Turul Cup again

Quite interestingly the closing competition of 2009 was called Turul Cup again, just like the one held in July. There were some international competitors from Poland, Germany, The Czech and Croatia but the field wasn't as large as it was in the summer.

All the previous years this event has been held in cold, windy, rainy weather in early October, but this time it was sunny at last! Peter was 2 points down from the local GyD on the annual overall so if he could have beat him by two places he could finish in a draw with him. I did not want to tell him much about it so not to put any pressure on him but he was asking about the overall so I had to outline these facts - better tell the truth than not.

Peter had 2 distances and a relay. First it was the shorter distance, 300m and it was the worst 300m he has ever raced so far :( Everything was bad. His start, his skating, his finish. He finished last and truth be told he cried a bit after that, he knew exactly he was completely lacking concentration and everything.

His finish in 7th place meant all of his hopes to catch GyD in overall were fading quickly. However he managed to calm down completely by the start of the 800m, he was like having the pressure off his shoulder and racing for fun. I don't know how this change came but we really tried to not tell any expectations to him before the race so I don't know if it were us doing something wrong or if it was his own mind working this way. Must learn to handle that and face any fears he has of short distances.

Well the 800m race itself went fine, he found a good position behind IT and traveled there until the last lap, where they both caught FB. IT overtook FB easier than Peter did and it made him slow down a bit and I guess this is why he missed 3rd place by an inch or so. GyD came in 5th. I think now (watching the video many times) if Peter could overtake IT before the bell for last lap then he could have a better position to overtake FB, but this is a lesson to be learnt by the videos and not realizing it on the track is no mistake at all.

Here is the finish line - let's be fair with the kids and don't tell them this is a difference of 0.25s... If there is no electronic time measurement then don't try to act like if there was. Simply put the winner's time in the sheets and no time for the finishers, still more fair than claiming such a difference was there. :p

So in this competition Peter finished 5th - no wonder after the fail on 300m, and that has put him in 4th place overall in the national championship in 2009. He could have grabbed 3rd place with some luck - but with a crash in July's race and with such awful short distance performances this is the maximum he could reach now. But his performances on longer distances are very promising for the future!

He entered the relays with IT and FB and after winning their semifinals they finished 2nd in the finals. So he did grab a medal in this race, too :)

I had 2 distances, too, 500m and 1500m. A new competitor, OB joined our small group and he finished 1st ahead of me in the shorter distance. Then IR senior arrived (20 minutes late for the short distance) so it was no question who would win the longer distance. He lapped me and then lapped OB right at the finish line. OB is a tall guy and while I was riding 'comfortably' behind him for some laps, at one point I simply could not match his longer pushes and he gained some advantage easily over me. However I am happy he was there and hope to see him again next year. All in all I finished 3rd this time but was declared the overall amateur champion for this year - but I know it is only because I was present in all competition :)

Bont Cheetah

I want one...


I want one...


I want one...

Details here.

IV. Dél Csillag Cup, Szeged

Preface

Peter didn't look like being able to race at all today. He was coughing and breathing hardly so after some warm-up laps we decided to call it a day for him and pull out of the competition. Then the sole fact his classmate/friend turned up to cheer him made a complete turn in his mind. From then on he was focused on the competition and did not care any further how ill in reality he was. Interestingly his symptoms seemed to fade indeed so we agreed he could start. Well of course add a lot of magic, too - calcium, Zyrtec, menthol-eucalyptus cremes, etc.

Gathering for the opening ceremony

In the last competition Peter complained he was afraid for his glasses, so the last day of the summer we went to the doc and asked her about temporary contact lenses for Peter. She told us that day-by-day usage at this age is not recommended as kids do not care enough for hygiene and so can cause a lot of infections for their own eyes when moving the lenses in/out. But we agreed that for selected days, and in a controlled way (ie we adults put the lenses in and take them out) he could use one-day lenses. So we bought some to test it and this weekend was their test. In the morning Aniko could put the lenses on for Peter easily and he enjoyed them very much, and it was also Aniko getting the lenses out in the evening. Peter simply loved the fact he could race without the glasses on and he could return to wearing his 'trademark' sunglasses. He did not complain at all except for 'feeling' them at the end of Day2, which was natural given it was hot, bit windy and the environment quite dusty. I guess it will be even more comfortable when racing on ice.

