ICAN long distance triathlon and the impossible 9 hours

On 19.10.2024 in Gandia, Spain, I participated in my seventh long-distance race. After my last one in Kona in October 2022, I had decided to try again what it was like to swim 3.8 km, then cycle 180 km and finish the day with a marathon. However, after six finishes, the idea of just „surviving“ one more time no longer appealed to me. Not that there is anything magical about 540 minutes, but the round number of 9 hours for such a distance seemed like an interesting puzzle to solve. In this post, I will describe how the race went and what I learned.

As usual, it's good to start a little early. 2024 was my first year where the main focus was on developing something else, and not so much on my abilities as an athlete. I had decided from the beginning to reduce the number of competitions in favor of quality. However, I participated in one training camp as an assistant, we organized two triathlon camps in Bulgaria and a legendary competition that took up a lot of my time.

Total for 2024: triathlon camp in Mallorca, completed with participation in Mallorca312, triathlon camp in Plovdiv, participation in Triman, organizing the only middle-distance triathlon competition in Bulgaria – Tri Legend, training camp in Sandanski, half marathon Sofia and ending with ICAN Gandia. Pretty good for a first year. With that “backpack” on my back, combining 12-15-hour training weeks was a real challenge.

The overall preparation for the race went well. Except for a few sick days in June, I managed to stay healthy and injury-free. I maintained a relatively high volume on the bike – often getting up at 5am to do 2 hours of training – 60km with 1000m of elevation gain. This, combined with 40-50km of weekly running, created a solid foundation.

The only thing I allowed myself to miss was swimming. This year my desire to go to the pool decreased sharply – whether because of the time it took each workout or because of the state of the local pool, I'm not sure. But either way, it took a back seat.

Two weeks before the race, I did my toughest brick workout: a 180km bike ride at race pace, combined with a nutrition training test, followed by a 1-hour run with 3 x 10-minute intervals, again at race pace. I felt good, and the numbers were giving me confidence. It was time to cut back on the volume and move into the recovery phase, also known as taper.

Travel – logistics under pressure

For the race itself, circumstances required me to travel on Thursday night, arriving at 1:00 a.m. on Friday. This was suboptimal, especially in terms of transporting the bike. There was a risk that it wouldn't arrive on time or would be damaged in transit, leaving very little time for repairs. Fortunately, everything went smoothly.

On Friday morning I put the bike together and went out for a quick look at the route. My plan was to ride it slowly for about 30 minutes, but with a "let's go a little longer" it turned into an hour. At least I managed to check out the critical points on the route - the exit from the city included several large potholes and artificial bumps (lying down police officers). Then I went through registration, took my bags to the changing area and went with the support group to lunch. After lunch I was able to rest and even sleep for about an hour.

Final preparations the day before the start

After the break, I checked the bike – everything was fine. I prepared the change bags and left them where they were supposed to be. I looked around the area – 1200 participants, of which only about 150 on the full distance. This created enough space around the bikes, but the change bags were gathered in a tent and a slight chaos was emerging.

I also looked at the start of the swim. It was organized in groups, with a start from the water and no opportunity for a warm-up. Not exactly optimal, but there was nothing I could do.

I got back to the hostel early, where dinner was spaghetti with tomato sauce – a classic that always works. This is not the time to experiment or eat heavy, greasy meals. I ate until I felt full, but without overdoing it. Then I prepared my food for the race, so that I wouldn’t leave anything for the morning.

Nutrition strategy

The meal plan looked like this:

  • Before the start: A bottle with 60 g of sugar solution that I can consume evenly.
  • Wheel: Two 650ml bottles (tea with 300g sugar each, left to cool), plus 500ml of pure water in an aero bottle. The plan was to consume about 120g of carbs per hour for 4.75 hours (570g total), with a small margin. I also took sachets Hydratin Alpha, Spasmalgon, Degassing, caffeine tablets and energy bars for variety.
  • Running: One 500ml bottle with 300g of sugar. The goal was 80g of carbs per hour for 3 hours (240g), again with a little margin. I put the carb bottle in my waist belt, No-Spa, Spasmalgon, Hydratin and a few energy gels.
  • After the race: I prepared a protein shake, hydrate, and creatine tablets, which I left for the support group to bring to me immediately after the finish.

Race day – preparation and start

The start on Saturday was scheduled for 8:50 – quite late for a long distance and not exactly to my taste, but there was nothing to do. I got up around 5:30 and immediately went to eat. I had prepared my favorite „race breakfast“ – toasted white bread with butter and honey, plus tea. For me, this combination works flawlessly. While I was eating breakfast, I poured the already cooled mint tea into the bottles I had prepared the day before. I filled one to drink before the start. Then I started getting dressed.

