My second outdoor triathlon came at the beginning of June 2013, not long after it finally started getting warm in Poland. The winter was long and cold, which meant there wasn't much time for outdoor training (or maybe I should say there wasn't much desire for outdoor training, as some of my friends were better about it than I was).
I managed to get a road bike a couple weeks before the race, so I counted on that to get me through the 45 km bike leg (which, in addition to the 950 m swim and 10.5 km run, makes up the 1/4 Ironman distance). Last year in the 20 km bike in Susz, I felt like my mountain bike was barely faster than a turtle wearing ankle weights.
The problem is that I'm not very good at riding a road bike.
On my first training ride on the new bike, a week before the race, I forgot that the brakes are in a different place than on my mountain bike. I'm used to the brakes on the perpendicular part of the handle bar, not on the curved drop handlebars of a road bike. Everyone in front of me stopped for a car coming towards us on a one-lane road, but I couldn't stop. I grabbed at all different parts of the handle bars, but couldn't find any brakes to grip. I even yelled "STOP!" in my mind, but somehow that didn't work either. To avoid crashing into all the bikes in front of me, or the nice BMW that was slowing coming towards us, I decided to bail out. I leaned to the left, dropping to the ground, and skidded to a full and complete stop. Part of my arm and hip stayed on the cement behind me, which was the unfortunate part. I didn't realize it til someone yelled "Ew what is that?!" and pointed at my arm. It wasn't serious (no bones were sticking out), but there was a strange white patch with a bit of blood and a lot of gooey stuff coming out, where many layers of skin used to be. It was a very deep cut, because even a month later, it's still not fully healed.
A group of us from the Warsaw International Triathlon Club headed out to Sieraków to participate in the 1/4 Ironman. It was our first time doing this distance, so we were a little nervous, but very excited. When you think about the distance of each part separately, it doesn't seem that difficult. But when you put them together, it's a bit intimidating.
Alan arranged for us to stay in some cabins right on the race grounds, which was very convenient (and cheap - 20 zl per person/night). There weren't enough cars and bike racks for everyone, so Igors, Mark, Ewa and I took the train and biked 20 km from Wronki (the closest station with a direct connection from Warsaw), while everyone else drove (cheaters). We spent some time walking around Sieraków, cheering for our friends in the 1/2 Ironman race the day before, and stuffing our face with pasta and cakes at the free pasta dinner. It's great to try to eat as much as possible, knowing that the next day you're going to need as much fuel as you can get. I spent a lot of time stretching as well (which people somehow have noticed I do a lot of, and tease me about). I was still recovering from a cross-training earlier in the week and all my old joints and muscles were stiff and sore. But finally by race day, I was back to normal.
My main goal was to finish in under 3 hours. I had no idea what a "good" time is, but 3 hours is a nice round number to aim for. It would be my longest race of any kind, as my previous longest was the Warsaw half-marathon (finished in 1:48).
It's always a great thing to have previous experience and I think it helped all of us to have done the Susz sprint triathlon last year (Igors, Andy, Alan, Hans and I all did it). We were comfortable in the transition zone and knew more or less how our bodies would react in each discipline. The morning of the race, we woke up at 6 am (3 hours before the start) in order to eat a big breakfast (PB&J, bananas, bread, cakes, powerade, and whatever else I could find) and set up our stuff in the transition zone. I laid out my starting number, energy gels, some trail mix (I wanted to have my own food for the bike ride, because I didn't want to have to try to grab food from the food people on the course and risk falling off), shoes, socks, running top, and sun glasses. I made a super awesome playlist on my iPod that would definitely shave minutes off my time, but unfortunately iPods weren't allowed.
We headed down to the starting point (which was 500+ meters downhill - which means the transition from the swim to the bike would be 500+ meters UPhill), and warmed up. I ran into a friend from work who had done the 1/2 IM the day before, and he was doing the 1/4 IM just as a "recovery workout". Show off.