Enjoying the new flat concrete

He and me agreed he could take an MP3 player to the track with his favorites loaded and use it before or between the races to get 'in mood' - so it was loaded with AC/DC, Metallica, Queen etc powersongs. He looked very professional: skinsuits, skates, helmet, sunglasses, earplugs, drinking Gatorade... Olympics, here we come :D

Opening ceremony

The competition

As I wrote previously they were expected to be 10 or 11 in his age category, but it turned out they were only 7, including Peter. So that meant they did not have to run semifinals but could start with the finals. It helped him a lot, as it meant he had to start in 3 races only, not 6.

His opponents included local guy IT, big opp GyD from TDKE, FP from the Czech, and 3 Romanians: DE, GP and EI. We have already saw FP racing in Tatabánya so we knew he is a strong, long guy, better on long distances, but we knew nothing about the Romanian kids so they were the proverbial dark horse.

Opening ceremony ends

200m

Weather was perfect, calm & sunny, sometimes even a little bit too hot. By the time it was Peter's turn the delay was over 1 hour and it kept increasing with every race.

He had to start with the 200m distance, which he really doesn't like, but by some miracle he had a very nice race. He started quite good (in 4th place) and then he wasn't afraid of some (aggressive) scrum during the 1-lap distance. Then in the final turn he couldn't quite solve the thinking of a Romanian opponent (DE) and instead of overtaking he slowed down a little bit, but then regained speed for the final straight and finished 4th, beaten only by 0.05 seconds. I was very happy with that, as he showed true & strong will and did not fear to fight his opponents like earlier this year. He told us he could have been 3rd if he hawked for the finish but I told him it was better to play safe then injure himself.

400m

Then after some hours his 2nd distance came, about 2 laps. He pulled a bad start, literally starting half a second later then the others. But after one straight he was already overtaking and zooming at a nice speed. Then he found his way across the field very nicely and by the finish line he was 3rd! He really moved on the track like one who has a thorough understanding about what was happening. Very nice, we couldn't stop praising him and he seemed very pleased with that - only the fact he was again just few cms from finishing better annoyed him a bit (this time it was 0.03s)...

500m

That marked the end of Day 1 and we really hoped he would get better for the next day. In fact he did and it was the longest distance waiting for him so he was quite relaxed before the start. He started well and was skating with the field, moving ahead one by one. He was 4th at the start of the last lap, then moved up to third in the turn. There he sat behind his local opponent (and sometimes relay teammate) IT and I saw an attack coming from behind from a Romanian guy. I was afraid he would get locked up in a scissors situation but he stepped out from behind IT at the beginning of the last turn, accelerated with deep carving crossovers and came out of the turn as 2nd and held on to that during the sprint. Once again he showed clever and brave racing, using full force when needed. Sadly I missed pushing the Rec button (was too nervous I guess) so can not show the video. I am really angry with that, this race was so good to watch :(((

So he earned a 4th, a 3rd and a 2nd place and that put him on the 3rd place overall. Not a bad finish when you think about pulling out of the competition, right? :)

Podium photos

Relays

Coach E asked me if Peter could do the relays with HB, a teammate in age category D. It was a 15-lap relay and we knew beforehand they cannot even qualify for the finals against 3-men full D cat. teams - but no problem, let's play practice then. HB is usually a good starter but burns off after 1 lap - and this was proved once again with the twist that he had an awful start and was last by the first turn. Then they were doing 2-2 laps each, Peter doing the remaining finish lap. HB showed great fluctuations on his laptimes while Peter was more consistent, but truth be told he was completely out of fuel on his last 2-lapper. But when he started the finish lap he found some energy somewhere (I'm still puzzled where) and produced a rocking finish, almost overtaking the team ahead.