First – generously smearing Vaseline on critical areas, followed by sunscreen. I put on the bottom of the suit, put on the heart rate monitor and then the top. There was about a kilometer to the start, so I carried the wetsuit in a bag. I gathered everything I needed for before the start, following checklist: wetsuit, swimming goggles, hat, warm-up band, headphones, bottles, headlamp, powder, bike computer, bike shoes + bands. I got dressed in civilian clothes (yes, that's what it sounds like!) and headed to the area. My support group would come a little later.

Preparation in the area

I wasn't one of the first, but even at 6:30 in the morning, not everyone was there. Perfect – a little peace and time to concentrate. First I checked the bike. I put the bottles on, attached the shoes with the elastics, pumped up the tires and turned on the bike computer. I synchronized and calibrated the pedals. Everything seemed fine.

I also checked the bags in the area:

  • After swimming: helmet (required in the bag, not on the bike), elastic band with a number, towel.
  • After the wheel: sneakers, hat, glasses, belt with bottle (which I put on in the morning).

Even after double-checking everything and relaxing, I still had about an hour left until the start. I stepped aside, did a deep breath, and Wim Hof, after which I was left alone with my thoughts. The sun was just rising. There was no tension – just gratitude that I could do what I loved. The air was cool but pleasant. I sat in the corner, reviewed my plan, listened to my favorite music and smiled.

Moments before the start

A little later my people came too – I recognized them by their flag. My Endurance Life, which would serve as my reference point throughout the day. It was time to put on my wetsuit. I used the plastic bag trick to make it easier to put on. After a few last words with them, I headed to the pre-start area.

In the area we all waited our turn, and the organizers gave directions. I had to ask someone to translate for me because my Spanish is still not up to par. When it was my turn, I jumped into the water. There was about 150m to the imaginary starting line for our group. There was no countdown, just slight delays, so I relied on the body language of the judge from the shore.

Swimming

My goal was to cover 3.8 km in about 60 minutes (average pace of 1:35/100 m). The course consisted of two 1.9 km laps, located in the town's harbor. The advantage of this location was that there were no waves or currents, but the water was definitely not the cleanest. The starting group was large, so it was impossible to know who would swim at what pace. Still, I lined up at the front and slightly to one side to avoid the mass chaos.

The start was given, and I managed to find a few people with a similar pace. Everything went according to plan until about the 20th minute, when we started to catch up with the slower ones from the previous starting block. This led to a few unintentional contacts (not to mention hits) here and there. I finished the first lap in 28:42 minutes – right on schedule. I felt good, which gave me extra confidence.

 

On the second lap, the group thinned out because the previous starting block had only swum one lap. However, this resulted in more twists and turns than I wanted, even though I tried to keep a straight line. In the last 500 meters, I caught up with another group, but decided that there was no point in overtaking them - it would cost me too much energy for a minimal time advantage.

I got out of the water, looked at my watch – 58 minutes! This was my fastest time so far, and in excellent shape. However, there was no time for joy – the warm-up was over, and the real work was just beginning.

First shift

As I ran to the tent and unzipped my wetsuit, I remembered what I had to do: take off my clothes and dry off, put on my helmet, goggles, and bib, put everything else in the bag, and hang it up again.

Everything went smoothly and without any problems. I decided not to take any chances and sat down on the carpet to change. Time for the change? 2:16 minutes – more than satisfactory. The warm-up was officially over. It was time to get to work.

Wheel

The course was 4.5 laps, with each lap returning to the start – enjoyable for the spectators, but not so much for the competitors. Because the entry (and exit) was along the coastal promenade (which was tiled, not asphalt), passing through more potholes and bumps, and paying extra attention to pedestrians crossing.

According to my last test, I was able to maintain around 240-250 watts of average power and still have enough legs for the run. According to BestBikeSplit This effort on this course and calm weather corresponded to a time of around 4:40. At least in theory. Given the aforementioned tiles and the wind that came out on the day of the race, such a time was more optimistic than realistic.

I started with nutrition from the beginning – I knew that if I didn't spread it out evenly, it would be almost impossible to catch up in the second half. I was moving well, maintaining watts and eating according to the textbook… That is until things started to go wrong.

