I wanted to write this blog post for those who are planning to race in Slovenia in the coming years or want to learn about my entry-level experience with Ironman 70.3 races. I hope that will be useful. My name is Orkun Süer and I am living in Istanbul, Turkey. A 44 years old athlete who have been working as an IT professional in retail field. I’ve been a member of YuzbinKos (Swim – Bike – Run in Turkish) Triathlon club for the last 10 months in İstanbul. As a matter of fact, I jumped into triathlon sport just after participated as a relay runner in last year’s Ironman 70.3 Turkey. Then I put a target for myself to finish Barcelona 70.3 in May under cut-off times.
After 6 months of training, I have completed my first Ironman 70.3 race in Barcelona last May. My finish time was 7 hours and 43 minutes. I wanted to set myself a target for a new race as soon as I returned from Barcelona in order to continue the momentum I gained while preparing for Barcelona. My criteria were simple, firstly, it should be easy get there and it should be a race in between September-October. After looking at the races that meet these criteria, I decided on Slovenia. I immediately registered the race in last June. There was also an image like the photo below in the race video. I must admit that this image also had a great effect on my selection of this race 😊
Between May and September, I continued to increase my training tempo under my coach’s close follow-up. In addition, during this period, I raced local and region level triathlon races to increase my skills. Especially I needed to be better in transitions! I spent nearly 20 minutes!! at transitions in Barcelona 70.3.
Slovenia 70.3 Highlights
- This year, the second of the Slovenian Istria 70.3 race was run. The race covers only age groups.
- The scenery of the bike and running routes is beautiful yet challenging. Especially the bike route. There is a total elevation of 1290 meters.
- Easy travel from İstanbul to Slovenia. With Turkish Airlines, Istanbul – Ljubljana is around 1 hour 50 minutes. There are flights every day. Then, by bus, from Ljubljana to Koper 80 Km.
- It is very enjoyable to compete in both historical and beautiful geography. For example, race briefing place was a historic church that built in 1286. Wow!
- If you like photography, Ljubljana and Koper offer you beautiful opportunities.
- On the running route, you start to see finish line before 2-3 Km of the race. What a motivating 2 km running to go finish!
- The sincere support of the spectators and volunteers should also be mentioned. It is not possible to forget the drummer supporting us on the cycling route.
- If you don’t like to ride uphill with bike, maybe Slovenia Ironman is not suitable for you.
Istanbul- Koper Departures (20/21 September 2019)
On the evening of September 20, I flew to Ljubljana with THY’s scheduled flight. Passport and checks in the airport took a short time. At 20:00 (be careful, it is the last one) I departed from the airport to the city center by bus. On Friday night I stayed in one of the hotels opposite the main bus station. On the morning of September 21st at 6:40 am I bought a bus to Koper. I was at my hotel at Koper at 9:00 after 2 hours of travel. It is very important to choose a hotel close to the race area. My hotel was about 500 meters from the race venue. I traveled with a large backpack and camera bag next to a bike bag. Bike bag is very useful for traveling as it takes many items such as bicycle shoes, pumps, spare tires as well as the bicycle. Although I was traveling alone, I was able to carry everything with me easily.
Registration, Bicycle Delivery and Expo
Registration started on September 21 at 10:00. I finished my registration in five minutes, and then put my signature on the wall in the racing center.
I arrived at the “St. Francis Church ” building after a quick 5 mins walk for the race briefing, which will start at 10:30. At the building’s entrance, I recognize immediately Gordon Graham who is about to give the briefing in a few minutes. I already know from Ironman Turkey 70.3. What a nice surprise!
St. Francis Hall – What a nice historical place for the briefing
The race briefing lasted about 45 minutes. At the race briefing, the cycling route was explained and the race that came as far as it had become closer in a moment. Less than 24 hours later, the idea of climbing steep slopes at the top of the bicycle collapsed on me. But with Gordon’s jokes and the positive air in the environment with other athletes, I immediately threw that weight at me. When I returned to the hotel after the briefing, I set up my bike and went out and tested it. After a few simple settings, I stuck my bike and helmet with the necessary number labels for the race. After preparing my red and blue racing bags, I went back to the race area around 15:00. After completing the process of checking in the bike and hanging the bags, I went for a walk to get to know the transition area and see the finish area.
Before returning back to the hotel, I visited Expo area. I purchased necessary energy gels, orange flavored energy bars for tomarrow’s 6-7 hours challange. Then, everything was ready now.
I have got bread for the breakfast from the market and water for the race and returned to the hotel late afternoon.
