Middle distance triathlon Almiraman 7.05.2023
On 7.05.2023, the ninth edition of the AlmiraMan in the small Greek town Olympic Games. I have to admit, one of my most enjoyable triathlon races. It was a great day, with (almost) everything going smoothly. I finished third in my age group and 7th (out of 216 participants) in the overall standings with a total time of 04:15:47. InMy belts by segments are:
- Swimming 30:15 (01:35min/100m)
- T1 02:41
- Cycling 02:17:30 (39.27km/h)
- T2 01:01
- Running 01:24:17 (04:00min/km)
Based on an idea from the book “"Can't hurt me" by David Goggins, I sit down honestly in front of myself and dissect the competition, recording good decisions as well as mistakes made (called an After Action Report in the book).
Preparation
Let’s start from the beginning – this race was not only my first of the season, but also a top priority for me. My last such distance was my first Ironman in 2016 in Wiesbaden and I finished in 5:49. So I was pretty confident that I could set a new personal best (PB) this time. The course was flat and the weather conditions were almost perfect.
Just a week before the race I was at a two-week training camp in Mallorca. I won't lie – I was tempted to ride at full speed through the beautiful places on the island! No matter how many kilometers you do there, you can't get bored. But I knew that especially in the second week I had to be patient to keep my legs in shape for the day of the race. At that moment it was not easy for me to refrain.
A few numbers…
At the beginning of the camp, my CTL score was 72 (TSB 6), and on race day it went up to 87 (TSB 15).
The pink line shows how my fatigue level has dropped significantly (which is good), and the yellow line representing my form has increased (also very good).
This happened because I intentionally didn't push myself as hard as I could during the second week. I knew it was important to give myself time to recover. It was hard to hold back at the time, but it turned out to be the right decision.
Organization
As a triathlete, competing in smaller races with less than 2,000 athletes is a different experience – you feel more special, not like a grain of sand in the sea. The race in Almira on May 7, 2023 was a delightful departure from the much larger events I had participated in before. The advantages of such races are numerous, especially when it comes to the personal approach and easy organization.
Registration for the race took a total of 3 minutes (no queue), which allowed me to focus more without unnecessary stress. The hotel where we were staying was also ideally located near the transition area, which further facilitated the logistics.
I spent the day before the race looking at the swim, bike and run courses. I liked the high level of organization of the event. The time from the hotel to the transition areas (T1 + T2) was minimal, which is rare at larger international races (at least for accessible hotels).
Another thing that is missing from the big races is the closeness with the organizers. My meeting with the main organizer was extremely pleasant, and the communication throughout the weekend added significantly to the satisfaction of the race. Moments like these make participating in a triathlon even more special.
Nutrition
I wanted the breakfast I wanted my breakfast on race day to be something tried and tested and easy on the stomach, but also something I enjoyed. I’ve never had a problem with plain white bread, a little butter, and honey (it’s usually easy to find), so that’s exactly what I chose for the morning of the race. I had two slices of bread with butter and honey in my room, as well as a few croissants drizzled with a little more honey. Since the start was scheduled for 7 a.m., I woke up at 5 a.m. to give myself enough time to eat a leisurely breakfast and mentally prepare myself. I’m not a fan of morning coffee, so I skipped it today as well. And guess what? There were no surprises – I felt exactly how I wanted to feel – not too full, just satiated.
Now let's rewind the tape to the day before the race. For lunch I had a delicious risotto with mussels (these Greeks cook well, hey), which was my last big meal. As for dinner, the organizers had prepared pasta for the competitors – around 8:00 PM I poured myself half a portion and that was it. Ideally, dinner could have been a little earlier, but the race briefing took a little longer than expected. Overall, it was a good pre-race meal plan.
After the finish, I was feeling thirsty and knew I was a little dehydrated. So almost immediately I drank 1 liter of water and ate two bananas. About an hour later, when I got back to the hotel, I also made myself a protein shake.
Swimming
Nutritionally, I couldn't do much in the water and I also didn't want to drink a gel right before getting in the water. I felt great – not too full, but I wasn't hungry either, so I just used the time to warm up properly.
The water was a bit chilly – 17C, so we were all in wetsuits. I put sunscreen on my hands, head and neck and applied a lot of Vaseline to sensitive areas like my neck, armpits and between my legs to prevent chafing (especially in the salt water). The water was almost like a lake and there were no waves, great conditions for swimming!
Next time I will use coconut oil instead of petroleum jelly because petroleum jelly is not very suitable for neoprene.
I decided to wear just the bottom of the tri suit and wrap the top around my waist under the wetsuit. My idea was to not have two pieces of fabric on my shoulders while swimming, but it turns out that putting on a wet suit while running and feeling a little dizzy is not so easy…
The swim started with a mass start, which is always a bit chaotic, but I found someone who was swimming at a similar pace to me and stuck with them. I looked ahead less than usual and just followed my new friend to stay on course.
After half an hour I got out of the water and headed to the changing area. I struggled to get out of the wetsuit and with great difficulty put on the top of my triathlon suit, while still feeling dizzy from the swim. The fact that the suit was wet and rolled up didn't help much, so I ended up having to sit on the ground to change properly. Next time I'll put it on completely before the swim. Lesson learned.
