I am not sure how to start this race report.
Everything probably started in May this year when, 3 weeks before Ironman China was due to take place, WTC (World Triathlon Corporation, owner of the Ironman rights) decided to pull the plug on that race for obscure reasons. Needless to say, that decision came as a huge disappointment so close to the event and after several months of hard training. The way WTC handled the cancellation was just appalling. But it was also a blessing in disguise as the prospect of racing in China was not the most attractive one and the race had all the ingredients of a shamble.
So I decided to carry on training to enter the Embrunman in August, a race that I had wanted to do for many years. Not many people know about the Embrunman but to me it is one of the most mythical triathlons, born 28 years ago. Over the years it has gained a reputation as one of the toughest long distance triathlons on the planet and in recent years has managed to attract some big names with a €100,000prize money. Don’t mention to anyone in Embrun that this is an Ironman. Whilst the distances are similar (3.8 km swim/ 188 km bike- instead of 180 km on IM/ 42.2 km run) the spirit is totally different. No big Marketing partners, no big publicity stunts. The organisation is handled the old way. You can sign up up to a week before the race, withdraw your race pack in a room hardly bigger than a French café and just pray for the best.
Don’t ask who is the official drink & nutrition partner because the energy drink is home made and instead of energy bars you get lovely tomatoes with salt, peeled potaoes, home made cakes and dry fruits. As for the drafting rule, don’t expect complicated WTC style drafting rule, there is only one rule: “if you draft you are a looser and you don’t belong here”.
Everything probably started in May this year when, 3 weeks before Ironman China was due to take place, WTC (World Triathlon Corporation, owner of the Ironman rights) decided to pull the plug on that race for obscure reasons. Needless to say, that decision came as a huge disappointment so close to the event and after several months of hard training. The way WTC handled the cancellation was just appalling. But it was also a blessing in disguise as the prospect of racing in China was not the most attractive one and the race had all the ingredients of a shamble.
So I decided to carry on training to enter the Embrunman in August, a race that I had wanted to do for many years. Not many people know about the Embrunman but to me it is one of the most mythical triathlons, born 28 years ago. Over the years it has gained a reputation as one of the toughest long distance triathlons on the planet and in recent years has managed to attract some big names with a €100,000prize money. Don’t mention to anyone in Embrun that this is an Ironman. Whilst the distances are similar (3.8 km swim/ 188 km bike- instead of 180 km on IM/ 42.2 km run) the spirit is totally different. No big Marketing partners, no big publicity stunts. The organisation is handled the old way. You can sign up up to a week before the race, withdraw your race pack in a room hardly bigger than a French café and just pray for the best.
Don’t ask who is the official drink & nutrition partner because the energy drink is home made and instead of energy bars you get lovely tomatoes with salt, peeled potaoes, home made cakes and dry fruits. As for the drafting rule, don’t expect complicated WTC style drafting rule, there is only one rule: “if you draft you are a looser and you don’t belong here”.
You love it or hate it but if you come all the way to Embrun you can only love it. There is also a very friendly atmosphere. But what really sealed Embrunman’s reputation is the climbing: Total ascent is 5,000m on the bike, and 400m on the run.
I won’t spend too long on the months of preparation that preceded the race. I went through ups and downs but I have become more disciplined with my training with a bit of help from some pros. Attending some triathlon camps has been a far better investment than my pointy helmet (Thanks Nicole for organising!). Over the past few months I strived to up my swimming training (from 2 to 4 sessions a week) as well as my running as it is the key to a good long distance triathlon. Of course Singapore is not the best place in the world to train for some serious hills ….
I landed in Milan early morning on Friday 12th August, dreading that the Italians would lose my bike and my car hire booking . But when it gets to the important things in life e.g. biking the Italians deliver 110%. My bike was hand delivered with care and love by a baggage handler (whom I suspected to be a cyclist himself), and the car hire could not be any faster and better service. The300 km drive from Milan to Embrun was quite scenic especially after Turin. I went through the “Col de Montgenevre” at 1,850 m before starting my descent towards Briançon and then Embrun. That was a little taster for the Embrunman bike course.
I had two days in Embrun before the race; my parents came from Nice to support me. Due to the late booking and the shortage of accommodation, we booked ourselves in a youth hostel in a small town near Embrun. This was quite an experience, the youth hostel was deserted by youths but it was the ideal place to meet quirky characters. The hostel had a sign saying “FULLY BOOKED” at the door but it happened to be only about 30% full. When I asked Bernard, the hostel Manager, why he did not remove the sign he said something along the lines of “I don’t like to have too many people here, it’s cosier as it is”. As a result we had a 8 bed dormitory for the three of us with all the amenities you would expect at that price point, cold water showers a short walk away, table football, cold water showers and also table football. Did I mention we also had access to cold water showers (included in the price) and table football?
