Gerasdorf Triathlon Training Plan & Preparation

Course & Elevation

The start is at 9:00 in the Badeteich Gerasdorf: 1,500 metres as three laps of still water, with short runs and good visibility. A swimming lake is not a lake swim — the buoys sit close together, the laps are short, and you pass the exit area twice before you come out.

The bike is two laps of 19.9 kilometres each through the Marchfeld towards Seyring, Kapellerfeld and the side roads near Deutsch-Wagram, largely closed to traffic. The profile is remarkable: 95 percent of the route is flat, the entire altitude band lies between 157 and 166 metres, and the 62 metres of climbing over 39.8 kilometres work out at 1.6 per kilometre. There is no climb here, no descent and no corner that costs speed — the only resistance that changes is the wind across the open plain.

The 10 kilometres are four laps of a 2.53 kilometre circuit at the lake: a short connector, an out-and-back on the levee of the Marchfeld canal and one circuit of the water. Thirty-four metres of climbing, 83 percent flat, between 156 and 161 metres. The organisers combine Olympic and sprint into a King and Queen of Gerasdorf classification, so part of the field starts a second time in the afternoon.

Pacing Strategy

Three laps in the lake give you two split times, and you should use them. Because the water is still and the sighting good, you can genuinely swim to plan here rather than by feel — set a lap time and hold it.

On the bike you have to solve a task the terrain normally solves for you: keeping the power steady yourself. With 95 percent flat there is no climb to force you and no descent to recover on. Set a target for the full distance rather than for lap one, and accept that your speed in the plain's headwind section will be considerably lower than in the tailwind half. Ride by the speedometer and you will systematically overcook it there.

The second bike lap decides it. Because it is exactly the same road again, there is no external stimulus at all, and the fatigue comes purely from time held in one position. The classic trap follows on the run: four short laps with frequent split points invite you to run each one faster. Plan the first as your second slowest and only decide after the second whether to lift.

12-Week Preparation

The Olympic distance here takes roughly 2:10 to 3:00 depending on level. The demand is about as uniform as it gets: a long effort in the upper aerobic to threshold range, interrupted by not one climb, descent or technical section.

The bike split decides it, because it lasts around an hour and because on a 95-percent-flat course the time gaps come from power, aero position and wind management alone. Climbing ability counts for nothing here; position tolerance for everything.

Build bike training around unbroken blocks: 2 x 20 to 30 minutes at threshold in race position are more specific than any interval format with rests. Put part of that deliberately on open, wind-exposed roads and use it to practise holding power rather than speed. Pure position work — an hour continuous on the bars — belongs with it.

For the run, brick sessions of 30 to 45 minutes are the central session, supplemented by broken work such as 4 x 2,500 metres at race pace, because the 10 kilometres are four identical laps. Then the conditions: the Marchfeld in early August is hot, open and shadeless. A 9:00 start means the second bike lap and the whole run already fall into the morning heat. Heat acclimatisation and a rehearsed drinking plan are not a refinement here but a prerequisite.