Click the image to see details of the pack list

After signing up back in December of 2010 triathletes have spent most of the spring of 2011 training for the half iron distance Challenge Aarhus - many of them for the first time. The race was to take place in the city of Aarhus with a swim in the bay, a bike ride to the scenic South of Aarhus, and finally a half marathon through the city of Aarhus, which also happens to be my Danish home city – hence why I had to be part of the inaugural event!

Training has had its ups and down, all of them quite well documented on this blog already. This post is about the pre-race prep where all training is done and all that lies between the triathlete and the finish line is preparing everything that is brought through hours of suffering on race day.

Going to a race is always special to me. I don’t go to many races, so packing for a race doesn’t happen too frequently. The past few days before my leaving for Denmark I got increasingly more excited and nervous about the project. I would wake up at 4-5 in the morning, thinking about Challenge Aarhus and how the race would go. I would lie there thinking race strategy, nutrition plan, etc. Eventually on the day of departure everything was packed with the great help of the triathlon race checklist service and off I went.

As soon as I arrived in Denmark I laid out my stuff on the floor of my Mother’s home North of Aarhus – just to make sure it was all there. Everything was there and checked out perfectly! Now it was all just a matter of waiting and working a couple of days in Denmark before the pre-race prep would take over. Friday I went to the expo to to buy a pair of compression socks. The real fun was about to start on Saturday at race check-in.

On Saturday first order of the day was to attend the race briefing. There had been doubts about the swim due to the bay having been polluted by sewage trouble (something the city of Aarhus apparently allows to happen every few years), and that continued at the race briefing with the sewage trouble being the main source of concern. It was considered an option to skip the swim altogether and do a duathlon instead. However, the swim eventually happened on a shorter course than planned. The reason for shortening the course was cold water. At temperatures below 14 degrees C race management deemed it unsafe to swim further than 1km – a wise decision.

My speed bump came at the bike check-in. Coming into the bike zone I thought the officials were joking when they didn’t approve my helmet for the race. It appeared that it had a crack right at the front. Thanks to the triathlon expo just 100 meters away I managed to get a new helmet and check in 10 mins before the bike zone closed.

Finally spent some time at the pasta party eating a bit with an old colleague from Amsterdam, Henrik Tholstrup, and meeting up with Facebook race buddy Søren Jakobsen – both would eventually finish the next day in very respectable times!

Went back to the base to go to sleep early. I was as ready as I could be. (TO BE CONTINUED)

Where the Madness Begins

This week is going to be mostly about getting ready for the self-supported half ironman distance triathlon I’ll be doing on Saturday 16/4 as prep to do Challenge Aarhus. You can join the event on Endomondo. Yes, it really is a triathlon even if Endomondo lists it as “other”.
Also join the event on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=124035681003753.

If you’re in Amsterdam, Netherlands on Saturday 16/4 you’re free to participate in any part of the total distance and any amount of disciplines. If you join the swim you should expect to cover the (tiny) expense on your own.

Here are a couple of probable start times:
Swimmers: total distance is 1,9km.
Start time is around 09.00 at Sportfondsenbad Oost:

• Sportfondsenbad Oost
• Google Maps of the start

Bikers: total distance is 90km.
Start time is around 10.00 at Sportfondsenbad Oost: same as above.

Runners: total distance is 21,1km.
Start time is around 13:30-14:00 at Sportfondsenbad Oost: same as above.

So, the things that need to be prepped are:

• Pack my swim-gear
• Check the bike to be race-ready and pack all that is required for a 90km ride;
• Pack my running stuff (Thursday or Friday)
• Go through the checklist at http://triathlon.racechecklist.com to make sure I have it all.

Challenge Aarhus takes place on July 3rd 2011 and is a half ironman distance race consisting of a 1,9km swim, 90km bike and 21,1 run. What makes me so enthusiastic about this particular race is that it takes place in my home town of Aarhus, Denmark, and the route is nothing short of spectacular!

That’s also why I’m very excited to have joined Challenge Aarhus, which will be my very first half ironman distance race – I simply can’t wait! It will be one of the great things of 2011 and I’m looking forward to it like a kid looks forward to Christmas. Just set up the event on Endomondo too and added the race to Athlinks.

The route promises to pass through spectacular sites. With start at Tangkrogen, which is also the starting point of the Marselisborg run and bike races, Challenge Aarhus will pass the Sculpture by the Sea on the swim, the hills of Aarhus on the bike, and then finally will pass through the ARoS Museum of Art as part of the half marathon route. Absolutely amazing!!

I’ll make sure to post more about the route, my training and thoughts on the race as we get closer to race day!!

I’m doing a half marathon in May 2011 – Broløbet 2011 – and in this post you’ll see that event shared on the right. Pretty nifty feature for those hosting events who want to build their own live event map. Endomondo also have a demo available on their blog. I think I might actually be running with a live Endomondo tracker during that race…

Now all we need is that race organizers start to see the potential of having a live map with adds around it hosted on infrastructure they can use for free. Sounds like a no-brainer!! The new feature even includes an option for spectators or participants to comment on the event.

Now, for those of us not lucky enough to have an N79 or the special Wearlink Belt from Polar, there’s no need to be too disappointed. Nokia added a missing feature to its Sports Tracker Beta v. 1.82 in October of 2008 – they now support maps!

Little known to many, but posted here, the “new” beta is not available of the official Nokia Sports Tracker website. You have to go to Nokia Research and download it. Then install it to your Nokia S60 3.1 device (N82, E71, N95, etc…).

If you’re completely new to how Nokia Sports Tracker works go ahead and have a look at their website and of course make sure to look at some of our family runs – like this and this. Looking forward to more like this from the good folks at Nokia (and Polar).

The most recent blog post with the title “Set yourself up for success” ties nicely into my vision of continuous self-development, so I thought I’d quote the key part of his post here. This is what it comes down to when developing yourself, making sure you have what it takes to do what you wish on short term and long term. It goes like this:

1) Dream your dreams
2) Set your goals (1yr, 5 yrs, 10yrs, lifetime) to make your dreams come true, and share them with your environment (to create accountability, and allow others to help)
3) Break those goals down into realistic timeframes (half year, quarter, month, week, day)
4) Plan your day with those goals in mind (priority setting)
5) Make it happen, by being faithful to the daily targets you set (discipline)
6) Celebrate your milestones (don’t make them too easy, and don’t make them unattainable either)
7) Repeat

Stephan covers issues which are now more important than ever. With increased globalization the only one who’s now driving you to reach your goals – is you. Noone else is going to push you. You’re on your own – like you should be.

To get you started on managing your own goals, I found a website listing all sorts of goal management tools:
http://www.kaboodle.com/rcavin/goal-management.html. Now it’s time for you to go set your own goals.

Have ambition and make it happen!