Endurance sports school

It was now 2 years back when I have the crazy idea to become a triathlete and it was very clear if I was serious about it, I had to start by improving my swimming technique; that’s how I joined the ILSS gang, first by doing their L1 swimming class followed by the L2; a fantastic starting point that enable the dream to looks more real; then a cycling class and finally the Tri group; where I had been now for more than year, doing different races, gaining fitness, having fun but more important meeting an amazing group of coaches and peers; if there is one thing I would highlight from the ILSS journey is the quality of the people you met on it. Now, after a year with many races cancellations the focus is on my first Half Iron Man towards end of 2021 – training is ON.

I really love our fitness classes and i can see huge gains in my fitness levels since i started 3 months back! The whole outdoor circuit training format is absolutely fun and challenging at the same time and you are always there to encourage us to do more. Really glad i joined you guys bcos before this i was really lacking motivation and now i don’t like it when i miss a class.

ILSS is by far the best choice I have made for cycling. From the ownership, to management, to my fellow cyclist, to the trainers, by far the nicest and most knowledgeable folks I have come across. The Trainers, especially Rinat really care and go above and beyond to help you achieve your goals. It feels like one big family who is constantly offering encouragement and that for me is the most important aspect. It’s been a life changing experience and I recommend it highly to all.

I am very much looking forward to start my Level 2 coaching with Coach Exon again! In the swim sessions, I discovered my lost technique, and he guided me so well, that i am back in proper form. My Son Krish was so excited to see me swim in my home pool, that he forced me to take me to my coaching session, where he was evaluated even a better swimmer than me, but still a long way to go. Thank you for accepting my son for the Level 2 group as well! We look forward to see Exon soon. Wishing you Eid Mubarak. Best Regards. Cheers. Gautam Banka.

I started cycling with I Love Supersport to get fit, have better endurance.I quickly liked the group and made new friends. The coaches are amazing and very supportive. Thanks ILSS for this support and for making this group a family.

I wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t seen others enrolling for it….distance is 6 km I had never swam that, but was encouraged by being told don’t worry there is a strong current pushing you.
The course inspection was something. The boat took a lot to travel and seeing it from inside was impressive. Again didn’t panic believing in the strong current story.
And it was true.
Sofiya suggested to swim in the middle and I did it I felt I was flying had the head easily above water felt no fatigue.
Swimming in the middle almost by myself occasionally encountering one swimmer was great. Bosphorus is enormous, unless you are a professional swimmer that does those big swims you can’t get a similar feeling.
Also is a great week end, Istanbul is great city and for that week end you feel the centre of it.
And the best part is when your friends see the pictures and you tell the story.
Or if someone start to tell you how we shall all go to Istanbul is such a great City and you reply yes I’ve been I swam through the Bosporus.
Big thanks to I Love Supersport to have found me the ticket.

My journey with “I Love Supersport” started in summer 2018.
I was volunteering at the indoor triathlon competition, met brilliant “I Love Supersport” team and got impressed and energized a lot.
By October I delivered a crazy idea to swim 1,5 km open water.
I did not have any swimming technic and I still had problems with my right arm after car accident, but I knew whom should I contact for swimming lessons. On the assessment day coach told me that either I should sell the slot or understand that it is going to be hours and hours of hard work. I decided to give it a try. Sweat & tears, tears and sweat. Next what I remember 1,5 month later my coach met me at the finish line and told me “See, I told you that you can do it, what’s next?”.
This is how I started to get ready for a 10 km run. Thanks to coach - he kept cheering me up and telling me that he trusts I can do it and I can do even more.
Yes, me - person whose medical card looks more like a book not a card - did half marathon this year - just 5 month after starting trainings 😁
Next step was joining cycling classes (waking up at 5 am and driving to the course with a smile - crazy, right?).
My goal is triathlon sprint in Abu Dhabi, than one more sprint in Sochi and than half iron star distance in Kazan. Who knows, maybe one day I will find myself doing full distance somewhere else😝
I am so grateful to “I Love Supersport” team - my life changed a lot after meeting them, for me it is a story of a fight that I won with their great support.

