Finally!!! The first podium in 2019! I cannot tell you how happy I am. I have participated at April Joke 70.3 Triathlon race in Cyprus that is organised by Ares Sports Club at the weekend.
The race is organised in Kaplica Area in North Cyprus, so I stayed at Kaplica Hotel, the race hotel. The room and the hotel is very old and the windows were not protecting us from the wind :( I stayed almost near the beach in a single room. It was just a one night of stay and I was alone. So it is okay for me. The participation was not that high but the participants were very qualified and challenging.
I arrived to Ercan Airport early in the Saturday morning and arranged my own transfer. The organisation has arranged a collective transport to the hotel area at 17:00. I actually didn't want to wait for free transport too much. On our way to hotel, we stopped at the market and bought some water and food for myself. After I arrived to the hotel, I met with my teammates at Yüz Bin Koş. I also started to mount my bike. The weather was very windy and cold.
We have began training at 13:00 with a short ride and a short run. It was so windy but the nature is perfect. Roads are empty, few cars are passing by. The nature is great.. I can bike there all day :)
On Saturday evening, we were expecting a cancellation in swim part due to high currents and waves. The night was very very loud and cold. When we wake up in the morning, it was obvious that the swim will be cancelled and they announced that the swim section had to be cancelled due to weather conditions.
On Sunday Morning, I woke up at 5:45am and went to breakfast. I had an egg, cheese, olives and honey. I also had an Espresso Bar. Then I went to transition area to leave my bike.
The race turned out to be a duathlon and we raced for 5k run, 90k bike and 21k run. Just before the race we had a team photo and I found myself near my coach, Oleg, at the beginning of the lane. I was so excited and ready for it.
I started running with my coach Oleg but my other coach Ozgur, told me to slow down and he was pacing my run. I finished first 5k run together with Ozgur at 4'30'' min/km. My duration was 22 minutes 40 seconds. I left the transition area in 40 seconds :) which is perfect for me!! I could see some improvements..
Now there is the bike section, the total elevation of the bike is 1000meters and it was a rolling parkour that we have to bike 3 rounds. I was going very well for the first 2 rounds. My average pace was 31km perhour in the first 60kms then I have began to drop as I was considering the run. I did not want to cycle faster and the wind has become stronger which slowed me down more. But I was okay and in the end I finished 90km in 3 hours 3 minutes. In the last 5k of the bike, I worked more on the cadence rather then the speed. However, the wind was hurling us at some certain roads. It was so hard, but I managed to keep my pace.
It has come for the last round. 21km of run with 400 meters of elevation! I was okay at the first 5km. My average pace was around 5'42 min/km. I was hoping to continue with that pace or somewhere around. Unfortunately, I dropped and couldn't get any faster. I suddenly began to run alone which was not good for me. I actually needed someone to run with me. Some people began to pass me and my pace dropeed to 6'30 min/km. I continue like that I saw a older guy and told him that Bro I want to run with you :) Otherwise I would drop and he said come join me :) My pace increased to 5'20, 5:40 min/km again. I finished the 3rd round with that guy and now I was going to the last 5km of the race. I had to pee so much, but I could not stop because I knew that I could finish the race in top 3, but I couldn't run any faster and I also peed while running!! (First time :) ) When I go for hte last 2.5km, I saw some athletes that could be in my Age Group and yes I passed them with average pace of 6'34'' and 5'07''min/km and I finished the race in 3rd place in my age group in 5 hours 43 minutes!
I was so happy with the result. Altough, I knew the fact that I should run a bit faster, I could finish the race 1st in my age group.
There was also another importance of this race. Last year, I raced at the same parkour while our baby was 6 months old and I couldn't train well for that race. Almost zero training. I finished the race 5 minutes before the cut-off time. :) Now I returned there with a podium win! :) I am sooo happy!! I took revenge of the last year's race!! I now put this race to my every year's race list! It can also be considered as extreme triathlon race for beginners.
Now my next sprint race will be in Alanya on 28th of April. I hope to give all my effort! I will do my best nd at least I will force for the top 3!.