Sunday, September 22, 2019 – Race Day Start!
The race was going to be started at 9:00, so I got up at 5:45. I had a breakfast of a mixture of milk – black wheats on sunflower seeds, bread, butter, honey and coffee. I drank about half a liter of water and made a final check of my bags that I prepared last night. After putting my cell phone inside (It is important to call my family just after the race), I set off for the venue. After entering the bike transition area, I firstly checked my bike. Tires were fine. I put the flasks full of Iso and water to the mounts. After taping 3 gels on the bike, I filled 2 molasses tubes, energy bars, spare tires and pump into the bicycle bags. Finally, after attaching the speedometer, the bike was fully ready. Then, I went to bags area and checked again blue and red bags. I gave my street wear (white) bag to the white bag collection area. After 15 minutes of controls, suddenly, I found myself with nothing except for the racing chip, the swimming cap and the swimming goggles. A total feeling of loneliness. We had 45 minutes to race and went to the swimming area to warm up. After a 15-minutes swimming warm-up by mixing between several yellow-boned racers, I went ashore again and went to the area behind the swim start labeled as 40 Minutes (I was planning to finish the swim phase around 40 mins) to start.
The swimming start was quite a cramped area. Soon after, all the racers started to wait in that cramped area. A few minutes before the race, the National Anthem of Slovenia was performed. At exactly 9:00, Gordon Graham and Slovene Gregor Janezic kicked off the racing siren. “Now we are racing!” announcement by the exact moment to AC / DC’s Thunderstruck song began playing loudly. Together we started to approach the starting point with tiny steps. At this point, the impatience to start at once and the uneasiness of the race, which will last for 6-7 hours, were mixed. Every few seconds a squeaky start whistles I gradually approached and at exactly 09: 07 I found my watch’s start button and ran into the sea at a time when starting.
The race day was cloudy, and the sea water temperature was 21 degrees. I swam with wetsuit. Except for 1-2 racers, all racers preferred to swim with the wetsuit.
My goal
My goal was to finish the race in a total of 6 hours and 40 minutes. I planned a total of 40 minutes of swimming, 03:30 hours of cycling, 02:20 hours of running and 10 minutes of total transitions. This would mean a 1-hour improvement over my previous race and would be a big step for me.
Swimming – (Completion time 00:42:48)
I usually swam comfortably. But for some reason, I always pulled the head to the right and adjusted my course again according to the yellow balloons. We did the workout 2-3 days before finding the way above the pool head! I set my target under 40 minutes for 1900 meters of swimming. After completing the swim, I looked at the clock at 00:42:48 minutes as I looked over the mat at the transition area entrance. But my watch also said I swam 2200 meters! Either I swam a little too much while turning, or there was a problem with the calibration of my watch. Anyway, it’s time to run a bike…
I took my blue bag and immediately started preparing for the bike.
T1 – (00:05:14)
I didn’t look at the clock during T1, but when I looked at my watch, I saw a transition time of over 5 minutes. I should keep in my head that I need to improve this.
Bike – (03:37:10)
The bike route is a difficult route, but it also has spectacular views. It has a total altitude of 1290 meters and consists of a single 90-kilometer lap. After leaving the transition area, after a short drive through the city, you take a straight route from the coast to Muglia. I passed this first part with an average of 32 Km / hour. It is also a very pleasant route to go from the beach. A little after Ankaran, you enter Italy (my first trip to Italy in my life was with this short bike ride :)) then you return to Slovenia again. The first 26 km up to Osp is flat except for some small heights. The painful part starts after the Osp. The first tough climb starts in a region called ‘ Crni Kal’. It takes you from 45 meters altitude to 420 meters altitude within 10 km and you see slopes of 13% in some segments of this ride. The average speed in these segments falls to 7-8 kilometers per hour. You ride with athletes from almost all over the World. You are on the bike route in the same place with athletes from all of Europe as well as Brazil, South Africa and Kazakhstan. Usually no one speaks, but there is a common feeling in the air that brings together a common challenge. You continue climbing along the highway leading to Croatia. Here you can see the fast athletes who are in the ahead stages of the race glide down the highway at high speed. At that point I remember that I was motivating myself to start the fast descent in a short period of time.
I finished 28 kilometers in the first hour on the bike. I reached 41 kilometers with a 45-minute drive. In the next 25 minutes, 15 kilometers were completed. The speedometer in front of me showed 61-62 km/h in these segments. Here I am now where the fast bikes pass by. ‘ Crni Kal’ now does not look as hard as while I climb there.
