Birkirkara St. Joseph Sprint Triathlon Series Race 1
Hi,
On the 8th of June, I was on the starting line of one of my most awaited races of the year: the first race of a series of 4 Sprint Triathlons (750m Swim - 20km Bike - 5km Run)organised by my club Birkirkara St. Joseph. I was eager as this was going to be the first triathlon of the season - all the other races before had been either running only or duathlons which I am not particularly good at. This year the venue was changed from the usual Coast Road route to a new one in Birzebbugia. Since it is close to home, I was quite familiar with the route although like all other athletes I had tons of questions about turnaround points and laps. Having also trained during the week in the sea rather than pool sessions, I knew the water was still cold. The only wetsuit race I had in March had not gone so well and I was a bit afraid that I might be underperforming because the wetsuit although it should always give you an advantage due to its buoyancy.
I was early at the venue to warm up well as I was eager to see if and by how much I would have improved especially in the swim and run (the bike course, being hillier does not count for a comparison). The race started a bit late but I was very relaxed and chatted with others to keep pressure low. I was up front for the swim and as soon as the horn blew I tried to gain a good place. We had to go around 3 buoys and I noticed I was exactly behind the leading group till the second buoy. I struggled only from the second to the third buoy as there were some smaller buoys present and I had to sight more frequently to check I was swimming straight. In fact I noticed I was at a disadvantage as some swimmers had reached me and could not keep up with them. I still managed an unprecedented 8th place out of the water in 13mins 1sec (Personal Best by 25sec and very close to my target this year to make it in less than 13mins) and wanted to be as fast as possible in transition because some other triathletes were without a wetsuit and could gain an advantage in getting on the bike quicker. Transition was quite smooth although my glasses fell off and had to pick them up.
The bike segment was a bit tougher than expected - my usual training on the course would not be with race conditions and I had to fight hard so as not to let other athletes go past me. There were a number of good bikers and I kept a bit back from pushing harder as I did not want to run on very tired feet. The road leading from Birzebbugia to Hal Far should have been closed to traffic but it was very crammed with the competitors, some commuters, cars and even a horse! Not what I usually expect in a race like this. I managed to finish in 38:26 and strangely felt stronger and fresh to run.
This year I have done a minimal number of brick workouts so far but I must say I still feel very strong when switching from bike to run. Even though I had gained a good advantage especially in the swim, stronger runners quickly caught up during the 3 laps around pretty bay promenade. This was the first race I have been where the atmosphere was very special as there were a number of bypassers, commuters, joggers and people sitting on the various benches who were constantly talking about the race. I also saw some people cheering at athletes from house balconies which is very nice and unusual in a Maltese race. I was keeping a very good pace - my best yet of 4mins20sec/km and although I badly wanted to increase to keep up with some better runners I held to that pace as I knew this was the most I could sustain for 5km. Considering that many feel running is their strongest part in triathlon, I managed a very good time of 21:57. This is a personal best by 22sec.
I finished the race in 1hr 15mins 1sec placing well in 17th place out of 53 and extremely satisfied with my performance and my improvement. All this could not have been possible without the constant support of my wife Maria and daughter Elena together with the all the help I have been receiving since March from my coach Keith Galea.
On the 1st of May I took part in the National Duathlon Championships, organised by the Malta Triathlon Federation on the Zebbug Bypass with race distances of 8.5km run - 38km bike and 4.25km run. I have not been preparing specifically for this race but it's an important one and I wanted to try and improve on last year's time of 2hrs 16mins 42sec. The race conditions were surprisingly hot. I ran my first run at a very good pace - averaging 4:22/km. The bike course started after a 37:59 run.
The bike course consisted of 9 laps which took me 1:10:48. The effort to cycle as best I could and crouched for that time in a Time Trial position did not do good for my hamstrings as during the moment I stepped in transition I cramped and could barely walk. For a second I thought of stopping as the pain was considerable. My coach was encouraging me to stop and stretch before continuing. I had to do so; otherwise there was no way I could continue with the final run. It took me a while to pick up the pace but once I did I had a good run.
The race was over in 2:10:46 - almost 6mins of improvement over last year. I could feel strong throughout. It is a good sign that shows how much I have worked especially on Endurance.
Thanks for all those who support me in one way or another and thanks for Captureme Photography for the amazing shots.
Anatoly
I finished the race in 1hr 15mins 1sec placing well in 17th place out of 53 and extremely satisfied with my performance and my improvement. All this could not have been possible without the constant support of my wife Maria and daughter Elena together with the all the help I have been receiving since March from my coach Keith Galea.
National Duathlon Championships
On the 1st of May I took part in the National Duathlon Championships, organised by the Malta Triathlon Federation on the Zebbug Bypass with race distances of 8.5km run - 38km bike and 4.25km run. I have not been preparing specifically for this race but it's an important one and I wanted to try and improve on last year's time of 2hrs 16mins 42sec. The race conditions were surprisingly hot. I ran my first run at a very good pace - averaging 4:22/km. The bike course started after a 37:59 run.
The bike course consisted of 9 laps which took me 1:10:48. The effort to cycle as best I could and crouched for that time in a Time Trial position did not do good for my hamstrings as during the moment I stepped in transition I cramped and could barely walk. For a second I thought of stopping as the pain was considerable. My coach was encouraging me to stop and stretch before continuing. I had to do so; otherwise there was no way I could continue with the final run. It took me a while to pick up the pace but once I did I had a good run.
The race was over in 2:10:46 - almost 6mins of improvement over last year. I could feel strong throughout. It is a good sign that shows how much I have worked especially on Endurance.
Thanks for all those who support me in one way or another and thanks for Captureme Photography for the amazing shots.
Anatoly
