Bratislava 2010

After taking part last year I wanted to go again. This year the weather was changing a lot, it was about 12C but the clouds were travelling quite fast in the sky so it was quite obvious we would meet some wind. And yes there was wind with some stormy gusts from N-NW. But it did not rain at least :)

Right after the start the field climbed up the New Bridge (the one with the UFO-like restaurant on top), it was here that I said farewell to any hope of a good result. I could climb very very slow only, although I had no problem with that last year. Cross the bridge, then descend on the other side, you roll & roll and take care of the dilating elements and any road cracks. Here the route goes across a very dull part of the city (Petrzalka), a real socialist concrete block building quarter, 4 lane road of which 2 are closed for us. Organization is great, you see a policeman or a volunteer in every road crossing, water stations every 2.5 kms, refreshing stations every 5 kms.

As there is nothing to see you can observe the opponents, get ahead a bit, ride at a nice & steady pace etc. An ambulance car gets ahead (later I've heard a girl crashed and broke her arm). Monotone skating (that goes well) and then we turn left in a big radius, climb up an overpass - this one went thousand times better than the bridge. Here I pull up to M from the team, who is suffering badly, her legs hurt, her shoes are bad etc.

We team up and shortly after the overpass the route turn left sharply and bad asphalt begins. It worsens slowly, first there are more and more road cracks then comes 'peanut choc' surface the whole width of the road. Best tactic here is the get to the edge of the road, to the dusty part and try one-legged roller technique. Reaching the dikes we turn South, good asphalt feels like salvation. You can see the top riders on the dikes going the opposite direction already, with some brutal speed. M is still suffering but I keep telling her to use backwind here & now (nearby plants show the wind direction clearly), take some rest as there would not be any time for that later.

We reached the turning point and I literally dropped dead. We should climb up the dikes to the left - my waist is stiffed up, I can hardly produce a push. Somehow I creep up the climb but the group with M is gone already. Stiff & hurting waist, headwind, alone - sound like fun, right? :) I start to flounder ahead, gain some speed but trouble has hit. Getting low my waist cries loud. Standing up headwind blows me to a stop. Well... I've never ever in my life gave up any race, but here and now I am broken mentally. Was there a car coming from behind I would have got in it for sure. But there was none and the bus was waiting for me behind the finish line :)

So I creep ahead slowly - after some time there is some woods next to the dike, the wind gets lower there and I can gain some momentum. But as soon as the wind grows stronger I get slow again. Damn, I deserved this, why do I do things like this in my age :) After all the ex-cyclist experience helps a bit: head down and push it, the road will end sometime. At one moment an older, lean man overtakes me with a young girl behind him, I pull up to them to travel in their draft a bit. After some kilometers comes a refreshment station and I almost fall on the water splashes, then comes a bit of rough asphalt and I am dropped again :(

But by then I can see the first bridge across above me and from that I know the finish is getting closer (it is the finish getting closer to me, not me approaching the finish...). I roll below 2 bridges then down to the park and I am facing the next climb 270 degrees to the left, up to the Old Bridge. Here I perform another Oscar-winning death-scene but can gain a bit of speed on the bridge itself. I know I know there is only one obstacle left, a tram line across the route when dropping down from the bridge. I solve that without any problem, last straight and I roll to the finish at last.

Total KO. I planned to get below 1 hour but managed to skate 1:13. Let's forget this fast!

I roll back to the main square, the cheerleader girls caress me (almost), I receive a nice medallion and free chocolate & refreshment.

There is one positive thing though - when we start driving home after some walk and lazy time, the main part of marathon runners are still running :)

A very late early-2010 post

Well it's time to update my own sport-related things. I haven't done a decent yearly sum-up of 2009, nor a pre-season expectations post and now that Bratislava inline race is here to come I really should do something like that...

Sum-up 2009

(I'm skipping this for I'm lazy)

Expectations for 2010

Race calendar

The track racing calendar in Hungary is still only a plan, no firm dates are set. Those signed red are Cup races so if one wants to get a medal at the end of the year in overall, he/she should attend most of them - or skip as few as possible. Then there is the LifeInLine.cz series, particularly the stages in Slovakia, that would mean 3 half-marathon races this year (Prievidza, Michalovce/Trebisov and Poprad). Add Bratislava HM late March which is out of the series this year for reasons unknown to me. Maybe Kosice HM in October? I've also found race schedules for the Croatian Inline Cup series of which Slavonski Brod is quite close to our hometown. And then there is the Austrian Inline Cup that has 3-4 races quite close to the Hungarian border.

Races to attend

So that is the menu to choose from. Now what do I want? I'd like to skate as many HMs as possible, given the usual restrictions of time & money. And of course I'd like to race as many Hungarian Cup races as possible. This one is tricky, as it closely matches Peter's races up until mid-July where those team members wanting to skate shorttrack during the winter will have to decide if they follow the Cup races or begin getting ready for ice - and he is one of the latter group for sure. That means it is quite unsure if we will attend the track races in the second half of the year at all.