He was completely KO after that lap, he couldn't talk or move normally for long long minutes only grasp for air. He really gave in all and produced 110%. After all, he was racing 10-11 year old ones while he is only 8.
As a matter of fact if he was relaying with IT in age category E as in the Savaria Cup they could have grabbed a gold - but this was 'team order' so nothing to do, think or say against that.

Cheerleaders...

Me

I had 2 distances among the senior amateurs on Saturday, and when I say senior it means 14+... We were 3 women and 5 men at the start, only 1 older than me. However I managed to overtake some younger ones on the shorter distance (800m) and finished 4th (3rd between men). In the 1000m I decided to rest a bit behind a tall guy who kept on looking backwards to check when I'd attack - I guess he did not know I was a bike racer :) So I made 3 false attacks to scare him and when he thought the 3rd was over and relaxed for a second I overtook him easily. Then I reached up to a female racer and passed her and then it was over. The time was not the best because I was having fun and playing with that guy but no problem - I have plenty of time to reach PBs :D

In overall I earned a bronze and the guys ahead were junior age so nothing shameful.

Seniors?

Organizers

The races' order was published only after the technical meeting, not beforehand. And there were big & numerous delays. I don't really know why does it take 20 minutes for the main referee and the coaches to re-assure that 110mm wheels are not allowed below a given age, as it is clearly stated in the rulebook and the referee has sent each coach an email about it a week before.

As the delays summed up, it was clear the first day won't be finished properly. The last amateur races were held at 18:00 while the amateur award ceremonies were scheduled to 16:30... so they had to move several pro heats to Day 2.

I understand electronics can play strange games when you want to use them to clock the events but still it was not to blame for the bigger part of delays. There was literally no pre-heat call for the racers and we had to wait long minutes between each race to let enough time for them to gather at the starting line.

By the end of Day2 everyone was very exhausted - this is what long waiting does to humans. And I don't even want to think about at what time poor Polish or Czech kids managed to get home...

Waiting

The meet had a 'star' competing on Sunday, Daniel Zschätzsch from Germany. He raced the real-Berlin-Marathon on Saturday and traveled quite a bit to get here. He entered the race on the 10k elimination and showed great form and tactical expertise - racing on an unknown track against unknow opponents is tough. It was good to see an international-level skater racing.

Sum-up

After all it was a good race for Peter as he proved himself he can be a dangerous foe for anyone in the national cup, even when being ill, and that self-confidence is very much needed. And he showed very clever racing, something that is hard to gain and learn. So I think it was a good preparation for the last turn of the cup in Tatabánya, in 2 weeks.

Track development / Pre-race

Out local skate track has a new inner section built now, a center part of nice flat concrete. It's about 11m wide and joins the track at the middle points of both straights. Quite practical for kids & newcomers lessons.

This weekend there will be a 2-day inline speedskating race meet here in Szeged. Peter is facing an international field of 10 racers in his age category, from Hungary, the Czech and Romania. Too bad the distances are quite short for his liking, the longest one being only 500m (and *maybe* a relay). The races do not count in the national championships so that makes it a perfect occasion to practice some race tactics.

However right now he is fighting sore throat, too. I just hope he can get over that tomorrow so he can attend the races. It would be a pity to miss them, as they are local so no travel is needed... :s

Ah and I will also race, beware everyone around :D

Savaria Cup 2009

The weeks before our holiday started was marked by coach E traveling to Belgium for the European Championships, escorting our club's only competitor there. That left the kids without coach for a few days, but then coach TT came around and held superior sessions.
TT was in the national shorttrack team until lately and so payed much attention to proper technique, especially body (shoulder-hip-knee-toe) position, weight transfers and agility trainings. On Monday and Wednesday trainings he taught the kids to slow down extremely and pay maximal attention to proper practice; he also tried to teach them the importance of stretching after trainings (this one is never done in great detail with coach E sadly). Then on Friday hell broke loose and he pulled out such a killer interval training the kids were half dead after 30 minutes :)
Sadly (?) we were able to attend only 1 1/2 weeks of this as our holiday started, this left Peter quite sad as he really loved coach TT's practices.

