Hamburg Eve
Hamburg is calling this weekend and I dare say it has worked itself to be one of Europe’s triathlon capitals. We’ve seen World Champs, Olympic qualifiers (I actually earned my ticket here in 2007), Kona qualifiers and hundreds of thousands of age groupers take on races across all distances.
The city itself is one of my favorites, despite as a racer never quite cracking the code and forever being eluded a win here. There are few places I have been that appreciate the sun as much as the locals do. Likely a testament to how statistically slim the chances are that none of the races, at least in my memory, have ever been completely rained out. The swim takes place in the Alster, usually reserved for ducks and rowers, the bike leg goes through the red light district on a Sunday morning and the run is a mix of perfect cracker dust and old town cobblestones. An altogether somewhat unlikely place to hold a triathlon but boy do I love it.
Most of us would agree that spending 8h watching an Ironman live is a questionable way to spend a Sunday morning, yet thousands of people line the streets. Some to see the pros but many to cheer on their friend who may or may not have gotten roped into this after a few too many drinks. Or who simply needed a challenge to get out of his or her comfort zone. A slightly masochistic undertaking celebrated by friends and strangers alike.
Then there’s the ones chasing Kona slots, which is a whole separate experience. All the self-help books, the training plans, the carefully managed build. A week out from the race everyone loses their mind anyway. Internal drive meets external goals, ambition meets reality, and none of the prep quite prepares you for the specific madness of race eve. I’d love to see the Google traffic for “physiotherapy near me” during race week but my guess it’s at its peak.
If you’re that person rest assured we’re all fragile plants in this phase, looking for any mental crutch we can find. Some express it through a last minute bike tweak that’s surely worth at least 10 watts, for others it’s a kinesio tape that will keep your muscle from tearing or that new supplement to buffer all your lactic acid (worries), one sip at a time.
If I could go back in time, “Be Curious!” is what I would write on my mirror as a reminder during race week. Curious of how good you can put this puzzle together. Curious of where your effort lands. It helps me frame it in a way that covers both the finite game that ends with a goal being reached, but also the infinite game of how good can I actually be as an athlete.
Sunday I’ll be on the sidelines for two things: whether the women’s 8 hour barrier could fall on the very course the current 8:03h mark was set, and whether my friends make it to Kona. The pros do this for a living. My friends have a living, kids, a mortgage and a job that doesn’t care about their taper. They’ll hurt just as much getting there.
See you on the other side of Sunday.
Jan