Racing 2013 – Stage 4: Inland Sea Traverse

          Just one week after the Fortress Challenge there was the last Qatar Chain Reaction MTB race, The Inland Sea Traverse. 40k though desert on hard salt plains, soft sand and with several dune crossings where you have to push your bike up and down a dune! When I’m now thinking about it, it looks even tougher than the Fortress Challenge itself!

           It was a one way race with start at the Sealine Beach resort, close to where the paved road ends and the race finish was on the shore of Inland Sea at the end of the desert highway. We saved some morning driving and camped on the finish line on Thursday. We didn’t save much, because that 40k drive is almost an hour anyway, but at least we kept company to the race organizers Davy and Ondrej who were setting up the flags and the marking the track.

          The race morning was calm and quiet with clouds running across the sky threatening to put some rainy twist to the race! I put the same secret tech as last year and put on sand gaiters and clip-on aero bars and was thinking about easy race. I was terribly mistaken! Sometimes I don’t understand myself…one day I load all the possible gear for all possible or even impossible scenarios and sometimes I skip some little thing that I think can get somewhere else and no need to pack it now. This time I didn’t bring my pump. “Yeah…everyone is going to have one there. I’ll borrow!” They had, but without gauge, so in the pre-start rush I put too much air in the tires. And hard tires in the sand slow you down ten times more that aero bars can gain you on the flat!

          When the race started, I got quite fast to the lead. Only Ondrej was stuck on my wheel and drafting. “ No helping this time  my friend. The race is on as always!” I said to myself and tried to shake him off using roadie techniques of sudden changing of lanes and sprinting. Didn’t work! “Let’s try at the first dune crossing” I planned. It worked there and I gained around 100 meters lead. But the problem was that even when clenched in aero bars on the hard salt plain pedaling full speed, my lead was not increasing! And the first worries crawled into my mind.

           After the second dune the gap remained the same, but after some sand patch crossings I he started slowly getting closer. And I felt I was running out of gas! He caught me on the third and fourth dune which were connected into one long sand stretch! I picked the car driven track and tried to get on the bike and ride a bit, as I remembered I successfully did last year, but it didn’t work! Ondrej came first out of the dune, but I quickly caught him up and this time it was me who was drafting.

          I ate a gel and tried to recover some strength for the last six flat kilometers coming after the last two dunes. But when we got there, it was obvious that somehow I didn’t have the strength to fight with Ondrej pedaling with ease. Nice gesture from him was that he waited for me couple of times…probably as a payback for the Challenge. But same as there, here also was nobody behind us for several minutes, so even if we didn’t help each other, we would have taken first two places J But it is nice the help and also been helped!

          Last sand patch 500m before the start ensured me that I had my tires too hard seeing Ondrej glide though and me getting drowned after ten meters! We crossed the finish together, in the standings we had the same time, but true winner is him!

         I finished the race in 1:31 hours and when sitting in the shade, sipping cold water and waiting for the others, I realized that this was a first MTB race in the last year or two that I didn’t win! Warning buddy…you are not invincible as you might have thought J

Racing 2013 – Stage 3: Red Bull Fortress Challenge

          I remember three years back that there was the first Red Bull Fortress Challenge in Qatar. But at that time I had some other plans, bought my mountain bike only recently and was not yet that racing hungry. Shortly after that I regretted time to time not to compete, because it was a big, fun and recognized event!

           So when Red Bull confirmed on the last minute that they are organizing the second edition my heart rate shoot up in expectations: “That’s going to be the biggest MTB event in Qatar this year…a lot of people…big prizes…have to do my best and try to…” then I tamed my expectations and started to think how I can prepare well in less than two weeks I had!

           At the end I managed to cycle only like 150k, nicely clean and lubricate my bike, put on new tire and buy some tools for quick tire repair, but the day before the race I felt great, light, strong and confident. The most important and beneficial part of the race preparation we did with Ondrej on the afternoon before the race. We drove early to the race location hoping to see the route marked that we could do a recce. Everything was already prepared so we easily did the technical 13k loop and then the flatter and sandier 10k one.

