Report by Vladimir Degtyarev on participation in Half Ironman Austria

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-13 00:26

My mentor, Vladimir Degtyarev, has finally fulfilled his cherished dream - he took part in the Half Ironman Austria competition. And now he has a new goal - a complete Ironman (3.8 km swim, 180 bike and 42 km run)! But this will already be history for the next year;)

I bring to your attention Vova's report on his preparation, participation and feelings after the competition.

PREPARATION

It all started a year ago, when during the May holiday I came across the book "There is an Iron Man in Everyone" by Mann, Ivanov and Ferber. I was just recovering from a serious Achilles stretch (I played volleyball after a good running workout), and I was interested in triathlon in general, and ultra-long distance competitions, and the ability to vary loads without loading only my legs, as in running.

Then it was easier: I found a coach (neither more nor less - a multiple Ironman winner), over the summer I took part in several super sprint triathlons, several running starts, and by the fall I set a goal to run the Kiev Marathon. Therefore, active summer training was mainly running, I ran the marathon in 3:38, improving my previous result by 22 minutes, and hung in uncertainty - what to do next.

For advice I turned to Mikhail Ivanov, who just published the book "Iron Man …". He called me for a company to start in Austria for the half-ironman distance (1, 9 km to swim, 90 to go, 21 to run). I didn’t think for long, and on December 31, 2011 I signed up for a “half”. The training itself began a little earlier, in November. I won't go into details, but in winter the emphasis was on speed and running. I ran with the running club of the Kiev marathon in a closed arena, pedaled on the balcony on a bicycle rack, swam in the morning in a 50-meter pool. I started with one workout per day and a 6-day training week, gradually added time and number of workouts, participated in most winter-spring running competitions for short distances - from 400 meters to half marathon, cross-country cycling, etc. Since March, I began to work on swimming techniques with a trainer - the record holder of Europe and Ukraine, who spent a lot of time in the water next to me, correcting small and large flaws that I had hammered into muscle memory over the years of independent training. At the beginning of the year, a new bike arrived - a beautiful and light road bike instead of the hybrid that I rode before. Little by little, the number of "clean" training hours reached 9-12, and training hours per week - up to 8-9. 5 weeks before the start, Zoya's daughter was born (the eldest, Egor, will soon be 5 years old), and no one canceled the tasks in business, so we had to seriously revise the schedule and get rid of some time eaters. However, I still couldn't get enough sleep.

FEES

They gathered me with the whole world: Andrey Yastrebov gave out his personal starting wheels and helped to disassemble and pack the bike, Yulia Yastrebova brought food for the race and pills, Nikolai Ivanovich Yastrebov issued a license from the triathlon federation.

Flight to Vienna, transfer to Saint Polten, check-in was quick and calm. I assembled a bicycle, wandered around the EXPO, bought a large bottle for water (as it turned out, in vain - the same was in the starter package), got a set of a participant's bracelet on his hand and went to a pasta party. We were fed heartily, delicious and different pasta, at the same time they held an express briefing, announced route changes compared to last year. Then we walked slowly to the hotel with the British, phoned and met with Misha Ivanov and Max Zhurilo who had just arrived.

Saturday morning started with a visit to the mechanic at the EXPO - it turned out that I did not have enough adapter for the front wheel. I had to change the tube, at the same time we checked the rear one - and went with Maxim and Mikhail to run in the bikes and see the roads. The roads were smooth and fast. After lunch, Denis Markov and I went to see the route of the cycle stage, then - registration and delivery of bicycles and things for the first and second transit. No matter how much I wanted to sleep by the evening, I had to keep the company of Misha, who was rooting for either Chelsea or the Germans, but all the same, all the talk was about the race.

Race morning: wake up at 4 am, breakfast, transfer to the starting point, the last equipment checks - and forward to sail. The participants were launched in waves, according to age groups, so there was a gap of 40 minutes between me and the pros. We slowly pulled on wetsuits and climbed into the water - the start was from the depth. However, not all climbed - most of the participants waited for the start on the shore and already then rushed. Taught by someone else's experience, I climbed into the first row in the water - and for good reason. Although the fastest knocked together a little, they did not get much on the head or on other parts of the body, but there was always someone to cling to. Drafting didn't work, but even eye contact with a nearby swimmer helped to keep the pace. The first minutes, when he pressed the suit, someone was pushing and hitting on the legs, and the water was cold and tasteless, a slight panic began and thoughts - "why did I climb here and how will I endure it for another 40 minutes?"

But after 200 meters, the pace leveled off, and I myself even began to enjoy the process. Swimming took place in two lakes: after a circle of 1 km, one had to get to the shore one by one, run 200-300 meters along the bridge and asphalt and dive into another lake. The transit zones are large and long, it was forbidden to put things near the bike - everything in numbered bags, and changing clothes in separate tents. I got both transits for 5 minutes - too long. Swimming time, taking into account the crossing between the lakes - 37:03, place in the age group - 154.

