Luke Dragstra’s Blog

well.. sort of. I had to go back for the LBS cup finale yesterday. I was actually meant to defend my title (i have won this race 3 yrs in a row) but I was a little more realistic going in. My legs had been feeling alright but the sessions this week where I tried to spark it up left me feeling pretty woozy. I performed the ultimate false start!! Every race this year someone has caused a false start so when they started a countdown from 10sec I just couldn’t help myself.. I was off with 5 seconds to go and the race was on (with me having half a body length advantage!) It got a little conjested after a couple hundred meters and it felt (much slower than the first 1500m in roth) and I thought I must be in the second group. I sighted at the first corner and found I right in the middle of grp 1!!! Wicked!! I didn’t think it would be that ez. A few guys on my feet dropped of at about halfway but I easily hung in the last half and even had some power to move up in the last few hundred meters. I had a sloppy T1 as usual and rode the first little ramp but found myself soft pedaling in the main group!! I couldn’t believe how easy these boys were riding.. I kept asking them what they were doing (there were actually 2 guys up the road - my teammate aaron farlow, and new little german hammer Christian ritter) .. the one guy told me he was a good runner so he was happy to sit in the group! ?!?!?!?!?!? so you are shooting for 3rd place buddy?? I let my anger build and saved some energy for my attack. I went at the same spot as last year on the 4km (only about 6%) climb at about half way and but about 250m into them in 2km!! I picked up aaron and off we went. We came in with a huge deficit to the leader who was on fire but about a minute ahead of the group I had dropped. I got off running and felt ok…. for about 1km… then I felt roth in the legs… oh shit! was a tough 9km after that.. there a couple steep little ramps in this course and they were killing me. One of the boys caught me from behind and with 2 k’s to go a couple more were closing quickly.. I nailed it on the long gradual decent to the finish and held on for 4th in the LBS cup. It was a pretty cool feeling to come back like that 6 days after an Ironman.. It was a tough in roth but maybe because I was unable to run fast the recovery came a little quicker.
Now I can’t wait to see how Hills goes!!! she recovers quicker than me, and has an extra day and half recovery but also 10 hrs of travel top cope with!! I think she will come good tho!! go getm hills!!
oh btw .. I wasn’t the only one in the race to double up after roth.. Swen Sundberg raced for a 2nd league team as well which was pretty cool to see.. cooler to see that I smoked him!!
I have been debating what to next… Roth was a big hit for me and was pretty down all week… this little race revitalized me a bit and have decided to try and be in top form for IM Wisconsin (with 70.3 Muskoka as a reserve race). I need a big result this year as my ironman race has been pretty… uhhhhh …. The race is in me and I just need to perform on race day!!
l8r

Things were good going into Roth. After the hardest spring training camp I have ever experienced, I was back in Europe sharpening up on the german circuit and everything was feeling great. My run was back in order after a minor hip injury, I was finding new power every few weeks on the bike and was swimming better than ever. They were calling for some nasty weather on race day, but I was pretty sure it would come good cuz it always seems to at Challenge events. Race morning looked pretty lousy. I had my transition bag packed but I threw in a vest just in case it stayed rainy and cold but did not think I would need it. I had a smoking start as usual in the swim and was tucked in nicely in 5th position until the first turnaround at about 1500m. My arms got really heavy all of a sudden and I let a few feisty swimmers through and took a quick look to the side and the group was MASSIVE! I worked my way back into the middle and tried to get some strength back I had no problem holding the pace but my arms were pumping with fatique. The last 400m or so I slid back another few positions and came out near the end of a group of 20 or 30 athletes, everyone was in it. I was a little slow in transition but fortunately through the vest on and started cranking. Somehow I had missed the main group of guys by about 30 seconds and my legs were not feeling great in the wet and cold. The whole ride it a little hazy and I was going good and then was cold and super fatigued and then feeling good again. At one point I really froze and couldn’t push harder than 125 hear rate. Finally, in the last 30 km I was warming up a little again and could push. I came into T2 with two good runners, Markus Forster and Mark Pschebizen and found out were were 11th, 12th, and 13th. We got into a good rhythm straight off and I was actually feeling ok. My back was tight and legs were pretty heavy but the pace was no problem. I got a small side stitch around 10km and had to let the two go to try and get rid of it. After a while it disapated but my legs just started feeling worse and worse. I was again feeling like most of the bike ride, extreme fatigue and couldn’t get back in the previous rhythm. For the rest of the run I would slow down and then force myself to push and then would automatically slow down as the pain in the legs just got worse and worse. I think I ran most of the run at about 125hr. I just couldn’t go. I have run at 145 hr for an IM marathon but I think the cold just took the strength out of the legs and that was it. I passed a few guys, and got passed by a few and in the end was 13th with a 3hr01m marathon.
Post race the legs have been sore as but I have lots of energy and have been swimming awesome. The form is very good and I will confer with the boss but will most likely use this fitness to try and nail a good race or two in the next few months. I have done too much work to stop here with another poor performance which was due to weather. Some of the guys handled it well, and the girls definitely did.. chicks are tougher, they handle the wet and cold better then us skinny boys. I have gone well in the cold before but it got me this time so once again I gotta put it behind me and look at the next ones.

