Tennis Cokan | From Robi to Irobiman – chapter 3
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From Robi to Irobiman – chapter 3

From Robi to Irobiman – chapter 3

A small goal has already been achieved. I became a half Ironman. I tasted the sweetness of the race and also finished it. That was it. From then on, I won’t go any further. That’s my range, unfortunately. Ironman is just something too big for me. The thought of finishing it looked like Mount Everest infront of my eyes. Something impossible. Sašo said goodbye after two years and said that it was better if I continued my journey with another coach specializing in triathlon. He was always the man who gave me hope that I could finish the entire Ironman. He put me in touch with Aleš Suhadolnik. He, too, was confident that I would complete the entire distance. Unfortunately, I didn’t believe in it, and if I don’t believe in something that I’m capable of, I’m not going to do it. On the other hand, I wanted to believe those that were specialists in this sport and already knew what they were talking about. Thoughts were running through my head of how I would finish the entire Ironman if I had barely finished half of it. But let’s take it one step at a time, I told myself. Do another half distance that is more flat and if it doesn’t work out fairly easily then, I’ll just give up, I convinced myself. Aleš started writing me trainings, but I have to admit that I didn’t manage to complete them in more than 30%. I didn’t believe in the ironman story. There was no motivation. During the winter months at home and in tournaments, I tried to do at least 2 training sessions a week, which was much less than the planned 5 training sessions a week, but that’s how it was. But because I’m a person who sticks to my goals, I felt deep down that I had to finish the job this time as well. I started thinking about another half. On the race calendar, I found the “perfect” half distance for me. Poreč, in October 2023. A much flatter race, but the date and place suited me. I decided that the best thing to do was to pay the registration fee, because I would make a commitment that I would really go there. That’s what I did. Aleš and I stopped working together because I simply couldn’t do even half of the training. I thanked him and from there I continued practically on my own.

The winter didn’t let up, it was very cold to run outside, and on the trainer in my room it was “100 degrees” while cycling. The days were short, with a huge amount of work I had to do. Imagine that it is necessary to get on my bike in the evening at 9:00 p.m. and cycle for an hour and a half in the room. It was so hot that I couldn’t wipe away the sweat, my head was doing its thing, my body was devoid of real energy. It was a big struggle every time to get ready to do the training. With all my doubt before and during training, and my family’s questions, why am I doing this because there are still 9 months until the race, you don’t have to, stop torturing yourself etc. I also wasn’t in the water more than 1-2 times a week. It was not a very optimistic time for my ironman progress. So I fought until the end of March, when there were only 6 months left until the race. It was necessary to start serious training. Running, cycling, swimming, club, children, obligations, tournaments… Unfortunately, the day has only 24 hours. Those who train for long distance triathlons know how “crazy” you have to be to do daily workouts while doing your obligations. Why Robi? Why are you struggling? Why don’t you prefer not to rest. These were not only my thoughts, but also questions from loved ones, friends, and others. Going to training when the body is already tired from other things and workouts from the previous days. I had to push myself into training every time. Luckily for me, the goal I had in front of me always won in the end and was stronger than the excuses for not going to training. Looking back, I can be really proud of my perseverance and the will I had. I trained during the hottest hours. I cycled during the day when I had time, and it was over 35 degrees outside. I ran, swam in the pool, and tried to stick to my plan. One of the big problems that came up was also food. I didn’t take enough time to eat well. I was consuming a lot of calories, but the intake was not enough, and this was also reflected in my body. I have to say that I was quite lucky that I didn’t get hurt. But I tried to be consistent and rolled, stretched, and self-massaged in the evenings. I didn’t go to professional massage, I did everything myself. I could feel myself progressing as it became easier to cover the long distances every day, and my heart rate dropped. I also improved mentally, because it was no longer so difficult for me to go to training. My form was climbing and I slowly began to believe that I could do much better this year than last year.

But then came Friday, 8/4. A day when all the efforts of the past years practically washed away infront our eyes. Everything that my brother and I created was carried away by the Savinja River in a few hours. Our tennis club was gone. It was a very difficult period, because overnight we had to decide whether to finish the story, or to spit in our hands and start remediation. We decided on option 2 and a full day of physical work with our friends began. Every day 12 hours of hauling waste sludge from the playgrounds, removing the destroyed balloon and holding a shovel in my hands. That Friday, the story of the performance in this year’s race collapsed. In front of my eyes, there was only the rehabilitation of the club and the courts. It was very hot outside, one of the hottest Augusts in history, and we were in the sun with shovels in our hands. Day after day, 12 hours. I could say that I was preparing for the ironman, because the effort was inhumane and a few times I was on the verge of complete exhaustion. We really worked every day non-stop. I didn’t cancel the race, but I didn’t have it in my head. After a month of hard work, the academy was slowly regaining its image. During the rehabilitation, all tennis trainings for our competitors, tournaments and other activities were held (of course, at a different location). After a month of inhuman exertion, I remember that my body was so destroyed that I couldn’t even sleep normally anymore. My spine hurt so much that the pain during sleep was unbearable. Dreams of the race slowly dissipated. Since I’m a person who doesn’t give up, I told myself I had to give it a try anyway. A little rest and Poreč with family for a few days, it sounded great. When we were roughly done with the remediation, I still had 14 days left to prepare for the race. I went to talk to Sandi and he encouraged me to run the race. He gave me a competition jersey and told me not to change my clothes this time, but to do the whole race in a competition jersey. I went for a few massages to get my body back on the green branch of recovery, did some training and it was time to go to Poreč. Those who know me good knows that I never have a goal only to participate. The goal is always to make the best possible result. This time too, it was so, despite the situation that occurred. The goal was to finish the race under 5 hours. This means 52 minutes faster than the year before. I know it sounds impossible, but that was the goal. Deep down, I convinced myself that the situation would make it good even if I finished the race solidly, but in my head there was still a result, a magical 5h.

