It was THIS day. The day when I was supposed to start my adventure with triathlon racing. Because I did take part in the Krkonoše Triathlon a week ago, but I treated it more in terms of trying to get out of it than the actual fight against time. It was supposed to be different here. A carefully chosen event where the goal was one - I had to be second and nothing else was at stake.

Triathlon IT.

Events with sub-classifications have always been fun for me. Championship of journalists, lawyers, doctors, etc. - the moment when you come to the finish line in the 14th position, and then you enter as the winner on the box - it's a bit strange. On the other hand, I always think about track cycling, in which the number of disciplines and the medals given out goes far beyond our number of fans in the stands. So maybe there is nothing wrong with that? Finally, in the last two years, I have twice become runner up in cycling in Poland ... in my age category ... in the group of IT specialists. Generally, by narrowing the groups accordingly, I think that everyone can be a master in something. Choosing an event in Powidz was not a coincidence.

Triathlon IT is on the one hand an event addressed to people who work on a daily basis "in computers and the Internet", on the other - aims rather at beginners. Such Yanans as me, who sit in the zone of change on the butt and try to pull themselves on the feet of socks. Who will not come out in sky conditions, nor will they enter the swimming foam alone. I analyzed the results from previous years and found out that I have a chance to fight for something. Add to this the fact that the atmosphere is also loose as a t-shirt from aliexpress and the judge, instead of punishing the punishment, that something simply is not allowed and the lack of crowding, it seemed to be the perfect beginning of the adventure. And only the fact that the bicycle route is led "partly by gravel road" wondered a bit.

So I signed up for the longest, and at the same time limit distance, which still makes sense to me: the Olympics, or 1.5km of swimming, 40km of bike and 10km of running.

And besides, it is, after all, Triathlon IT. If you ever let me release my current job, it's good to know people. Whoever never secretly won 10 points for his hobby during the interview, let him throw the first one with a water bottle.

The plan is the basis

I was supposed to be the second - I did not allow any other possibility. I thought it would be ridiculous 3 times in a row to lose with one player in IT professions. The leg has been properly prepared. Remember when I wrote a week ago that I was not properly prepared for Karkonoszman? At that time, some hate was poured out, because the result was sensible. The result, however, does not always mean preparation. It's like those guys who run the marathon, even though they hardly ever ran before. Not too tight running limits allow you to finish a marathon far too many people. The trick in my opinion is not to finish it, and not to make a mistake on the occasion. And as for last Saturday I did not hurt myself, and the body did not suffer especially, but coming back from the event I decided to make a prize and I bought a time bike. A bit of home fitting, 90 minutes on the trainer and a day later my arm stopped moving. It provided me with a few days of unsportsmannized regeneration.

If a man is stupid, it will not help. I felt that a tired body plus the hopeless position of a new bicycle would not bring anything good, but the temptation was too great. In Triathlon IT I started only thanks to the magical properties of the painkiller Voltaren Max. And it was also stupid, because if something hurts, it does not start. Especially that it was not a pain in the category "it hurts, so it grows", but rather "it hurts because it broke down". Forced detox sports made the legs rest and they were ready to fight!

Masuria ... only closer and more relaxed

The whole event takes place next to the village of Przybrodzin, in the Moran hotel (2 weekend nights for two people from about a thousand PLN to two thousand). The hotel is very nice, non-invasive, surrounded by forest - somewhere between September and Konin, so near the most expensive highway in the country. If one of the goals of such events is to promote the region, then I am convinced. A huge, incredibly clean lake, a few bridges, a beach, small towns scattered around its banks. Google's ruler says that the furthest points of the lake are more than 9km apart in a straight line.

Triathlon for resistant people

As for the event itself, you can have many, but it seems that everyone is approaching the subject with the same bulk, so maybe I will skip this point. Especially, that with such a low number of starters (24 people finished the Olympics, 57 sprint), even the biggest mistakes are somewhere blurred. I have the irresistible feeling that I've stuck on some sort of team-building event, not a normal competition. This is obviously not a complaint.

I do not know about triathlons, but it seems to me that for those who want to start their adventure with this sport (and working at the same time in IT), it is a very good choice. It would be even better if the cycling section was road, but maybe it's just my curvature. The price is high (PLN 250-300 depending on the date), but after comparing it to other events, it turns out to be low. The more I am in this sport, the more I feel that something is more expensive, the more it attracts.

We have about 2.5 hours to the Hotel Moran from Warsaw. Panda, like the real "wife of the footballer" gets up before 6 and wheel 7 reports with the grill in hand and a few backpacks of equipment at the car. There are also all our friends who were willing to spend time with us on the crystal clear lake on this beautiful Saturday morning. We leave so as always for two ...

The hotel welcomes you with a car park full of cars more expensive than usual (after all, it's not just a triathlon, it's still IT) with bikes cheaper than usual and the right atmosphere. An atmosphere coming out of the chimney we meet in practically every place we visit. It's only momentary, so I suspect that the visitor who is responsible for it simply reads the blog and wants to make us happy:

T0, or preparation

After the Karkonosze, I am a bit richer in experience. At this rate, I have 10 starts and I will know how it works. Then I will probably look after something new.

