@rodpix/ Tri Sport Media

DNF, deal with it, dust yourself off and try again – next stop IRONMAN Lanzarote

Michi had optimal preparation for the IRONMAN World Championships in St. George. He trained perfectly at altitude in Colorado. The only “mistake” may have been doing too little heat-adaptation, even though he trained with extra layers on – BUT no excuses here.

The World Championship Race

The grouping during the swim was typical for the World Championships, but not optimal for Michi as there is usually a fast group followed by the main field, which then also makes up the main group on the bike split, unfortunately he couldn’t keep pace with this group.

His feeling in the water was good, his tactic was to takeover some of the work in leading the third group. A six-minute deficit after the swim to the „bike giants“ group including  Lionel Sanders, Sam Long, Sebastian Kienle & Cameron Wurf was then just simply too much.

At the end of the swim it also became somewhat confusing as Michi’s group was caught by the fastest females. This caused a bit of chaos around the swim-exit and in the transition zone as it was difficult to recognize which direct rivals were close by.

It was a slap in the face for Michi when at the first turning point he saw how big the deficit to the race leaders had already become. Still he steadily worked his way forwards, however in terms of power he started the bike split somewhat conservatively so as not to burn out on the first half of the course. The last third on the bike however was very tough due to the heat and the rising wind.

But Michi’s hope for a strong run was still there. However the next tough mental setback was coming up soon as the top 15 runners were already well underway as Michi was tackling the last 1 or 2 km on the bike.

Unfortunately the good running form that Michi had hoped for just didn’t materialize. It was a struggle. Michi experienced circulation issues and began to feel dizzy, while simply being stuck in a kind of „No-Mans-Land“ over the entire course of the race also took a significant mental toll on the man from Gumpoldskirchen.

After the first encounter with the leaders on the run course, Michi knew that achieving his goal of picking up a “Kona slot” was now out of reach on the day. The last World Championship slot for the Big Island went to Sam Long in 15th place. The now hopeless run concluded with a DNF after 10km. The preparation and race tactics just didn’t work out this time.

Determined to take the next chance for Kona qualification

Nevertheless it’s onwards and upwards for Michi, think positively and use the next race to vanquish this bitter defeat. The fire is still burning strongly! Next week it’s off to the Sands Beach Resort in Lanzarote, where Michi has already spent time with his family and where two Kona slots will be up for grabs.

A Top-3 finish is called for. The goal remains the same – Lanza are you ready?

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