(Time warp, skipping non-skating holiday)

So race day came and there we were, no practice for more than 2 weeks - proper pre-race taper, right? :) It turned out literally no-one from our club came to the race, only two sisters, TM (age cat E) and TA (age cat D) and their parents. We were 3 racers and a true amateur (me), wow... what a big team :s No coach even...
Szombathely still lacks a skater oval so the race was held on the well-known double handball court. That poses quite some difficulties when you want to takeover, with its non-elevated turns and very short straights. Weather was fine, meteos guessed it right this time, they only warned of rain later in the day (and in fact it was only about 5pm when it started to rain and the race was already over by then). Organisers seemed to keep up with their proposed schedule (we've started at 10:00 and finished by 16:00) and there was a fantastic speaker (a local coach) who admittedly spent the previous night in the Wine Street of the Savaria Festival so he was in high spirits still :)

Peter had 2 distances to race, 2 laps and 3, about 300 and 500 metres. His first start was *****. He started, then stood up, then almost made a stop and then started again. Later he told us he was afraid the guy next to him would hit his glasses off. Well that may be true but anyway he shouldn't stand so close to his opponents at all. On other occasions he pays attention to this, now he did not :( Anyway, from then on the race was gone, he finished 5th:

Then on the longer distance, he started better but again let others in at the first turn. Then he was apparently faster than the two guys ahead but couldn't advance. I don't blame him, he was too nervous about the fact he did not train for more than 2 weeks at all. I only hope that when we watch these videos he learns from them and uses this knowledge in the future.

So in overall he finished 5th, that makes it quite hard now in the annual championship to earn podium. I must invent something for him for the upcoming 2 race weekends.
In the relays he teamed up with IT from the other Szeged-based club, Tornado. Peter was the finishing man, the scheme they followed was 1Lap (IT) - 2L (Peter) - 2L (IT) - 1L (Peter). They performed perfectly and came in 2nd, behind the very strong team of Jászberény. Silver medal earned at last!

About myself: I've had 500m and 1500m races, no real opponents this time but only younger ones and one female (BA from Tatabánya). So I knew beforehand I *could* earn gold :) 500m was terrible, quality about 2 on a 10 scale, while the longer one was about level 5 then. In fact the latter came too early, I wasn't paying much attention to the programme and just had lunch about 10 minutes before the start. Not the best idea at all :)

Down down down

Negative thoughts below... be warned.

I am lacking training mileage this year. I am seriously down on schedule. I've even run more than I've skated :(
What has gone wrong? Busy weekends not allowing 2-3 hours of training? Financials not good for travelling to races?
Maybe the fact I can go & run some laps in the night in total darkness gives a hint why I've run more than skated. I wonder if I could do that on skates with a strong headlight like the ones you can buy for bikes? How do inline skaters in the Svalbards cope with the half-year-long darkness? :)

Speaking of schedule - I've planned to travel to Poprad this weekend for a HM but there was no-one to fill up the car, so it was definitely not worth it then (850 km). Then I've had the Kosice 20km race in my plans, but it conflicts with the last track race of the season. I really hoped to do at least 4 HMs this year, but now it is clear I won't be able to. Why don't we have any road races here in Hungary, just like Slovakia/Czech or Austria has??? The LifeInLine series has 4 races in September only...
That leaves track races to attend - we sure attend them as they are important for Peter. But track racing is not what I like. Too short distances, too many turns, I don't get the feeling of it and it is already finished. The other day I got out to some road practice and while the first 30 minutes were awful it all changed suddenly and the next 40 minutes I felt great. You can not do this on the track...

