Race Report: Full Distance Challenge Almere-Amsterdam
One of my athletes raced the full distance at Challenge Almere-Amsterdam earlier this year. Below is his account of how the day unfolded.
01 | Before the Race
In the lead-up to the race, my coach and I agreed on a shorter taper. By Thursday, my legs were still carrying the season of training, stiff and sore, but by Friday I felt ready. That confirmed we had made the right call. With my gear packed and the race plan set days in advance, Friday was uneventful despite being bike and bag drop-off day. I stuck to my usual routine: a solid lunch, something lighter in the evening, and an early night. The 4:30 AM alarm would come fast, but I got some solid sleep, which was a relief.
Saturday morning was straightforward. The last bits of prep, hydration on the bike and the personal needs bag, went off without problems. After that came the familiar wait between transition closing and the swim start. The weather held: cold, but not raining. After freezing through the full distance at Klagenfurt earlier in the season, I was not taking chances. I shoved a windbreaker into my bike bag.
02 | Swim
The swim brought back some memories. Mass starts feel like a thing of the past with rolling starts becoming the norm, but Almere went old-school. No complaints from me. I have never had a problem with packed swims. I lined up at the front by the buoy, waited for the cannon, and got to work. The cold water made it hard to settle into a rhythm, and navigating around athletes from earlier waves added to it. Some were from the European Championships group, which meant a lot of dodging and passing. Frustrating, but nothing I was not ready for. I focused on staying patient and stuck to my pace, keeping in mind this was just the start of a long day. Even with the interruptions, I came out of the water in just under an hour, exactly where I wanted to be. No unnecessary effort.
03 | Bike
A smooth transition, and I was out onto the bike. The goal was clear: keep it steady, stick to the nutrition plan, and avoid going too hard too early. The first 90km loop went by without much to report. The only real issue was a wasp sting, annoying enough that I had to get out of the aero position to pull it from my arm, but nothing critical. The special needs bag setup cost a few minutes of wasted time, but that was the worst of it.
The second loop was different. Around the 90km mark, the middle-distance athletes joined the course and things got messy. There was a lot of overtaking and dodging for the entire loop, and it is a wonder there were no crashes given how tight things got. Despite the disruption, I stayed on top of my drinking, eating, and pacing throughout.
I had mentally prepared for a low point around the three-hour mark, something I have hit in training rides, but it never came. The ride felt smooth and I finished comfortably under five hours. Coming off the bike, I was surprised at how fresh my legs felt. I went through transition without drama and headed out for the run.
04 | Run
For the run, I decided not to use a watch. I wanted to run by feel, knowing that trying to force a pace could backfire. I stuck to the nutrition plan I had been training with, alternating between two cups of coke and two cups of water plus a gel at each aid station. In hindsight, for the cooler conditions on race day and the pace I was holding, this was too much. I was not sweating heavily, and all that liquid started to accumulate in my stomach.
By kilometre 25, my stomach had had enough. I could not take in any more fluids or nutrition from that point on. That turned the last 17 kilometres into a different kind of race. Without the ability to fuel, it became more of a mental battle than a physical one. I kept moving, knowing I was on track to finish, but it was not going to be comfortable.
I relied on what was already in the legs. The clock stopped mattering. Getting to the finish line was the only objective.
05 | After
Crossing the line was a relief, but the aftermath was not easy. My stomach was still a mess, and standing around waiting for my street clothes while the person next to me listed off a series of snacks did not help.
I did not hit the time I had been targeting. I had been on track, but that is full-distance racing. Things go wrong, and what matters is how you manage them. I am satisfied with how I handled what came up. The stomach problems in the final stretch were something I should have adjusted for on the day, and I will approach race nutrition differently next time. I finished, and I finished under my own steam.
Full-distance racing exposes every gap in the preparation, and the gaps are rarely dramatic. They tend to be small decisions, like a nutrition call at kilometre 25, that compound across a long day. If you want to work with a coach who plans for those details rather than leaving them to race-day improvisation, Sense Endurance Coaching is where to start.
If you are building towards a full-distance race from a training plan, the structure needs to already be there. My plans are built with race-day execution in mind, with pacing and nutrition already accounted for. You can see the full range on the training plans page. The margins that decide a race are established in training, not on the course.