           “It’s too short!! Make it two laps that it is at least 30k!” I shouted at my friend and the race organizer Eli, who was just driving around on the pickup doing last checks. He smiled and disappeared in the cloud of dust. At least he confirmed that we can come straight to the start and don’t have to be joining the convoy at 6am, so we could just drive two kilometers to our campsite on the shore, have a barbecue and good night sleep under the stars.

          The whole last week I was consumed by the race, thinking about the strategies, competitors and other scenarios. I felt my heartbeat rise just by picturing me on the start line among 150 other racers. It is nice to do a race when you know from the start that you are just against yourself and time and when you know that there is no chance to win and nothing in stake. You feel nervous, but just a bit, but mostly you are calm, relaxed and ready to enjoy the event. 

          But when you, or at least I, do a race when you know that you are one of the favorites, that there is a decent chance of winning and that there are nice prizes to be won, you get even more nervous and hardly relaxed and calm J But what all races have in common it, that once the starting siren sounds, nervousness is instantly over and you are 100% in the race focusing forward!

          Race morning was long, because of some organizational problems, but I had at least enough time to make everything ready and I could also watch probably the biggest rivals, the Qatari National Cycling team sitting in their own tent with their coach and support vehicle with spare wheels! I knew that they are strong road bikers and I couldn’t beat them on the road, but this was mountain bike race and unlike me, they were on the track where they’ve probably never been and on the bikes they seemed they’ve hardly ridden!

        So it was open I hoped J During the race briefing they announced that we would do the sandy loop twice so the distance would be 33k. “Longer the better…” I smiled, but had to quickly top up my camel bag for additional water for the unexpected distance.

          I knew that Qataris will try to work together in group and I also thought that standing in the second line on the start would be enough to catch whatever escape someone might try, but no…the start went absolutely wrong!

          Before I got out and free onto the wide gravel track after a sharp turn from the start line five Qataris were already 30m ahead and going strong. The late start apart from bigger heat meant that the wind also picked up and the first four kilometers were against it, which was giving the cooperating group ahead even bigger advantage!

           I tried to push hard to catch them, even tried to work together with one Qatari who was left behind, but it was not possible. I mean, it was not possible to catch them there J “Let’s wait for the soft sand and see how good they are there!” and I relaxed a bit and only followed from behind on the top of the second group keeping them in sight. When we reached the sand stretch they were around 100m ahead, but then happened exactly what we were hoping for with Ondrej.

          Biking in soft and loose sand if difficult, but as long as it is flat or downhill, with the right setup you can pass almost everywhere! And we were ready for that J Wide 29” tubeless tires allow for low tire pressure which creates bigger and flatter tire surface touching ground increasing grip and reducing sinking. And if you gear down and keep your legs spinning you feel like a Land Cruiser in the dunes. This time was not as perfect as usually, because I had to change my 2.35 inch wide rear tire for 2.25” only which made a notable difference, but still I was able get though the sand without stopping. And there is a massive speed difference if you have to walk or you ride J

         So like in some kind of comedy I watched the Qataris in front of me get stuck in the sand one by one and I passed them like a train not stopping in the station for standing passengers! I didn’t look back until I was back on the dirt road going back to the start, but when I did, to my surprise there was no one in sight for half a kilometer! Except Ondrej who was 20 meters behind J So I waited for him a bit and then we speeded up together downwind back towards the start and the rest of the course. And like this it stayed until the finish!

          We were going full speed over rocks, hills, sand, climbs and descends. Sometimes I had to slow down a bit for Ondrej to catch up, but we were not under pressure so I happily helped a friend. Claiming together the first two places in a race like this was too tempting. But no one caught up or got even to our sight!

          So we won this race J It was great feeling and I was completely consumed with the moment I was carrying and waving the flag to the fortress wall. We stood up there for a long while giving interviews, getting photographed and enjoying the victory! It took the third guy long 10 minutes to reach the finish, but at that time we were already sitting the chairs, sipping cold drinks and laughing with our friends describing this awesome race and experience J

           We finished that great day on the nearby beach submerged in refreshing sea and planning what we would buy for the money we won! 1100 USD for Giant products is quite a sum. Pity that I have already everything I need, but I’m sure there will be something I missed or can upgrade ;) Finally my training and investments paid off a bit!

Racing 2013 – Stage 2: Abu Dhabi International Triathlon

          Five weeks between Dubai Marathon and Abu Dhabi Triathlon quickly passed and I was already sitting on the plane to UAE again. This time I planned everything much better, but let’s come back a bit first.

          Five weeks or even two months since the beginning of the year seem a lot of time for training, but the reality is far different. I tried to train as much as I could, but there is not only training I want to do, so even after duathlon training sessions and 50 pool sessions more or less twice a week I did far less than expected! Merciless Garmin speaks clear. In the last two months I swam 15k, cycled 600k and ran 180k! Well…it is not much, but when I think about it, I did what I could, I was not lazy, so I feel OK with it J Enough training or not, only the race shows the truth…and there was a hell of a race to prove it! Long distnce Abu Dhabi Triathlon is 3k swim, 200k bike and 20k run!

          I think that the last year Abu Dhabi Tri was practically my first triathlon I ever did. I had practically no idea what I will be doing there. I rented a road bike in Dubai, had no road bike training, never cycled more than 100k in my life before a swan just enough to check that I can probably swim 3k in a row! Pain and struggle during the race was obvious, but time 9:23:14 was not that bad! This year everything was different! I had my own triathlon / time trial bike, did more training and most importantly I had some idea!

          So after the relaxed Friday morning flight from Doha to Abu Dhabi, where in the half empty flight were around 10 guys with bike cases, I took a taxi to the registration hotel and then after assembling my bike in the transition area I was chilling out in the sun with a strawberry milkshake. Then after some time my friends in crime Jaro and Yasa came, we had two dinners and went to bed around 10pm. This is how the day before the race should look like J When falling asleep and I felt ready, excited and confident!

          The good spirit continued on the race morning too. Everything prepared in time, without stress and only flaw was that I was waiting for the start on the wrong place of the beach, but I realized soon enough to join the others when the siren sounded!

          Swim went as more or less as expected. Still swimming on the tail of the field mostly alone, struggling a bit with keeping direction, but overall I tried to push and swim faster. Small problem was that I had my compression clothes under the wetsuit, so I was feeling a bit warm in 19°C water. Swim time 1:00:23 was identical as last year so I felt a bit disappointed, because it felt that I was swimming faster. Actually Garmin measured 3.66km and I heard the watch beeping every 500m, so I was quite happy to be just on my goal pace!

          Transition went smoothly because I had already all clothes on and 5 minutes it takes mainly because the bike mount line is quite far away. There is still a lot of space for speeding it up, but for now it went just right. Still on target and off for a 200k bike ride.

          One of the biggest problems of riding in UAE or Qatar is the ever present wind. I think that there is no single windless day and there is a big difference between 0 knots and 7 knots! The race day was no difference. First 40k to Yas Island we had decent headwind and I managed only 30km/h pace. But I was confident that with tailwind I can easily make 40mk/h to earn it back to my planned goal pace 35. Three laps around Yas Marina F1 race track and I was flying back towards Saadiyat 45. Now there were three 40k laps between Yas and Saadiyat, half head wind, half tail wind. That was the theory! The reality was far different, because at the beginning of the second lap the wind started changing in such a nasty way, that the whole ride felt like fighting headwind! And by the last stretch back to transition it was completely against the wind again! That sucked and it claimed my pace, my strength, my mind and I was cycling back in rather defeatist mood, disgusted and sometimes shouting!

