Racing hard – Olaf Sabatschus

September 1, 2008

Olaf Sabatschus has 3 Ironman titles and endless other podium placings on his resume and he just recently won the Inferno Triathon in Switzerland. He talked to Slowtwitch about racing, training, rules, drugs and a few other interesting subjects.

ST: Olaf, congratulations on a very nice win at the Inferno triathlon. Can you tell our readers more about this event and its history?

Olaf: Well, I am not so much informed about the race's history, except that I heard from a volunteer, that it was an idea that came up together with the Schildhorn Bahn (the means of transportation for those who are not so good at walking/running up the 2970m hill which also is the finish of the race) some 11years ago. They wanted to market the Mürren, Switzerland region and the Bahn in some spectacular and different way.

ST: Would you describe for us how your race day went?

Olaf: I had a blast – it was some kind of adventure race anyway. I usually don't use my mountain bike, so I did not know what to expect especially on the downhills of the mountain passes. It started with that swim in the cold yet so crystal clear and enjoyable water; went on with a long uphill right after T1 and the “Rosenlaui Berpreis”, a bonus for the first up the last climb on the race bike to win a dinner for two in this smallest town of Switzerland. Then the mountain bike part, it was so steep in the final climb that I had to walk – first time ever in a race!. I lost some major time on the downhill starting with having to wait for the mountain train to slowly approach it's station up there, then I stopped twice to ensure I was taking the right way (did not manage to see all of the course before race day), then I also fell on one of the more technical parts (which I am sure a real mountain biker would not consider technically demanding at all). Anyway, Marc Pschebizin, the 7-time winner of the race impressed me when he flew passed me in the last parts of that mountain bike downhill with tremendous speed. We started the run kind of together, with Marc in front, but he suffered from his Embrun race only 2 weeks before, so I did not have to push for the win – this time. Should I do it again, I am sure he'll do it in a better state… it was amazing anyway running an almost straight 2100 vertical meters up to the James Bond movie set finish (one of those movies has used the Piz Gloria station for one of the scenes). It was cold up there, with snow coming up, but also very, very likeable – just some very different race! I liked it. No, loved it!

ST: Of all the races you have done so far, which one means the most to you and why?

Olaf: I still consider my 5th place in Kona in 1994 the most important one – I was only 23 years old at the time! Meanwhile I have had a few Ironman wins and many top 3 finishes, but the one where my talent showed the most was that Kona finish. I took a break after that (I was training like a “real” pro at the time, but then decided to sign up at University for a regular education…) for a few years, but liked the sport so much, that I came back after figuring I did not need to train all day long. Meanwhile I work a lot as a coach (mainly online) and we (Gabi is my wife, we married in 1999) have 2 kids, so life keeps me busy apart from training.

ST: What is going on in Germany in terms of drug testing of top-level triathletes?

Olaf: Germany's tri fed decided they needed to integrate the long distance athletes into a regular out-of-competition test protocol a few years ago. So now we pay for our elite license (250 Euros a year) and this money goes into a pool for drug testing and we get tested more frequently, little by little with blood values, too. Germany's big races do their share as well: Frankfurt and Roth tested, blood values inclusively. Frankfurt had a monitoring program too and did additional out-of-competition tests. A good start, so I think Germany is amongst those nations trying to be on the top of what is being done in this respect. I also just signed up for an additional program coming from France, which is voluntary though, www.athletesfortransparency.com. Still though, there is a long way to go to minimize the use of drugs in sports. I think we need more than “just” drug tests to get a “trustworthy” in the evaluation of sponsors and the public.

ST: A heated debate came up on slowtwitch about drafting and we would love to hear what your thoughts are along those lines. Is there enough done to prevent it? Are the penalties tough enough?

Olaf: I think it is about many factors, but if you make the penalties tougher, it could also prevent marshalls from giving them, especially for the front guys. So, first of all it's the athletes who should reconsider their attitude; that would help a lot already. Then, we need courses that are more challenging, to give the opportunity to spread athletes after the swim instead of locking them into a 50-count peloton. Also, at many race sites we don't see enough marshalls, so may be we should consider the idea of having to be a marshall at one of the closer races once a year or so as an athlete – could also lead to more fairness, because you'll get the same when you're racing from the guys you've been watching before as a marshall But then again, – it's not so easy for marshalls either. How do you stop a 50-count peloton without security risks? If someone gets injured or even worse because a marshall went into a group – who's responsible etc.?
I could really imagine technical devices helping during the events: If you could exactly measure and save distance data throughout races, without having to stop athletes during the ride, there would not be safety hassles anymore. If you use that data to judge on drafting in real-time you could have the penalties right after the bike portion, as it is handled now, just without the inaccuracy factors and with the “marshalls” mounted on every single bike. Of course, this idea would change a lot, but look at fencing for example, they have these green and red lights and no one complains about them anymore? Of course, this would only work for part of a starting field, because you can't apply the method with 200 athletes mounting the bike within a minute or so… so, yes finally I have to admit there seems not to be an easy solution!