btw.. one thing about Roth.. unreal.. piss and cold, but the fans out on the course and the volunteers were on full throttle.. right through to the last finisher at 11 oclock. unreal.. everyone soaked but there were still thousands out with the noisemakers and going hoarse yelling at us.. What an atmosphere there.. uncomparable to anywhere… i came to the finish area completely disappointed and down and then the deafenning cheers and applause almost brought tears to my eyes as I struggle to the finish line! Thanks Roth

I had two short League races the past two weekends both within an hour of my training location in Germany. They were a little disappointing but very good tune ups for Roth. I wrote the posts so I am just going to past them both together here below:

Tauberbischofsheim - Liga number 3.

I have been doing LBS Cup which is the Provincial League for South Western Germany for 6 years now. I have 6 wins and as many podium finishes and have always loved the events. This season started off with a sprint which is definitely no longer my thing and this weekend was another pretty frustrating event. It looked kind of exciting on paper, a 500m swim followed by a 4 km run and then, later on, a staggered start (based on the mornings times) for a 500m swim, 33km bike and 7km run. The bike course was closed and was fast. However, once it got going, I quickly realized this first time event was not going to be up to the standards of the LBS Cup which are usually very well organised (and in the past were generally tough courses .. REAL triathlon). There was no map of the course anywhere previous to race start, so we took off running yelling as to where we were supposed to run. We followed this zig zag course over cobblestones throught the town and were never really sure if we were going the right way. We actually stopped once or twice to make sure we were right. Anyway, an hour after the finish I found out I was in about 15th position going into the afternoon triathlon which was to be draft legal and about one minute thirty off the lead. Then it went from bad to worse. The second swim was also in the 50m pool and at my position guys were starting every second or two, and then swimming up and down and then the under the lane rope and up and down the next lane in a group of 10 or more guys!! Unbelievable! I was swimming strong thought just fought through about 3 or 4 postions. Then we got out on the bike and on the flat fast course I could not make a strong enough attack to get away. One time I attacked and was caught and then nobody even pulled through for about 3 minutes!! Lap 2 of the three, the next group was on the course and integrated into the first league packs, and Lap 3, the 3rd leaguers integrated.. so in the end I was in a pack with 50 guys from 3 different races and you can imagine what a good mood I was in. I felt ok on the run.. I definitely felt Thursdays 250km ride in the legs and I really couldn’t find the fast gear. I ended up 11th as there was a group well ahead after the first round that we never caught in our monstrous, slow moving peloton. I am actually pretty excited with the power I have on the bike and how my swimming is going but to do races like these it is pretty frustrating because the result is not based on the best swim bike and run… a wet run as Brett would say. The organisation also limited what could be done on the bike even more. The LBS Cup used to be TRIATHLON and it is a shame that the put together events like this instead of the tradition killer bike courses and forest runs.
Next week I will start in one more LBS cup as a final tune up going into Roth. I sure hope it will be a TRIATHLON.. it IS Olympic Distance, and draft legal but my team mate and I will be there to make sure the boys have a tough bike ride!!

Erbacher Triathlon LBS Cup number 4

As I was saying last week, this Cup is not my thing anymore. This was actually a very well run event and was a nice, rolling one loop bike course. But, it was draft legal, and in a race like this, the more wet runners there are, the harder it is to do damage on the bike unless there are big hills, which used to be the norm. I got out well on the swim but could not believe the over to my right speeding away. I took the inside as I normally do and thought I would merge easily with the group. I tried to get over but I had some guy swimming directly beside me who wouldn’t clue in to the fact that we were missing the train and all we had to do was merge. I gave him a few chops to try and redirect him but he was a stubborn german and held his line. We reached the turn bouy right at the back of the lead pack but there were some holes forming and I once again could not bridge. The gap grew and grew, as it does and I was on my own dragging about 4 stragglers to try and control the damage. The damage was done however, and we were 90sec down!! Ouch… Memories of my ITU days.. I gunned it and had some power but couldn’t break and thought I would ride faster in a group anyway, taking long hard pulls and recovering as the others took theirs.. sound like a deal?? It ended up being myself and one other guy pulling about 80 percent of the ride and we gained 0 seconds on the lead group and then actually got caught be another chase group who were able to work together somewhat. I really wanted to show something on the run and ran solid, about the 5th fastest on the day and came in at 10th place in the end… 10th!! Wow. Times change. Vuckovich was 4 places in front of me however and I ran time into him so, really I had a solid final effort going into Roth. With races like these, you can analyse what you could have done here or there but in the end you have to take it for what it was and what you got out of it. I was strong and had power. I had to sprint like mad and then hold a hard solo effort on the swim, rode as hard as I could (as frustrating as it was) and had solid run (30sec faster than Vuckovich – who by the way gave me the german advice that I must be tired and that I do too much.. See you in two weeks buddy!)
Two more weeks to nail everything down and I will be ready to rumble!!

