After having my debut on the 70.3 distance in a challenge event in St. Pölten last year, I qualified for this year's championship. For me it was clear. I have to start even if it's the first tri of the season. With my first focus on the VCM half marathon, I knew that the running form was right. I know that I am not one on the fast swimmers, but what comes out of the bike? The triathlon "time trial position" takes some time to get used to and I haven't spent much time on my TT bike this year - but the datas from my road bike were right.
We arrived on Saturday, strolled across the area at the "x-bionic sphere" in Samorin. The high performance center of Slovakia. I checked in my bike for the next day and then we went to the hotel to put my feet up. On Sunday at 9 a.m. the pros started, at 10 a.m. the age groups started to enter the swim course. I don't feel comfortable in the water yet, the kilometers in Happyland are also poor, but the motivation was there. With a good swim I made my way to T1 and switched to the bike. My pink time trialist (very conspicuous) was already waiting for me and I was greedy for every position. I pressed and pushed the pace, it went "downhill" 45km along the Danube with a tailwind and 44+ km/h, but the way back got longer and longer. 36kmh were then most of the time on the speedometer. After 91km I changed into my running shoes for the subsequent half marathon. I was able to gain 10 positions with a great run and finally finished in 12th place (AK M25). Super stoked with how this race turned out I am now going back home working on my weak spots to improve my performance throughout the season.