Part 3: Back to Klagenfurt
I knew that everybody else would be partying and getting together for a great time after the race, but unfortunately I didn’t really have much time for that…
We had finished at about 7pm, and I’d estimated a 2 – 2.5 hours drive back to Klagenfurt. So I didn’t lose much time, brought my stuff back to the car, got a quick shower (sorry, no warm water – the cold stream definitely woke me up again though) and was on the road again by 8:30pm.
The drive back to Klagenfurt was quite uneventful. I stopped at a highway station to pick up some food and take a break – it was only about 250km of driving, but after the race I didn’t feel like sitting still for more than two hours at a time.
Back in Klagenfurt, I already had a good spot figured out to park and sleep: The same place I had done so in many previous years, close to the Lendkanal and easily within walking distance to the Ironman City. By now it was almost midnight, so I didn’t lose much time, set the alarm to 5:30am and cuddled up across the front seats of my car.
Race day started with meeting Tom again at the transition area (to get my wrist band back), and bantering a bit about the upcoming race. Everything had turned out just fine so far, and fellow bikeboarder Werner had helped with the bike check-in. We checked our bikes and transition bags, and then I went back to get into swim gear and check in my street clothes.
By then it was already time to walk over to the swim start, but I took a few minutes away from the noise to collect my thoughts and ponder the day ahead. I hadn’t swum much lately, and although I knew that my bike fitness was adequate for such a weekend it still was one big experiment and I didn’t really know what to expect especially on the swim after yesterday’s race. My plan was to have a very easy recovery swim, maybe even as slow as 1:30, followed by a similarly easy bike ride (about 6:00) and then just see what happens on the run. In total, I hoped I’d do a ‘negative split’ race, taking less time for the Ironman than for the Salzkammergut Trophy.
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