Aaron Wyn Nicholas took on his second full-distance Ironman at Ironman Hamburg. He smashed his sub-10-hour goal with a finish time of 9:51:38. We asked him a few questions about how the build-up and race went.
What was your biggest concern/challenge about doing a Triathlon overseas and how did you overcome it?
"Travelling with the bike is always the biggest concern, no matter how well you pack it you always worry about how the bike will arrive. The biggest tip is to throw an airtag in with your bike so you're confident of it's location at all times and take out some bike insurance if you don't already have it. Another would be the challenge of knowing that you're far away from home so you need to be extremely thorough with your suitcase packing. Good to remember that if you do forget anything then race village is never far away and should have anything you might've forgotten for race day.."
How did you tailor your training specifically for Ironman Hamburg?
"Hamburg is a very flat course so no time for freewheeling, this meant 5 hours constantly pushing a similar power. I prepared for this by simulating this in training. Whether that was long indoor rides at a constant power or being outside and doing effort loops of Harbour Way just to get the long uninterrupted efforts in on the road."
How do you manage nerves and anxiety leading up to the race, and do you have any pre-race rituals?
"With this being an IRONMAN European Championship I was actually very busy with work up until the day before the race and almost didn't click into athlete mode until about 4pm the day before. I just made sure everything from my equipment to my nutrition was planned out weeks in advance. I was able to be on autopilot, I knew exactly how many grams of carbs I needed to get in me the day before the race, my transition bags were all packed 2 days before and so the only thing I had to do was rest. Pre-race rituals is actually very chilled music pre race while sorting my bike in transition, there's enough time to get pumped when the tunes are blasting at the start line. Parcels self titled album is my absolute go-to when I want to be chilled out."
Is there any particularly memorable moment from the swim, bike, or run portion of Ironman Hamburg?
"I keep thinking back to the second half of the run. Having had a run injury leading into the race I really didn't know if my goal of Sub-10 was going to be possible. I remember towards the end of my 3rd of 4 laps shouting to Dom my coach to ask "What was the exact time of day I started this morning?" I needed to know when the 10-hour mark was. From that moment on it was 1 hour to finish 10km, for every km that was faster than 6 minutes my mantra to myself was "money in the bank" and then when I had 20 minutes to run the final 2k I just could not believe it."
What was your biggest learning experience from this particular triathlon, and how will it influence your future races?
"How important fuelling is in the lead up and during the race. I've never been so precise and measured with my nutrition before and it showed in how I felt on race day - I've never felt so good. Day before the race 10-12g of carbs per 1Kg of bodyweight (yes, its lots!) but trust me, you won't regret it. I will be doing that again for every long-distance race I do."
What is your top tip for successfully tackling Ironman Hamburg?
"Make sure your bike bottles are as secure as they can be! For the most part, the roads of Hamburg are super fast and smooth but there are a few cobbled sections that you could see mutiple bottles had rocketed out the back of a saddle. I used small strips of skateboard tape inside my bottle cage as well as a band to be double sure my carbs weren't going anywhere!"
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