BIKE

The 90 km cycling stage began with a 20 km long and flat highway, slightly downhill, and we had views of it - we wanted to go quickly and easily. Unfortunately, because of the headwind, I was able to keep the speed at 32-33 maximum. Pretty soon, the participants from the next wave, which started after us, began to overtake. The cycling stage turned out to be the weakest for me - the late start of the season and the short working time on the hills affected. After 20 km the "lafa" ended, the first of two long ascents began. With me on the distance, I collected food with a margin - both energy bars and gels. It turned out that he was pulling the bars in vain - if during training he still managed to digest them, then in aeroposition on a bicycle and under load, the body refused to accept solid food. Therefore, I immediately switched to gels: every 10 km I ate half a tube and washed it down with water. In addition to constant replenishment, this also gave a psychological relief - I drove not 90 km, but several times 10 km, from gel to gel. Three hours flew by unnoticed, the track was stunningly beautiful, the bright sun, the support of the residents of small villages and towns … Even the constantly overtaking participants were not very upset. I tried to keep my pulse not higher and not lower than 150, only on the ascents (the second, 6-7 km long, seemed especially difficult) it rose to 180. Time - 3:03, place in the age group - 200.

RUN

The running stage was held in 2 laps of more than 10 km along the urban part of Senct Poltena, along the canal. Every 2 km there was a food station: dozens of nimble volunteers, sponges with water, drinking water, isotonic drinks, fruits. Therefore, I ran light. The plan was to run for 5 minutes per km, and it happened - I even restrained myself a little when I saw the pace of 4:30 on Garmin. At this stage, it became clear that running is definitely my forte. I ran easily, I overtook a lot, I felt that I could add - but I was afraid that it would suddenly “cover”, therefore I was in no hurry. It didn’t cover, but there was an internal discontent that “I didn’t work”. After the finish, they suddenly grabbed the muscles under the shoulder blades with a spasm and just as quickly “let go”. Running time 1:43, place in the age group - 164. Total time 5:35.

AFTER

Getting a medal, a finisher's shirt, having a beer, eating pizzas, picking up bicycles and things from all stages - it all took another two hours. In the evening, we returned to the awards ceremony and a festive dinner, took pictures with the winners-stars of the triathlon, looked at the winners in the age groups and left to get ready - everyone left the next day in all directions.

CONCLUSIONS

Already sitting at the airport in Vienna, I felt that the familiar "post-launch" depression was covering me. Where to go when the goal is achieved? The most interesting thing is that already about a few weeks before the start I felt that I had “cooled off” a little towards the very fact of passing the distance. The process of achieving the goal turned out to be much more interesting and informative than the next "tick" in the plan for the year. During the preparation for this start, I met dozens of interesting people with whom I hardly met in my life "before the triathlon": both professional world-class athletes and the same amateurs like me. These acquaintances and communication resulted in several business projects: my agency became a PR partner of the Kiev marathon, for another long-time client of ours, Fujifilm Ukraine, we implemented an interesting project at the same marathon, and a few more business ideas are now at the final stage. Triathlon is also good because it opened the doors to several sports elements at once: cycling, running and swimming.

Do I want to "do" a complete Ironman - 3.8K swim, 180 bike and 42K run? Probably yes, but next year. Nevertheless, this distance requires a lot of respect and a very long preparation time - from 12-15 hours a week at least. Therefore, while the plans for the summer of 12 are several starts at shorter distances, perhaps another "half" closer to the end of the summer and active preparation for the Nice-Cannes autumn marathon in November. This marathon, I would like to "run out" from 3:15 (but the secret dream, of course, is still 3 hours). You need to work on your swimming technique and go more on long group bike starts.

NUTRITION

Vova described everything in such detail in his blog that I had no more questions other than nutrition. I've read quite a few articles that talked about how good nutrition plays an important role in preparing for serious competition.

This is what Vova answered me.

I don’t understand anything about this, but in a year I lost 10 kg (I had to alter all the suits, and throw out half of my wardrobe). I suspect the interval training along with the long training helped. For several months now I have been doing one-day fasting every two weeks (Ekadashi), and in general they seem to have lost the last one or two kilos. You can read more about Ekadashi and its effect in the blog of Yuri Belonoshchenko, another amateur triathlete. The effect of fasting is quite delayed for me - after it I began to perceive the taste more sharply, I do not want to shove spicy / fried / fatty into myself and the portions became smaller. I switched to morning oatmeal / cereal and evening salads last fall, my body asked for it when I was actively preparing for the last marathon. I do not calculate the calories spent and eaten in detail. He began to drink much less alcohol: firstly, it is difficult for the body to get up for a morning workout after a certain dose, and secondly, the need to "brake" itself with alcohol artificially at the end of the day disappeared. Closer to the competition, a little more specific nutrition begins, the so-called "carbohydrate load-load", but if you decide to do long-distance running / triathlon, you will have time to study it yourself.

Training schedule

Photos from the competition