On the way back from the first lap, I lay down a little more in a corner, hit the pedal on the ground and its cap, along with its two batteries, flew out. There was no point in stopping to look for it – there was tall grass and finding it would be a big challenge. I resigned myself to the fact that I had come this far with riding on watts. I could only rely on my pulse and intuition.

On the second lap, when leaving the promenade, I didn't slow down enough on an artificial bump and one of the food bottles fell. I couldn't compromise here - I had to stop and pick it up, which cost me a few seconds. On the third lap, I hit a pothole, which I saw at the last moment, but it was too late. The time loss from these incidents was about 1-2 minutes and a short loss of concentration...

At the beginning of the fourth lap, I felt that my stomach was no longer satisfied. The reason remains unclear, but even with salt intake, Spasmalgon и Degassing I had to cut back on carbs for a while. It wasn't the best solution, but it was necessary.

Another critical moment – at the water station I reached for a new bottle, but my hand dropped the handlebars and I was millimeters away from exploring the asphalt up close. With my shoes on and going 20km/h I miraculously got away – I managed to hold on, but the adrenaline definitely spiked!

Despite everything, I completed 182 km in 4:52 hours (37.4 km/h average) – almost according to plan, taking into account the headwind, bumps, and a few unforeseen situations.

Second shift

The second shift went smoothly. I left my shoes on the bike, took off my helmet as I ran to the change tent, grabbed my water bottle belt, hat, and goggles, put on my sneakers, and off I went. The weather? 1:59 minutes – second best among all participants.

Running

The running route included 6 laps along the promenade – flat and even shady in places. But from the start, my stomach was my main problem. I have no explanation for what caused it – both the quantity and the content of the food were tested many times.

The first lap was more of a touristy one – walking with short moments of jogging. I took stomach pills, but without effect. Even the thought of the bottle with carbohydrates was unbearable. Which is a problem. Because if I stop taking any carbohydrates from the beginning – the end will be soooo long. On the 2nd and 3rd laps I took two gels. The rest I took by car at the checkpoints. Far below what was planned, but at least it was concentrated carbohydrates and I was taking something.

After the 30th kilometer I started running longer stages and the walking decreased. I knew that under 9 hours was no longer possible – or I would have to do the last 10 km in about 35 minutes! However, on the last lap I felt almost normal. I caught up with a few athletes and finished the marathon in 3:29 hours (5 min/km).

Conclusions
  • Planning does not guarantee everything – My biggest takeaway is that you can do a lot of preparation, thinking, and planning. But with such a long race, a lot of things can go wrong. And chances are you'll never know for sure what caused it. Part of the game.
  • Hypotheses about the stomach problem – I have 2 main hypotheses as to what might have happened. A few times I smelled diesel in the water. We were also swimming near parked yachts. I may have swallowed a very small amount and over time it upset my stomach. The other assumption is low hydration – it wasn’t very warm (around 18-20 degrees) and I don’t sweat a lot, but 2.5 liters of water for 4.75 hours might have been a bit much…
  • Preparation – 15-18 hour weeks, combined with my other commitments, require extreme discipline. Training in the morning, besides avoiding the Plovdiv heat, was the only way to be sure I would get the workout done before the day took an unexpected turn.
  • Playing fair is everything – my entire attempt to complete a full-distance triathlon under 9 hours would only make sense if it had been done cleanly – without drafting. Not that there wasn’t anywhere – there were places where I could have saved energy and time without getting caught. And no one would have known. But I would have known that it wouldn’t have been my achievement. It wouldn’t have been a reflection of my preparation. And I’m very proud of myself – for the entire bike I have a total of 0 meters of drafting!
  • Don't forget to have fun. – I honestly admit that I was sore for the first 30km of the run. But I told myself that I wanted to be here. And going through this difficult stage is what makes the experience worthwhile for me. 

The steeper the mountain and the harder the climb, the better the view from the finish line.

The steeper the climb, the better the view.

About the statistics…

I went to this race to measure myself, not others. Still, comparing myself to others gives some context to the times:

  • Overall ranking: 7th place out of 115 participants who completed the full distance (09:23:40)
  • First shift (T1): 8th place – 02:16
  • Second shift (T2): 3rd place – 01:59
  • Swimming: 11th place – 00:58:35
  • Cycling: 9th place – 04:51:13
  • Running: 13th place – 03:29:36

Given the challenges I faced along the way, I see these results not only as a good time, but also as a reflection of the honest and hard work I put in. Although I didn't quite achieve my original goal, the process of getting to this time was incredibly interesting and challenging. To be continued...