Triple Ultra Triathlon Lensahn 2022 - the suffering of young M.

Marc Katscheroski finished sixth in the Triple Ultra Triathlon in Lensahn two weeks ago. For the triple Ironman distance of 11.4 km swimming - 540 km cycling - 126.6 km running, the amateur ultra-triathlete needed a little more than 50 hours. Why Ultra Triathlon? How do you train for it? How do you manage to last 50 hours? Marc takes us on an impressive Triple Ultra experience.

An idea grows in your head

It was the end of October 2021 and I was preparing for my next long distance for Cozumel in Mexico when I kept visiting the homepage of the Triple Ultra Triathlon in Lensahn and wondering how you can still run a triple marathon after 540 km. Again and again these thoughts revolved around it because it would be a pretty tough piece. Well, first of all I would survive the long distance in Mexico unscathed, but in December 2021 I got caught and I made the decision to register for the triple. I found the €570 entry fee to be quite cheap and I had met all the requirements for participation.
My partner couldn't believe that I had signed up after all and kept reminding me how crazy and dangerous that could be and what I would expect from myself and my body.... and who is supposed to accompany you anyway, I kept hearing over the next few days. It doesn't matter, I signed up and there's no turning back.

The preparation

How do you train for a triple long distance triathlon? Good question that nobody could really answer for me, so I entered completely new territory for myself. I had already successfully completed a double long distance in 2019, so it was clear to me that I had to train swimming and cycling because I didn't want to be eliminated while swimming or these disciplines don't get on my knees as much as if I constantly did 50 km would practice runs. Coming from running, I neglected this discipline at first.

It all started around Christmas 2021 and I set up my roller trainer and first prepared for the Mallorca 312 (Editor’s note: this is a 312 km long cycling event in Mallorca) with this competition at the end of April as a yardstick to take for my workout. I easily put up with the competition in Mallorca with 312 km and approx. 5000 meters in altitude and again I felt my training was right, so now more and longer distances were trained on the roller trainer, incidentally I have my swimming training of 3000 m per swimming unit twice a week increased to 4000 to 4500 m.

Two months before the competition in Lensahn, I had completed one or the other long run that never exceeded 30 km , so it was high time to intensify my running training, so a free starting place in the marathon was just right for me, which I mastered with flying colors and without any problems despite high temperatures of 27°C. Almost three weeks later I went to the “Frysman” in Holland for my last test competition, where I only saw the long-distance triathlon as training. Crazy I just thought, what is the highlight for all triathletes is just a workout for me. I finished the "Frysman" in 10:57.34 hours... and should I do that twice now? First doubts arose, too hard, too long, too intense, can I even handle it?
The following days I continued to train according to my plan in my head and I made it my mission to swim at least 12 km and train about 400 km on a racing bike per week. I neglected running because I ran out of time and yes I did had to work and sleep.

"Team Katsche" - here we go

Since my partner had injured herself in the meantime and couldn't take part in her competition at the end of July, she wanted to accompany me to the triple, as well as my daughter and her boyfriend.

The four of us formed the "Team Katsche" and the declared goal was to get me over the finish line.

Each member was allowed to express their wishes in terms of food so that there was no displeasure next weekend. I had rented a camper and my daughter drove the 380 km by car. When we arrived in Lensahn (Schleswig-Holstein) we were warmly welcomed and we secured a strategically good place on the racing bike route with the pavilion and camper. An athletes' tent was set up for the athletes and crew, with a fridge and freezer, microwave, cooking facilities and washing machine. There was also a bar, a cake buffet, freshly made rolls were made in the morning, a french fries and ice cream truck and a stand with water and fruit for the runners were also available.
During the subsequent competition meeting and athletes' presentation, it quickly became clear that there were women and men who were repeat offenders and were old friends in Lensahn. The youngest participant from Poland was just 18 years old, the oldest almost 70 years old and had already taken part 16 times. In addition to the numerous German participants, there were also a lot of Poles, English, Danes and French on site. It was read aloud which athlete had which level of competitive experience, and the list of craziness just kept getting longer and longer. It's crazy what people spend their free time doing, I grinned to myself. At the pasta party that followed, contacts were made and final questions were asked before going to bed.

The start of the ultra adventure

The adventure was to begin on Friday morning (July 29) at 7 a.m. Unfortunately the night before the competition wasn't as good as the one before and quite short. I got up quite nervously at 5 a.m. and carried the last things into the pavilion and headed towards the outdoor pool at a little after six o'clock. Neo on, bathing cap and swimming goggles up and down into the water - START!

Now it was a matter of mastering this 50 m track 228 times in order to eliminate the 11.4 km swim part.