I spent the weekend with my parents trying to relax. My father is an expert at building up the morale with statements such as “How come everybody is 10 kg lighter than you here?” “ Your wet suit is way too small!”. “This road is so bad you would be lucky NOT to have a puncture”. And the usual “If it’s too hard just give up”. Of course my parents know me. Giving up is not part of my vocabulary! My main concern was a mechanical failure. There is no assistance on the race so I was ready to handle the worst: I could have survived 3 punctures, two chain breakages, spokes breaking, etc. and in insight I carried too much gear with me but you are never too prepared.
So here we are Monday 15th August, the day I have been waiting for all my life. Well, this seems a bit of an exaggeration but I can tell you that when I woke up at 3:50 a.m. I was more tensed and stressed than I have been for a long time. I was in the bike park with 1h15 to spare which is great to relax a bit and talk to a few competitors.
At 6 a.m. precisely the start signal went off and 950+ athletes ran to the water. The particularity of the Embrunman is that the start is given over ½ h before sunrise and it is therefore still pretty much total darkness.
The buoys have red lights attached to them and orientation is a bit tricky on the first lap. I tried to take a good start towards the front of the pack but within a couple of minutes I realised that something was wrong. I just could not swim, and could not get into any rhythm. My heart rate had gone sky high, and I found myself hyperventilating. I fell suffocating in my wet suit and for a minute I was thinking about pulling down the zip in my the back, not a good idea. For a few seconds, I saw myself withdrawing from the race, looking anxiously for a support boat whilst being swam over by a couple of hundreds fellow competitors. Not a good way to start a race!
I let some fresh water in my wet suit by pulling the collar, tried to take a few good breaths to regain control. After a few seconds, I was feeling better and managed to swim. It was a very scary experience. I enjoy open water swimming and I am normally fairly confident with it but this experience, 100 meter from the shore in a quiet lake, will make me more humble. I was feeling angry with myself to have succumbed to a kind of panic and not being able to better control my breathing. The lack of visual references made it very stressful. It was like being in a washing machine in the dark.
It was time to make up for the lost time. Probably due to the adrenaline discharge I suffered I was now feeling totally relaxed and swam well on the first lap. On the second lap I upped the pace, swimming right alongside the line between the buoys and turning the buoys really close. I finally emerged from the water in 58 minutes. I enjoyed this swim, apart from the first 5 minutes. After a relatively fast transition (by my slow standards – I am renown for my slow transition times!), I was on the bike. The road was flat for about 100 m and then straight into the first climb of the day. A 600m altitude gain over about 12 km was awaiting us with the most scenic views over the Serre-Ponçon lake.
The first two hours on the bike went well; I had good feelings and stocked up some energy for the rest of the day. I noticed that I could reasonably handle climbs up to 4% in slope. However over 4% the laws of gravity take over and dragging my 85 kg up the hills is becoming a real challenge. Maybe my father was right after all…Around km60, we went up some amazing gorges for about 20 km, and then the real action started with the Col D’Izoard, a 14 km climb on an average 8% slope all the way to 2,361 meters. My legs started to suffer badly, but my ego suffered even more. At first, I started counting how many competitors passed me but after a few kilometres I gave up. I reckon I lost about 30 places on that climb. In the last two or three kilometres fortunately the positions seem to stabilize and I carried on at my moderate pace on a 39*27 gearing. – avoiding to get into the “red”. Finally the summit was in sight. It was a warm 18 degrees at the top which meant that I did not need any extra clothes for the descent. In the descent, I managed to catch up a few riders, especially on some flatter sections – yes pushing on the pedals can help in the descent.
After 1,200 meters of vertical drop we reached the small mountain town of Briançon, visited so many times by the Tour de France. Briançon lies at 1,200 meters in altitude, Embrun at 800m so in my mind the road ahead was going to be fast and easy. Unfortunately this is one of the sections of the course I did not recce before the race and I could not be any farther from reality. Yes the road was eventually going down but after many hills between 900 and 1200 meters.
Views between Briançon and Embrun..