Cycling
I was calculated, that with my current training I should be able to maintain an average of around 240-260 W. However, during the first 5-7 minutes I didn't pay much attention to the power because I was still trying to adjust the suit and I still felt a little dizzy.
The bike course consisted of a 7km stretch, followed by two 38km laps and then another 7km back to the start. Once I finally got into the suit, I immediately started getting in carbs and water.
For on-bike nutrition, I had prepared a 750 ml bottle behind the seat, with 300 g of carbohydrates (1:1 ratio of glucose and fructose), 5 g of electrolytes, and 400 mg of caffeine.
After the end I measured that I only drank about 60% from this bottle, which means about 180g of carbohydrates, 3g of electrolytes and 240mg of caffeine. I didn’t take any water from the stations because I had 500ml on the frame and 750ml in the cockpit between my hands, which were enough for me. The reason I stopped drinking was because after about 65-70km I started to feel bloated. I usually have anti-bloating pills with me (I use Degasin), but unfortunately I didn’t have any this time and it ended up affecting my performance. Lesson learned…
Now let's talk about drafting. Initially I was going well. But then a group of 3-4 guys riding together overtook me. Since this is a non-drafting race, I stepped back to maintain a 10m gap from the last one, but decided to stick with this group for pace.
As the race progressed, more and more cyclists overtook me and a small group formed. I can safely say that the 10m rule was not respected by anyone in this group. I tried to stay out of the drafting zone, all the while trying to stick to the group and not let them create too much of a gap. I knew that I could overtake at least a few of them in the run, but if they got too far ahead, I wouldn’t catch them. I wondered what to do for a few more kilometers, and even tried to take the lead of the group. I managed… but only for 2-3 minutes before they overtook me again. This continued a few more times before I finally gave up and joined the group.
I share this not as an excuse. Although I was not penalized for breaking the rules, I admit that I could have done better in the drafting zone (1 ohm from the front). That's why I don't count my time on the bike as actual performance.
Running
After getting off the bike, I wasted no time in grabbing an anti-bloating pill from my bag. Just five minutes later I felt much better and started pushing the pace again. When I started the half marathon, I decided to be a little more cautious, considering the outdated detection. I planned to start with a pace of 4:15 min/km and adjust accordingly. The running course was super beautiful and consisted of three 7 km laps along the sea.
At first I felt good and kept to the planned pace without going too far. However, right at the start I was overtaken by someone else who was running at around 4 min/km. I set my sights on him and decided to see how long I could keep it up. I found a good rhythm and my heart rate remained steady at around 160 beats per kilometre. I made good progress and started to close the gap with the runners in front of me.
Things were going well and I was able to maintain that pace until the end of the run. The last 4-5 km were quite difficult because it got hot and I wasn't consuming many carbs - I was only taking sips of water every now and then.
For my nutrition during the run, I had prepared a 500 ml bottle, with a mixture of glucose and fructose (1:1). Unfortunately, although I felt better and the bloating had subsided, I was hesitant about consuming too many carbohydrates too quickly, as I didn’t have another pill with me. This strategy worked for the distance I was running, but if I had to run another 21 km, I would definitely have problems. In fact, in the last 15 minutes I was already feeling on edge.
Then I measured that I had only consumed about 20% of the contents of my 500ml bottle, which means approximately 30g of carbs, 0.6g of electrolytes and 40mg of caffeine. This was much less than I had intended…
What did I learn?
I summarize the lessons I learned from this competition for myself:
- Putting on a full triathlon suit before entering the water. The minimal time saved in the water is not worth the hassle of putting on a wetsuit while running
- anti-bloating pills on the bike, as well as magnesium and amino acids
- bloating is mainly caused by fructose. I need to experiment with a 1:0.5 or 1:0.7 ratio of glucose to fructose in my workouts
- to pay more attention and follow the drafting rules regardless of what others do. Only then will the end result make sense...
- basing the pacing strategy on more recent tests
- developing more speed in running after the bike
- using coconut oil instead of petroleum jelly
Results
Let's also look at my results compared to the top 10 in my category. As a third-place finisher there, my running split looks decent. However, when I compare it to the two competitors in front of me, this is where I lose the most time – an average of 9 minutes (compared to 7:50 on the bike and 5:40 on the swim, respectively). This is where I need to focus my main focus going forward – becoming a stronger runner.
In my experience, running is the most crucial of the three disciplines and can make or break a significant amount of time. For middle distance races and especially longer ones, I would rather have a great run even if my swim and bike are only average than an average run after a great bike and swim.
After a big competition, I prefer to take at least a week off from structured training - it also has a good effect on my psyche.
Looking ahead, I have an exciting plan for the rest of the year. On July 2nd, I'm headed to a 100km trail run - one of the most iconic in Bulgaria: Vitosha 100. This is my next priority race and I can't wait to challenge myself on some mountain terrain.
Towards the end of October I have an ambitious goal in mind. I want to challenge myself to do full distance triathlon in less than 9 hours. This will be quite difficult, but certainly interesting!