My biggest concern was starting too fast on the swim, to where I'd lose my rhythm and struggle to finish. This happened last year in Susz, where I started hyperventilating in the first 200 meters because of all the arms and legs attacking me. I didn't want it to happen again, especially since the swim was a bit longer this time. At the starting gun, I casually walked into the water, took a few deep breaths, stretched my arms a bit, and slowly started my swim. It took about 150 m before I could actually do some consistent strokes because of the crowd, but soon after I was in a good rhythm, and luckily avoiding most of the crowd. In the end of the swim, I was actually enjoying it, not at all stressed, and not really tired either. I guess that's what you need to do in order to finish the longer swims. Take your time and relax, don't worry about people hitting, grabbing or kicking you, and everything will be fine.
I finished the swim first in our WITC group and saw some of our supporters on the hill as I made my way up. Asia was cheering, taking pictures and running with me up the hill as well (but faster than me). Then I heard "dzień dobry" behind me and noticed Igors also passing me. In my head I thought "this hill isn't part of the race, so I don't need to go fast", but then realized that T1 is definitely part of the race, so I needed to move my butt.
The bike leg was much better than Susz last year, but still left a lot to be desired. People on fancy bikes were passing me, which I didn't mind. Then people on old bikes, and people with the same exact bike as mine were passing me, so I felt crappy again. Igors, with his 30 year old bike, beat my bike time by several minutes, so I can't blame the bike. Anyway, I still managed to finish 45 km in about 1:31, which is almost 30 km/h, so it wasn't too bad (and a much better pace than my 20 km in 44 minutes in Susz last year). But I definitely have room to improve.
I got through the bike without falling, which was a primary goal, then started off on the run. We heard from some guys the day before that the run was pretty tough. There were a lot of hills, including some zig-zags at the end of each loop that laughed in your face, as you looked up to the top of the hill and cried. There were signs in Polish on each of the zigs that tried to motivate you, but I didn't understand them completely, so spent most of the hill trying to translate it. I guess it worked, because I was focusing so much on the translation that the hill didn't bother me too much. The 10.5 km took much longer than a normal run of that distance, but I checked my new Garmin GPS watch and knew that I could make it under 3 hours if I kept a good pace. I didn't see anyone from WITC during the run, except our fans were everywhere. Asia, Ewa, Mark, Luca, and Agata popped up in the most unexpected spots to cheer us on. I think they ran around more than we did just to find the best spots to cheer and take pictures.
With 5 km to go, Agata told me I was 3 minutes behind Igors, but I knew that it would be tough to catch him in such a short distance. I kept pushing, looking back once in a while to see if Andy or Alan, who are much better runners than I am, might be on my tail. It turned out that I saved quite a bit of energy and was passing most of the guys who had earlier passed me on the bike. This leads me to a question for another day: how hard do you push on the bike to get a good time, but to save enough energy to finish strong on the run? What's the most efficient effort ratio between the two? I guess that's why people keep racing; to find the best balance. Turns out that somehow I had the best run time of our group as well, but since Igors beat me by so much in the bike, he finished first out of the 6 WITCers. He had a really great time, but Alan and I weren't far behind. I finished in 2:52:02, beating my 3 hour goal with time to spare. Andy, Dominika and Hans finished as well, while we waited at the finish line to cheer them on (and to eat bananas, burgers and beers that they served at the finish line). Hans' daughter Helena running the last 50 meters with him was adorable and got several cheers from the crowd. My only regret is that I forgot to high-five the fans as I approached the finish line. I'll be sure to do it next time.
At the end I decided that 1/4 IM is a good distance. It was far enough that I was challenged (and my cramping legs that made me run like a penguin told me I was pushing hard enough), but it wasn't too far to the point I started hating it. I don't think a 1/2 IM would be in my near future, but maybe next year. I will just have to be able to bike 90 km in the 1/2 IM without crashing or my legs falling off.
I'm signed up for 3 more triathlons this summer (all equal or shorter distance), so we'll see how I feel after. I actually can't wait to be lazy and not train after the summer is over. But for now, I can proudly claim that I am 25% Iron.
Check out the final results here. I finished 100th in my age group out of 199 people, exactly at the mid point. Considering it was my first time doing that distance, I'll take it.
