Marcin Wozniak 5150 Warsaw (oly) report

Marcin Woźniak

Race Report

it's a day after my A race this season, which was an Oly called 5150 Warsaw. It's a stacked race with 1200 participants and one of the biggest short-course races in Poland.

My goal was to get under 2h20m after completing the same race in 2:22 last year.

Short version: swam comfortably, biked to the plan and ran conservatively in 31 degrees Celsius to finish in 2:19:34 !

SWIM - standard 1500m lake swim, water temp 21 dg Celsius. not much to write - swam strong the first half, had somewhat of a lull for the next 300m and picked up the pace before the finish. I guess I could push more a bit and limit the mindwandering that distracted me from keeping the pace.

http://tpks.ws/WGJD2SASRFJ5OCF6HO4KKZIIBE

BIKE - I had a plan of riding NP of 245-250 watts and getting in around 1h02m. I am pleased that I stuck to the plan and pushed all the way to the end with a split of 1:00:40. This was 48th best split this year out of 1200 racers. VI was 1.03, so much better than last year. Nutrition wise I had diluted 3 gels in an aero bottle on the frame + water in front hydration. That's a proven plan for me and it worked this time as well. 

http://tpks.ws/5L722OCNLFTM7MCNMG7AA5Y2Y4

RUN - it was unusuallly hot this year and everyone posted slower splits than last year. I have somewhat mixed feelings about the run - on the one hand I ran 45:43 in tough conditions. On the other - the average HR was 166 compared to 176 I usually run open 10k , so there definitely was room to pick up the pace. This is something I have to work on - gritting the teeth and pushing the pace on the run leg in short course races.

http://tpks.ws/MQCXAN3OQDW47FXDVDRL3DZBVE

Overall I feel that after three years in the sport I have baseline swim skills than let me complete the swims in reasonable time without much effort. Gaining more than 1-2 minutes here would require bigger time commmitmment than I can afford.

Bike is my best sport and I can gain max 1-2 minutes here.

Run is where the biggest area for improvement is - I can focus on it for the remainder of the season and the whole outseason and come back much more well-rounded triathlete next year.

Al Truscott

Marcin - Congratulations on achieving your goals for your A race. Sounds like a big event for big results.

I don't think you should expect your effort level/HR in an Olympic tri 10 K to equal your stand alone. In my experience, the time and feel of the 10K in a triathlon is more like a stand alone half marathon. That would be a better comparison. Remember, you have been working hard for 1.5 hours + prior to starting that run.