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"70.3 - Cervia"
17th September '23 - Italy

IRONMAN70.3_Emilia_Romagna_Logo

Introduction
whatever they tell you, just listen to what's inside you, and always keep going, you'll get there

after all the music tours, the adventures accomplished ("From The Roots In The Right Direction"  a coast-to-coast tour with a bicycle & a guitar across Canada in '17 of 6.034 km) - "Not Only A Currency" tour solo with a bicycle & a guitar across 16 European countries in '20 of 6.125 km), and the previous triathlon races ("IronMan - Hamburg - '21" - "IronMan - Hamburg - European Championship - '22" - "70.3 - Cervia '23"), it becomes difficult not to organize something.. somehow I need to have a goal during my daily training, so here I,m with an intermediate distance, a 70.3 close to home.

I have to admit that I faced a bad injury, just before Easter, to my right knee (broken meniscus), so I'm still in the rehabilitation period, but I feel good imaging to race again a 70.3 in my own region.


check the "diary" page for updates on training and on my journey with this musical project

during the race day, you can track me live with the IronMan Tracker App (Download on IOS) (Download on Android), just search for my name (Antonio G. Piretti) or for my BIB (my race number 358).

Race Details


IRONMAN 70.3 Italy Emilia-Romagna, from the sea to the green hills of Bertinoro up to the corners of Cervia

Date: Sunday 17th September 2023  - Finish Time: 6h 37m 05s   Location: Cervia (Emilia Romagna) Italy  -  BIB: 358

Swim: accomplished in 36 minutes and 46 seconds
The one-loop 1.9 km (1.2 mile) swim course starts on the beach of Cervia. Athletes enter the Adriatic Sea and face one turn to the left before turning back and swimming parallel to the shore to complete the course with two more right turns  -  (check the detailed pdf map)

Swimming Portion:
staying more than an hour under the sun at 27 degrees with a full wetsuit wasn't very strategic, let's say it was the best way to waste my energy. I was feeling incredibly hot and couldn't wait to get in the water. The water was also very hot, around 25 degrees.
I swam easily, but during the swimming portion I felt 2 starts of cramps in my feet, not a good sign.
It meant that there wasn't much fuel already, I finished the swimming portion in 5 minutes more than the year before, in 36 minutes and 46 seconds. Even if tired, I was happy to face the biking portion..


Bike: accomplished in 3 hours 04 minutes and 08 seconds
The one-l
oop 90 km (56 mile) bike course starts on the promenade of Cervia and leads through the countryside of Romagna for one lap. Be sure to take a moment and marvel at the pink flamingos in the picturesque Natural Park of Salt Pans  -  (check the detailed pdf map)

Biking Portion:
The bicycle section started well, I didn't push, but I was controlling my energy.
I arrived before the Bertinoro climb at 32.9 km/h. The climb wasn't a problem and then obviously the beautiful descent began. The point is that at 60 km I started to have some cramps around my right knee (the weaker leg), that is, it became more and more difficult to complete the pedaling cycle... I was afraid my leg would "lock up".
I had tried my brother's bike (beautiful and high-performance), with which I was racing, only 2 times and I had raised the seat just a little compared to my setting, that little was obviously not good and I was facing the consequences.
Luckily I ate half a banana which helped me a lot.
I tried in every way to stay calm and continue, I reduced the speed and assumed a different posture, from the lowered position of the bars to the more raised and relaxed position.
Luckily I finished the bike section without having to stop, even if the average was now inevitably compromised, 29.2 km/h
I was however optimistic for the running section, as I had never pushed up to that point, so in theory the energy was there, or at least that's what I thought...
Ps: also my nutrition during the race, 3 energy bars and half if Banana, was not appropriate.
Thanks for the bike @gio4bo it was perfect.


Run: accomplished in 2 hours 30 minutes and 09 seconds 
The three-loop 21.1 km (13.1 mile) run course is flat offers beautiful views of Cervia and Milano Marittima. Athletes will pass the center of Cervia and run by the city's historic and iconic salt warehouse before making their way to the finish line  -  (check the detailed pdf map)

Running Portion:
before starting the running portion, to cool down, I spilled a bottle of water on my head.
in addition to cooling off, I unfortunately wet my t-shirt and shorts, which wasn't strategic, as I immediately had about 2kg more and the t-shirt was constantly cold on my stomach.
I began the run and start off well but after the first 6 km I start to alternate running with walking, exactly 55 seconds of walking and 1 km running...
I continue like this until 2/3 of the race then the walking period gets longer, somehow I was gone.. I even had a hard time opening my mouth. Just one fairly heavy cramp 500 meters from the finish in the left hamstring and then the last jog. 
I knew that I had run more slowly than the year before, but I was aware that once again the mind had managed to command an exhausted body, managing a situation that was compromised right from the start without panicking.
I finished in 6 hours and 36 minutes, the cut off time was 8 hours.. so, goal achieved..!
Thank you all for the support, every encouragement pushed me to where I arrived.
 

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