National Aquathlon Championships & BSJ Series Race 3

National Aquathlon Championships

Hi,

it's been a long time since my last post. Two key races which were scheduled for August have been moved to September. The first one was the National Aquathlon Championships organised for the first time on the 17th September. I had no idea how I would perform on the day as I had been on holiday the week before and sick for the 3 days before the race. I had been off from swimming for almost two weeks and was still on antibiotics. Moreover, it was extremely hot so the conditions were far from being ideal.

I was tired from the first minute of the race. Other athletes were running past me and I could not respond. I just tried to maintain my pace so that I could maybe do better during the swim. I finished the first 2.5km in 10mins 17sec; better than the St. Patrick's previous Aquathlon by more than a minute.

 

Details of First Run

Heading into the swim, we had 2 laps of 500m each. I was slightly out of breath and had to relax my stroke a bit more than usual  until I got into my rhythm. I was completely clueless about what my performance would be in the swim as apart from my lack of training the waters were quite rough, I managed to finish in 20mins 47sec.

Swim Details

At that point I was only hoping that I could keep running - many thoughts crossed my mind to stop at some point or another during the last 2.5k but I tried to keep my form and finish in 11mins 30sec for a total time of 43mins 56sec. Definitely not one of my best performances. However, at the moment I am in 10th place overall and will fight to finish the season better with 3 races to go.

Details of Second Run 

Birkirkara St. Joseph Sprint Triathlon Series Race 3

Just 4 days after the Aquathlon Championships I had another important race organised by my club Birkirkara St. Joseph having 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run at Birzebbugia. Weather was still very hot and humid and I knew it would be tough - also due to my lack of preparation. However, I was excited to do my first race with my new time trial bike - the Cannondale Slice RS. I have trained very frequently to be able to feel comfortable in the new position.

I tried to start in a good position for the swim. I thought I managed to find one where I couldn't be hindered but during the countdown some athletes walked in front of me and blocked my way and even though I was a stronger swimmer I got stuck behind them. I thought of moving sideways and go past them but that usually takes a bit of extra energy to do and I usually leave this to when squeezed by others; not when behind them. I waited for the confusion of hitting athletes at the first buoy to find a spot to move to and then continued at my regular pace. I finished my swim after 14mins 13sec - slower than what I'm used to.

As soon as I hopped on to the bike, I noticed I forgot to take my gel and did not tape it to the bike. I simply had to do without it. The weather was not helping me perform any better but I tried to keep my pace - the descents felt a bit faster on the new bike at least. On the third lap (out of 4) along the road from Birzebbugia to Hal Far the chain skipped from both the front and rear sprockets during a gear change and lost around 30-40sec to get off and fix it. I finished in 38mins 25sec - a Personal Best by just 1sec (given I had to stop to fix the bike).

One of my fastest transitions - just 15sec

Next came the hardest part - I felt it very hard to keep my usual pace - in fact I was slowing down by a couple of seconds every kilometre. I also tried to make up for it by sprint finishing the race against another athlete but failed in that as well. The run took me 22mins 47sec at the end of which I had to lie down until I got my breath back.

Race Data

I finished the race in 1hr 16mins 23sec and although I am still pleased that I managed to at least complete it, I noticed my performances are slowly declining. I will use the last few weeks to train harder and smarter to finish the season well. I want to thank my coach Keith Galea for his encouragement and tips to improve. I also want to thank all those who support me including my family. Last but not least I need to thank my wife Maria and daughter Elena for being always there for me and their constant support is of utmost importance to me.

Anatoly

(thanks Charlot Scicluna and Capture me Photography for the awesome photos)