Roth - The race of my life! By Rebecca Smith

Challenge Roth. Those who know, know🤯. My main aim was to enjoy this one and soak it all in. Challenge Roth is recognised as the biggest triathlon in the world - indescribable atmosphere, with volunteers and supporters like no other. At some point along the way on my 2 day drive to Roth (yes, 2days!!) I was day dreaming and secretly thought it would be great to go sub 11 hrs and how amazing that would be if I managed it. Secretly, because I wasn’t sure how achievable this was. My best 140.6 time (11:05) came when I won The Lakesman and having that lead bike with you really gives you a kick up the ar*e! Not sure I could ever top that! I had some solid race prep ahead of Roth through racing the Challenge Championships in Samorin and The Lakesman 70.3 and managed to avoid the illnesses that seemed to be making the rounds. I felt like I was in pretty good nick.

Race day eve consisted of an afternoon of bike health stress (my bike always falls poorly the day before a race, this is just standard for me). Thankfully I got sorted, and racked up in the middle of a thunderstorm. The weather had been a little bipolar and was bouncing between thunderstorms to glorious sunshine but the forecast was looking spot on for race day with the wind dropping, next to no rain and the temperature not too hot. 

The swim start times were based on overall race predicted finish times - I was in wave 13 starting at 7:40 so had plenty of time to check my bike for the umpteenth time and strut my stuff in my new wetsuit (kindly lent by Louise Ireland), loosing my earbuds in the process 🤦🏻‍♀️ The swim course consisted of one loop in the canal; 21.3 degree water temp, surrounded by hot air balloons and thousands of supporters. Lovely! 

The gun went and it was washing machine carnage for over 500m but for some reason I felt very confident and just got stuck in, I was loving it! Given the nature of the start waves, there was a mixed swimming ability in each group. Unlike any other races, I found myself overtaking folk from start to finish which I think boosted my ego, increasing my confidence further. I must have been enjoying it - the first turn buoy (1500m) appeared out of nowhere and I could have just carried on! I finished the swim with a new PB of 1:16. All of those countless lengths are starting to pay off!!

After a minor heart attack when I couldn’t find my swim-bike bag, I finally opened my eyes and got out on the bike. I. Felt. Great. I was flying and loving it! The bike course has a few climbs but made up for by the descents, flats and superb road surfaces. I particularly enjoyed zooming down the switchbacks. 

Despite the weather forecast being “spot on” it rained for what felt like the majority of the first 90km loop. Fortunately the rain didn’t wash out the sea of supporters on Solar Hill (no words!!!), only the lube on my chain, resulting in a dropped chain around the 130km mark and some clunky gear changes. Having flown around the first loop in 2:40 (pretty rapido for me!) I wasn’t too upset with my chain coming off; I could afford to rein it in a bit and really concentrate on keeping it together to avoid stopping again. At this point id worked out sub 11 was looking pretty likely and was feeling a bit giddy. I set myself a new target of 10:45. I wasn’t overly ambitious with this as I’ve had tendinitis in my glute medius (a pain in the ar*e!) and it can be a bit unpredictable when running. I wasn’t sure if it would hold up for the whole marathon.

Luckily the remainder of the bike was uneventful and I spun into T2 in 5:25 and handed my bike over - A BIG FAT PB that I still can’t get my head around! 

After initially being handed the wrong bag, I didn’t mess about too much in T2 and got out on the run course. My glute felt fine and again, I felt great. Everything just seemed to be falling into place; my splits were consistent and I was soon aiming for another PB on the run leg whilst hunting folk down. I was actually enjoying it and not just type 2 enjoyment! The run course was mostly flat along the canal until around 35km where someone placed an unnecessary stinker of a hill. But conquer that and it’s down hill to the stadium finish and what a feeling that was!🤩 I crossed the line, emotional to be expected, with a new run PB of 3:37 and over all 140.6 PB of 10:24:08. Never mind sub 11, I joined the sub 10:30 club!! Not sure where it came from.. the race of my life!

This race is an absolute must for anyone racing 140.6. You have to sign up (but let me get another place first!!)