One of my fellow riders came to my level and told me “the wall is coming”. I looked at him anxiously asking “what wall are you talking about?”. “Well 1.5 km on a 12% slope, be aware the first 400 meters are at 14%” he replied. Someone obviously had done his homework. That was probably my lowest point of the race. I remembered what my fellow Banana Prata Club member Arnaud (who did the Embrunman twice) and also my friend Kona James told me “take it easy, the real race will start after 150km”. I looked at my Garmin: 143 km done, 45 km to go. These last 45 km were really long. It took me almost an hour to regain some stamina. I drank and ate a lot, these sandwiches and slices of “saucisson” were yummy. Thanks Mum! As I started to feel better, it was time to face the last difficulty of the bike course. Another 400 meters climb over Embrun on a windy single track road. This last loop is nicknamed “The Beast” needless to explain why. And the final 5km descent is tricky.
Finally after about 7h30 on the bike, I was back in the transition area. My toes were totally numb, fortunately one physio offered to massage my toes whilst I was getting ready for the run. Nice!
I won’t spend too long on the months of preparation that preceded the race. I went through ups and downs but I have become more disciplined with my training with a bit of help from some pros. Attending some triathlon camps has been a far better investment than my pointy helmet (Thanks Nicole for organising!). Over the past few months I strived to up my swimming training (from 2 to 4 sessions a week) as well as my running as it is the key to a good long distance triathlon. Of course Singapore is not the best place in the world to train for some serious hills ….
I landed in Milan early morning on Friday 12th August, dreading that the Italians would lose my bike and my car hire booking . But when it gets to the important things in life e.g. biking the Italians deliver 110%. My bike was hand delivered with care and love by a baggage handler (whom I suspected to be a cyclist himself), and the car hire could not be any faster and better service. The300 km drive from Milan to Embrun was quite scenic especially after Turin. I went through the “Col de Montgenevre” at 1,850 m before starting my descent towards Briançon and then Embrun. That was a little taster for the Embrunman bike course.
I had two days in Embrun before the race; my parents came from Nice to support me. Due to the late booking and the shortage of accommodation, we booked ourselves in a youth hostel in a small town near Embrun. This was quite an experience, the youth hostel was deserted by youths but it was the ideal place to meet quirky characters. The hostel had a sign saying “FULLY BOOKED” at the door but it happened to be only about 30% full. When I asked Bernard, the hostel Manager, why he did not remove the sign he said something along the lines of “I don’t like to have too many people here, it’s cosier as it is”. As a result we had a 8 bed dormitory for the three of us with all the amenities you would expect at that price point, cold water showers a short walk away, table football, cold water showers and also table football. Did I mention we also had access to cold water showers (included in the price) and table football?
I spent the weekend with my parents trying to relax. My father is an expert at building up the morale with statements such as “How come everybody is 10 kg lighter than you here?” “ Your wet suit is way too small!”. “This road is so bad you would be lucky NOT to have a puncture”. And the usual “If it’s too hard just give up”. Of course my parents know me. Giving up is not part of my vocabulary! My main concern was a mechanical failure. There is no assistance on the race so I was ready to handle the worst: I could have survived 3 punctures, two chain breakages, spokes breaking, etc. and in insight I carried too much gear with me but you are never too prepared.
So here we are Monday 15th August, the day I have been waiting for all my life. Well, this seems a bit of an exaggeration but I can tell you that when I woke up at 3:50 a.m. I was more tensed and stressed than I have been for a long time. I was in the bike park with 1h15 to spare which is great to relax a bit and talk to a few competitors.
At 6 a.m. precisely the start signal went off and 950+ athletes ran to the water. The particularity of the Embrunman is that the start is given over ½ h before sunrise and it is therefore still pretty much total darkness.
The buoys have red lights attached to them and orientation is a bit tricky on the first lap. I tried to take a good start towards the front of the pack but within a couple of minutes I realised that something was wrong. I just could not swim, and could not get into any rhythm. My heart rate had gone sky high, and I found myself hyperventilating. I fell suffocating in my wet suit and for a minute I was thinking about pulling down the zip in my the back, not a good idea. For a few seconds, I saw myself withdrawing from the race, looking anxiously for a support boat whilst being swam over by a couple of hundreds fellow competitors. Not a good way to start a race!
I let some fresh water in my wet suit by pulling the collar, tried to take a few good breaths to regain control. After a few seconds, I was feeling better and managed to swim. It was a very scary experience. I enjoy open water swimming and I am normally fairly confident with it but this experience, 100 meter from the shore in a quiet lake, will make me more humble. I was feeling angry with myself to have succumbed to a kind of panic and not being able to better control my breathing. The lack of visual references made it very stressful. It was like being in a washing machine in the dark.