I've tried to do as many drills session as I could but I feel my technique is still just an inch above zero. I've run many slow kilometres to build up a good physical base. I've done intervals to get up to speed. And still I don't feel any development.
Now soon the cold weather & dark afternoons arrive and what to do then? Last year there was a gym we could use for indoors - about 4 times. Then nothing.

Training l'art pour l'art, without any races in sight is hard.

Whining ends here but I had to let it go.

To Shim or Not to Shim

I've been thinking about it for quite a while.
My right foot pronates a bit and I've had difficult times correcting it. It just doesn't work as smooth as my left one.
Following Bill Begg's advice I thought - OK I've hesitated quite long, let's give it a try.
I put 2 layers of fine sandpaper between the frame and the boot, on the outside. I only had a 12k-skate since then, but it definitely feels different and I think it helps me find the correct edge now when doing drills (or so I tell to myself).
Is it useful or not? Time will tell. Now I should just put in more miles to find the answer :s
Anyway the ultimate plan is to buy a low-cut boot next Spring and leave these trusty K2s...

Turul Cup 2009 - seniors

Between the professional races of the Turul Cup we amateurs had the chance to run our races, too. Our age category was entitled 'born 1995 or before' so that meant ZsD (1992) was racing with us, too. All in all we were 6, 3 women plus 3 men - besides ZsD it was IR sr whom we've met in Trebisov lately.

The first distance was 500 m - and I was completely out of form. I moved like Pinocchio without any working joints I think, it's so good there is no video shootings from that run :s The clock showed 1:15 when we finished and I know I can do much much better. Well, let's say it was the unknown track that made me this slow :)

Then after the pros showed us how to skate we had 3.000 m on the program. Well it was shortened to 2.000 m and in this case I was not against it at all. The wind on the backstraight was very strong and gusty. We started, IR and ZsD left us in no time and I was skating between two women, GyD and BA. In the 1st turn of the 3rd lap however I wandered off the track with my left skate, tried to run a bit on the grass but I didn't succeed. So I was fell (my first crash on a race \o/) on my left elbow and left side. I managed to get up quite quickly and came back on the track to finish only a few seconds behind BA. Were it a 3.000 m I would have caught her. I finished at 5:40, 3 laps behind IR and 2 behind ZsD...

While skating I only saw my left thumb bleeding and the left racing number flapping in the wind, and I also felt my elbow was sore. Then the paramedics team (ie Aniko) took care of me and it turned out there was quite a deep and big bruise on my elbow, and a long scratch on my side, besides some road rash on my left hip and the bleeding thumb. I first thought the scratch on the side was caused by the concrete tiles on the side of the asphalt track but no, we realized it was caused by the racing number's safety pin that opened when I fell on it and tattooed my side with some tribal drafts. Yes, now I laugh at it but then I felt sore and yes they were a'burning. The evening shower didn't feel good either :s See the pics on Cor's nice website (he is so much fond of road rash...).
I don't want to play a hero here, I know the pros & kids fall and have bigger and nastier bruises & injuries but I'm not a young fellow any more... The next morning we went to the track with all my fresh bandages - it was damn hard to get in/out the car and driving, too. But of course we had a good laugh with everyone about my fall :)

On Sunday we had 1.000 m to cover and surprisingly I skated much much better than the previous day (so I'll show you photos). Maybe I 'knew' the track by then - bit too close even? :) I started at 5th place and quite slow, as BA managed to gap me about 60-70m.

Then I told myself to get my butt lower and do longer pushes to the sides and soon I started to close the gap.

I got behind her right at the start of the last turn, took a step outside and tried a hard crossover push (did not succeed) but sprinted and won on the finish line.

We came in separated by 0.1 seconds only, at 2:31. While it was not important at all to finish before her, it was a good feeling.

Anyway, I earned pos 3. (from 3...) and a nice hand-made medal. Big smiles, good atmosphere on the podium and before / after it, too - real fun!

