via Instagram http://ift.tt/2izDi09
Friday, December 30, 2016
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Sunday, December 18, 2016
Friday, December 16, 2016
Saturday, December 10, 2016
Monday, December 5, 2016
Sunday, December 4, 2016
Saturday, December 3, 2016
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Saturday, November 19, 2016
Friday, November 18, 2016
Sunday, November 13, 2016
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Sunday, November 6, 2016
Saturday, November 5, 2016
Sunday, October 30, 2016
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Thursday, October 20, 2016
Friday, October 14, 2016
Friday, October 7, 2016
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Monday, October 3, 2016
Sunday, September 25, 2016
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Monday, September 12, 2016
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Saturday, September 10, 2016
Saturday, September 3, 2016
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Wrapup 2016 - planning 2017
2016 has
been a good year as I have managed to break my PB in three different triathlon distances
and also became a mentally stronger triathlete. This was also the first year
that races and training planning was done together with Darby (coach) which was
a key foundation for successful races ,zero injuries (well not from training J ) and zero sick days.
The build
part of the training went quite well and by January my FTP raised from 250 to
280 all looked great and then came the ski vacation.
For my wife 40th birthday we have went for a long weekend in the Italian Alps. When trying to show off how fast I’m (first ski holiday with the wife) I have made an amateur snowboarder mistake and at the speed of 36km/h crashed on my left hip. Lucky only my pride got broken yet a three weeks of lying on the coach and a three more for recovery caused my fitness to drop.
For my wife 40th birthday we have went for a long weekend in the Italian Alps. When trying to show off how fast I’m (first ski holiday with the wife) I have made an amateur snowboarder mistake and at the speed of 36km/h crashed on my left hip. Lucky only my pride got broken yet a three weeks of lying on the coach and a three more for recovery caused my fitness to drop.
Recovery
went well and by the time of the first race (21st of May) I was 90%
recovered as still had pain when transitioning from cycling to running
In June I
have joined Finland’s best triathlon club SKB Racing Triathlon Team, this gave
a boost to my racing performance as racing with a tri-club suit and getting a great
team support in local races is game changer especially for those dark moments
during the race (among other great benefits of being part of this club)
Races this
year were planned quite well :
· Half distance in May to remove the
rust (IM 70.3 St Pölten)
· Olympic in start of June (Vantaa
Triathlon)
· Half distance in end of June as part
of the full distance training (Långvik)
· Full distance in mid July (Challenge
Roth)
· Half distance in mid Aug to close the season (Challenge Turku)
Racing went
great , first the confidence was high and pre-race stress low then setting
goals to each race and create a race plan based on those prove as success (never
race without a goal/s). I have managed to break PB: Olympic 2:11 (previous
2:25), half 4:35 (previous 4:45) and full 9:49(previous 10:25) this prove a
good progress and I believe that there is more room to improve.
What next?
Still
planning for this year to do few running events a 10K race, an half marathon
and my first full open marathon (Frankfurt). Next year races are already
planned ,booked and goals are set.
will start with IM 70.3 Mallorca in May - goals : take off the rust, experience a non-flat course, visit Mallorca and enjoy good time with SKB team. In June The Championship race in Slovakia – Goals: race with the best and improve my half PB and in July Finntriathlon Joroinen Finnish championship in half distance – Goal: top 10 in my AG.
For full distance event I have wanted to do IM Kalmar (Sweden) yet the logistic for this race was too complicated so in the end I have registered to IM Copenhagen – goals: Finish time 09:30, top 20 in AG , those are not easy goals yet I believe that if work hard and get the needed progress those goals can be met.
will start with IM 70.3 Mallorca in May - goals : take off the rust, experience a non-flat course, visit Mallorca and enjoy good time with SKB team. In June The Championship race in Slovakia – Goals: race with the best and improve my half PB and in July Finntriathlon Joroinen Finnish championship in half distance – Goal: top 10 in my AG.
For full distance event I have wanted to do IM Kalmar (Sweden) yet the logistic for this race was too complicated so in the end I have registered to IM Copenhagen – goals: Finish time 09:30, top 20 in AG , those are not easy goals yet I believe that if work hard and get the needed progress those goals can be met.
Monday, August 1, 2016
Challenge Roth Recap
Because of
the 15 years’ celebration Challenge Roth had a waiting list this year, which I
got lucky to be the first in, and got an entry to one (if not the most) famous
long distance triathlon race in the world.
Thursday
morning early flight to Munich and a two hours’ drive to a small town, which
was located 5km from Roth. I usually try to rent an apartment with a kitchen
which makes it easy to maintain the pre-race diet. The place was in a quite
part of town with high end tech accessories from the 80s.
 |
| Back to the 80s |
After unpacking
and assembling my bike I joined the long line to registration with almost 6000
other athletes. It took about 40 min to get the welcome kit and sign the no
drafting board.
Checked out
the race expo, which was quite big with the traditional swim, bike, run and
other gadgets one might be interested in. One of the more interesting item that was the unique swimming snorkel from Ameo. After long talk with the Ameo
guys, and nice race discount I of course bought it. Swimming is so boring so
any new toy that makes it more exciting is more than welcome (I´ll report about
the experience in few weeks).
The organization
offered swimming training in the race course on Friday and Saturday from
06:30-09:00 which was prefect as it was the same time as the race and was only
15 min drive from my place.
The swim in
Roth is done in the Donau canal which is used for cargo ferries. For the
training and race day they have close it by blocking the canal from both sides,
which means no current and fast swim.
