My first Duathlon

Transilvania Cross Duathlon was my first duathlon and it was a though one. I never trained specifically for a duathlon, I've never run after  or before a bike ride, but it was in my bucket list for a few years now. 

It was a very hard race but I felt good and aside from some small mistakes everything went ok. And I had a lot of fun especially on the downhill of the bike course (I got a new pair of tires and I will write about it soon).

I picked up the timing chip and the race numbers a day before the race so I arrived at the course about 40 minutes before the race. I left the bike and my stuff in the transit zone and left for a very short warm up. I tested all my setup, my racing clothes and the bike with the new tires but I didn't test how much will my phone wobble in my back pocket. This was a big mistake because it wobbled too much so I knew that I will have to run with the phone in my hand again. This wasn't such a big problem because I am used to running like that, it is just a small setback, especially in trail running. I thought that I know the course well enough and I will recover some time on the bike. 

The start was fast but not fast enough because the trail wasn't wide enough and I couldn't pass the others like I wanted. Soon the trail cleared up, I passed a lot of people and I could run in my own rhythm the two laps (about 5 km). I was passing people all the time, and just before the end of the run I eat my second gel (the first I had eaten just before leaving the transit zone before the start). I was the first time when I had to change equipment in a race so I made some small mistakes. I run passed my bike so I lost a few seconds and I should have run with my bike gloves or I should have carried them in my back pocket. 

The first transition was  a bit slow but once I got on my bike I was back in the race. I knew the course very well and the adrenaline helped me to be even faster. I passed 3 or 4 people on the first descent. Then on the first climb I lost all my followers, although I wasn't so fast, and then I raced alone. I made another mistake before the end of the first lap, I lost my bottle. I was lucky that a photographer picked it up, and I yelled that he should give it back in the next lap. 

I completed one more lap, without water, passing a few more contenders and paying more attention to the details of the track. There was a steep section, which I climbed in training when it was dry and I tried to climb it on the bike in the first lap but it was too slippery, I had fast but not grippy tires on the back, so in the second and third lap I was prepared to jump off the bike and run up the hill. I completed the second lap of 6 kilometers pretty fast but I had to stop to get my bottle back. The photographer wasn't prepared to give it back so I lost a few minutes but at least I could eat another gel. While I stopped a guy from a relay passed me, that was the only time somebody passed me on the bike course. 

The last bike lap went ok, I was tired but I still passed a few people, and even handed my tools to a guy who broke his chain. After finishing the lap my muscles from my legs were so tense that I barely managed to jump off the bike where a referee was signaling. The second time I payed more attention to were my stuff was in the transit zone and I put down my bike very fast, threw down my helmet and glasses and the gloves. I changed my shoes very fast and got my phone case. The first few meters went very good. I manged to put my phone on my hand and my legs were cheering, from the impact with the ground, my sore muscles were getting a gentle massage. 

Everything was fine until the first climb. I walked a little bit and than grinding my teeth I started running for another 10 minutes. When I started hearing he noise from the finish line I got some extra power and I started preparing for crossing the finish line. When I got out from the forest I heard my family cheering so I passed the finish line with a big smile.

I finished in 1:52:26 and I was very happy that this hard race was over. I found out after about an hour that I arrived in second place in my age group so I was ecstatic. On the downhill from the zoo into the city I was so happy, it was a great satisfaction. All that hard work, all those hard trainings, all that thinking and preparations and all that money invested in the equipment just paid off.

I was happy when I saw the final result that I could have gotten first place with a little more preparation ( I was still a bit tired after the semi marathon) and this was finally a race where no girl passed me, not even the pros :)

I hope I can race duathlons again and will have at least the same result.

running

please let me pass you :)

flying

at the time I didn't know that I was showing my position :)

the joy of the finish line

on the podium

shaking the hand of a legend

Mures Half marathon - race report

Last Sunday I run almost a half marathon, the Mures Half Marathon. It was a good race for me, I finished 5th in my age category. I didn't take too seriously this race, it was more like a test. I didn't really prepare for it, I wasn't rested and I didn't have the proper setup. I run with an old pair of nike trail shoes and the course wasn't off road. The shoes are so worn that my toes started to hurt after about an hour of racing. I didn't have my phone case, so I run with my phone in my hand and in the other hand I carried a gel for half the race(which I dropped in the second lap and I had to stop).

