Race Report Marbella 70.3
A lot firsts on this race - first European race, first hilly bike course, first big race of the season!
Getting to Marbella from Dubai is not as easy as it sounds. No direct flights - the best option is via Istanbul with Turkish (bike transport 60$ per way), or with Lufthansa via Frankfurt to Malaga. From Malaga it's a 40 minutes drive to Marbella via rental car or there's also a cheap bus from the airport to Marbella (around 18EUR).
I decided to head down to Marbella a week early for a small training camp with the team to check out the area before the race. I can only recommend going a little early, since the area is beautiful and you definitely have an advantage knowing the bike course and the downhill turns well. Also during the course recce, I discovered that my aero nutrition bottle (Elite Crono with a plastic bottle cage - heard the carbon version is more stable) kept falling off while going 70kmh downhill over some holes and bumps. Luckily, I had the time to try 3 different options and mount a different more stable bottle cage for this course.
We spent the week before the race to do several course recces for the bike, explored some beautiful trails for running and had loads of good food. Coming from Dubai heat, the temperatures were amazing - still a bit chilly in the morning, going up to max 27 degrees during the day. So - I had the dream to feel amazing on the run, with so low temperatures… haha - didn’t quite work that way.
The Race
Swim was obviously in the ocean with an easy rectangular shaped course. Rolling mass start worked quite well - not too busy in the water despite 1500 participants. Water was a bit choppy on race day, but I found some familiar feet on the way and only cruised without spending much energy. That wasn't too bad!
If something stands out in the Marbella 70.3 - it's for sure the bike course! Beautiful and painful in more or less even parts!
I've been ridden 95% of the course in the previous week. Tested the long downhill 3 times - I was confident, I would do very well on this segment.
After 10min you start directly into the biggest climb of the race, which drags on for around 40min. I've seen a lot of TT & Roadies on the course, but there are quite a few stretches, where you are better off with a TT, so if you're a confident rider, who loves fast downhills - go for the TT option!
I did enjoy the bike course the most: amazing views of the small towns in between the hills, the smell of fresh pine trees AND the fast downhills! Downhill turns were not super sharp or technical either - only slight wind made it a little sketchy at some parts. I felt confident after passing 2 of the pro field girls, but not being used to hills coming from flat Dubai plus skipping gym work quite a lot showed in the last quarter. My back was killing me, so I had to back off the power slightly. Coming into T2 still happy, since I spotted one of the top girls next to me on the transition bench.
Now comes the 3 lap run - we all know, that's when the real pain starts. From the course recce, I knew that 95% of the course would be on an uneven surface - mostly hard sand. I was aiming for a 4:20 pace, but realized soon enough, that's a little unrealistic after a really tough bike course. Spent the first lap trying to gain control back - upset stomach, heavy legs, which were not willing to speed up (I did NOT feel good). Backed off my pace to 4:45 and waited until I felt okay again. Tried to keep a sustainable pace, but with no energy left in the legs, I felt like stumbling around a surface full of holes. The surface felt ok on the course recce with fresh legs, but was a total different ball game after the bike course. Not so happy times with super shoes especially! 2nd loop was still painful - trying to keep my mind focused - ignoring the tired legs - don’t slow down further, keep eating, keep drinking. Tried to convince my competition-hungry-self, that it's you against you… just ignore the super fast strong looking girls, who just passed you.. might be some of the pro field anyways - do the best you can for today. 3rd lap - only 7.5km to go - this was probably the happiest moment of the run. When another girl passed me, who was definitely AG, it was time to push. One lap I can survive with a higher heart rate. Just stick to her - long strides, keep going, push through the pain, increase the pace. I was super thankful for this strong girl, who dragged me to the finish line honestly. I wasn't planning (and also not able to) pass her, but she made me go beyond my limits. Finished with 5:06 with a very very empty tank, very very heavy legs, a very exhausted mind and a big smile.
In total - I really liked the race mostly because of a solid organization, a very strong female field and most of all because of the beautiful challenging bike course. A run on an uneven surface after you destroyed your legs in the hills, was definitely not my favorite part of the race.
By Lea Mex