My new favourite distance

Scorching heat, a broken toe, a time penalty for a transition area infringement, a wrongly adjusted rear shifter – none of those things could stop me in Otepää. Finally, after many hardships, I was able to perform well and to my own satisfaction.

Ever since the Tristar series was introduced I have wanted to try the 1-100-10K race distance, and this Sunday I finally got the chance. The 1-100-10K race in beautiful Otepää, renamed Trismile after the Tristar series was buried provided the opportunity to try out a race where I could happily bike my legs off without getting killed during the run. Theoretically, the distance should be ideal for me, who usually is stronger on the bike, but a weaker runner.

The distance is quite challenging in the sense that the swim and bike legs must be seen as entirely separate entities. In a normal triathlon race, you can do the swim at a slightly higher intensity level than the rest of the race. But a swim as short as 1 000 metres means you must go flat out all the way.

On the other hand, the bike requires a slightly different approach. It is not possible to maintain a level of effort above your lactate threshold for more than 2 hours, so you will have to slow down.

Finally, the run is only 10K, which means that you should go fast. But by then, after 100K of cycling fast, you already feel the weight of accumulated lactate in your legs.

My preparations were far from ideal, as I had accidentally dropped a heavy object on my foot one week earlier and suffered serious bruise damage to my fourth toe on the right. It didn't prevent me from running, but it was awfully sore and swollen. In order to relieve the pain, I bought a pair of new, one size too big Zoot race shoes from the expo area before the race. Not exactly what the beginner's guide would instruct you to do.

Me and the other guys from Helsinki Triathlon were staying in the spa, right next to the race centre. There was no need for setting the alarm clock, since the organisers started playing disco music at ear deafening volume at around 8 am.

It was really hot already in the morning, and I waited until the very last moment to pull on my wet suit. Pearls of sweat were running down my cheeks as I eagerly awaited the start signal in the scorching sun.

We were starting in waves of some 150 at a time, but it got quite chaotic and crowded in the small lake when the start signal sounded. I got hit with an elbow in the jaw, sending my head backwards, right into someone's hand that struck me in the back of the head. It only got my adrenaline running, and I managed a satisfying, if not quite as fast as I had expected, swim split time of 17.43.

I entered the transition, bursting with adrenaline, and ran like a bull through the zone, collecting my gear and my bike as I went for the transition line. Unfortunately, in my excitement I jumped on the bike a couple of inches before the pink line. Realizing my mistake as I heard someone blow a whistle, I desperately tried to correct it by putting one foot to the ground. Too little, too late, as I would later discover.

My friends who had done the race before told me that the bike leg would be really flat and fast, and me, in my naivity, believed them. The bike course consisted of three laps of 31K, with an extra 10K lap to begin with.

The extra lap turned out to be quite hard, with several difficult hills with sharp gradients and technical descents. I was really pushing the gears, refusing to shift down even in the sharpest hills and ignoring the burning lactate. My heart rate was constantly pushing 170, which would be a heart rate I could maintain for a 1 hour sprint race - not for a 3.30-4 hour race.

The rest of the bike course was not entirely flat either, with one especially mean, several kilometers long, false ascent. During the second lap, I got into a better rhythm and felt more comfortable. My heart rate fell to a more normal rate of around 155.

As usual when racing in Estonia, there were a lot of good cyclists, which means I found myself in the unusual situation of being overtaken more than once or twice during the bike leg. Especially some of the relay guys, who started ten minutes after my wave, were coming awfully fast.

Luckily, there was were little drafting. At least I saw little of it. However, club mate Petteri Grönholm got caught in a group and unjustly got penalized. There are always those who try to cheat, and sometimes it is the wrong guys who gets punished.

It was steaming hot, and I started to feel badly dehydrated, despite drinking about 1,5 litres during the bike leg. As I approached the transition area for the last time, I was convinced I would soon be a slalom pole for the faster runners. Only the relatively short distance would prevent me from losing too many placements.

I finished the bike leg in a time of 2.41, with an average speed of little more than 37 kph. My legs felt like timber when I ran through the transition and picked up my run gear, including my brand new Zoots. I felt a slight tingle as I pulled them on, having no idea how it would feel to race with them – not to mention how my bruised toe would react to a 10K run.

However, I felt surprisingly strong as I went out for the run. And I soon discovered there were a lot of athletes out there who had really outdone themselves on the bike. Even I, usually a weak runner, could overtake several rivals. The heat was punishing, but I was self confident a mere 10K would pose no problem. More importantly, my toe was not causing any problems.

But after 3K, the mishap in the transition area would come back to haunt me. As I approached the penalty box, the officials shouted out my number and I had to stop. 30 seconds is not even half of a pee break, but it felt like an eternity when you are just standing there and doing nothing but watch your rivals you just overtook run by.

When I finally got running again, I was more motivated than ever to hit back. I quickly caught up with the guys who had passed me while I was in the penalty box and kept going.

The run course was psychologically easy, with a 3K back-and-forth lap followed by another, 7K back-and-forth lap in the other direction. There were a couple of hills, but I suffered more on the subsequent descents, as I had to be careful with my bruised toe. It didn´t hurt to run, but it was sore when the toe was pushed towards the front of the shoe.

I finished with a run split of 48.57, which includes the 30 second penalty. My total time was 3.54.18, which would give me a 14th place out of some 150 in my category. Fortunately, I didn't lose any placements due to the time penalty.

After finishing, I immediately felt some chills and realized I was badly dehydrated. During the following hours, I drank some 2.5 litres of waters – but it wasn't until some five hours later that I had to empty my bladder.

Even so, I felt absolutely great after the race. No muscle pains, cramps or any other problems usually associated with a triathlon race. That is of course due to the shorter-than-usual run – maybe this is my new favourite distance.

Still, it is the ironman distance that is the real challenge. Hopefully, I can build on the success in Otepää in the Ironman Copenhagen two weeks from now.







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