I heard about Bergen triathlon when I raced Norseman last year. The course looked really beautiful and challenging without being extreme and on a good day I thought I could fight for a top 5 in the field. So I planned this race together with two teammates but for some reasons I didn’t have the time to train very much so I decided early to cancel the race and just follow as support. In the beginning of May one of my friends decided not doing it because he had several weeks of illness behind him and I took an impulsive decision to take his place and do the race after all. So, there I was on the start line in a ironman triathlon in tough conditions without any good preparations and it felt kind of surreal. But fun!
When the gun went off I started to swim really easy and I tried to find a comfortable pace that I could hang on the full 3860 meters. With 72 people on the start line it was not really crowded and it felt actually quite good! The water was around 16-17 degrees and that is perfect for a wetsuit swim and it was no waves. I shocked myself doing 1.12 and that is only a few minutes slower than I have done before with tons of more training behind me. The first transition was a little bit cold and I found it hard to get on my gear so maybe I skipped a little bit too much clothes there getting out on the bike.
With only short tights and a triathlon top the first lap out of four felt quite cold but it was far from freezing and when it stopped raining every now and then my body temperature raised and it was no problem at all. And again, it was no wind so we could see some really fast bike splits this year. And the course is tough! It is up and down all the time but mostly short hills and I actually enjoyed it. You need to be very active and use more or less every gear on the bike but the time flied and with four laps within two minutes difference I was very happy with my 5.51 today. I felt strong all the way and now I looked forward to the run. Transition 2 was really slow because I had no strength in my arms and it took forever getting on my socks :)
I thought before the race that the run was more or less flat but that was wrong. Like the bike course it was rolling all the time but now the weather had cleared and we finally got some sun on us! I like that it was four laps and you never felt alone because the field was spread out on all the course even it wasn’t many of us. The volunteers were friendly and the small but enthusiastic crowd was awesome. The first lap went OK but then my problems started. The legs felt like shit and when I was in the transition area after my second lap I was REALLY close to call it the day. I had to dig deep just moving forward there and it was a misery all the way out to the turning point. On the way back around 27 kilometers it started to feel a little bit better and when I lapped for the last time I felt fantastic! I could finish the race in a good mood and I shook some of the volunteers’ hands on the way back and said thank you for a good job! My lap times were around 1.00-1.03-1.17-1.08 and I was really happy when I crossed the line in a total time of 11.40 and a 22nd place.
These small, friendly races really attracts to me and I think there are many advantages compared to the big dragons even if those of course also gives you a fantastic experience. The main reason I like this kind of races is the atmosphere. With quite few people on the course you get to know almost all of them and it feels really friendly. I really recommend this race and I will definitely return! Thank you Bergen Triathlon and all the participants for this year!
Mikael Selvin
2 comments:
It was a good race even though some cold and rainy weather out on the bike. I liked the bike course, a lot to do instead of getting bored :)
You got a good result even though you we´re lacking some training!
Yes I remember you, Örebro right? I yelled at you a few times during the run and remember you said at one point you were all f*cked up! Very strong to have finished in style! Your race report is similar to mine so I guess we had similar experiences with the conditions. See you in Kalmar?
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