Tri4Help

Ironman 70.3 Bahrain turned out to be a 69.1 due to canceled swim. The reason was heavy wind and strong under water current. YIIIIIIHAAAAAAA ......was my first reaction as most of you would assume..

Anyhow, my feeling of disapointment was not strong enough to file a complaint, thats for sure. Instead I had to slightly re-think my strategy. (Yes, of course I had a strategy although I told myself and others this was just for fun and a great opportunity to get a hard session in). From being an underdog the competition actually turned out to be my kind of game. Bike+Run!!!

It all turned out pretty good and I came in 2nd in my age group amd 48 overall. I can´t be anything than happy as the guy in front of me was like 10minutes ahead. More details below but an average of 39,8km/h on the bike and a 1hrs 31min on the run is pretty ok considering the circomstances with preparations and gained pre-Christmas weight. 

 I had a big disapointment though. I didnt manage get a picture of me and HH Prince Khalifa (but I had him with a 7min margin) as last year but the Swedish Triathlete Åsa Lundstrum ( who made an impressive podium possition as 3rd Pro Women) and the british Judy Swallow I manage to catch. They where of course both delighted to meet with me just before start...;)

T1 (1min 26sec)
Actullally it all started with a kind o hunting start where 5 competitors started every 15sec. I planned to start somewhere in the middle/front, however me and my friend Fredrik came a bit late so we ended up starting somewhere at the second half of the field. 

Bike (90km, 2hrs 15:min 43sec, average speed 39,8km/hr)
As the conditions changed when the swim was canceled my plan changed with it. From planning to go hard on the bike I planned to just hammer it!!

After the relaxed T1 I was finally on the bike. The strong wind showed up directly from the side. I didn't dare to stay down on the ti-bars going down the first bridge. The wind really pushed us side-ways. After a km or so the race turned up against the wind, but on my fresh legs I didn't face a problem. I was flying pass people.

The kilometers and minutes passed. After like 15-20 km I drank some and had a while keep pushing it quite hard. After passing the down town of Manama, which byt the way is a cool experience, the adrenaline really kicked in as thet Tail wind pushed me averaging 43,6km/hr in 60 minutes. I peaked 58,2. 

 

However, I week ago I faced a small issue with my right knee after a high intensity intervall on the bike. The reason for it is most likely the cleats that changed positon during riding and my knee got kind of twisted. I thought I healed from it after an easy week rubbing the sore part with Voltaren and without any hard cycling. But after like 45-50 km it slightly turned up again. Not that much that I couldnt hadle it, but in combination with getting more and more fatuige it made me pull back a little bit. Not much but a little. The good part was I knew the pain was not going to show on the run so at the very end, when I knew I would´t risk to make a DNF I started to push again. 

 

But the end of the bike-part was not easy in any way. The amazing tail-wind turned out to be your enemy the last 30km. BUT, the last few km you didnt care as you endered the Bahrain International Formula One Circuit. How cool is that!!?? Last year I was so excited so I crached into the fences. Luckely nothing happened except loosing a minute and some concentration. This year I made it almost to the end as I just before T2 planned to flush my face with water to get ready for the run. Not fun at all as I realised I had sticky energydrink in the bottle. Anyway, I really pushed it to the end and continued to pass people all the way to T2. 

 

Feeling like a pro when you just leave the bike to someone, even though with a sticky-face full of sugar. I hoped for a fast transition, but when the guy helping me couldnt find my bag that hope flew away...damn I was angry!!!!  I had passed friend from my tri club in Riyadh just entering the circuit on the bike, but he overtook me in the changing tent.It took him 40seconds compared to my 1min 29sec. Excausted and irritated the transition got even slower I think. Struggled to get my shoes on and to put my bike gear back into the bag. 

 

I cought up quite fast with my tri-club-mate. I know hi is a great runner so I thought I just stay at his back. He would set up a nice pace for me. The worries his pace would be to hard turned into boosting my confidence as it actually was a bit slow for me. After a couple of km I passed him and tried to finf my own pace. The non-shadow and strong sun med it hot. Fortunately I covered myself with sun-cream before start. I hate that, but you save a lot of energy doing it. Sun-burnt skin requires a lot of water end energy which is waste of it during hard efforts like this. I actullay felt my running got stronger since I had a peak in August although I couldnt run as fast as I hoped. The reason is I started Christmas a little bit early by gaining to much weight. 5kg since August. So, concidering that I´m relly pleased with my finish.

 

The run throught the Wild Life Park was not as excited as last year when an ostrich passed me. But when the 5km theirin was done the 4km going back was really tough going back in the head wind.

 

The last few km at inside the circuit felt nice and I just enjoyed it. Running up the finishline felt awsome and of course I put my signature on how to finish an IRONMAN!!

 

I´m really happy to end up as 2nd place in an Ironman competiotion. I´m also happy that my result qualified me to the World Championship Final in Australia. However, after a lot of thinking back and forth I decided not to take the oportunity. The final is in September and my main goal is to qualify for Hawaii Kona in October. This is to close for me and it might risk it all. But instead I take the risk to loose it all. But if you never gamle you´ll never win.....