         5:55:41 bike time (which is 33.8 km/h) was 10 minutes slower than I hoped for, but on the other hand I felt much better than last year. Only little numbness of my toes, which went away after a couple of steps in the transition area, no knee pain and overall I was feeling stronger and less wasted. Maybe I should have pushed harder on the bike then! The run proved me that I probably couldn’t!

          Run transition was slower, because I was losing motivation again and I did couple of things I should have done on the move and I walked a bit to the timing mat, but once on the run I started as planned with 4:30 pace! But the familiar thing started happening soon and I was forced to slow down. And I was slowing down and my pace was falling down until the very bottom at 6 min/km! I just couldn’t go faster. There was no energy…no power! But in contrary to the last year I kept running. Running slow, but running and any run is way faster than walking J And as I was getting to the second half of the run I felt some energy returning and I was slowly speeding up again. 

          And then it was! I was in the finish! With the time 8:51:09 I was more than half an hour faster than last year, but also 20 minutes slower than my goal time. Where was the mistake? Probably the main reason was the wind. Without wind I think I could have been much faster on the bike and going to the run in better mental state would probably give me more strength to attack…but maybe not!

          Sitting in the sun after race and eating and drinking whatever was available I quickly reconsidered the idea I had during the race to cancel the Ironman I signed up, because I didn’t see the point of going through all this and even worse in case of Ironman triathlon! But comfortably sitting, chatting and laughing with friends about race experiences and planning further challenges, you realize that the feeling of accomplishment is highly addictive, that giving up is not an option in anything and actually the feeling after you overcome the urge to give up feels the best and empowers you to do even more! So shut up and keep training. We can do better next time J The Ostseeman awaits!

Racing 2013 – Stage 1: Dubai International Marathon

          It all started in 2010 with Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge and once I moved to Qatar, it broke loose completely. I’m talking about my passion for competition and races! It started rather inconspicuously with couple of local mountain bike races, than I added some road and trail runs, duathlons and at the end, after two years of building up my strength, endurance skills and racing appetite I ended up doing ultramarathons and long distance triathlon! Three year ago I wouldn’t even think that I would be aiming for sub-3 hour marathon or Ironman! But believe it or not…there I am! 

          Year 2012 was pretty intense already with Abu Dhabi long distance triathlon, Al Andalus Ultra trail, Borneo 100k ultramarathon and plenty of smaller competitions in Qatar where I posted some good results, but I feel that this year is even more dedicated to competing and challenges, because already now I have completely planned all my 6 weeks of holidays for the rest of the year and it mostly spins around some racing! All set and the stage is ready J Let’s go!

          And to give even more serious look, I bought a Garmin GPS watch to track whatever pleasure, training or racing movement I do. The best part of this device is that you cannot cheat on it and your real results are carved in stone on your online profile. I never really knew how much training I was doing, until now…and I’m afraid I might be disappointed with the reality J So when I returned from my Christmas holidays in Czech on the 1^st of January I started right away with training and getting ready for all the upcoming events. My first race was a fist edition of Doha Half Marathon on the weekend of 26^th of January.

          Now I will probably undermine everything what I just said or at least give it a less credible look, when I say that training is not my No.1 free time activity! Indisputable No.1 is one amazing lady I met here and nothing makes me happier, than making her happy! No.2 is kitesurfing, so every windy day off I go kiting. Then it is training No.3 which I also like very much a enjoy running, biking and even swimming is not that bad and I feel good after a good training session.

          OK…it is not Black & White like this and I try to juggle all three together to give all of them enough space, but when it comes to priority decisions, it is clear who gets my time J And unfortunately all of this juggling comes in expense of the last No. in my list and it is rest, regeneration and sleep L Which is not good and I’m still trying to find the way around it, but with limited success only! So now I think you understand why I will be probably surprised with my training quantity when I start really counting it! But isn’t the quality more important than quantity? Let the results show J

       One week before the marathon race weekend, I changed on the last minute my plans and registered for Dubai International Marathon instead of the Doha Half, because I found some more things I could do in Dubai, so the trip was worth it. The idea was to come to the start line straight from the airport, but then I found out that my friend Jaro would be staying in a house nearby, so I joined them for few more hours of sleep after my arrival at 3am!