All pre-race
preparation went fine, only a broken bike stem had to be replaced. Did total of swim a 40 min bike ride and 2 runs, felt good and ready to rock.
Tip 1: Always arrive few days before the race so you get your gear tested and have time to relax.
Tip 2:
drive the bike course and make yourself familiar with it’s up and down hills,
it will remove a lot of race day stress and will help you plan your ride.
I felt ready for the race, my coach (Darby Thomas) has created an excellent training program which got me stronger in both fitness and mental strengths. The goal to the race which was set by wife was sub 10 and I was planning to do my best to achieve it.
Race day:
After a good
sleep and pre-race gourmet meal of apple sauce, cottage and a banana I have
arrived to the swim start. Final preparation, sort talk with super cool Daniela
Ryf and I’m ready to race.
 |
| unlike many Ironman branded race in Roth you can have all cycling gear on the bike |
It was not
possible to do a swim warm up but you get 5min to swim to the start which was sufficient
to get the blood moving. I choose to be on the inner side of the course which
was a good choice as the faster swimmers
were also on that side and it helped keeping a good pace.
Loud canon
go off and here we go, first 200 meter all out and then got into a good rhythm
while behind drafting the lead group. There were distance signs every 200m
which really helped with pacing the swim, on the first 1km we already started
to pass the group which have started 5 min before us. At the 1900m mark quick look
at my Garmin Fenix 3 watch 30:02min, looking good! Wanted to push more so I can
finish the swim under 1h but with a 600 swimmers to pass it was impossible.
Tip3: In
Roth try to get to start group 2, I think it based on your either race target
or previous results
 |
Swim time
1:01:48 and off to T1
T1: Entering
into the transition tent a nice old lady helps you with the wetsuit , put it in
the bag and wish you a good luck. Helmet, race number sort run and jump on the
bike. Time 2:23m
Bike:
Was ready to push: my plan was to hit around
210w on average ,ignoring HR and most important no drafting. Drafting is
cheating and also Challenge Roth has a quite hard penalty for it which is very simple you get disqualified ans for
other typical race penalties you get 5min stop and a lovely 1km added to your
run!
Tip 4: Don’t draft , you only cheat
yourself.
The bike course is not flat (total 1500m of assent)
but it is fast as the climbs are very sharp and the downhills are very
long so you can get a good speed for most of the course, it is very similar to Ironman St Pölten
70.3 bike course.
First hour went as planned (Garmin Edge 520 shows
37km/h Avg, avg power 207w) until arriving to Kalvarlenberg a.k.a pain hill. As
I drove it yesterday I have already planned how to tackle it and keeping Darby's advise to have a moderate push
on uphill (…and full gas on downs) I set on a 260w effort until reached the
top, than was ready to push again but a strong head wind has destroyed my
plans, straggling on the next 20km has required
an higher effort to (watts up) . On 2nd loop it was crowded on the
course as additional riders from the last swimming groups as joined, but I managed
to get away from the few drafting trains , finishing the last round taking a sharp
right turn to Roth with a 4 km was eager to go off the bike and start running.
 |
| Great support from the locals on each town you pass |
Bike Finish: 5:00:6 Avg 200w , NP 211, IF
0,75 almost as planned.
T2: Again a first class service by Roth voluntaries,
they take your bike, hand you the bag , help you with putting the shoes and
make sure that you have all your gels etc. What a great service, its gives you
this "PRO" feeling.
Out for run after 1:57m
Run:
Garmin Fenix 3 showing a race time of 6:06h
which means that I need a 3:53 marathon for a sub 10, legs felt good and my motivation
is up, looking possible lets hit the road.
Run has started well , good pace under
5min/km and HR topping Z2. Coming to the 4km timing point I don’t hear the
typical beep, quick look on the left leg f%&k the timing chip is not there!
Tip5: Use small safety pins to secure your
chip.
Lucky the guy from Mika timing said to me
that they can put my number in the computer on each station , after sort break back to the
run. Roth running course is flat , mostly on gravel ,with a few turns and has many supporters along it all those are somewhat easing the suffering.
On the 17km
the first mental break comes body asks to stop and go for a beer, looking again at my Garmin the average pace showing a nice
5:08 so the beer will need wait for a while. Reaching the half marathon mark in 1:50h gave a positive feeling as it means that I
have to run less then 6m/km to reach my
goal as not major pains sub 10 is in the basket.
It was all mind pushing till the 38km (yes it is all in your head), stopping on each aid stations for some drinks (water, cola , red bull . iso drink … all in a good mix), few water sponges to cool down the body and back to run.
I still needed to stop on each timing station looking for the Mika Timing guy to put my number in the computer which was a pain in the ass as some them were busy with other activities such as beer drinking (arggg).
It was all mind pushing till the 38km (yes it is all in your head), stopping on each aid stations for some drinks (water, cola , red bull . iso drink … all in a good mix), few water sponges to cool down the body and back to run.
I still needed to stop on each timing station looking for the Mika Timing guy to put my number in the computer which was a pain in the ass as some them were busy with other activities such as beer drinking (arggg).
Tip 6: being
caffeine free for 10 days worked, you get the extra kick when taking a gel with
caffeine.
On the 38 Km
getting back to the town of Roth , some bands playing rock music ,
many supporters , kids giving you high
five all made the pain goes way and a green light for the final push.
Crossing
the finish line with a 3:43 marathon (25 min faster than last year) and a total
race time of 09:49:56, welcome to the sub 10 club!
What a great race such great feeling, for sure
will race Challenge Roth again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)