Turul Cup 2009

Only 2 weeks after the Junior Championships we had the 17th Turul Cup in Tatabánya. The competition was also part of the Alpe-Adria Cup and the organizers invited quite some skaters from Germany, the Czech, Slovakia, Slovenia, Austria etc. It was a nice touch, at last we did not see the same faces as always.
The event was also the inauguration of the new speedskating track in Tatabánya. The city has been a driving force for the sport for decades now but they have managed to build a track only now - what a shame!

The start was set at noon on Saturday, so we had a lazy wakeup-pack-drive morning. We got to the track at around 11:00 so Peter and I could test it thoroughly. It is so much different from the other tracks in the country! Very smooth asphalt, you feel like you may slip anytime. The curves are banked nicely but the banking goes on for some meters in the straights - quite strange at first but it can be used efficiently if you do an extra crossover exiting the turn, to gain more speed.
Weather was sunny but very windy, full headwind on the back straight. It made holding a constant speed very difficult.

The organizers put up a schedule that showed 500m and 1000m for Peter on Saturday. Despite 10 entries on the list, only 5 contenders showed up in his age category so there was no need to run qualifiers or semifinals. That meant he had hours of waiting ahead. So the 500m qualifiers and semis were run, with amateur races between them (more on that later). At about 15:30 he could go to the meeting point and then race at last.
His 500m started as usual. His start was fine but he let everyone pass him in the first few metres. Then he needed to fight his way back and spent too much time passing the slowest guy. Why why why...

Then after some time the 1000m came. He did fine I think, seems like he knew every moment what was going on and reacted to actions perfectly. He came in 3rd, beating the next one with 0.007 seconds.

Then the organizers said time permitted the relay qualifiers to be held on that day. Peter relayed with a guy from ZKK and HB. When he was to come, he was started way too late by the coach and couldn't get up to speed, and HB - seeing this all - did not slow down enough but skated out of the relay zone. Pffff :(
We got to our 'hostel' and after a quick shower and some meal, we were in bed ASAP and had a good sleep.

The next morning the program started at 9 o'clock, and soon Peter was called to race the 300m - his dreaded distance by now I think. Well, I say dreaded and indeed it turned out to be a real nightmere - he fell in the 2nd turn, in 5th position. He did not get up fast so I rushed to him - he was crying a bit but I could make him stand up and saw no sign of any serious injuries. He could skate to the finish and earned a 'standing ovation' around the track.
Then we took off his clothes but even closer examination did not show any bruises, just two very tiny scars on the right side. I think the T-shirt and the leg warmer under the elastane protected his skin against the typical 'road rash' injury.
So he finished 5th on the 300m and was 2 points behind the 3rd in overall - that meant he should have beat him with 2 positions on the 800m to gain bronze medal.

He started fine this time and followed GyD (the 3rd position holder) closely, keeping him under pressure. They moved to the top of the bunch after 1.5 laps but Peter did not stop there. He went on with the attack and quickly gained a 10m gap after the next turn. GyD seemed exhausted but the two Czech guys realized the danger and started to close the gap. In the final lap, with about 150m to go Peter dropped to 2nd and I saw he was very tired, fighting the headwind along the straight. The other Czech guy overcame him in the sprint - bummer, as GyD came in 4th, so there was no 2 points distance :(

Two laps in the lead were too much - 1.5 would have been ok. On the other hand I think Peter made the good decision attacking there and then. He fought wise and brave, tried everything. All in all he gained 4th place even after a fall!

There was no serious delays in the day programs at last! So kudos for the organizers. The meal was fine, buffet fine, results printed fast - see, it is possible!!!

One thing to note though that 4 distances are too much for kids of this age. IMHO an 300-500-1000m triple would be enough. I don't see much difference between a 800m and a 1000m. But just imagine one kid, 8 or 9 years old, doing qualies, then semis, then finals in 2 distances a day. That can easily mean 6 races, plus the relay qualies - simply too much for them.

His next race is in late August, so now there is some time to refill.