Finishing a full Iron is not difficult, it all depends on the time you spend on the course. Eat on time and have no choice not to finish. I do not like my time, but I understand that in my conditions, it is better than I can. For the first time at all, probably, the goal is to finish, to reach, to see what is beyond, to realize, still terrifying, the number of kilometers. I do not know how I still had to train to improve the time. Oh yeah, remove prolactin. Right, that’s who to blame.
During one of the 8 laps of the hell on the run, it occurred to me that the finish was like childbirth that can not be born, it is impossible not to finish. There is no such choice. But if there is, then failure. Not strong enough. Moral-volitional ends somewhere in the middle of the road.
I still understood, long ago, if you give, you get it. There is no strength in the legs, muscles. But to say that I can always support anyone I could, whispered something, mumbled back. The feeling of unity felt in the end. Where are you all after 13 hours? Also could not walk and fell the next day? What do they give at the finish? By the way, falling, got a medal just between the eyebrows. I think the realization of all possible, omnipotence, and I’m not talking about sports.
Thanks to the heart, the muscles that allowed to reach the end. And be sure to go through the physical and save ourselves.
Gestalt 3-year closed.
Open more …

Today was a remarkable day in my fitness journey proving myself that the sky is my limit.
After 37 years, I decided to challenge myself doing the Ironman 70.3 without the knowledge of cycling nor swimming, but what makes me feel confident to accomplish this challenge is knowing that I can depend on “I Love Supersport” school to teach and support me on all required skills & putting a trainings plans for me
I am really happy that I finished my cycling sessions with “I Love Cycling” school which helped me to ride a bike and learned it’s techniques, and that is why I am dedicating my achievements to my coach David and “I Love Cycling”
Thank you coach for your guidance, motivation, encouragement, support and for being patient with me.

We decided to choose travelling by car in our first journey to Salalah. We left for Salalah at 4.30 am because of long way. The way of 1200 km took at about 12 hours and 1,5 hours we spent on Al Ain Border Post. There was so many people who want to spent holidays in Oman. For the most part the road was boring and uninteresting. During 800 kilometers landscape was not change. There was sand around us, without any plants, hills..

Over the past 300 kilometers, the outside temperature decreased from 47 to 23 degrees!
Salalah met us with dense fog, low clouds and humidity at about 100%. Our way to the point Jabal Samhan for overnight stay was a really exciting adventure. There were cows, camels and donkeys from fog on our way. Tents set by the light of flashlights. There was amazing view in the morning! It seems like in high mountains becouse of clauds staing under your feet. It was amazing!

Next points was Taiq Sinkhole и Tawi Atayr Sinkhole. Tawi Atayr Sinkhole is very impressive limestone formation with it own flora and fauna. Depth of Sinkhole is 211 m! View point was blocked by fog and we decided to go down the trail as far as possible. Wow! There was so many plants like in jungle. Birds add special feel to this unusual place – such amount of singing birds is not usual in Oman!
Near the point Sahalnaiot we had a picnic.
In the next few days we visited Wadi Darbat - beautiful waterfall and lake from which waterfall started. We swam in the waterfall and had a great time!

A few words about Khareef season. Khareef is a period of seasonal weather from June till September. It causes the lands to become covered in green, the hills to be surrounded by fog and light rain. We were excited by Al Mughsayl Beach and Al Fazayah Beach. I’ve never seen before such huge waves. The best time to visit “Blow holes” is Khareef season. Tourists names “Blow holes” like fountains or geysers. In fact it works only with huge waves when the water under pressure goes up through the holes in stones. Near the “Blow holes” there you can see Marneef Cave. In fact it’s not a cave but a beautiful large spaces in stones.
If you want to be alone and see unforgettable views you need to visit Al Fazayah Beach. It was really breathtaking views

Salalah Half Marathon

Mostly it was a great race. But without Salalah perfect weather I think it will not be so!
We were so happy about the weather in Salalah after Dubai heat! +23, cloudy, cool breeze Humidity was at about 90% but we didn’t pay attention to this. We felt very good
The place of start and expo was in Khareef Festival Area. We arrived there an hour before the start of the briefing. First impression was that park isn’t used for many years, old attractions, nobody walks, no lovely atmosphere..