ST: Will we see you in Hawaii this year?

Olaf: I did not plan on Hawaii this year. I would love to race Hawaii again if I should be able to cope with the necessary “tactics” one day. Meanwhile, you need to be a fast swimmer to finish in the top ranks; I put a little more effort into swimming than usual this year and improved in my weakest subject, but still need to cut off about 2min from my 2.4mile-time to be there…

ST: Can you define for us what you mean by Hawaii necessary tactics?

Olaf: Well, the point, is if you want to succeed you can either be a super-hyper-biker and on top have the luckiest day in your life so riding out front pays off in the end (not often…), or you can swim with the front group, ride with them to safe energy and then run well. I don't mean to say it's very bad to ride in that group, only if you don't keep your distance which some of the tops did in the past. Of course, if you can win like Faris or Normann it's even worth more, going for it on the bike and surviving for the win! But I am not a very aerodynamic rider, so on a course like Hawaii I would most probably never be able to outride the others – I would have to swim well and stay there with them.

ST: What is your athletic background and who or what inspired you to race triathlons?

Olaf: I started swimming about twice a week when I was 5 years old. Did this about 8 years until I was bored and figured I was not a swimmer anyway; started with modern pentathlon at age 13. When I was 17 someone at school lend me a touring bike and I did a sprint distance triathlon; and that hooked me right away!

ST: Please describe a typical hard training week for us.

Olaf: This year I managed to swim about 20km a week in hard weeks in winter, most of it with a very technical focus because I still need to improve my stroke a lot. In training camps I rode up to 550km on the bike, with 2-3 speed/over-gear workouts, which contain about 1-1,5hrs of race speed. My running is just there, so it's the discipline I don't need to work a lot, I try to get in a long run of about 28-29km a week, with some marathon race pace and 3-5 shorter runs (like 9-12km) which are mostly at easy pace.

ST: What do you do to overcome a disappointing race?

Olaf: I don't need to do anything – I just get angry and motivated to do much better anyway….!!

ST: How are things going for you in terms of sponsorship?

Olaf: I have been managing to enjoy the sport without much sponsorship, because I have not been a good promoter of myself throughout my whole career so far. Actually I get some material support plus as much as I need for traveling to the races abroad from sponsors and I make a living off coaching. So, yes – one dream would be to find a partner to finance “real” professionalism for the may be last 4 years of the time I can perform so well and win races. That could be enough to go for another Hawaii top finish – I think if I'd put the effort into it, I could manage to finish top 5 again – Dave Scott did it with 42 and I am “only” 37…

ST: Do you have any thoughts on how the triathlon sport could be improved other than drafting enforcement?

Olaf: There is room for improvements in media attraction; what about a real world series on the long distance with series price money and a development in the ranking over a whole year; also stories about the contenders every other week etc. Then there are factors apart from the races; like for example in Germany it's usually not easy at all to get your swim training in unless you're training with a squad. We need to make it a real public sport with good opportunities for everyone to just try it out..!

ST: How do you typically spend the off-season?

Olaf: Well, I hate getting totally out of shape; so usually I train about 30% of what I do in-season. Like 2-3 short workouts swimming and running a week, my bike is my means of every-day-transportation though, so I never really stop riding my bike. In Germany's winter though it's a 17kg all-weather-proof bike with mud protectors, lights etc that I use. That's why I am fast without a lot of long miles I think.

ST: Do you follow any other sports?

Olaf: I have to play a little bit of soccer almost every day with my younger son; he's such a soccer geak! Also I play golf, tennis and athletics. . . . on our Wii Playstation!

ST: Can you share with us some of your food likes and dislikes?

Olaf: I don't eat meat – haven't done in about 20 years now. Other than that I eat everything. I have a bad reputation for ice cream when I am in the US…. and I pledge guilty for this without too much remorse…

ST: Tell us about your favorite music.

Olaf: I like Xavier Naidoo and when I am running I like house/dance stuff.

ST: What was the last book you read?

Olaf: I read Harry Potter VI. In English to give it a little bit of an educational touch.

ST: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Olaf: OK – in 4 years on the podium in Kona (he, he…) and in 5 years I would love to proceed with my coaching business – also have some more ideas to keep busy with the sport later in life when I won't race so much anymore, but that's not fully developed. So I can’t talk about that yet.

ST: Is there anything else we should know about you?

Olaf: Good question, next question…

Find out more about Olaf Sabatschus on his site olafsabatschus.de

Learn more about the Inferno Triathlon on inferno.ch