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Ironman 70.3 Pula (2016)
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19-05-2016 1:22pm#1Since I got a decent amount of help on this forum already it's time to give back a bit
I'm originally from Croatia and my wife was born and breed in Pula so I know my way around there (a bit about the city, restaurants etc.) Unfortunately, I wasn't racing there last year, but my coach is ambassador for the race so he "tested" the waters first year and now all is ready for me to step-up :P
If you guys or ladies are thinking about going there and have any questions just shoot away and I'll give my best to help you out.
General info
Date: Sep 18
Swim: start at Ambrela beach (really touristic, but beautiful one so it's going to be cool to have it without the masses of people who would normally be sunbathing there), rolling start and 1 lap
Bike: out of town and through few small villages, 2 aid stations (between 20-25 km, Valtura, and 55-60 km, Svetvinčenat). Nice, scenic ride with a decent elevation (I think officially its 700-ish - might be wrong), but without some specifically hard hills afaik (will ask around for some course Garmin data)
Run: Pretty flat, gorgeous run through old town and a finish in amphitheatre with gladiators on the side It's a 3 lap course with 3 aid stations (one double sided and 2 one sided).
See you in Pula!3
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I'm in two minds if I'm going to do this 70.3. The photos from the town look stunning and the crystal clear water sounds appealing. Getting there is the tricky bit, not many flights to Pula, might have to come down from Trieste.
I did a recent triathlon in 2:28 and want to keep up the training which I've enjoyed. I've done 3 marathons (around the 3:15 mark) so a bit of endurance work. What I'm most worried about is the cycle as I'm least experienced in that discipline. In general what's the cycle like on this course? I know after that point my legs will be shot so the run will be extremely hard however I don't think I'll be that bothered about an overall time.
I'm new to these ironman or half ironman events and was caught by surprise at the €300 price tag. Please tell me you at least get a t-shirt included in that? For that money what else do you get, I ask as it doesn't say in the FAQ section.
Hi mate. I'm going there with Air Lingus which is flying directly Dublin-Pula but you can go ahead and go with Ryanair to Treviso and rent a car there or book a service like goopti.com
Cycle isn't flat to any extend, but wouldn't say it's hilly either. AFAIK there isn't any particularly big hill but it's a general really easy climb during the first part of the bike segment and then a nice easy decent and a bit of a flat towards the end - just in time to relax your legs prior to the run. I have cycled around that part quite a bit and I reckon it's decently medium towards an easy side cycle with some really lovely views (map http://eu.ironman.com/triathlon/events/emea/ironman-70.3/pula/athletes/course/~/media/ab2a5ae4841a4ae7beb8581423697330.ashx)...
When it comes to prices, I think this is actually a bit on a lower side of Ironman branded HIMs since they don't have any prize money, but it's still obviously more expensive than other brands/local events. For return, IMO, you still get a really good organized event and atmosphere and for me these are events I enjoy the most. As you mentioned, you'll get some value back through goodie bag also and hopefully you'll have a lovely racing experience.
P.s. I'm in a middle of writing a nice guide for Istria for people doing HIM Pula - hope that can help you out too...0 -
Thanks for the reply.
The area looks stunning which is really pulling me to the race. Logistics wise - I m based in the UK at the moment so would fly London to Trieste and get the bus down, I figured the bike box could go in the luggage of the bus then get accommodation somewhere near the bus station in Pula. I ll probably have a night in Trieste then Fri-Wed in Pula and have a few days looking around the area after the race so I ll certainly read your guide on Istria! The advance temperature on accuweather says its around 20 degrees in Pula around that time of year which I thought was a little on the low side, I m sure its gets much hotter. I can only hope the sun and wind behave on the day.
I did more reading last night and noticed that last year s swim part got cancelled after sea buoys got dethatched from there markings. Some people ended up swimming 2.7k and were told their swim times would not be released, very harsh. Obviously that is an absolute nightmare scenario. So I hope for the sake of all those competing this year the organisers have learnt from their mistakes. I d hate to pay 300 or go to all that effort and not be rewarded with a proper race time after finishing the course.
After a little digging I found a good evaluation chart of the cycle and you re right from 60k it s all downhill so it would rest the legs nicely before the run. 20-25k there looks to be a rise in evaluation then from 30-60k is the harder part. However its good knowing this in advance as I would target that section to give it a real go.
The run through the city looks good, I m generally happy with laps as I like recognising the same landmarks as I go round. The finish is obviously a big winner.
Going to give it more thought over the next week days but the thought of ticking a half-ironman off the list and a few days in Croatia and Italy sound very appealing! 0 -
Yeah, last year at the beginning of September it was still well over 30 but you can't really know. I'm still hoping for 25-30 degrees for my vacation after HIM there too
As it was the first year they had one real issue and that was the swim. Buoy got loose and the only sensible thing was to delete the times from it, but learning from mistakes I 'm counting on a clean race this year + that was pretty much the only negative thing I heard about it which was an extra plus for me too. Either way, see you there 0 -
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they'll get it right, have to
yeah, I would be surprised if I felt it was easier than Dublin, but then again, it's not that much tougher so I'm still aiming for similar time. The big advantage on the bike should be that there isn't any too big climb, it's more of a continuous effort while the biggest "issue" for most should be the run with all the ups and down which constantly mess up your pace. Either way, after yesterday all my preparations is concentrated on this one!0 -
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Finally done with my small guide for Istria. There is a lot of to do and see there so i tried to pick up something for anybody, but if you want and additional suggestions on what to see or do there don't hesitate to ping me...
http://goranmarkus.com/en/welcome-to-istria/
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In short, I had quite a bad race due to "accidents" on both the swim and bike which resulted with aerobic run, but I actually loved weather conditions (they were HORRENDOUS, but since either way I wasn't breaking any records it's a better story this way), had a huge bunch of fans and I really enjoyed the swim (it was one of those really hard ones) + second part of the run. Depending on my race A for the next year I'd definitely like to go back
Side note on the event itself - I heard about number of issues on the swim part, but other than seemingly a bit longer course (most people say it was around 100-150 meters longer if you didn't loose anything extra due to strong current) I didn't see anything wrong around me (some people claimed there weren't enough kayaks on the second part, anybody here saw that?). Bike was much faster than I thought, but unfortunately conditions didn't really allow us to make use of that. I didn't like the first part of the run though, felt a bit lonely at some parts but that can also be due to my problems in the first couple of km of the run - LOVED the second one though and had a blast in the finish line
If you have any comments, good or bad (especially bad) please write them here and I'll gladly pass them over - I already did that with few mine and I hope we can get this event to an even much higher standard in future (it owes us all now)
My full review: http://goranmarkus.com/en/unique-season-finale/
P.s. I met some really lovely guys from T3 Triathlon Club who wrote their short review also which you can find on their pages at http://www.t3tri.org/clubhome/ 0 -
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