566 out of 2140. 60km in 03:16:20. This are the results after 2 months of training. It was a challenging long race. At the end of it, I was more tired psychically than physically. This is a short story of my run. Shots provided by iRewind a the checkpoints.
A few days ago, I decided to take part in one of the biggest sport competitions held in our country. Being used to short distances and running 6 km per day (2 days per week in extra-season), I jumped in to overcome my limits. Until now, the longest running race I finished was the Triathlon Challenge Mamaia 2012 where I had to run 15 km.
Today, I finished the Half Marathon (21 km) in 1:55 minutes. The weather was good, so the conditions to beat my record were appropriate. In the first 10 km I ran with an average of 15 km/h, whereas in the second part of the race I had an average of 8.8 km/h as I had no experience of how to maintain my energy level constant for such an effort.
I drank a coffee and a magnesium pill before the race, during it I drank 1 litre of water and by the end of the race I had 2 kilograms less.
This was a unique opportunity for me to develop my resistance to effort. I will train more for the next year in order to participate to the marathon (42 km) and finish in less than 3:30.
It wasn’t any difference between the last two competitions as the weather conditions were almost the same.
“Kings Land” Triatlon took place in Oradea, Romania. Gaining experience from the previous triathlon, I focused more on the cycling part of the competition as it represented about 50% of the final time.
Swimming (1000 m)
I swam in the local lake without the neoprene suit as the water had 18 degrees Celsius. Swimming in fresh water represented an even harder challenge for me, therefore I finished in 21 minutes.
Cycling (28 km)
This race was shorter than usual, but had a 250 m level difference. I rode with an average of 19 km/h.
Running (6 km)
I had 6 one kilometer laps and I was able to sprint in the last lap up to 16 km/h during the final kilometer. I finished in 36 minutes.
My final time of 2:39 placed me on the 3rd position. I gained 20 points, having a total score of 46 points until now. In addition to this, I took part at the same time, in a relay race with my dad (@ cycling) and with a friend (@ running). That was possible wearing two chips for the two different categories: the individual and the relay race. When I finished swimming, I gave the relay chip to my dad and I went on to cycling. They had a total time of 2:38, thus finishing on the second position.
Completing this two stages allowed me to stay on the podium.
After this competition I could say that I have started the season with the right foot.
The weather was good so I finished on the 2nd place within less than 3 hours as I promised (more precisely 02:50:58).
Swimming (1000 m)
As the water was cold, under 16° Celsius, I wore the neoprene suit. I finished the first stage in 19 minutes.
Cycling (33 km)
The track was not very difficult as there was insignificant difference of level. I finished in 1:45 with an average of 19 km/h.
Running (8 km)
As usual, the most difficult part is at the end, or at least it feels so. After so much effort, I had too little energy to have a good timing, so I did it in 46 minutes, with 10 minutes more than I usually have at my trainings for this distance.
All in all, it was a good race where I developed my technique skills. I got 26 points so far and I am placed on the second place at Grand Prix.
The triathlon season starts in two weeks so I have already started to train myself by running 10 km/day, swimming 1 km/day (2 days/week) and cycling occasionally when riding around the city (about 5 km/day).
Here is my equipment:
Bioel Triathlon Grand Prix is consisted of 5 independent Triathlons in different parts of Romania, each of them having about 1 km of swimming, 35 km of cycling and 10 km of running. The Grand Prix is divided into two types of competitions. The Exterra triathlons which have an off-road track for cycling and the Road Triathlons which are exclusive on the asphalt.
This year I will participate only at Exterra Triathlons as I have already prepared my bike for off-road conditions.
The 5 stages of Exterra are as follows:
I will gather points at every stage according to my final time. My goal is to finish each race in less than 3 hours in order to be among top 3.
This is my first triathlon where I participated at individual category, that means I completed all three stages: swimming, cycling and running. I chose the Olympic race (the longest) as I felt ready to face up the challenge.
Swimming
As the weather was awful (11° C) and the water temperature was below 9, the swimming stage was cancelled an hour before the race and it was replaced by 5 km of running. I decided to dose my energy level, so I ran with an average of 10 km/h.
Cycling
This stage was held on asphalt which represented an extra level of difficulty for me as I own an off-road bike. There were 36 km and I completed them in 1h10′.
Running
After so much effort, I was exhausted but I had to run another 10 km and by the end of the race I had many cramps in my calves.
My final time was 2h35′ and I finished the 12th.
During the cycling stage: second 53”
Vlad Petrescu 