Goals for 2010

For the half-marathons one goal is set: improve my times. I wanted to buy a real speed skate but am lacking the financials nowdays for that, so it means I'll have to stick with my 'old' skates with 84mm wheels.  I'd be glad with *any* improvement but secretly look at 5-10% of time cut.

The 'But' section

Yes, there is always at least one 'but' section in planning. I've been able to skate only 14kms this year so far. That is... very low. And due to bad weather and various illness-like situations I've been able to run only 2/3rd of the amount I had done until the end of March last year. That is... very bad. So I don't seem to be set up for Bratislava correctly this year, however as I'm no professional who cares if I score a bad time? (Only me.)

Spring is here, jolly-ho... (that was the positive message of the post)

Bratislava

I've done it!

Arrived to Bratislava, Slovakia at around 7:50 and we walked to the registration, everything went smooth & professional.
Then warmed up a bit and put skates on.

The race started at 09:45, weather was overcast and around 10C, light breeze from south. All in all there were 271 starters and in fact I was a bit overwhelmed by that number. Following the slow start we rolled down about 400m to the quay of river Danube where we stopped, and following the gun started the race for real (map here).
It was here I made my biggest mistake in the race, I positioned myself way too back near the end of the crowd. After the initial 400-500 metres we had to climb up to the bridge 'Novy Most' which proved a bit hard for quite some people and I was able to overtake some. Then some more climb up to the middle of the bridge and from there whoooosh down in straight line onto Panonska Cesta, a 4-line road (2 lines closed). Fighting the small breeze I tried to hop from group to group, but it was quite demanding. My heart rate went up to 99% sometimes so I had to relax a bit drafting.
The road turned eastwards and climbed a bit for an overpass which I found very hard to cope with. Then onto a rough asphalt for 1.5 km and then down south again, following the dam.
This part of the route was shown as 1 km on the race map but proved to be 2.8 :) I could see the leaders racing in the opposite direction, on the top of the dam, and tried to catch glimpse of the others from our club (Szonja, Balázs and Dani) without any success. This section was quite OK, the asphalt was smooth and by now (we are talking about km #9-12) I was feeling OK and perfectly warmed-up. I could lead the group I was in long enough and bring them up to another group ahead.

Then came a short climb and turn back, and we started our way back to the finish. With the turn the breeze now helped us a little bit and it was much much easier to ride with speed. However sometime later my lower back started to signal it would become stiff soon, so I had to stand up and stretch it sometimes.
We were rolling on the bike routes on the dam all the way north back in the city, the road was OK with few hazards but all of them were signed with red paint. I was drafting a lot with #201 (a big thank you goes for Peter Cervinka from Vienna).
At around km #19 it started to rain, first only very slightly but soon enough water gathered to make the roads slippery. Unfortunately it was also the last kilometres that we had to climb up the bridge 'Stary Most', which proved very hard for me on slippery surfaces. I was not able to push long enough to the side and completely lost my speed in the climb. Then on the bridge I suffered to gain some speed again but the dilating elements and the surface errors made it too hard for me to cope with it :s In the last turn, down from the bridge & left, all the organisers showed us to slow down, I guess the turn was quite slippery and the crossing tram lines did not help either. After that it was a 500 m ride up to the gate and the clock stopped at 1:03:03!

I was and still I am very happy and satisfied with this result!!! I earned 155th place between the men (from 200 starting). I now think I could have earned about 2 minutes if I did not make that silly mistake at the start and stay with the rest of the team - but well, next time it will be better :) According to my HRM the first half of the race went harder, HR average was 95%, while it was only 94% during the second part.
Szonja finished 17th in the women's race (47:13), while in the men's race Balázs 133th (59:55, had a small crash), Dani 135th (59:57). Results here, photos I will try to find (Szonja here on Stary Most, #243).

(l-r) Szonja, me, Balázs and Dani

The race itself was very well organized, lots of police and race staff everywhere, chip timing, big screens; and friendly spectators, friendly racers, it was really fun to be there. I really hope to get back here next year.

Bratislava pre-race

22 hours left before the inline race in Bratislava will get started.

22.5 km to cover. That is a bit more than a half-marathon but I heard it starts with a slow start to lead the pace out of the zigzagging inner streets onto the new bridge (Novy Most) where the race can start for real.
Weather is not looking good. They predict 5-10 C, wind and... rain.
What do I expect? Last year I've done the HM distance in 1:29, now I'd like to finish under 1:10. I know I have the aerobic fitness but I haven't skated for a long time, only 2 short occasions. Hmmm... maybe a bit too courageous? We will see :)
We will get in the car at 03:30, drive along 350kms, run the race and get back home. Sounds like a perfect lazy weekend :)