Chasing the sun

Tags

fog, forest, low clouds, mountain bike, mountains, nature, training

The sun is gone and we probably won’t see much of it until spring in this part of the world. While I was growing up in the sunny south I never realized why are people living in continental part of the country so happy when the forecast calls for a bit of sun. After my first winter here I got an answer. Fog sets in around November and there’s not much sun until March. Besides the fog, last week the weather got a lot colder as well. That’s why I decided to use mountain bike for my training rides during weekend. Hoping I’ll see some sun if I go high enough I went riding in the hills.

For a long time it looked like this

But then the sky changed its colour

It was -3C at the bottom and +7C at the top (1000m above see level)

After some riding above clouds it was time to head back into this

I don’t know who placed the concept of heaven somewhere above the clouds, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that person lived in a place like this.

Sponser

Tags

ironman, race nutrition, sponser, triathlon

Those who read this blog during the summer know that I had some issues with race nutrition early in the season. In previous years I always consumed too few calories during races, but the races were too short to really pay for it. I planned an Ironman this season so I knew I had to change that.

First few races served as a test for Challenge Roth. I took products that I used before but in much higher quantities. I experienced some stomach cramps during the run in Graz (Austrian 1/2 Iron), but they didn’t slow me down much and I thought hard bike ride was the cause.

Cramps got back on the run in Challenge Kraichgau, but this time they were much worse and I was forced into a jog. My coach suggested the cause could be my race nutrition and suggested I try Sponser products. Turns out he was right and I had no issues for remainder of the season.

One of team TBB’s main principles is not to change what works. That’s why I’m glad to announce Sponser will support me next season. You can read more about them and their products here.

 

 

 

Autumn

Tags

adriatic, coast, croatia, race schedule, training, triathlon

Offseason went by quickly. As usual, as soon as I realized what could I do with the extra time it was time to get back to training.

At the beginning of the month I spent a few days in my hometown on the south. The weather is great down there. Sunny with 20-24C and even the sea temperature still hovers around 20C. Quite a bit different from grey weather in Zagreb. At least it’s not too cold so I’m trying to do some longer rides outside while I still can.

I started to increase my pool time. Since swimming is still my weakest discipline I’ll have to spend another winter smelling of chlorine.

The injury that forced me to DNF in Barcelona is almost healed, but because of that “almost” my runs are still short and rare.

I’ve also started to plan my race schedule for the next season. I’d like to spread out my season a little bit and do 3 Ironman distance races. It’s not easy to do it within Europe and traveling overseas might be out of my budget so we’ll see.

Here’s how autumn looks on the south of Croatia: