k was particularly difficult. 

(p.s. I'm doing some CEU/studying for fitness and endurance in perimenopausal and menopausal women and interestingly enough, as a peri woman, the facts align. I was PMS on race day and this is when our bodies are basically at their worst for endurance - fatigued, easily dehydrated, bloated, high blood pressure, less oxygen to blood, so on and so on) --- so likely played a factor in my shit run.

I'm not one for excuses though! I had fun on the run course. It too was boring and by the 3rd and 4th lap, the course was pretty empty. But Ironman had plenty of hydration stations and a little neighborhood we ran through were out in force with water hoses and cold showers. That was nice! 

The loops themselves were interesting - along the river, through the city, into a little neighborhood, rinse and repeat. They manage the loops by putting little colored bracelets on you and of course, crossing timing mats. 

Finish: 6:58

I'm super happy with a sub 7 hour finish. 

Eva and Alessandro were waiting for me (with Luca on a call --- he was at home with Jake BTW).

The finish line was unimpressive and no beer. So basically we left quickly, walking back to transition to pick up my gear. Back to the AirBNB and my friends treated me to a huge cheeseburger at a beautiful German steak/burger house.

I know this race report is boring. But so was the race. We were prepared to have a fun silly day out there. Eva having to pull out was a big bummer and changed the mood. My race went from fun to okay, get these miles done. I have a few lessons learned and things I want to change about my 1) training 2) body and 3) nutrition. 

I'm coming to terms with this new me (if you read my previous blog post) - and/so/but I am happy that I can still race a sub 7 hour Ironman 70.3!!!