I am so excited that I am writing about the first race of this season! This race was actually planned on 2nd of May but because of the so-called Covid restrictions, they had to postpone it till 23rd of May. The most disappointing part of the races during these times is we have to wear a mask and follow some major rules. Luckily, most people do not follow these so-called guidelines.
Anyway, I have arrived to my hotel at Didim on 22nd of May around 12.30pm by car. They told me that I can check-in at 2pm so I have decided to test the bike route. The bike lap was like 2km incline and 2km decline 600-700meters was flat. So we will have to loop it for 4 times. I rode around 10kms at a very easy pace.
I wasn't very hungry after the training but I had my snacks with me. Since all restaurants were closed, I had to order food from outside. I didn't like the food in the hotel. After I checked-in at 2pm, I went to the race starting point around 3pm to check the swim lap. I swam all the 750 meters. It was okay for me. The water temperature was around 22-23 degrees, so it was okay to swim.
At the evening, I saw my friends in the hotel and we had dinner together and watched the race briefing online from federation's Youtube Channel.
I went to bed around 11pm and my sleep was okay. I woke up at 6.00am and had my small breakfast in the hotel room. I had tea, honey, 1 hard boiled egg, 2 pieces of cheese, some olives and 1 small bread.
I didn't have any finish-time goals for this race. I mostly focused on my swimming and running. I was aiming to take my bearings carefully and swim as fast as I can. It was a rolling start and only 5 athletes have started in every 5 seconds. The sea was very nice and clear, but we had to run almost 30 meters just to start swimming. Unfortunately, I had lost few seconds. In the end, I have finished it in 13 minutes and 52 seconds. In fact, I stopped swimming at around 12 minutes 45 seconds. I had some hard times while getting out of the water, that where I lost seconds. :)
My T1 speed was slow. It was 1 minute and 38 seconds. I should have done it faster. The reason it took that much time is I do not have any triathlon bike shoes and I had lack of Transition training. I am sure it will get better when I take part on the races and train for T1 and T2.
After T1, it was time for bike. It was 4 loops and 2km was incline 2km was decline. I wasn't very fast on the bike. My average was 30km/h and I finished the bike at 40minutes and 11 seconds. I didn't try to go faster while riding down.
My T2 took 1 minute and 7 seconds, Again it should have taken less for me but it is okay.
Then, the run took place. Unfortunately, I started a little bit fast. My average pace was 4.31km/h for the first km but I couldn't keep my pace. It was 4.31, 4.34, 4.57, 4.53 and 4.41km/h. In the end I have finished the run in 22 minutes 47 seconds. At the end of 1km there was 100 meters of climbing but I think the aim was around 8%. So, it caused us some problems.
In the end, I have finished the race in 1 hours 19 minutes and 33 seconds. I was quite happy with my performance. My splits were 00:13:52 swimming, 00:01:38 T1, 00:40:11 bike, 00:01:07 T2 and 00:22:47 run. It took me 21st place at my age group.
The lessons I learned from this race,
Swimming
Focus on going and going out from the water.
Try to run and jump in different techniques.
Do not try to swim unless the water is above your knees.
Bike
Start training as soon as possible
Run
Start slowly, listen to your body!
Try steady pace or negative split.
Do brick sessions
Transitions
I should work on them :)
Depends on my performance, I might buy a new Tri bike shoe next year.
Next week, I am going to swim 6km of Openwater Race at Aquamasters Marmaris. I look forward to it!