Like I said before this was a very good race. I started very fast, the adrenaline kicked in and it lasted for almost 1 kilometer. After that I tried to run in a steady pace, accelerating sometimes and slowing a bit when I felt too tired. I tried to go faster in the last two laps but I was too tired. I managed to sprint on the last straight so I finished in 1:22:05. I am satisfied with my result, another 5 minutes I could get on the podium, maybe next year.

It was a good experience, I saw a lot of good runners and learned a bit more about running :)

This weekend I am racing for the first time in a duathlon and I hope I can write a good race report next week also :)

Races in May

In May there will be a lot of races in town so I made a list with all of them:

1. Sunday May 3 – http://www.mureshalfmarathon.ro
   • in the center of the city
   • I've participated 2 years ago, it is a pretty good race
2. Saturday May 9 – http://crossduathlon.ro – Transilvania Cross Duathlon Balcan and Romanian National Championship
   • it's around the Zoo (First Run 5.5 km – 2 laps x 2.75 km, total elevation 162 meter, Bike 19.5 km – 3 laps x 6,5 km, total elevation 594 meter, Second Run 2.75 km – 1 laps x 2.75 km, total elevation 81 meter)
   • I want to race in a duathlon race for some time now so I would like to participate
3. Sunday May 10 – http://mszaszalbert.blog.hu
   • approximately 12 km of trail racing
   • I've participated last year and it was a lot of fun so I hope I will be there this year also
4. Sunday May 24 – http://trailrace.ascotid.ro
   • half marathon, trail running (21 km, total elevation 584), in the forest near the Zoo
   • I would like to participate because I like to run in that forest

If it will be possible I would like to race in all of these events, but I would be satisfied if I could race in at least the duathlon and the half marathon :)

My first half marathon

Last weekend I decided to test my limits again. The fist edition of Mures Half Marathon was a big test for me because I've never run so many kilometers and I have basically no real training. The same thing happened last year when I decided to participate in a 100 kilometer race.

The main idea in these long races is to be prepared mentally and just focus on finishing the race. I thought that it will be very especially after running just 10 km on the treadmill in one hour. I was expecting to run about 2 hours and 10 minutes. I ended up finishing the race in 1:32:14.

The race wasn't really a half marathon it was only about 18 km long. I started slowly to warm up and I was very careful to drink and eat some magnesium candies almost every lap. In the first lap I though that I was too slow because I saw that my lap times were about 10 minutes. It took me a few laps to realize that one lap was supposed to be about 2km so my time was ok. 

The crowd was great and all those people gave me extra energy. The finish line was packed we people and a lot of kids who were handing out water. The 6th lap was the best lap, I thought that I was flying. The 8th lap was the worst because I didn't get no water in that lap and I was preparing for to more dry laps. But the next lap I got water and the last lap was only 8:28.

It was a very nice experience and I hope I can run again soon :)

Targu Mures Trophy

The Targu Mures Trophy was my longest and hardest race. I was thinking a lot before the race about which category to choose, the 65 km or the 100 km. I knew that I wasn't in a very good shape but I had a very stressful period and very few time to get out on a bike... These and the fact that the 100 km included the climb to Becheci made me sign up to the longest race. I thought that if I would be very tired I would abandon and race on the short track.
Thanks to the weight training and football I am in a good shape although I don't ride a lot anymore. In the last few year I raced a lot so know I know how to race and how to finish races. I've put a lot of thought in my race tactic and I decided to start slow and maintain a steady pace so I don't get tired.

I was expecting to have some cramps in my legs but I learned how to deal with them (eat a lot of bananas and drink a lot). I was also expecting to have a sore behind but luckily that didn't happen only after the race. Thanks to the weight training my hands didn't get tired like they used to and even my back pain disappears after about a half hour. I didn't expect the pain I had in my neck area in the middle of the race when I got so tired that I couldn't keep my shoulders up :)

The race started one hour later so I was starting to get hungry and I wanted to get fast to the first checkpoint to get something to eat. I started slowly, keeping a constant and pleasant pace to conserve my energy, I was just enjoying the ride. The first climb was in the forest and it was muddy and slippery so I had to get off the bike two times. At the first check point I was amazed by my speed, I had 16,7 km/h average speed. I took a lot of bananas and a cereal bar and a lot of liquids. It was my first race where I had an extra water bottle in my back pocket because it was very hot and I was prepared for a very long race.