Upon arrival in Poreč, the weather forecast was bad again. A storm right in the middle of the race, which meant right in the middle of the cycling section and during the run. Great. I’m kind of used to it, but it’s far from what I wanted. The day before, I ran lightly and jump a bit on my bike. The kids ran a children’s ironman run and everything was ready for my other half. The night before, I had prepared exchange bags, gels and the necessary things for the race. When I woke up on the day of the race, I already knew the procedure. I knew how my body behaved, what I needed to eat and how much to drink. The morning was fairly warm, the sun was shining and so far there was no indication of a bad weather forecast. I happily jumped into the water and did a few paddles. Soon it was time to take off. I placed myself in my swimming group (groups are formed according to the final swimming time that each competitor predicts for himself). There were a lot of people, and it took a long time before it was my turn to jump into the water. They dropped 6 competitors to 8 seconds. My third triathlon adventure has finally begun. “Enjoy it Robi, you’ve been working hard for the last two months, now it’s your day and nothing else matters,” I assured myself in the first meters of the race. Even though it was my third race, I was still panicking in the water. The sea was wavy, and above all, there were too many competitors around me. Touching hands, kicking each other, drinking salt water in bigger waves. I didn’t feel well, I couldn’t wait to get out of the water. Still, I swam in exactly the same time as the year before. To the minute, exactly. This time, I made the switch almost like a pro. I ran to the exchange area, took off my wetsuit, put on my helmet, put on my cycling shoes, and I was already on my bike to the loud cheers of my family. I started at a good pace. I just “flew” out of Poreč. The organizers took us towards the highway and it was a really good feeling when we drove onto it. But then a strong wind blew into our chests. I looked up at the sky and saw that it was preparing for a storm. Not the best news for about 20 kilometers, but there were 70 more to go. The fight against the wind began, and it started to rain at the same time. The highway climbed a little. Difficult moments. A couple of times I tried to catch some leeward from the competitor in front of me, but the judges on the bikes regularly pointed out the distances. I ate protein bars, drank gels, and suffered those 25km. Finally, we made it to the turnstile, where a strong wind blew at our backs. Great feeling. The speeds we reached were around 50 km/h. It was really a pleasure to drive. I felt like I was on a motorcycle. I was still carefully checking my water and gel intake. This time I didn’t drink as much as I did in the first race, when I had to go to the toilet during the race. I came a fairly fresh back to Poreč. I just changed my shoes again and was able to keep running. There were two laps of 10km each. Running is my best discipline, so I was overtaking a lot of competitors in front of me again. My pace was about 4:30 per kilometer. I enjoyed it a lot more than the year before. It was a beautiful route, right by the sea, and along the track a fairly large number of spectators and supporters of the other competitors. The first round passed fairly quickly. I waited impatiently to see mine family along the track, but unfortunately I didn’t see them this time. There was some crisis in the second round. My legs were getting stiff. That was normal for not enough trainings done. However, I managed to keep the pace below 4:45 per kilometer at all times. I began to calculate that the total time of the race should be sufficient for under 5h. The real suffering began, and the weather was preparing for another storm. Unfortunately, the forecasts came true and 4 km before the finish we were caught in a real little storm. It was raining so heavily that I stepped into a few inches deep water. We were practically running like in the pool. Fortunately, the downpour lasted less than 10 minutes and two kilometers before the finish line, the sun appeared. The enjoyment began. I relaxed. I didn’t care if I was within 5 hours or something over. The last few months, which were the most difficult of my life, were unfolding before my eyes. I was proud of everything I was able to do. Proud of everything my friends and I endured during the natural disaster. I was only a kilometer away from the finish line, with a time of about 5 hours. Practically impossible. The feelings that overwhelmed me at the time were really incredible. I ran to the finish line with teary eyes of pride, with a big smile on my face, not very tired at all, but above all very, very happy. My family were waiting for me at the finish line, who accompanied me to the finish line with loud cheering, where the result was 4 hours 59 minutes and 33 seconds. Amazing! Good timing, I thought. A fairytale ending to the half distance.

Enjoying the wonderful moments at the finish line, when I saw that the body was not very tired at all and that I had made really big progress from the year before, the decision was quickly made. IRONMAN, I’m ready for the whole distance. There is no turning back. Next year I’m going for the right one.

Swimming: 35 min 18 seconds

Bike: 2h 43 min 01 seconds

Run: 1h 34 min 14 seconds

Together time: 4h 59 min 33 sec

54th place in my group and 303rd place among 1500 competitors.

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