German Champs

The German Half Iron distance champs were going on only about an hour and half from where I a living in Germany. I decided to take the trip as I won this event 3 years ago. Several top guys were going to be there, but none that I couldn`t beat and the boss said go for it .. will be a good training session anyway. I found out as soon as I arrived that Norman Stadler decided last minute to come to race so it ended up looking like a solid field. I have been really coming around in training so I was up for the challenge.

I got out great in the swim and was even with all the other leaders and it wasn`t breaking up so kept trucking. Andy Boecherer, the best swimmer in the field was directly on my left and he eventually got a half body length so I though I would tuck in. Someone on the other side thought the same thing so I caught a nice cuff in the head. A while later I was still tucked in nicely but we went to pass some lapped women, and again I was in trouble. A gap had opened up and I went for it to close it and made it, but the guy I caught had now also left a gap and it proved too much for me. I came out 30 sec down on the group and got going on the bike in about 6th spot. The power I had been feeling in training wasn’t there though and I could not turn it on. I rode in a group of three and we rode solid, just a tick under 40kmh on a challenging course, but Norman, Timo in company were doing better than that up ahead. I got off the bike 6 minutes on the next group and 9 down from Stormin Norman!! I was sure I could run my way onto the podium nonetheless but again the strength wasn’t there. I just couldn’t get myself going. I just ran it strong and the last 5 km I was able to speed it up a bit but it was only enough to hold on for 7th. 7th!! In the end it was a good training session and I will be back at the grindstone this week to finalize my prep for Roth.

L8r

So as many of you know I have postponed my trip up to camp in Leysin and am spending my time training in a town called Crailsheim which is on the border fo Baden-Wuertemberg and Bayern in Germany. I had to write this because I found it hilarious! It was way back in 1350 (the town actually existed back then!) when a tribe from the west which is now Schwäbisch Hall (could have been called that already then) came over to attack and laid siege to the town. It was had a surrounding wall as towns did back then and the Crailsheimers were trapped. After a time the fat mayor of Crailsheim had an idea. He went to the all the bakers and had them make bread in the shape of an ass (his ass). When they had baked enough loaves the Mayor (Burgermeister) went up on the wall and displayed his large ass to those laying seige and they through the bakers hurled the loaves over the wall to the dismay of the easterners. Apparently the easteners gave up and rode back home thinking that these Crailheimers must have food stores that could last months if all their asses are so big and they are throwing food out at us. hahahahahhahahahahahhaahhahahh… can you believe it!! This is honestly no farce!! It is a true story and you can ask any proud Crailsheimer and they’ll tell you about the fat Burgermeister and assbread!!

till next time folks,
dRAGS

I was thinking going to this race that I was about due for a good performance. I ripped the training up this spring like no other in the Philippines, and just now am feeling the legs again. The last races helped to get me going, and a hard distance race was just what the doctor ordered. I had a smoking start, which is becoming the norm and I was swimming easily in 3rd place side by side with Maik Twelsiek. He wouldn`t give up the spot so I went on his hip. After a few minutes I noticed he had left a gap and I was on it. He finally let me in and we swam single file the rest of the way. When we got out, it was group of 5 (Chabaud, Berlier, Bringer, Twelsiek and myself), but the French ripped through T1 and I found myself riding 4th until Twelsiek went by before the climbing began. I followed up the initial climb, holding own, but by the time we`d descended I found myself riding with Bringer; the other 3 out sight. At 35km Rutger Beke went by and we were sitting 5th, 6th apparently with a nice cushion behind us. I rode strong the rest on the long flat loop and caught Berlier with 7kms to go, with Bringer in tow. There is one good climb on the way back to Niederbronn and Bringer nailed it, attempting successfully to put Berlier away. I followed Bringer into T2 and he took off like it was an Olympic distance. I booked it at my pace assuming I would pick him back up on the 2nd lap. The run was epic; basically a 3km hill up and 3kms down within each of the 10km loops. I was already a minute down on Bringer but feeling confident I could catch up or match any charge from behind. After the past few months (or 6) I can be very happy with that result in such a stacked field, especially to hold my own on the run.
Anyway, things are on the up and am looking forward to Challenge Roth. It will be the most competitive field I have ever seen. Bring it on boys!!