I was heaving fun and riding steadily, not pushing to hard and soon I got to the the second checkpoint where I noticed that my average speed dropped only to to 16,6 km/h. After the second stop which was at about 40  kilometers I started to get tired so when stopped at the next checkpoint for water and food my average speed decreased to 15,4 km/h. I was eating a lot of bananas and drinking water and isotonic drinks to avoid cramps. I also had 5 gels and some magnesium candy which I ate before the hard climbs or when I started to get tired.


When I got to the big climb to Becheci I was already tired but conquering the mountain motivated me. It was a very hard and long climb, it took me 1 hour and 12 minutes to climb 9 kilometers. The only thing that motivated me was the thought that if I climb this mountain then the hard part is over and I can finish the race. Talking to the people at the checkpoints I found out that I was last and a girl was in front of me at a few minutes. The climb to Becheci was very hard, I had a lot of cramps and I was walking a lot to get rid of them, I was dreaming of just sitting down or laying on a bed. The other big problem was the sun, there was almost no shade on the climb.


When I got to the top the checkpoint was already gone, I found out from the mountain rescue team that they left about 5 minutes ago, after the girl in from of me left. I got some water and continued with a short downhill.


The path to the next checkpoint was very hilly and I got very tired from not being able to keep a steady pace. When I got to the checkpoint the people motivated me and I was feeling recharged. The big problem was that I still had a long way home and I was fighting with my thought and the cramps. The last 40 kilometers where the hardest, I thought that the race will never end. Two referees with an atv motivated me before they left me alone and went to the finish line. With a few km before the finish some people where congratulating and saying that I'm almost there, that was the best motivation :)

When I got to the finish line everybody was applauding so I instantly forgot all the pain. I didn't defeat anybody (I was last) but I defeated myself. I proved to myself that it's all in my head, you have to race with your head not with your legs :)

Stats:
 - distance: 103.4 km
 - average speed: 13.7 km/h
 - max speed: 48.7 km/h
 - moving time: 7:30:24
 - race time was about 7 hours and 50 minutes

Neuzer Bike Party 2011

To write or not to write, this was the question in my head. In the end I decided that I will write about this race :)

Last year I didn't write about this race because as I said in an earlier post I was lazy and I had a lot going on. Last year the weather was very bad, it was raining a lot. Although the mud was sticky and slippery in other places I managed to finish 4th. That motivated me this year to catch a podium finish.

The weather was great this year but the organizers were as bad as last year :)

I don't want to write a lot about this race, because I wasn't feeling good, my back was hurting and I got lost.

The good things
- the weather
- the race course
- I didn't get disqualified although I missed a check point

The bad things:
 - the start, I saw people fall before the race - the tanks go to the major and to the cops
- the race referees were sleeping
- the race course wasn't' cleaned so I didn't know were to go
- I did't see the signs so I got lost
- the bike wash had to close because of some electricity problems
- the potatoes from the end weren't cooked properly

A few pictures:

Maros Bike Marathon 2011

Last Sunday I was racing in Gilau again. I love this race because the view is spectacular, I love to climb high in the mountains. The weather was perfect, the Merida tires had a thick wall so I didn't cut them and my brakes lasted until the finish line although I was breaking a lot (I had to buy new pads) but at least I didn't fall like a lot of other riders. I saw a few guys in the ambulance and I even saw somebody falling in front of me. The first downhill was very hard, there were a lot of rocks on the road, but the other descents weren't easy either.

I was climbing a lot better than a year before, but I still had to push the bike on some hard climbs. I am starting to like my new race tactic, I start slow and I can pass people almost till the end. I started a little too slow but I warmed up on the first climb after some muscle pains (from the lack of the warm up). I passed a lot of people and I was feeling good. I lost some places when I stopped for water and bananas but I recovered a few positions on the next climb. I was loosing positions on the descent but I was very careful, I think this was the first race this year without a fall.

I wasn't in good shape, I had some cramps but I was eating a lot of bananas and I was enjoying the ride. I was even singing on the last descent. A bug bit when I came out of the forest on the last descent about 300 meters from the finish line. Maybe it was a bee but I'm not sure. My leg is still itching and I had a huge red spot where my skin got a bit hard.  I didn't cut my tires this year, so I finished in 3:33:00 85th overall (from 330 finishers) and 36th in my age group from 117 finishers.