LifeInLine - Trebisov 2009

After the Junior Championships were finished, we've slept in Jaszbereny, in a very pleasant student hostel (we = Peter, FT, SSz and me). Then next morning we started at about 7AM and drove 200+ km to Trebisov, Slovakia. The NESTLÉ LifeInLine Tour series' next stop was held there (you can use Google Translate to read the site, I use it myself, too. Sometimes you have to switch between Slovak or Czech as the source but it gives quite a good result.). I am quite envious the folks in those countries have a race series like that.

We arived there at about 10:30 so we had quite some time for registration and skating around on the closed roads. The track itself was 3.2km long, a 4 lane avenue, on one end a roundabout, the other end signed with a buoy. The finish area was about in the middle, there was chip timing. The asphalt was quite OK, but there were numerous cracks (all marked with yellow by the organisers), and you had to pass two pedestrian crossings, too, 2 * 5m of clinker blocks.
The town itself is - not pretty. Sorry, but that is the truth. There are concrete block type houses everywhere and you can feel that economy is not strong here only by looking around. But on the positive side, there were lots of trees and people were friendly.

Peter had a 1km race, a bunch start of 19 right at noon. The 7-9 year old girls and boys all raced together but results were given separately. He was a little bit embarrassed first to start in such a 'big' crowd but then I saw he turned more confident by the start. In fact there was some scrum when the gun was shot but he managed well. At the first turn he was 3rd, at the 2nd he was 2nd and finished 4 seconds behind a girl, who started really really well, avoiding the scrum. Anyway, it meant he earned gold in his own category \o/




Then there was a 3km race for 1o-13 year old ones, where FT and a (very strong and talented) guy from TDKE Tatabánya, FP started. They had 2 laps to cover, FT was leading all the way until the last turn where FP rocketed away from behind and won overall. Behind him came a guy and then FT as 3rd and a girl, all within 1 second.




The 5km race I did not see but FP's brother, FM finished 3rd.

Then we had some free time while the kid's ceremonies were held, and then while there was a 10km race. We met IR senior and his son, IR junior and made the sr forget about all the knee problems, sore muscles and enter the half-marathon :) I think he can finish a HM even when asleep so he only needed some kick-in-the-a**.

So off the HM went at 14:30, about 100 starters, in clear and sunny weather, I guess it was about 30C. I started 'fast' only to be able to find me a good group and try to draft in there. Well that was a plan. And nothing goes by the plan... I couldn't hold on to any of the groups, the IR family and FT were well ahead, while SSz was some places behind me.
After the first lap I felt I was goind to die :( It was hot, I had no strength in my legs, I was very tired and had 6 more laps to cover etc etc. Then SSz arrived from behind when 1.5 laps were gone, and I could get behind her and draft there for 2 laps, but lost contact with her after a turn and couldn't get back. So there I was again alone, half of the race still left. I saw IR jr fighting in the lead group and FT sitting comfortably somewhere in the middle of the main pack.
Then - deus ex machina - came EL from behind and I could hold on to him and spent the next 2.5 laps there. Once I tried to overtake him and lead a bit but we both had to realize that won't work. I was simply too weak. In the last half lap I even lost his draft and had to cover the last km alone but I was extremely happy to finish at last. I couldn't even say thank you to him but waved something thankful I think. So EL, here it is: Thank you very very much _o_

Bad news - EL is 65 this year. I was able to draft behind a 65yr old man. Call that a big step forward...
IR jr finished 3rd (36:42), 1st in his age category, IR sr 48th (42:37), FT 52nd (44:14), SSz 93rd (56:48) and me #95 (59:09). In the morning I would have been happy with 59:09, and now, some days gone, I am happy. But there I felt totally worn and eradicated. Results here (zeny - women, musi - men, detky - kids).

Organisers were nice, refreshments were fine and many, atmosphere was warm - everything fine. Except my performance :) Then we had a 450km drive home, went uneventful luckily.

Peter is already telling me we should go to the next stage in September. Well I can understand - what else does a kid need on the podium than a gold medal and 1/2 kg of chocolate? :)

You can find more photos here.