          So on the foggy Friday morning at 7am I stood on the start line of my third Dubai Marathon. It was a familiar race, course and routine, I knew what to do so I was able to be at the front of the field in time and ready. Some people run 100k a week, but I managed !!ONLY!! 65k in three weeks before the race! And this is a big surprise to me already when I’m writing it! But still…I felt that I could beat the Personal Best and finish in 3hours and 15 minutes, 10 minutes faster than last year.

          And off we were into the cold and humid race day. In the crowd of people waiting for the start you didn’t feel it but once the field spreads after the start line, you could feel it like a cold wall! But I was in my standard long tights and long sleeve with bandana round my head, so I was fine and warmJ With the new Garmin it was much easier and accurate to monitor my speed and I settled on 4:30 minutes per kilometer, which ensured some heads up on the goal time and I was easily keeping it. It was actually more difficult to maintain a constant speed than I thought, but I always speeded up when I saw that I’m slowing down, so it was not much of a problem. It was happy running with music in my ears and kilometers were quickly falling behind. Every 10km I ate a gel and drank Gatorade and soon I was closing to the 30^th kilometer. I wiped dew from my eyebrows, put on sunglasses and start thinking about the right time to push harder to the finish!

           I still remember Jaro telling before my first marathon, that the crucial part is just after the 30^th kilometer! You may feel great, full of power, but there it just suddenly hits you out of the blue and you have to struggle to even keep moving. I experienced it in last two editions and this time I wanted to avoid it. But as it is always…things are different than they seem ;) 
          So from the kilometer 32 I changed the music to more aggressive beats and gently speeded up to 4:25 min/km. After 3 kilometers I felt that those last 7 I can blast and in a trance of some beautiful and energizing songs I was flying at 4:05 min/km. I took a Turbo snack (instant high energy shot for the finish) and enjoyed overtaking other struggling runners! 
          It didn’t come at km 30, but it came at km 37!! I have no idea what happened there, but my legs suddenly stopped and I was running at 5 min/km. And I couldn’t do anything about it! Such a strange and desperate feeling when you want to go faster, but the legs are just not moving. I remembered the last year’s last 5km. Like copy & paste…shouting, encouraging myself, sighing…but nothing helped and I was sadly watching the other runners overtake me back. Only difference was that I was here 10 minutes earlier J
    Like this it went until almost to the finish. There I saw my friend Kaupo and Triinu cheering and I somehow speeded up again and finished in 3:10:14! Stange huh? How could you possibly find the power again to run as you always wanted just because someone is yelling at you "GO JIRI GO!!"? And if the power was there why I couldn't summon it before? Mistery!
         Anyway...definitely mission accomplished and it was a huge improvement since 2012, but…I just can’t enjoy my successes very long, because I very quickly start thinking what went wrong, how to be even better and setting even higher goals.

          Three years ago when browsing through competitor list for Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge and their best personal achievements I remember a guy who put there “Marathon Best time 3:08”. I remember like yesterday thinking “Man! That would be awesome to be that fast. I will probably never achieve it!” Well…never say never J Anyway…that’s for the next year…next stop: Abu Dhabi International Triathlon – Long Distance!

Escape to paradise

         Qatar has only 7 days of public holidays in a year, so three day EID Islamic holidays are always well awaited and it’s almost mandatory to leave to country and escape from the desert and overheated city on Doha…at least for few days. This time we wanted to break the rule and stay home kiteboarding, but wind gods were not in our favor, so we had to leave!! And for four days it was easy choice…green mountains and crystal blue wadis of the Sultanate of Oman just an hour flight from Doha!

