23-07 Hamburg-Germany 5

Hamburg-Germany 5

July 15, 2023,

Hi Everyone,

Today is Saturday, beautiful, sunny 25C. The perfect day to walk around and see Hamburg. I didn’t write yesterday, except for a few emails to exclaim that I was still alive. I was seriously exhausted after the triathlon and needed a brake in the action. The atmosphere is electric here. I never saw such a collection of tall, long legged, hard, muscular bodies in one place. The men as well as the women. There are 4000-5000 athletes here from 36 different countries participating in a dozen different events. The Canadian delegation is one of the biggest and very popular if one considers the cheering that we got in the parade and among the enthusiastic fans that lined the race course. On the other hand, triathletes don’t know how to party like sailors at major regattas such as the North Americans, the Canadians and the World J24 Championships. They are too keen to stay in shape. They come to win, not to play, especially the Brits, the Americans, the Germans and the Aussies.

We started the day by meeting outside of the hotel and walking to the area marked off for the race at the port. There was a check in for the bikes and serious security as they obviously did not want to have an incident. I parked my bike in the designated area for my number 1565 and my running shoes in a separate area assigned to me. I took my wet suit with me as we were allowed to wear it for the swim given the water temperature of 21.9C. 22C was the cut off for allowing wetsuits except for the ‘seniors’ who need them to keep afloat. I then walked around the exhibits and had a light breakfast.

My group of men 70 to 89 years of age met at the waterfront half hour before the swim. We were in the water 5 minutes before the horn blew with super enthusiasm from the athletes yelling and cheering themselves on before the start. Usually I hang back and allow the faster swimmers to go ahead so as not to get kicked in the face. I made a mistake and started in the first row, going all out for the first 100m. I was a little short of breath and did a few breast strokes to relax and find my rhythm. After that it was ok.

We ran out of the water and there were some young officials there to encourage us and help us onto the stairs. I then ran over to my bike, took off my wet suit (I am rather slow at that; I should practiced it at home in the garden.) My transition time was 8 min, the faster athletes do it in 4. However, I relish the brake to get my energy back. My bike part was ok, but I was still on the first lap and the leaders were passing me on their 2nd lap. My run was ok although I was tired at the end. The major advantage in being one of the last in my age group is that I get to run with the 20-30 year old girls (women) which is great to watch. There is no way that I could keep up with them. The difference with a race here as opposed to a race in Quebec, is that in Quebec the girls all shout out encouragement to me saying ‘allez, lache pas’ as they pass me. Here non of the girls talk. They are too interested in winning.

I arrived at the finish line and one of the officials congratulated me and put a beautiful finishing medal around my neck. I wore it all day and only took it off when I went to bed. I relaxed for the rest of the day and visited the booths. After all, my goal was to play, not to win, and of course to finish the race. I visited the Garmin booth to look over the watches. I bought my watch 10 years ago and have never really learned how to set it up to do a multi sport triathlon. The advisor at the booth, Veronica, looked at my watch as if it were a historical entity. She was really nice and spent 1 hour setting it up for me, incredibly patient with a senior citizen who is a techno-peasant.

My results were a PB (personal best) at 1:56. The word must have gotten around that there was a Canadian to beat as he wins all the golds, silvers and bronzes in his age group in Canada. And beat me they did. The mean in my group was 1:30. I can’t even dream of doing that. I came 43rd out of 44 with 1 athlete dropping out of the race. If I compare my time with the 75 to 79 group, I do a little better and improve in the 80 to 84 group. There is even an 85-89 age group. An 80 year old blew by me in the last 500m as if I were standing still. I really don’t care about the results, I was here to have a good time. The athletes here in all age groups are really serious about their sport. They identify themselves as triathletes. This is their sport and this is what they do. As for me, triathlon is 1 of several sports that I participate in, and not necessarily the best one. Canada, although one of the biggest teams, managed only I silver medal in the men’s 80-85 division. I don’t know how we did in the other races. Today I will try to get my medal engraved with my name on it.

Last evening I had dinner with a Canadian, Rick, from Edmonton. We exchanged athletic stories although I am sure that I did most of the talking as usual. I spoke to 1 Canadian who has done 60 world championships in various divisions over the last 30 years. I will have to live to 130 to accomplish that. Today I will walk around and explore Hamburg, what a wonderful city.

Love, Brian