It was time to make up for the lost time. Probably due to the adrenaline discharge I suffered I was now feeling totally relaxed and swam well on the first lap. On the second lap I upped the pace, swimming right alongside the line between the buoys and turning the buoys really close. I finally emerged from the water in 58 minutes. I enjoyed this swim, apart from the first 5 minutes. After a relatively fast transition (by my slow standards – I am renown for my slow transition times!), I was on the bike. The road was flat for about 100 m and then straight into the first climb of the day. A 600m altitude gain over about 12 km was awaiting us with the most scenic views over the Serre-Ponçon lake.
The first two hours on the bike went well; I had good feelings and stocked up some energy for the rest of the day. I noticed that I could reasonably handle climbs up to 4% in slope. However over 4% the laws of gravity take over and dragging my 85 kg up the hills is becoming a real challenge. Maybe my father was right after all…Around km60, we went up some amazing gorges for about 20 km, and then the real action started with the Col D’Izoard, a 14 km climb on an average 8% slope all the way to 2,361 meters. My legs started to suffer badly, but my ego suffered even more. At first, I started counting how many competitors passed me but after a few kilometres I gave up. I reckon I lost about 30 places on that climb. In the last two or three kilometres fortunately the positions seem to stabilize and I carried on at my moderate pace on a 39*27 gearing. – avoiding to get into the “red”. Finally the summit was in sight. It was a warm 18 degrees at the top which meant that I did not need any extra clothes for the descent. In the descent, I managed to catch up a few riders, especially on some flatter sections – yes pushing on the pedals can help in the descent.
After 1,200 meters of vertical drop we reached the small mountain town of Briançon, visited so many times by the Tour de France. Briançon lies at 1,200 meters in altitude, Embrun at 800m so in my mind the road ahead was going to be fast and easy. Unfortunately this is one of the sections of the course I did not recce before the race and I could not be any farther from reality. Yes the road was eventually going down but after many hills between 900 and 1200 meters.
Views between Briançon and Embrun..
One of my fellow riders came to my level and told me “the wall is coming”. I looked at him anxiously asking “what wall are you talking about?”. “Well 1.5 km on a 12% slope, be aware the first 400 meters are at 14%” he replied. Someone obviously had done his homework. That was probably my lowest point of the race. I remembered what my fellow Banana Prata Club member Arnaud (who did the Embrunman twice) and also my friend Kona James told me “take it easy, the real race will start after 150km”. I looked at my Garmin: 143 km done, 45 km to go. These last 45 km were really long. It took me almost an hour to regain some stamina. I drank and ate a lot, these sandwiches and slices of “saucisson” were yummy. Thanks Mum! As I started to feel better, it was time to face the last difficulty of the bike course. Another 400 meters climb over Embrun on a windy single track road. This last loop is nicknamed “The Beast” needless to explain why. And the final 5km descent is tricky.
Finally after about 7h30 on the bike, I was back in the transition area. My toes were totally numb, fortunately one physio offered to massage my toes whilst I was getting ready for the run. Nice!
The first two kilometres on the run are a crucial indicator of form. The good news was that I could still run, the bad news was I was slow. Nevertheless, I applied the old survival strategy to run slowly between aid stations and walk through every aid stations for about 50 meters. I must admit that I suffered a lot and I had to dig really deep to keep running. Fortunately the local supporters were amazing and I loved the water stations with all natural products: potatoes, bananas, tomatoes, orange and apple cuts. That was my slowest Marathon ever in 4h40 minutes. All the hard work training for a faster Marathon did not pay off. There was just not enough fuel left in the tank and I probably underestimated the effect of a tough bike leg.
I crossed the line after 13h24, in 232th position. About 800 of the 900+ starters finished within the 17.5 h time limit. I was a good 30 minutes slower than what I had wished but having given pretty much everything I had, I had no regrets. I was incredibly happy to have completed this amazing race.
This video from a fellow triathlete should give you a good overview of what is the Embrunman.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GR4tyMs8k4
I also attach a few pictures taken around Embrun (sorry no race pictures yet!):
Final Thoughts:
A week on, my legs still remember every climb. This race left me totally empty, physically but also mentally. Yes, it was the road to hell and back but ultimately a fantastic adventure. You don’t need millions to organise a nice race, but having the Alps as your playground will help. Ultimately we are all fuelled not by Gatorate or 100plus but by a much more powerful and long lasting fuel called passion. Thanks Embrunman! I shall be back…maybe.
Richard