I managed to get a road bike a couple weeks before the race, so I counted on that to get me through the 45 km bike leg (which, in addition to the 950 m swim and 10.5 km run, makes up the 1/4 Ironman distance). Last year in the 20 km bike in Susz, I felt like my mountain bike was barely faster than a turtle wearing ankle weights.
The problem is that I'm not very good at riding a road bike.
On my first training ride on the new bike, a week before the race, I forgot that the brakes are in a different place than on my mountain bike. I'm used to the brakes on the perpendicular part of the handle bar, not on the curved drop handlebars of a road bike. Everyone in front of me stopped for a car coming towards us on a one-lane road, but I couldn't stop. I grabbed at all different parts of the handle bars, but couldn't find any brakes to grip. I even yelled "STOP!" in my mind, but somehow that didn't work either. To avoid crashing into all the bikes in front of me, or the nice BMW that was slowing coming towards us, I decided to bail out. I leaned to the left, dropping to the ground, and skidded to a full and complete stop. Part of my arm and hip stayed on the cement behind me, which was the unfortunate part. I didn't realize it til someone yelled "Ew what is that?!" and pointed at my arm. It wasn't serious (no bones were sticking out), but there was a strange white patch with a bit of blood and a lot of gooey stuff coming out, where many layers of skin used to be. It was a very deep cut, because even a month later, it's still not fully healed.
A group of us from the Warsaw International Triathlon Club headed out to Sieraków to participate in the 1/4 Ironman. It was our first time doing this distance, so we were a little nervous, but very excited. When you think about the distance of each part separately, it doesn't seem that difficult. But when you put them together, it's a bit intimidating.
Alan arranged for us to stay in some cabins right on the race grounds, which was very convenient (and cheap - 20 zl per person/night). There weren't enough cars and bike racks for everyone, so Igors, Mark, Ewa and I took the train and biked 20 km from Wronki (the closest station with a direct connection from Warsaw), while everyone else drove (cheaters). We spent some time walking around Sieraków, cheering for our friends in the 1/2 Ironman race the day before, and stuffing our face with pasta and cakes at the free pasta dinner. It's great to try to eat as much as possible, knowing that the next day you're going to need as much fuel as you can get. I spent a lot of time stretching as well (which people somehow have noticed I do a lot of, and tease me about). I was still recovering from a cross-training earlier in the week and all my old joints and muscles were stiff and sore. But finally by race day, I was back to normal.
My main goal was to finish in under 3 hours. I had no idea what a "good" time is, but 3 hours is a nice round number to aim for. It would be my longest race of any kind, as my previous longest was the Warsaw half-marathon (finished in 1:48).
It's always a great thing to have previous experience and I think it helped all of us to have done the Susz sprint triathlon last year (Igors, Andy, Alan, Hans and I all did it). We were comfortable in the transition zone and knew more or less how our bodies would react in each discipline. The morning of the race, we woke up at 6 am (3 hours before the start) in order to eat a big breakfast (PB&J, bananas, bread, cakes, powerade, and whatever else I could find) and set up our stuff in the transition zone. I laid out my starting number, energy gels, some trail mix (I wanted to have my own food for the bike ride, because I didn't want to have to try to grab food from the food people on the course and risk falling off), shoes, socks, running top, and sun glasses. I made a super awesome playlist on my iPod that would definitely shave minutes off my time, but unfortunately iPods weren't allowed.
Ninjas loosening up the day before the race
In our practice, Igors beat me cuz he pushed me away from shore
We headed down to the starting point (which was 500+ meters downhill - which means the transition from the swim to the bike would be 500+ meters UPhill), and warmed up. I ran into a friend from work who had done the 1/2 IM the day before, and he was doing the 1/4 IM just as a "recovery workout". Show off.