So.. one last rip before Challenge France.. why not a sprint?? Wow.. A little chilly for my liking as I am only 4 days back wiss zee germans.

I went hard and my legs screamed and I finished 14th.. It was a staggered start in a pool so no one knew where they were. I only knew that I couldn’t go any faster. A very good hit out as my pain threshhold is up another notch going into a competitive half Ironman. All three legs are strong and (hahahahh I didn’t even think of that) and look for a top result there.

a la prochaine.

Jumped in this asian cup race before leaving camp. No big names there but as my last 5 races have all been ironman this was bound to be interesting.
I have been swimming very well and I thought I might just make the group.
I got off to a good start and was on the back of the lead group for most of the first lap. I was waiting for the pace to ease up a bit and was starting to fatigue really badly when I lost the feet in front of me.. 5 meters, 10 meter.. scheise!! I was still close after 750m where we had to exit and reenter the water but by the time I was back swimming it was 20m and growing.. I ended up losing and entire minute and the boys were working well together, so there was no chance to bring them back.. I tried for about 25 km but was only losing time.. so I sat up and waited for the next group who were about 1 min behind..
Just followed them in and eased into the run. I didn\t know what to expect as since my hip injury has improved, I have not done any real hard running.. I was also racing in the newtons I had been trying out. I let the guys from my bike grp go up the road and after 5km I was almost 1min behind but starting to feel strong and had good rhythm so I starting pushing a little harder and was gaining quickly. I caught them around 8 or 9 km and kept building. I ended up with one of the better run splits and 9th overall.. not too bad for an old ironman. ya never know what could have happenned had I made the swim group to start but it doesn\t matter much… It was a good hard session and sets me up well for Challenge France, a half ironman distance coming up in 2 weeks..
bis den mij mooie meisjes met lekker poepetjes.
hahaha
LukeD

So, back in training camp after a little drama on the way back from Langkawi… Happy to be here! Doc lit a fire up under my ass and I have had the quickest recovery after an Ironman, not to mention renewed fire and frustration to keep the furnace burning hot. I haven’t been running as I am waiting for my hip to heal up right. So the Doc says.. good time to go after the bike. I finished my 4 hour solid ride by 10am this morning, just in case I was supposed to make the 11am swim session.. but Doc was there waiting for me… he asked, how many bike km’s you got since last thursday?? hmmm… about 850 to 900.. I said proudly.. he says, good.. you can have the swim off.. but I thought we wanted to get 1000kms this week! so go get some lunch and head back out this avo to finish off the thousand..
Nice!! Back out I went after lunch to log a day of 240kms!! biggest bike day in the history of Dragsterdom!! Rest day tomorrow and then rip another grand!!
L8R

Ironman Malaysia. Quite an interesting decision to start in the race. More so when it would be my 3rd Ironman in 12 weeks. Somehow I came in feeling pretty fresh.
I made a decision to start way off to the left in the swim with the elusive Faris Al Sultan. I was able to hold him for about 400m but the pace was too hard and I dropped off at that point. Fortunately I was clear from the rest of the field and swam solo for the rest of the way exiting the water comfortably in 3rd. I was joined on the bike leg by an Austrian and we settled into a solid tempo, holding off the group formed behind us and gaining little by little on Teammate/rookie Matthieu O’halloran. We didn’t catch Matty until about 100km though and by that time the pair riding behind us had cut out lead in half. Faris was way up the road by this time, by the way. Anyway, Matt hooked on to us and I was thinking “buddy, take it easy” but he was looking pretty good so I thought I would let him figure it out for himself. Between 140km and 150km I started to drop the pace as I wanted to build a bit of a bigger lead on Petr Vabrousek who was only about 2 or 3 minutes behind at that point. I had felt great the entire ride but now was time to see if my hip injury that had been bothering me the past 5 weeks would hold out. It never felt bad but my speed was ridiculously slow and I must have been favouring it as everyone said I looked pretty lobsided out there. As the guys passed I me, Elmar, then Petr, then Matty (nines buddy) all I could do was keep my legs moving and hope that I had enough room on Park, Byung Hoon, the big korean who was 15 minutes down but looking very strong. I was fortunte enough to hold him off and come out with a 5th place, which I have to take and move on. What’s next? Doc? You’ll have to keep posted. I need to get my hip healthy and functioning and get in a good training block. I am forcasting no races for a while.

L8r