Stadtpark Triathlon Hamburg - State Championships

Just one week after the weak run performance in Vierlande, everything was set for the Sprint Triathlon State Championships in Hamburg. I felt much better the morning of the race then last week, maybe it had something to do with the 15c temperature change since then. We are back to standard summer temperatures here in northern Germany.

The swim consisting of two 250m loops with a steep climb back to the transition was key for a good placement today. Several good swimmers were in the field and I hoped for some fast feet. Well, it all came different once again, as I couldn’t hang on with a 60 second opening 100 m. Around the first buoy I’ve dropped about 20 meters, back in 5th place.

I managed a 5th position out of the water, but the distance increased to roughly 45 seconds to the leading group. My transition was a little better than last week, but still far away from excellence.

So, starting the 5 loop 20k bike in 5th position I felt pretty confident to reach at least the top 3 after the bike. It was a fast and super course, with each lap consisting of 2km head-wind and 2km down-wind. I pushed a hard gear and felt strong all the way through, as I managed to hold my aero position the entire time and hydrated much better than last week. Once again I clocked the fastest bike split and moved into third position coming off the bike. Still in transition I passed Mathias Heineke, who had a superb swim and controlled a good bike.

I started the flat and fast 5k run in second place, with Andre Stübs just 20 seconds in front. It helped mentally to have him right before me, but my run felt 100% changed to last week. I was able to push a pace of about 3:20 per kilometer and controlled the distance to Andre well. With 2k into the run I had managed to pick up Andre and ran right next to him. You could tell running side by side that we didn’t know each other and nobody wanted to push the pace to early. So, we cruised a long, with Mathias coming closer and closer, probably wondering what was going on in front of him. Once we reached the 3k mark I knew I could try to attack as I felt well rested and strong enough to push a 3:20 again for the last 2k. I accelerated around a corner and Andre was obviously surprised, or exhausted has he didn’t have anything to answer.

Winning this race and coming to the finish in 57 minutes with a controlled 17:40 run felt amazing! State Champion feels huge, but the run performance feels even better coming of the weak performance just a week before. This motivational boost should help myself, but also the entire team for this weekend’s Regionalliga Sprint Triathlon in Itzehoe.