2017 ITU Long Course World Championships reflections
I put a lot of hours and a lot of energy leading into the ITU LD World Championships this year.
I was essentially getting up at 4:30 am every morning, training, eating, going to work, training again, eating and sleeping, for 45 weeks straight. The pure training volume (excluding walking and stretching) was set at a base of around 12-15hrs a week and topped to 21hrs leading to the big race. I did not face any injuries or other setbacks and was feeling good throughout. I did my first marathon in March at the beginning of the season, won a couple of local races (half and olympic distances), swam 15 ocean mile swims and I was feeling confident.
On the actual race day, many things did not go right. I do not like to make excuses but the truth is that on race day, my planets just did not align right. I was down with fever during my tapering week but did not make a big deal out of it nor complained. On race week, I started feeling better but I was not at my very best on race day. That morning, I forgot at the hotel my big gel flask full of EFS shot that I was planning to use on the bike. I only realized that when I was at the transition tent so I decided to substitute the forgotten big flask with one of my EFS regular shots that I had saved for the run, and top up with bananas at aid stations. The day was hot, dry and windy. I had an ok swim and bike leg (despite my nutritional deficit) and I was really holding my horses for the run. On a day with 93 degrees (33-34 Celsius degrees) I knew that the last 6 miles of the run will hurt most athletes, and I was aiming to perform my best during those last 6 miles!
I started the run not feeling as well as in my previous races. In general, I know I am not doing well in the heat and against all odds, I kept my chin up and tried to stick to my plan. By mile 10 I started feeling the fatigue, the heat and the nutritional deficit. I slowed down for about 3 miles but kept running. I managed to regain some energy between mile 14 and 18 but the last mile of the race ... hit me hard. I could see the finish line but it was so hard to hang on for that last mile. I jogged on a death line and finished ok but passed out at the medical tent. My body was shivering when I woke up. I had blankets all over me and the friendly medical staff managed to feed me down a couple of cups full of chicken broth. The soup settled my stomach a bit and after about forty minutes, I was able to stand up and get some more calories down.
I had a good race. I finished in 8hrs and 16min bettering my previous time on the same distance by a whole hour and seven minutes! For some reason however, this race left me feeling bumped and depressed. My run was not up to what I could do and what I had trained to do. Whether it was my fever, my nutritional deficit, the heat or all of those and many more, I don't know.
All I know is that I have yet to put together a perfect race.
Triathlon is so beautiful and so challenging because it's compromised of all these different elements that one needs to tune in a very carefully planned and personalized way in order to shine as an athlete! This is why every one of us strives for better and we never want to stop improving.
Till my next season ...
C U around!
Endless gratitude to my support team: husband and coach Dave Williams, athlossports, First Endurance, polar, Kali Protectives, PowerTap/CycleOps, DeFeet International
I was essentially getting up at 4:30 am every morning, training, eating, going to work, training again, eating and sleeping, for 45 weeks straight. The pure training volume (excluding walking and stretching) was set at a base of around 12-15hrs a week and topped to 21hrs leading to the big race. I did not face any injuries or other setbacks and was feeling good throughout. I did my first marathon in March at the beginning of the season, won a couple of local races (half and olympic distances), swam 15 ocean mile swims and I was feeling confident.
On the actual race day, many things did not go right. I do not like to make excuses but the truth is that on race day, my planets just did not align right. I was down with fever during my tapering week but did not make a big deal out of it nor complained. On race week, I started feeling better but I was not at my very best on race day. That morning, I forgot at the hotel my big gel flask full of EFS shot that I was planning to use on the bike. I only realized that when I was at the transition tent so I decided to substitute the forgotten big flask with one of my EFS regular shots that I had saved for the run, and top up with bananas at aid stations. The day was hot, dry and windy. I had an ok swim and bike leg (despite my nutritional deficit) and I was really holding my horses for the run. On a day with 93 degrees (33-34 Celsius degrees) I knew that the last 6 miles of the run will hurt most athletes, and I was aiming to perform my best during those last 6 miles!
I had a good race. I finished in 8hrs and 16min bettering my previous time on the same distance by a whole hour and seven minutes! For some reason however, this race left me feeling bumped and depressed. My run was not up to what I could do and what I had trained to do. Whether it was my fever, my nutritional deficit, the heat or all of those and many more, I don't know.All I know is that I have yet to put together a perfect race.
Triathlon is so beautiful and so challenging because it's compromised of all these different elements that one needs to tune in a very carefully planned and personalized way in order to shine as an athlete! This is why every one of us strives for better and we never want to stop improving.
Till my next season ...
C U around!
Endless gratitude to my support team: husband and coach Dave Williams, athlossports, First Endurance, polar, Kali Protectives, PowerTap/CycleOps, DeFeet International
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