The only thing I didn't like is that I've got some large gloves in the signup package, and the rubber wristband was big also. Beside that the course was beautiful, it was the best organized race in the country and the pasta and the watermelon was very good after the finish. I hope I can race again next year :)

Stats:
    - time (riding): 3:30:27
    - official time: 3:30:00
    - distance: 46,53 km
    - average speed: 13,2 km/h
    - max speed: 51,4km/h


Some pics:

on the first climb

going down

I was happy to finish and my leg was hurting from the sting

it was a nice ride

receiving the finisher wristband

happy

yummy

Pictures from Triathlon Mamaia

A few pictures and a movie from Triathlon Challenge Mamaia, were I won for the first time :)

Tusnad Marathon 2011

The last race was the Tusnad MTB Marathon. I participated in this race because it has a great course (as I wrote before), the views are very beautiful.

This year the race was a bit poor, there were less things to eat and the raffle was not organized. But the hotel was free, so that was a plus.

The start was pretty crowded so I was in the back of the pack, I lost almost 2 minutes (1:48 in the video)

A bad start is not a bad thing because I tend to start fast and run out of fuel. I had an easy start but I was still passing people. On the first climb I followed a guy wit a ninty-six because he had a good pace, not too fast but not too slow.

On the first descent I went full speed. When I tried to pass some people on the side of the road on some rocks I had a snake bite so I had to stop my mad race and I changed the tube.

After that my recovery race started. It was a lot of fun catching up and passing others. When I started to have fun I had a flat tire again. I got so mad that I threw away the bike.

I calmed down changed the tube again and restarted my race. After I warmed up it was a lot of fun again because I was passing people on some steep climbs were a lot of people were pushing the bikes. Everything was fine until the last climb were I had some muscle cramps. On the final descent I felt down a few times (there is no race without hitting the ground :() but I managed to finish the race in 3:38:21, in 107th place overall and 31th in my age category. It was a good race because I was climbing on the bike were I was pushing a year before and I had cramps only on the last climb. Next year I hope I can go full speed (after the flat tires I was very careful on the rocks and I was going slower) and don't worry about the tires.

I want to thank the guys who helped me with some spare tubes and pumps to finish this race.

Tusnad MTB Marathon

This weekend I'm going to Tusnad to race in the Tusnad MTB Marathon.

This race has a very beautiful course and a lot of great trails for fast riding. Last year this was the race when I discovered how to deal with my cramps. No mater how many sweets I had I still couldn't get rid of the pain. After this race I read about this and I found out that I need magnesium so I got some magnesium for the next race and I had a lot of bananas and no cramps :)

Besides the scenery and the great trails I liked this race because I paid for one person at the hotel and they gave me a whole rooms. This pay one get two promotion is valid this year also so I'm going to stay at Hotel Fortuna with my girlfriend.

I'm looking forward to this race, this year I'm prepared and I hope I won't have any cramps and I will fly down the hill even faster than last year, leaving a bigger cloud of dust behind me:

I was at the sea

This post is the continuation of I'm going to the sea :)

Friday morning at about 8 I started my journey to Mamaia. First I dropped off my bike and then I headed to the bus station. My bike traveled with the car and I traveled with a lot of vehicles. I was twice in a taxi, I traveled with a bus, with a smaller bus, with the subway and with a train. I arrived to Mamaia at about 12. I liked very much the ride from Mamaia to Neptun (where we slept) with a Skoda Fabia rs. I didn't sleep so good, the bed was bad, the storm was loud and in the morning it got cold. After I woke up I recovered my bike and had a good breakfast. I had to go to the start on the bike because nobody had room for it in the cars.

At the start there was a huge crowd. I left the bike in the transition area and I went to search for a swimmer with Bogdan because the swimmer of Splash, Flash and Dash Team, Ionut Bizau couldn't get to Mamaia. Andra was chosen to swim for our team, she was in the winnig ladies team from Fara Asfalt triathlon. This motivated me and my team mate Mihai Teodorescu (who had to run after I finished my race) even more.

The race was very intense. Until the first competitor came out of the water I was calm but after that my adrenaline level started to rise. I got more anxious when the first blogger came out of the lake and I started to search for our swimmer. In the race there were 5 blogger teams so there was a separate race between these teams. Although it seemed like a lifetime after a few minutes Andra came out of the water. As she stepped on the ground I was already at her feet getting the chip and then I run to my bike.

I started my run very fast and I was pushing hard. I felt the lack of the warm up very fast, first my legs started to hurt then my lungs. Until I warmed up I figured out how the wind was blowing on the race course and I finalized my tactic. When I had head wind I was trying to maintain my speed at around 35 kph and with the tail wind I was going at above 40. I passed a lot of people, and I passed a few competitors twice.

