I raced the Lithuanian Long-Distance Triathlon Championship – Iron Trakai, completing a 3.8 km lake swim, a 184 km bike ride with 1,350 m of elevation gain, and a 42.2 km marathon through the beautiful Trakai region. My goal was to finish strong in under 11 hours, and despite a bike setback during the race, I achieved it - finishing
8th overall and 2nd in my age group in
10 hours 57 minutes...
I registered for the Iron Trakai race three months before the event. At that point, I already had two years of consistent training behind me, including:
7 marathons (latest PB: 2:53)
4 Olympic-distance triathlons
A 104 km UltraTrail, which gave me essential experience maintaining an 11-hour endurance pace
Preparation for Iron Trakai
I planned a structured training routine for the three months leading up to the race:
Swimming: 5 sessions in the lake, each around 4 km
Cycling: 6 long rides between 120–160 km (120-120–140–160–120–120)
I mostly swam on Saturdays and cycled on Sundays. Swim training not only prepared me physically but also deepened my connection to open water and the natural environment, creating new stories and experiences along the way. On Saturdays, my wife and I would go to the lake. While she waited on the shore—watching me through binoculars—I completed my 4 km swim sessions with a buoy. Afterward, we enjoyed breakfast together on the shore, a wonderfully peaceful time spent together.
On Sundays, I rode for 4–5 hours in the morning. These sessions gave me the time I needed to fine-tune a comfortable bike position and practice fueling with my homemade gel—a ‘fueling-revolution’ mix of glucose and fructose.
During this 3 month period, I also participated in one Olympic-distance triathlon in Jonava.
Training During Vacations
Even during vacations, I kept up my training:
• Short trips (2 times for 3 days): Cycling along the Curonian Spit to Nida from Klaipeda and back, swimming in the sea, and running sessions.
• Long vacation (16 days): 5-day mountain hike covering 80 km with a total ascent of 7,000 meters, reaching altitudes up to 2,700 m and overnight stays above 1,500 m, providing excellent acclimatization and a lowered heart rate. 8 days on the sea in Montenegro, where I ran in the mountains in the mornings and swam up to 2 km in the sea in the afternoons...
Nutrition Strategy
A key breakthrough during the race was my nutrition. I prepared homemade gels with maltodextrin and fructose, allowing me to consume a large amount of carbs while keeping my body and legs fresh throughout the race.
Race day
The morning of the race was covered in mist, and the water temperature was around 17°C. I carefully set up my bike and all my gear in the transition zone before heading to the start…
The swim leg was 3.8 km...
I maintained a steady pace, focusing on warming up and conserving energy rather than pushing too hard. Completing the swim in 1:14, I felt ready for the bike leg...
After exiting the water, I ran to the transition zone, removed my wetsuit, and prepared for the cycling portion, 184 km with 1350m of elevation gain...
Everything went smoothly during the bike leg - until the last 15 km of my second lap (we had 4 laps, 46 km each), when I suffered a rear-wheel puncture. I had to ride on the rim to reach my parked car, where I had a backup wheel. This setback cost me over 15 minutes and 6th place...
I finished the bike in 5:56 hours. The route itself was beautiful, but the road quality was poor, which contributed to the puncture. With a total elevation gain of 1,350 meters, the course made the ride slower than expected due to the hills...
After the bike, I started the marathon leg and completed it in 3:40, with an average pace of 5:13 per kilometer...
Despite the puncture on the bike, I achieved my main goal - completing the Ironman distance under 11 hours.
A pleasant bonus was that I secured 8th place overall ...
After race relaxation...
After I collected my bike and all my gear from the transition zone, satisfied and full of emotions…
Crossing the finish line at Iron Trakai was more than just meeting a time goal - it was the reward for months of focused training and a love of endurance challenges. The misty start, the 17 °C swim, the hilly bike course, and even the puncture all became part of a story I’ll remember...
This race also gave me invaluable experience: staying calm and problem-solving when a puncture threatened my ride, and refining a nutrition strategy that let me consume more carbohydrates and keep my energy steady for nearly 11 hours.
Finishing strong in under 11 hours proved that my training, smart fueling, and race plan all worked—and that my strategy was spot on.
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