           We didn’t have much of a plan, but we booked the all mighty 7-seater 4x4 Toyota Land Cruiser to get us wherever we wish to go. Luckily we got also a roof rack to put our baggage, because without that we would probably be like sardines in a can! We stocked ourselves with everything important in Muscat airport duty free and nearby Carrefour and off we went into the night. First we chose a safe bet, Wadi Bani Awf and Snake canyon. Deep and colorful wadi in the heart of Jabal Shams mountains with a beautiful village of Bilad Sayd and with the thin and deep Snake gorge was sure fun a next day and a half!

          We woke up in the pass just above the valley and after a breakfast in the sky we descended. We had to admit that all the Arabs have a reason to have at least one Land Cruiser in their car fleet, because the ride down on the super steep, bumpy and rocky dirt road was like in pillows. Pure comfort! First we decided to do a short route of the trek though the bottom of the Snake Gorge.

          In comparison with the long route you don’t need a rope here and was supposed to be easy walk. In actually was, but just because there was hardly any water! I can’t imagine going here if the water is high a flowing as constant stream…that would definitely be more scary, you wouldn’t be able to stop, explore ahead and climb down to the next pool…you would be washed downstream no matter what! But I guess that’s the real spirit of canyoning. But we were more than happy like this J

It took us almost the whole day so after the walk back up the hill, we crashed for the night right where we started. On the way back we wanted to do a quick Via Ferrata above the Snake Gorge and slide couple of tyrolean traverses from one side to another, but it was closed for maintenance :( Next time!

         The next day we took a pleasure hike to village picturesque village of Bilad Sayt and on the way back we did a easy route in La Gorgette, famous Oman climbing area. Unfortunately all the routes were quite difficult for beginners and we didn’t have climbing shoes, so everyone just tried once and we headed back up to the pass and onto the Omani plains down south.

         We stopped in Nizwa for a lunch and continued to Wahiba Sands, the real sandy desert. We reached just after it got dark, so we chose to get a typical Arabic tent in one desert camp we found on after we drove 10k inside. It was a great choice, because we were covered from the wind and had a clean carpet to drink play some cards. And sleeping on soft mattresses was a welcomed change from wadi rocky grounds!

         Obviously nobody woke up to watch the sunrise above the dunes, so we just headed to play in the sand for a while after breakfast. Great experience for those who have seen only the Qatari one! Finally they’ve seen the real one J

         Covered with sand we went straight to Wadi Bani Khalid for a shover. I think I’ve never seen so much fresh water in the whole Middle East. Crystal clear and deep pools were just like a paradise. And locals liked their paradise too, because it was quite packed…who wouldn’t right? J We played, swam, were jumping until we were full, refreshed and ready for some more adventure.

         So then we headed further south to Ras Al-Had to watch sea turtles to lay eggs on the beach. Because it was a breeding season the official tickets were sold out, but we managed to sneak to a one additional tour and got inside the national park. It was amazing to see the turtle land on the beach, slowly crawl up to 100m from the coast, dig a hole, lay eggs, dig another hole next to it to confuse egg hungry predators and crawl back to the sea. It takes up to 1-2 hours for the turtle. But out of those hundreds of small turtles who get born only few percent survives to adulthood…but I guess this is how it is meant to be! After the tour we crashed on the main village beach, and got lucky enough to see one turtle just digging hole 20 meter from our car J

          The last day we stopped in wadi Ash Shab, another beautiful wadi full of water and trees. We hiked up to the end and swam into a cave. We drank our last beers sitting in a sandy pool and unfortunately had to start thinking about heading back. We managed to stop for a minute to see Bimmah sinkhole and Sultan’s palace in Muscat, but that was really it! Short trip, but intense and to remember!

          It takes a while until you relax completely and start to fully enjoy your holidays, but after a day or two you are in the travelling mood. And speaking for myself, I wanted to continue further and more. One day I will ;)