We didn’t immediately find the start arch because it was so small The Expo was represented by one small tent. Race pack with bib number and timing chip we collected at another small tent. We understood why an event organization is so homely because of number of start packs. It was 130 runners
At 3 pm there was race briefing. We was informed about running route, aid stations etc.
Our warm up consisted of jogging, 5 especial running exercises and stretching. So, we are ready to start!

Start was at 3.30 pm. Any roads was not overlapped. We ran along the main road surrounded by palm trees, benches and slowly walking locals. There was policemen at places where runners need to cross highway. During the race runners was supported by volunteers on the bikes. They pointed out where to run, asked about health and cheered up us! It was so lovely
Locals also cheered up us by applause. From the passing cars we heard greetings and cheers. Aid stations was at every 2,5 kilometer. For me it’s enough.
The only thing that upsets me was the lack of any drinking liquid on the one of aid stations on the way back. Volunteers said that all drinks was finished. Everything was worsened by the fact that when I saw an aid station, I ate the gel and hoped to drink some water. It was terrible to hear that the water was over! I took two ice sponges, made some ice shower and started move to the next aid station..All my thoughts at the moment about event organizers was not pleasant. At the last aid station I drank some water. It made me little bit stronger and I started to move faster. At the last kilometer I heard greetings of my friends and it helped me to overtake one runner! Friend’s supporting is very important! On the finish line one of volunteers gave me a beautiful medal and another one took timing chip from my leg. The race finished with personal best 2:18:41. I’m so happy!
It was my first experience to jump in the ice pool after race!

We took our T-shirts, visited barbecue area, tried to find some fruits but there was only hamburgers. I don’t know why but I didn’t want to try some food there.In the evening we spent some time in very nice restaurant.

P.S. If you need to escape from Dubai heat Salalah is the perfect choice! But for large-scale sport events lovers Salalah Half Marathon is not a good idea.

It’s very hard to describe but it was exciting, emotional and definitely unforgettable.
When I sat the day before and looked at the route, knowing Moscow pretty well, I’ve realised how long 10k actually is
That’s definitely a great goal to reach! Still can’t believe that I ran alongside 35000 people
Speaking of training my goal was to do it in one hour or less… and I made it. Running during summer in Dubai was challenging but treadmill sessions with Supersport team helped me a lot! Thanks to my coach who brought me to this amazing result of sub hour.
Guys, set goals, get inspiration from your coach and train. It is worth to reach your desired goal

One, two, three, inhale, one, two, three, inhale, I see a pontoon 100 meters away, come on, you have already done it, well done, now you embrace your daughter, you are not tired at all, not even a challenge, it swims well. The finish is slightly to the left, I look at every second, third breath. What? Why is he right ??? It was blown away … let’s get stronger than rowing, why am I only further from the pontoon, what is happening ??? My uncle is watching me on the boat, and so gently he says, “swim, swim, everything is fine”
Pontoon, touch, cry of joy, victory, tears, I see nothing, I go laugh and cry.
I will come next year for 5 km.

My first ever triathlon

1. I was extremely nervous. I did not believe my coach and more experienced friends that it is nothing to be nervous about. I freaked out and had a panic attack in the water, I forgot a water bottle and did not turn on my Garmin, I attacked people around me with stupid questions and went the wrong side with the bike in the transit zone. I calmed down only when I crossed the finish line and got a call from the coach saying he is happy with my results. So now I know - it is nothing to be worried about, it is not that scary as it seems and drinking from a regular bottle with a cap while cycling is possible but you will lose speed (do not try to repeat it though, better check your list before leaving your hotel).

2. I received great tips: a) take hotel slippers and leave it at the start point so you are not worried about leaving your flip flops or walking barefoot b) cover your trainers in transit zone with a plastic bag in case if it will start raining (can you imagine - it did!) c) never choose white color suit - you will get wet and it will get transparent (you can choose it you are like people watching you)

3. Definitely signing up for sprint before getting into longer distances competitions is a great idea - it is your chance to check how does transit zone looks like, how to park your bike, how to arrange your belongings, how long will take to do change and where are your areas for improvement.

Good luck to everyone!