It's been now 7 days since the Ironman 70.3 in Pula and I am still feeling very proud of it. It's been the first Ironman branded race in Croatia and with Pula being a really beautiful city with a lot of history, the stage was set for a great race.

Let's start from the beginning. We (my wife, brother and wife's colleague) arrived somewhere around noon on Saturday. After a few minutes of settling in our apartman we went straight to registration. I picked up my race number, cap, transition bags and gift bag (backpack) and I was eager to get this all over with so I can enjoy a little bit of free time.

Some bikes are already waiting for the race...

I packed all my stuff and went to T1 which is around 4km away from our apartman and T2. I racked my bike, placed my T1 transition bag on it's allocated place and went to the beach to jump a little into the water. I tried to get a feel for the taste of the water, familiarize myself with the direction I'll be swimming tomorrow and find a few key markers which will help me navigate in the race. There were some waves and a wind was blowing but nothing that was of a big concern. The weather forecast for tomorrow was the same with a little more wind but it shouldn't be a big problem.

After our swim went back to the city and had something to eat. Just as our dinner (some nice, but too expensive, pizza) was nearing it's end we got a call from our friends who also stayed at our apartment but went first to an aqua park some 1 hour with the car away.

We all gathered in the apartment and after rain stopped falling went on a quick walk around the city center. Since I didn't have to wake up around 4 like in France I could stay a little longer awake :)

We went around the Pula Arena and you could already see the finish line waiting for all the triathletes to cross it.

We went back to the apartment and I slept with no problem through the night.

Waking up next morning was easy and I was really looking forward to it. For some reason I was feeling nervous this time. I couldn't really eat but I forced myself to swallow at least something in order to get my body going.

I grabbed all my stuff and we were jumping into the shuttle bus at 8.00 AM, 2 hours before the start. Once there we could see thousands of people moving around and it was just awesome to see so many people doing the same thing you do.

30 minutes before the start I put on my wetsuit on went into the water to warm up a little bit. I felt ready, I felt confident. Panic was not an option this time on the swim for two reasons. There was a rolling swim start. Triathletes line up according to their expected finish time which is marked by some signs and your time is taken from the moment you enter the water and cross a timing mat. I chose the 35-40 minute group which I was sure I can swim in. The second reason why I knew that panic won't strike me this time was the fact that I have already experienced it once and know how to conquer it. More on this in a minute.

At 10.00 AM the cannon went off and we were all ready to jump into the water. I was hoping for a relatively quick moving but as it turned out for the first 10 minutes we weren't moving at all. It turned out that many people started putting on their swim cap and goggles just as they were entering the water. Then you have to talk for 20-30 seconds with your friends while setting up your GPS watch. This was causing an unnecessary delay for all of us who were behind. The start should have taken around 15 minutes but it was more like 35 - because people.

I spotted a gap and ran through the crowed, waved my friends goodbye and was in the water. One, two, three, four, five ... That's what I basically did for the first 300 or so meters. Counting my strokes helped my in France to calm down so I thought I should do it right away this time so that panic won't even have a chance to creep into my head.

I immediately realized the buoys were a little off (instead of a perfect triangle the two sides leading from and to the shore were curved to the left). This was due to strong wind pulling the buoys out of their anchoring and for some strange reason this caused a lot of problems to a lot of people. Instead of swimming in a straight line to the two key buoys (I think they were rectangle or pyramid shaped instead of the round ones like the rest) many started swimming all over the place. I slapped 2 guys and yelled: "Wrong way!" to help them a bit but many were really lost. Maybe if the canoes were a little wider spread than they were it would have been easier for people to follow but it's the duty of everyone in the race to know the course. Later some would complain about the swim course - because people again. I personally didn't make a big deal out of it and I think I swam more or less in a straight line so I am happy with this part.

I exited the water and went to T1. Changed my clothes, packed a few things to eat and I was off for a nice 90 km ride.

I started a little faster since the wind was blowing from the side and I wanted to make up some time before it starts getting nasty with the wind.

Sure enough it didn't take long for the wind to flex its muscles and I knew that this would be a hard ride. I settled on a 30 km/h (+- 5 km/h) pace and just tried to cover myself as much as possible from the wind.

I arrived at the first aid station a little earlier then expected, picked up a bottle of water, an energy drink and missed picking up some gels and bananas. Luckily I had something to eat with myself so I could keep pushing till the second aid station.

