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Source: Trifueler
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by nikola

Mergozzo looks great, its a very small town on Mergozzo lake close to Lago Magiore, an hour from Milano. Few caffes, few narrow hilly streets, if you blink while you drive you will miss it. I was there the day before and tried the course a bit and it seamed nice.

I also met a cool Sicilian couple, Riccardo and Maria, and they told me we will meet again in Quelle Challenge Roth 2007.

I had few friends, Mila and Marko, and my little sister from Milano coming along with me to the race and this was great. It is so nice to have someone cheering. Also triathlon is so technical and I love to explain all the details. Marko knows me mostly through my work and art so it was cool to see me in an athlete situation.

Rain was falling heavily all night and during the warmup. My warmup shoes were soaked after 5 mins and each weighted a kilo. Many people got into their wetsuits like an hour before - total mistake - I do not know why people do that. I got in my wetsuit few minutes before I got into the water to warm up.

Swim start was a bit disorganized, they made us go in and out of the water few times - it was not clear weather we should start from the water or the beach.. At some point most of the competitors got frustrated by this and went back in the water and yelled: Dai, Vai, Andiamo (let's go in Italian). Referees did not have much choice and started the race. It was all sort of cute.

The swim course was beautiful and easy to follow since it was outlined by hard plastic buoys size of a football. They were connected by rope under the water which was like a lane line in a pool. I followed the line and I think I hit most of the buoys with my forehead or my face. Very painful. Apart from that I had a great swim, I was behind a group and I lost them only few hundred meters before the end. Most of the swim I was cruising, relaxed and waiting for the cycle, and of course headbutting the buoys.

T1 was very wet, it was still raining a bit. Few people rushed by me before I got into T1 because I don't like to run to the transition. I try to control my heart rate and relax before I get on the bike. I also focus on the things I have to do in the transition.

I forgot to set the gears on my bike and immediately after the transition there was a steep climb with a very slippery surface and rain and spectators made is so crowded and dangerous. It was embarrassing but I had to stop and set the gears and than get on my bike. How I got on it I have no idea. Last time I tried to get on a bike like this I almost cut of my left toe (this January in Mykonos, South Africa). I just mounted it and few seconds of balancing and trying to fit in my cleat in the pedal I was riding. It felt good to ride.

It was still raining and within first five minutes my polar magnet fell off (my mistake, I did not put it well on my front wheel) and I had no speed/distance information. In a way I liked this, I just followed my heart rate. It is not a good strategy but it worked this one time. I soon got into my rhythm and more or less rode close to a guy on a nice carbon frame (I always remember people from the race rouse by their bikes since I can not see their faces from sunglasses and helmets, or because I look in front while I run). Later we met, his name is Pascal Ferrat and he did Ironman Zurich this year at 10:17.

At 25min I saw the leaders heading back and I was totally confused. They either broke the world record in 2k swim or rode 50kmh or I was very very slow. It turned out that the cycling leg was shortened due to the rain - organizers were afraid of dangerous curves-descents-rain combination. So the first lap was a bit less than an hour and I mostly road close to Pascal and I also rode a bit stronger than I usually would for 90k since we had less to cover and I could allow few heart beats per min more. I was having a good day so far and I thought I could handle a bit more intensity.

Soon after we got into the second lap a huge group, maybe 30 people, swallowed us. This was the most frustrating moment. I HATE people that draft in non-drafting race and I even more hate it when they bother me during my own race. I really did not know what to do. Pascal tried to ride in front and I tried that as well but these people kept getting in front of us and my hear rate was too high. Than I tried riding on the other side of the road (very dangerous since traffic was still on, but I was extremely pissed) but the referee came and told me to get back in the bunch on the right side. I saw the referee was talking to people in the bunch and I made sure I always had some distance either in front or behind but it was all so distracting and annoying and I was loosing time. If I or Pascal were not pushing at the front the group would slow down and than I needed to slow down even more to maintain the distance etc etc. I tried to always feel the wind so I would not draft. Eventually I decided to really slow down and let them go and once we had few hundred meters between us I started riding normally again and I maintained the distance to the end. This was the second and last lap on the bike.

If people draft in a non-drafting race I wish they would just do it properly and pass me and let me get on with my race. This was a most annoying scenario where drafters felt guilty and kept doing it just a bit, not enough to get away but always around and enough to bother us constantly. If you draft be 100% about it just do 50kmh and don't bother people that don't draft!

I got out of T2 with one other guy that seamed like a good runner. He followed me few hundred meters and than disappeared behind. I think he wanted to take few initial kms slowly. I was told the run is two times out and back so when we reached the first turnaround point I was confused since we passed only 3.5k, not 5k. For some reason I concluded that the run is shorter because the bike was shortened (don't ask me why I thought this), and that I should run harder. This is one of those things that happen during the race - my advice to anyone is not to think while you race - I certainly have a long history of stupidest decisions during races.

I started running harder but the guy I exited the T2 with caught me and I decided to stay on his tail. He was going hard, distance marks were all wrong but I am guessing around 3:45-3:50min/km. First km behind him was hard but I got into the rhythm and it was fine, I was interested in how far I could keep up with him.

We got back into the city and I realized this is where the other 3k of the loop was, through little hilly streets and a small muddy area. Very slow and hard but a lot of fun. It was great. I stayed with the guy as we kept passing people.

At around 13km he started slowing down. I am sure it is because he did not eat during his run. I already took one GU Espresso Love gel and I was planning to take another very soon. I offered him one gel and he refused and than I passed him and left him behind. He seamed like a good runner but that was a beginners mistake, you can not run half-marathon in half Ironman without any food.

Soon after I took the second gel, it lifted me a bit and exactly at that moment I was passed by this very short Italian runner. This guy was going around 3:30-3:40/km for sure. I tried to follow him for one km or so but it was not possible. I let him go. I continued alone until 19k when I saw that the guy from T2 recovered and was gaining on me and I did not want to have a sprint finish in the city center since its full of tight elbow corners. I added a bit of speed and kept my distance.

I finished nice and felt very strong. It was a great race. Rain was nasty, but temperature was very good for running (around 20C) so I had a great run. Drafting was frustrating but I learned they DSQed most of the guys from that bunch which was great. Congratulations to the organizers for that. I only wish drafters were thrown out immediately so they would not bother us. Maybe some whipping would be sufficient as well.

Unfortunately they DSQed Pascal by mistake. I am sure he did his best not do draft but he was not lucky. This could have happened to me as well since at many situations I was drafting against my will (either that or to stop and crash into people behind me or to be killed by a truck coming from an opposite direction).

Overall I am happy I visited this race, it is not a high profile race but it was fun, cute and I will do it again.

You see photos and polar file and results at http://www.225995.com/2006/09/24/mergozzo-half-ironman.