Hi guys, hope you all had a great time in the summer. It looks like winter is coming to us very soon. It has been so long since my blog was last updated, I do apologize as I have been very busy with training, life and work for the last couple of months and not able to really get a good moment to think of what to say.
So, with regards to the last couple of months it was a bit crazy, and was one of the greatest life experiences in my life. Full of up and down struggle moments, and finally come to an end now, which is my off season time – no more training and racing.
Now, let me start from the Japan Asian Cup, and it was back to early May. Yes, it was 5 months ago. I had a flat tire in that raceand missed the chance to score points. I was quite worried at the time and not really in the mood after the race.
Then back into Hong Kong, a few days rest then fly off again.
The following trip was in Burabay of Kazakhstan where I stayed for a month. This place is a great location for retirement. A massive national park with a great lake and mountains, just felt totally amazed to be there. In therace, the mission was scoring as much points as I could and I had a great chance to do it with 2 races in between with a field that was not so strong.
When I thought that I had the back up from coaches, a few good blocks of training, and good things would have happened quite easily, the outcome was a big No. Unluckily, I had another accident – big crash at the last lap on the bike, the front fork of my bike was smashed and completely broken as a result of the accident, and I had to leave the race. Even I had a good swim, with a great tactic by the team mate, and legs were ready for a fast run to kill the podium, but no, it did not happen in the end. I felt so sorry for the team and to myself, 2 accidents in 2 races in 2 weeks. What the hell!
I asked myself if I should actually keep going for this season or I just stop right there. For this time, I didn’t doubt myself anymore, because I was just unlucky in races. After the first race in KAZ, I realized I wasn’t allowed to stay in KAZ for more than 5 days without applying a visa and it would be very difficult to get one within a short period of time. So then I traveled to China for 2 nights then back to KAZ, it was a long journey, a trip that took more than 16 hours in one day. Stupid.
Back in KAZ and had another 2 good weeks of hard training, ready for the following race in the other city, Kokshetu, which has more buildings, more civilized and developed compared to Burbay. For this time, I am fully recovered and ready to have a go and try to crack on this one. Swam in the 2nd pack with 5 guys, tried to chase the main pack on the bike but did not work out, then had a demotivated run. One thing I realized was, when you tried too hard on one thing, it will never work. It happened in this time.Since I lost my confidence from the last couple of races, I believed that it would take a while to make a big come back.
On the way back to Hong Kong, which I was looking forward to. A big mistake was made by the customs of KAZ, and they even canceled my flight on that night. Afterwards they found out they have made errors, took them another 24hours to renew my flight and documents and send me back to HK the following night. I didn’t enjoy a single bit of it even though it was a free trip.
Back in Hong Kong, good rest for a week then head to Japan, Shiga Kogen,at the 1600m altitudes mountains for 6 weeks to prepare All National China Games. It’s a great experience to be there to train as the views and facilities are good and efficient for my sport. My fitness and mindset all went well during this trip. I ate healthy and became more consistent on my training,it was exactly what I needed.
6 weeks done, good signs seem coming toward to me. We set off to China for All China National Games, all the details went smooth and I felt strong all the time. All because of the altitude training/racing theory we had, and we want to use the best moment by training at altitude, we have to arrive 2-3 days before the race and most of the time it works.
All of the athletes from the games had to stay at the athletes villages due to security and safety reasons, but it was quite far from where the race location was. It took about an hour drive for a one way trip and it sucked.
Race day, it was a good day. Sun out, guns out. Mind and body were all in one, good warm up with a positive picture ahead.
“On your mark, go!” and the race begun, it started with a one lap 1500m swim. The main pack tried to have a breakaway and I fell behind. At last I ended at the third pack. I did not feel depressed and was just thinking how to push myself to the limit on the bike. It was a 7 laps ride on a mountain with a 9% incline, I knew that before the race and the time in Japan training was well spent.
My performance on the bike was better than expected. Luckily I caught up with two of my teammates who were in the second pack. They led me on the bike, which helped me saving up the energy for the run as I was drafting on them. I t was a good ride then what was up next was a 4 laps, 10km run in the hills. When I ran off the bike I was feeling a bit blew up, surprisingly my performance in that run was exceptional which I ended up to be the 7th fastest runner in China and finished 13th overall in the race. My previous record for the All China’s Game was 22th, I feel so delighted to have gained such a significant improvement.
It wasn’t the greatest year I had in my life but it was a good lesson, a life experience, which I learned to be patient and accept the reality when things happen. Nothing can be forced.
After this game, I still have 3 more races before my season finishes. I unloaded the training amount and I will step away from the team, allowing myself to have my own time and train by myself. I know I need it and will enjoy it.
That’s it for now. Will be updating you all soon.
Peace
Ivanov