The ride was nice (if we take the wind out of the equation) and there were a lot of people on the side of the road cheering us on. It was nice to hear them cheer a little louder when they realize a Croatian is on passing by :)

I arrived at the second aid station and picked up another bottle of water and energy drink and missed again (!!!) on picking up something to eat from the volunteers. I realized that I had to rely on what I had with me. It gets pretty chaotic at the aid stations and since there are 30+ people who all try to be at the spot you are I wasn't able to stop and turn around. I had one bar and two gels still left so it should be enough (at least that's what I usually ate on my training rides).

Just after passing the second aid station and the highest point in the race (750 meters of total elevation) I was ready to just keep a smooth cruising speed downhill but it wouldn't be an Ironman race if something wouldn't come up.

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”

— Mike Tyson

The wind now switched and it I faced a strong head/side wind again. Add to that the fact that I started feeling dizzy and weak (maybe I pushed to hard on the first part, or messed up my nutrition) and you have a recipe for some bad time.

Switching plans again!

The goal now was to reach T2. Put on my running shoes and run for one or two kilometers and asses the situation from there. If I still felt weak I would just stop and end the race there. But this decision was still an hour away from where I was at that moment.

I kept pushing for the last 30 km and the people on the side of the road as well as some other athletes kept me moving. One guy from Serbia yelled: "Ajmo komšija! Još malo!" ("Let's go neighbour! Just a little more.") I didn't have a chance to see his number but this little things just let you move past your limits.

I came into T2 with almost half of the bikes already there which was a bump to the confidence but nevertheless I had to still do a half marathon. I took my time and was off for the run. Right after exiting T2 I realized that I was feeling better then expected.

I saw my friends cheering me on and I knew that I can make it with their help to the finish line. They were awesome enough to switch places twice every round so we could yell a few words back and forth multiple times per lap. After the first of three and a half laps was over I started thinking about kicking it up a notch. Instead of going somewhere between 5.00 - 5.30 min/km I thought I could go faster but since I got kicked in the ass in France I decided to wait a little more before going for it. Once I was finishing my second lap and heard them saying that I am running faster I decided that it was time to pick it up. I started my last lap and along the way overtook a lot of people.

With each athlete I left behind me my confidence grew a little. I thanked the volunteers at each aid station and the ones handing out the bands at the end of each lap. And was looking forward to enter the Arena.

It was a slight climb to it but when I looked at my watch and saw the time I knew that this was an amazing race.

From this point on my memory is a little fuzzy. I tried to spot my friends in the crowed while running towards two gladiators at the finish line. I missed some of them (my wife didn't get her kiss this time - sorry about that) so I didn't give out all the high-fives I wanted but who cares.

I crossed the finish line, got my medal and was feeling over the moon.

I drank something and went to pick up my things and meet up with my friends. We took a few photos. Went back to the apartment, popped a bottle of (this time cold) champagne (or something similar to that :) ) and after I took a brief shower it was story time again. I told them about all the good and bad things during the race and an hour later we were ready to pack our stuff and head home.

I wasn't feeling tired so I drove back home with my mind already looking into the future. I'll take it easy for a few weeks with a lot of stretching and basic strength training and then decide the next steps.

I'll definitely continue doing triathlon but we will see in what type of races. This 70.3 (aka half Ironman distance) seems to be a nice one for me. I'll see what the future holds but it's definitely going to include some long distance triathlon :).

I am a little sad that I chickened out on pushing harder on the run early in the race because I think I could have gone under 1:40 but then again it could have been a mistake with me breaking down mid race. All in all I am satisfied with my race and hope there will be a lot more in the future.

I am also very pleased with the race organization. There are just a few things I would change. First, have more marshals at the swim start who will keep the people moving and won't allow standing in place. Have the volunteers in the water (on jet skis, canoes, boards etc.) be farther apart from each other so they cover a lot more area. The third and last thing I would like to see improved are the two aid stations on the bike. There was only one place where you could grab energy bars and bananas. Assign a few more people for this task and you'll see a much smoother flow of people.

As for my final time, we had the swim time deducted from the total time since many got confused and swam more because of bad marking and some who have been cutting the course a lot - because people once more.

My official time was 4:58:34 (bike - 3:06:18, run - 1:48:26). If we add the 36:13 for the swim it's just over 5:30 which is an awesome result for me.

I hope I'll keep improving with time but more than that I hope I won't be doing this races alone next time. If you would like to try it yourself (on any kind of distance) let me know and we will figure something out :)

Just before I sing off I would like to thank all the awesome people who travelled to Pula just because of me. Seeing you next to the course means the world to me and I wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for you. Thanks!

Until next time, don't forget to be awesome.

Sep 27 Ironman at home.

Jan 11 I am just getting started!

Sep 12 My first (solo) marathon