Whether a swim lane was completed successfully and how many meters you swam was reserved solely for the swim counter TEAM provided by the organizer - the counting people were not allowed to be spoken to under any circumstances . It quickly became clear that I was the slowest of the five athletes on my track, so I thought "calm down" and just concentrate on my training program. From 8000 m I always had a slight feeling of cramps in both calves. But stopping every now and then, drinking and eating helped in the end to keep it manageable and not get worse. In the end, I was about 900 m behind the four other participants on my track when they left the water.

"We'll all see each other again in a moment," I thought to myself, laughing, and I really enjoyed the remaining meters alone on my track.

Get on the bike

After 4:22 hours I managed the 11.4 km swim and off I went to change for the bike race. I had thought very carefully about which cycling gear and to be more precise, which cycling shorts I pack and which seat pad I trust the most . When I registered for the triple, I had read the announcement very carefully, but only found out later that the bike course also had meters in altitude.... Crap, my roller trainer had indicated 48 meters in altitude on each of the 8 km circuit.... 68 laps of 8 km each and then 48 meters of altitude per lap.... Wait a minute, we're also talking about more than 3000 meters of altitude difference on the bike course. Damned! I was very relieved when I could only read 33 meters of altitude per lap on the bike speedometer, so I was a little more relaxed, but I still had 67 laps to go.

I clocked up my kilometers lap after lap. The first 200 km were done and my TEAM and I prepared for the first night: change, put on warmer clothes and mounted the required lighting on the racing bike. With a lot of tape and cable ties we managed to make me and my bike fit for the night.

I completed the 540 km bike course in about 27 hours, a total of almost 33 hours since the start on Friday morning, it was Saturday afternoon when I came to the second change.

Thick legs in the transition zone

Get off the bike and into your running gear - if only it were that easy. In the transition area, I was greeted in a friendly manner by my partner, who immediately made an appointment for the massage . "I don't have time for a massage," I replied. However, I was emphatically convinced of the opposite ;-) A quick thought and I lay on the massage mat and the masseur showed all his skills.

It was a spot on decision to let me knead for thirty minutes.

The masseur and I spoke briefly about the second upcoming night and how he would go about the sleeping strategy. After a warm farewell, I went on the first run, which I tackled with a pace of 6 , to test the extent to which my muscles had suffered. To my amazement, everything seemed fine at first, but I gradually slowed down and finally settled at a pace of 6:35.

Boss: the third marathon

crime in mind

"Let's go, grit your teeth," I said to myself and there was a lot of the sentence from my daughter's friend "If you hurry, you can still make 8th place".
Oh my god, I thought to myself... I just want to survive and come through , I hadn't thought of a good placement. Damn, something was planted in my head and round after round it was all about placements, who is in front of me, what is his place, what if... the horror starts in the head.

A few laps from the finish I was actually asked by a competitor how many laps I had left and was given to understand that we are now in competition and he wanted to be right behind me and contest my placement. What he didn't know: I had meanwhile worked my way up to 6th place and didn't want to let go anymore. I ran what was still in my legs! Actually crazy, if you consider that I still have more than seven hours to reach the goal... ;-)

Finish with knee fall

A few laps before my finish, I intercepted moderator Bernhard (great guy) in the finish area and sent him a very confidential message. Bernhard had a broad grin on his face and made it clear to me that he would initiate everything else.
Two more laps to the finish and I motivated my team to prepare everything for the last lap: we had extra TEAM T-shirts made for the finish line.

The last lap in Lensahn is traditionally run against all participants to say goodbye.

With the national flag in hand and my daughter's boyfriend, we headed towards the finish line at incredible speed - there was still an important task waiting for me...
After 50 hours, 44 minutes and 34 seconds I crossed the finish line visibly marked.
After a brief thunderstorm of flashbulbs and the information that I had finished 6th , Bernhard ceremoniously handed me the microphone and all cameras were pointed at me as agreed.

After a short thank you to my team, the organizer and all the helpers, I focused my attention on just one person:
My special thanks go to Cindy, my partner, with whom I have been together for more than 19 years. It's unbelievable what this woman had to endure with me and we're still together, so I took the next step and got on my knees and proposed. Visibly confused, she said “YES”……. party on

For the hours that followed, with my legs up and half asleep, I was able to follow the rest of the athletes as they fought to get to the finish line. After 57 hours and 32 minutes the last participant crossed the finish line. The award ceremony could begin - just in time for the award ceremony it started to rain heavily. They hurried. Nevertheless, thanks were also given to all the helpers and hard-working hands involved. Without voluntary helpers and sponsors there would be no competition and I would like to thank you again for that.

Conclusion

Hard, harder, Triple Ultra Triathlon!
It was a great event, very warm and helpful - the city and the people. However, those who register for a Triple Ultra Triathlon should be aware of what this distance and duration means - physically and mentally. There were times when you were competitive when you were really just swearing and no gel or drink in the world improved your situation. Winning is in the head and this should be programmed to "GOAL". Will I come back again... I don't know yet how to explain it to my future wife, but "YES, I do"!

Results

To the event website