My biggest concern was starting too fast on the swim, to where I'd lose my rhythm and struggle to finish. This happened last year in Susz, where I started hyperventilating in the first 200 meters because of all the arms and legs attacking me. I didn't want it to happen again, especially since the swim was a bit longer this time. At the starting gun, I casually walked into the water, took a few deep breaths, stretched my arms a bit, and slowly started my swim. It took about 150 m before I could actually do some consistent strokes because of the crowd, but soon after I was in a good rhythm, and luckily avoiding most of the crowd. In the end of the swim, I was actually enjoying it, not at all stressed, and not really tired either. I guess that's what you need to do in order to finish the longer swims. Take your time and relax, don't worry about people hitting, grabbing or kicking you, and everything will be fine.
I finished the swim first in our WITC group and saw some of our supporters on the hill as I made my way up. Asia was cheering, taking pictures and running with me up the hill as well (but faster than me). Then I heard "dzień dobry" behind me and noticed Igors also passing me. In my head I thought "this hill isn't part of the race, so I don't need to go fast", but then realized that T1 is definitely part of the race, so I needed to move my butt.
Stretching in the crowd
Here we go!
Igors catching me in the T1 hill climb
The bike leg was much better than Susz last year, but still left a lot to be desired. People on fancy bikes were passing me, which I didn't mind. Then people on old bikes, and people with the same exact bike as mine were passing me, so I felt crappy again. Igors, with his 30 year old bike, beat my bike time by several minutes, so I can't blame the bike. Anyway, I still managed to finish 45 km in about 1:31, which is almost 30 km/h, so it wasn't too bad (and a much better pace than my 20 km in 44 minutes in Susz last year). But I definitely have room to improve.
I think I look faster than I am
I got through the bike without falling, which was a primary goal, then started off on the run. We heard from some guys the day before that the run was pretty tough. There were a lot of hills, including some zig-zags at the end of each loop that laughed in your face, as you looked up to the top of the hill and cried. There were signs in Polish on each of the zigs that tried to motivate you, but I didn't understand them completely, so spent most of the hill trying to translate it. I guess it worked, because I was focusing so much on the translation that the hill didn't bother me too much. The 10.5 km took much longer than a normal run of that distance, but I checked my new Garmin GPS watch and knew that I could make it under 3 hours if I kept a good pace. I didn't see anyone from WITC during the run, except our fans were everywhere. Asia, Ewa, Mark, Luca, and Agata popped up in the most unexpected spots to cheer us on. I think they ran around more than we did just to find the best spots to cheer and take pictures.
As usual, WITC had great supporters
With 5 km to go, Agata told me I was 3 minutes behind Igors, but I knew that it would be tough to catch him in such a short distance. I kept pushing, looking back once in a while to see if Andy or Alan, who are much better runners than I am, might be on my tail. It turned out that I saved quite a bit of energy and was passing most of the guys who had earlier passed me on the bike. This leads me to a question for another day: how hard do you push on the bike to get a good time, but to save enough energy to finish strong on the run? What's the most efficient effort ratio between the two? I guess that's why people keep racing; to find the best balance. Turns out that somehow I had the best run time of our group as well, but since Igors beat me by so much in the bike, he finished first out of the 6 WITCers. He had a really great time, but Alan and I weren't far behind. I finished in 2:52:02, beating my 3 hour goal with time to spare. Andy, Dominika and Hans finished as well, while we waited at the finish line to cheer them on (and to eat bananas, burgers and beers that they served at the finish line). Hans' daughter Helena running the last 50 meters with him was adorable and got several cheers from the crowd. My only regret is that I forgot to high-five the fans as I approached the finish line. I'll be sure to do it next time.
All smiles after the finish
At the end I decided that 1/4 IM is a good distance. It was far enough that I was challenged (and my cramping legs that made me run like a penguin told me I was pushing hard enough), but it wasn't too far to the point I started hating it. I don't think a 1/2 IM would be in my near future, but maybe next year. I will just have to be able to bike 90 km in the 1/2 IM without crashing or my legs falling off.
I'm signed up for 3 more triathlons this summer (all equal or shorter distance), so we'll see how I feel after. I actually can't wait to be lazy and not train after the summer is over. But for now, I can proudly claim that I am 25% Iron.
Check out the final results here. I finished 100th in my age group out of 199 people, exactly at the mid point. Considering it was my first time doing that distance, I'll take it.
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