The most important Cut-Off point on the 53 Km bike route. You have to cross 53 kilometers before 13:30. The highway that connects Slovenia to Croatia cannot be closed even if it’s the Ironman race!
The bottom of this beautiful descent is at the 55th km of Kortine and 80 meters of altitude. After this point, a climb starts again and takes you to the Galantici at 335 meters altitude. This is an 8.5-kilometer climbing segment.
The next kilometers passed in the blink of an eye and I suddenly found myself in Koper. I got off the bike and immediately ran for the T2 to the bike area. I hang my bike and said thank you to it because it worked very well during the bike course.
In the bike course, I used three energy gels, 1 energy bar, one molasses syrup (I dropped the other one during the race by mistake :)), one half of a banana, 1 extra liter of water and 1 extra liter of additional ISO fluid given by the nutrition zone. I accomplished to complete the bike course in 3 hours 37 minutes without any problems. I just missed 7 minutes of my target. Anyway, it happens.
During the bike ride, I witnessed a band and a drummer’s show alongside the spectators. Whenever I saw a group of supporters, I replied back with my gestures. I think I may have been one of the most applauded athletes. 🙂
Funny articles like ‘ Smile remember you paid to do this ‘ make you smile even on the most challenging moments on the whole bike and running courses!
T2 – (00:07:05)
At the second transition, I waited for toilet queue in a few minutes. Then, T2 lasted 7 minutes. I put my shoes tied and lubricated with vaseline before the race. I just had to put on my running shoes and put the bike gear in the red bag. At last, I checked the bib number and the chip was on my left ankle, then, I started running for the last course of the race.
Running (02:20:00)
The running course is a full tour that starts in Koper city center and first 9 kilometers is in city center and near the park area. Then, you start to run beside the seashore until the end of the course. You run to Izola and return back to the finish line along with the bay area. The route is usually straight, and it is a beautiful route when you start to run along the sea after the ninth kilometer. 2-3 kilometers before the end of the race, you can see the finish area and you will be excited to hear Gordon and Gregor ‘s announcements for those who cross the line. Every step that you take you to the finish and where those cheers of spectators are. I didn’t take a gel or energy bar for running part. Instead, I collected them by the nutrition areas. They gave Iso, water and cola in there besides banana, crackers and jels. I didn’t take Iso and coke on the running course. I only used the water to wet my mouth and head. I prefer salty crackers in these areas. I went on each nutrition area before taking the water, a few salty crackers and still water. I took 1-2 gels just in case, but I didn’t need to use them.
It’s time to see the benefits of training and racing. I walked a little bit in my previous 70.3 race. But I ran all the course in this race. Thanks again to Interval trainings with the coaches of YuzbinKos team last months.
On average, I had a pace of 6:30 minutes per kilometer. When my heart rhythm was settled within the first 1-2 kilometers when I started to run, it became easier to go. I focused on my legs and the course until 18.km. There, I saw the finish line. It motivated me so much. I completed the run in 2 hours and 20 minutes with a smooth running. When I came to the red-black carpet in the finish area, I was so happy and proud when I heard Gordon and Gregor celebrating. I finished the race in exactly 6:52:17 with a difference of about 12 minutes according to my original plan. So, I managed to improve the total time of 50 minutes compared to the previous race. This is a big step for me.
Return to Ljubljana
My hotel reservation was for only one night in Koper and I should have returned to Ljubljana after the race. I went to hotel after bike check out. Packed all the equipment again and reached the bus terminal under heavy rain. I was tired and wet. Fortunately, the bus came earlier then expected and in 2 hours I was in front of the hotel at Ljubljana. The bad news was the hotel did not have an elevator. Nice surprise! I had to carry my bicycle bag, which was heavily poured by torrential rain and wet materials, up 2 floors up. To avoid such a surprise after the race, you need to pay attention to the hotel selection!
I was totally exhausted. Time to go rest…
My Learnings
- Follow the briefing and the rules carefully. Each race may have different rules.
- It is very important to plan the route before the race.
- Check list!
- Be sure to reflect on volunteers and spectators. If you acknowledge them all of you share that great moment.
- Know your equipment and your limits. Knowing the limits is critical!
- And finally, don’t forget. You paid to do this. You did too much training’s to get there! Enjoy the all experience!!!
Anything is possible!
Orkun Suer
Instagram @orkunsuer7737
My Ironman Blog 
Thank you for this journal. I was also in Koper, had almost identical time, 6:49:02. I hope we will meet at some race. Good luck!
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Thanks for your kind message. I would be very happy to meet you too! Good luck in the next races…
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