I've finished in less then 31 minutes with an average speed above 35 kph. After the last turn I was pushing so hard that I had to slow down so I could spare some energy to run to my team mate and give him the timing chip. After I've finished my run I needed some time to recover, I didn't think that I would get so so tired in about 18 kilometers (the organizers said 20).

My team mate had an excellent run so we finished in 1:13:24 on the 12th place in general and first in the blogger race. Every contender from the first three blogger teams won a weekend at Predeal at the Casa Bunicii pension.

Unfortunately I couldn't stay at the awards ceremony, after a short wash in the sea I headed home. I couldn't get on the stage with the other blogger but at least I got home until midnight.

This was my first triathlon, my first race on the road, my first race with a road bike, my first race in a team... and my first race were I have won. Besides winning a short vacation I won a few friends to: Rares Cojocaru, Liliana Mercan, Dana Dulea, Florin Rusanu, Andra, Gabriel Ciobanu, Vlad Dulea, Elena Ciric, Roxana Bursuc, Claudia Sofron, Mihai Teodorescu, Florea Cristian,Valentin Bosioc and Cezar Vasile. I'm very happy that I had the chance to race with you guys :)

I want to thank a few people, first I want to thank Mihai for pushing me to complete the signup form, I want to thank Chinezu for choosing me, I want to thank Bogdan Antohe for working a lot for us (and for the sandwich), I want to thank Master Ski & Bike Club for helping me with the transportation and a lot of thanks for my team mates!

The picture that I liked most from this competition and probable the best picture from this year:

A lot of thanks to the photographers, more pictures here.

You can read this post in romanian here.

I'm going to the sea!

It's official, on the 3rd of September I'm going to the sea (to Mamaia) to ride about a half hour.

At first when I read that a few blogger can participate for free at this triathlon I didn't pay much attention to it but thanks to  Mihai I applied. And I won, so I will be part of the #1 Blogger team with Ionut Bizau (swimming) and Mihai Teodorescu (running). If  Ionut confirms the name of the team  will Splash, Flash & Dash Team :)

I didn't see the sea for a long time so I'm very happy that I will have the chance to participate in my first triathlon at the sea (Black Sea). My race will be short, I will have to ride about a half hour as fast as I can (20 kilometers) but I'm sure I will make a lot of new friends especially that I don't even know my team mates.

For now a lot of thanks to Triathlon Challenge and to chinezu who selected the teams and we will meet at the sea!

This post in romanian here.

Maros Bike Marathon 2011

Last September I was lazy and I had a lot going on. My life was in fast forward so I didn't write about a few races. I didn't write about the Maros Bike Marathon 2010. I think this marathon had the most amazing course, it was just beautiful. The high mountain landscape is one of my favorites.

It was a nice race, I was feeling good but I wasn't lucky, I had to change 3 tubes. I destroyed a set of Race  Kings. Although I lost a lot of time changing tubes I have finished in 25th place in 4 hours an 20 minutes. Here are some pictures from the race:

warming up

rocky

going fast

not going fast

before the last cp

the finish

the tire

This year you can help me win a free registration to this race clicking on this banner or on the banner from the sidebar:

MMM 2011 - Medieval Marathon Medias 2011

I was a bit lazy so I'm writing about this race after a month :)

It was a very hard race again (like last year). There was a lot of mud so it was hard. The mud was sticking to the tires and the tires weren't spinning anymore so I lost a lot of time cleaning the bike. The mud also ruined the shifting so it was very nice when the organizers were washing the shifters, and I even used a biker trick that I read about, pissing on the shifters :D

I felt down 4 times and I had to carry the bike a lot. It was nice that the organizers changed the course a bit and the first climb from last year was replaced with an easier, drier climb. It was a very hard race but I was very happy when I crossed the line. I couldn't stand on my feet because of the cramps but I was still smiling, this smile represent the satisfaction of finishing the race, this is why I like to race:

A few pics from the race:

the bikes

on the first climb

down from the hills

in to the village

getting dirty

why is the bike stopping, I'm not using the brakes :(

carrying some mud

some racing

still on the bike, but after this I lost about 10 minutes cleaning the bike

 after the last feed zone

YES, I've finished the race :D

I have finished in 44th place overall  from 170 riders and 16th in my age group. My time was 3:55:55 :)

Stats:
    - time: 3:29:24 (on my cyclocomputer)
    - distance: 46,06 km
    - average speed: 13,1 km/h
    - max speed: 45,5km/h