Triathlon IT is slightly different than the others. This applies above all to the bicycle part. The ban on taking off on roads and time bikes implies one - time to greet your worn friend on thick wheels. Trek Crockett, also known as a croquette (because it is probably the most popular cross in Mazovia), seemed perfect for this task. In my life I raced on it once - I do not want to think back to these shameful moments. Currently, I use it only for commuting, so to restore its former power, for the first time in half a year, I cleaned (scraped the mass of salt and oil) and lubricated the drive and replaced the rear tire on exactly the same model, but with the tread and not slick-samoróbką. In the brake on the front of the blocks finished a year ago, but whoever brakes does not win.

I have also provided some inventions. The first of them was the magical Trislide spray, which was supposed to make me a sliding man. After spraying, I was so slippery that you could let me duck on the lake. This, of course, did not make it easier for me to continue into the foam, but I have the impression that this time Trirent will have less holes to fill up than usual.

The running shoes have elastic laces that do not need to be tied and I will admit that this is one of the best inventions in history. The shoes keep better, and the time saving when setting up is significant. Well, this nice peace that nothing during the run will not solve.

I also discover painfully that the yellow outfit is not the best choice for lakeside events:

I am compensated by the fact that in the car we always carry toilet paper and when I go ostentatiously to the toilet, I feel that everyone is jealous of me.

Briefing.

It's good that I'm taking Panda for the competition, because I'm too stupid. The announcer translates from 10 minutes where, how and when he turns. He says something about avoiding bojek, about running out of swimming, and then jumping again. About 4 loops on a bike, on reels, about 4 loops when running, with sharp turns and something else. He says so much that before I can process the information, further clog my cache and do not fit. In my head the only thing left is the fact that the first one I'm afraid of swimming on the right (left hand), the second one the same, and then it will somehow, because I will hook on some back. The problem is only if I'm first, but it will not happen.

Swimming

Starting a swim is ridiculous, because you can start either from the water or from the bridge over it. After a quick analysis of potential profits (time) and losses (shorts, goggles, dignity), I choose the option of taking off from the water, like most. I'm just praying that nobody will jump on me. The announcer is shouting that start, everyone is pushing the red button on the watch and we are moving.

I decided to take off in the style of YOLO. This is my favorite style: it moves as much as God gave, and then somehow it will be. A bit of a shock, because it turns out that after several dozen meters there is no one in front of me. It is also a bit sad, because instead of pointing at someone's legs, I have to put my head above the water every now and then in search of an orange buoy on the horizon. I'm swimming with my breath again for two instead of three, because it's different than in the pool. A novelty is also the fact that the bottom (or anything at all) is amazingly often seen in the lake, which makes my labyrinth go crazy.

My glory crawl does not last long - somewhere in the middle of the length of the first buoys, man surpasses me. Even good, I'm going to ... legs? ass? I do not know how he speaks in swimming, but I will follow him. Good plan, worse performance, because the guest bypasses me and leaves. After a while, I can not see anybody either from the front or back. Swimming alone is heavy, navigation requires a little focus and breaks off the rhythm. Along the way I understand what the announcer was saying and what Panda explained to me - you will need to make two rings. It means running out of water and jumping back into it.

Navigating to the catwalk is even more difficult than a buoy. Somewhere in the back, one man appears in the distance, then emptiness. I beat the first lap as the second, with a huge loss and a slight advantage over the next player. Later, it turns out that it will be a winner. Running out of the water is difficult. I run a piece after the mat, then a piece of ducks, then run into the water in the style of Micz and start the replay. I feel a huge splashing of water next to me and I see that the guest who followed me chose the option to jump from the jetty. We sail together, side by side. Sometimes even too close to each other. It must look comical, because the lake is empty to the horizon, a big break behind us, and we are practically rubbing our hands every now and then.

The foam begins to classical, but I will survive the few hundred meters. The race did not help her in good shape. I have a lot of time to think about drafting and experiment. Will it be faster if I set it up? That's what they said on the internet, but it does not make sense, because it's making waves. Maybe next? Maybe in front of him. We check each combination together. We swim smoothly, but without unnecessary fatigue. I'm losing a bit of distance twice when I have to stop trying to fix the cap. Somehow that's too small, or my head in water, namaka.

Some 100-200 meters before the end I decide to accelerate a bit, because it's always a little better to get out of the water as 2 than as 3. It's hard to say which one I finished swimming, because when I went out on the bank I turned a beautiful eagle. It reminded me of how the announcer said something about the slippery exit and not to use it. A similar eagle is making many people that day. The judges, seeing this, move the ropes, but it will not help me anymore. We enter the change zone together.

We are in the second and third place with the time of 29:06, a loss of over 3 minutes to the first, the advantage of about 1:30 to the fourth and about 4 minutes to the next.

