It seems that I do well at I Can triathlons, last year I managed to win the first edition of I Can Mallorca and in this first edition of I Can Marbella I repeated victory.
I had a good feeling from the start of the race, I swam right next to Jon Unanue coming in third out of the water, and after a quick transition I pushed hard in the early meters of the bike. The first lap in the AP-7 I forced the pace a bit, I think that rolling on a highway closed to traffic made me push a little bit more than usual, wonderful not having to worry about intersections, potholes and crossroads common in other types of roads, head down in the aerobars and pushing hard on the pedals. The only concern was to have 2.60€ on hand to pass through toll… just kidding… was great to cross a toll on bike and without paying!! Asphalt in perfect condition, a challenging circuit, when one is told to go racing on a highway you think in a flat road, but there is little flat in the AP-7, rolling hills one after another, but everything that goes up goes down and is on the downhills where you can fly and take full advantage of the aero position, the HED disc and the whole aero kit. I passed the 45 kilometer mark with 310W on average, in the turning point I took my pursuers references, I had more than four minutes to the second so I decided to slow down the pace a bit and enjoyed more the race. After completing the second lap on the AP-7 and the link section to Puerto Banus I came into the transition area with the Polar showing an average speed of 39.7 km / h, not bad for a circuit as demanding as this. I faced the 21 kms. run first by the dock area of Puerto Banus with views of the «small boats» there and then on the promenade that runs parallel to the Mediterranean sea towards Malaga and Fuerte Marbella Hotel, where the finish line was located . Very pleasant circuit, many compact gravel areas nice for the legs, great work of the volunteers who kept clear at all times the race track for the athletes so we could enjoy it. I set cruising speed, not too fast not to slow, fairly constant all the time about 3’40″/km pace; Nick Saunders was running fast but I knew that keeping the pace I would have no trouble. On the turning point of the 16th kilometer I took the last reference, Nick came to about four minutes and Nico Ward a little further back, hence at the end I could relax and enjoy the last meters and taste the victory in this I Can Marbella.
We had a great time in Marbella, the I Can team have done a great. The work of volunteers in Marbella has been incredible, I take this opportunity to thank everyone for their time and their willingness, to all the sponsors who have made this race possible and Fuerte Marbella Hotel for the exquisite treat they gave us these days in their awesome facilities. See you all in I Can Marbella 2012.
Here a picture of the Marbella Triathlon school, it was great to see and talk to this group of boys and girls all very excited about triathlon and all of them with a bright future ahead. Keep working and having fun!!