 - I have already written 2 thousand words, and I am just swimming

- Easy, you'll be done soon

T1, i.e. foam from the bicycle

I am Janusz in the change zone. Panda is shouting to me what to do, because it is too much to remember. I unfasten the Velcro in the foam, I tug at the cord at the back, the foam unbuttoned. I tug it again to make sure. This time I decide to download it differently - by rolling on the left side and kneading with my feet. I pull it halfway, start dressing the helmet, and with my legs try to trample it. Reminds me that I did not take off the watch and it could be a problem. Then it reminds me that I have a chip on my feet and that may also be a problem. The helmet is on, the foam is on me, so I have to help myself with my hands. It goes quite smoothly and for the first time in history, my huge Garmin Fenix ​​squeezes through a narrow sleeve.

A normal man would already run out with a bicycle (and so does the guy with whom I ran into the zone), and I like the boss sit on the mat and start the process of putting socks. I admire people who go for a bike and run with bare, soggy feet. I choose the worst socks possible, such a two-layer sock with some Decathlon welt (exactly these: Kiprun Strap). I put them crookedly and I know that it will be torment, because the seam somewhat crooked and crumples me in the shoe. Then a belt with a number, a sip of a gel, shoes (which were specially visited by the shoemaker, giving them a second life for PLN 6) and on the way. I run out of the zone, get on the bike, the judge screams that I am not allowed, get off and run.

Then someone shouts that you can already, so I get on my feet and move into a torment.

Bike

On this day, the key to the whole project was, in my opinion, the selection of the right tire pressure. The route consisted partly of fast, forest ground, half of quite good asphalt with closed traffic and a hopeless off-road road, full of sharp stones and sand, and so-called wavelets. Falk it's a floor that does not let you go because you feel like sitting on a spinning washing machine. When we were passing by her car at a speed of about 10km / h, I could not believe that this route was going. However, all conditions are the same, so there is nothing to complain about.

I'm getting 3.5 atmospheres in my 35mm tires. My friend tells me that he is 2.5, which brings me into a state of slight doubt. I am writing to my self-proclaimed Peter's Coach what to do. Coach Piotr always serves good advice, he invented a strategy for me in the Karkonosze: "Minimize loss in swimming, 100% fire on a bike, and then in running it will be somehow". He says to hit 2.5. I run with the pump to the change zone, I set 2.7 and in fact it is better than on the tour of the route. Sand does not throw it, I do not roll up in the corners, I'm not much slower on the asphalt.

The first circle is suffering. After a swim bike, as I wrote lately - another bike. I am getting a heart rate that I normally do not see when riding below 300W. It's hard, but I see a second player in the distance. He drives fast, faster than me. I try not to lose sight of him. Already on the second lap he overtakes the player in front of him. Ultimately, he covers the entire distance by 7.5 minutes faster than the winner of the swim and calmly runs for the win. On the same lap I finish my adventure with sport that day.

I am stupid. Maximum. We are 21st century, I ride 250 kilometers, I pay PLN 300 registration fee, I set the whole week for this start and I catch on the stones of the slippers - the immediate one that leaves no illusions. We have tubeless systems, squeezable sprays, lotions, CO2 pumps, small suppressors, and I do not have anything that day. I thought that for such a short distance, the differences would be so insignificant that it would not make sense to play around. It was not like that.

The difference between me and the next player was so big that I could order a new tube even in Bikestacja, and they managed to bring it back, send it, hear a complaint, resolve it, pick up the returned tube and send it back correctly.

This is not happening. I smoke from the shoe to Panda, seeing on the way curious faces of players who only enter the first loop. I got a lesson and I'm a bit ashamed. It's a bit ironic that the guy running the cycling blog is eliminated from the competition by slippers. Unfortunately, it also says a lot about my approach to the equipment ;-)

T2, i.e. from a bicycle to a civilian

We spend the rest of the day taking photos, watching the competition, talking to the players and trying chilloutowaćas it is said now.

The competition is very good. Rivalry on the loops has its advantages, because something is happening constantly. This is also helped by an incredibly large difference in the athletes' sports level. With the winner Michał Wojtyło from Love What You Do we saw each other a week earlier, in the Giant Mountains. It turns out that he is arming himself to the Ironman Kon race - World Championships. He also mentions that the wheels in the bike drove up to 6 atmospheres. He was unbeatable that day. Differences in level, unfortunately, generate a lot of chaos and it is difficult to grasp what is happening, even to the organizers. The confusion is so big that the player on the lead hears several times during the run he has a loss.

A huge plus is the pasta at the finishing line, which many diners would not be ashamed of. It's perfect.

After the meal, we still have the biggest challenge of the day. Try this famous one chilloutowania tudzież relaksancji. This is the job you talk about on the Monday morning in the office kitchen. Buddies ask you where you were and what you did, and you said, "Staaaary, I was relaxing at the lake. Chill, bronek, silence and a little lake". We approach this, unfortunately, intervals, in a few-minute repetitions. Laying the sun in a continuous way is too much of a challenge for us unprepared tourists. Our grill remains in the trunk that day.

At the end of the relaxation, Garmin decided to make a joke, probably for consolation, because this was not how the day would end:

From the perspective of Monday morning, when it turns out that my shoulder is again not moving too much and I am waiting to limit myself to sports that only require legs, I am grateful to my cross-country that he did not let me ride on potholes on that day. Like a stupid man, he can count only on external forces ...