Lion Heart 2025

6 minute read

Training camp and Lion Heart 2025

🏖 The Ultimate Vacation

I usually end up on those vacations where all you do is eat (or eat and drink) nonstop — and halfway through, you start feeling like this isn’t really rest at all. NOT this time.

Last-minute and completely unplanned (at least in my head), a training camp kicked in. The sweat, the tiredness, and crashing into deep sleep after each activity made it the perfect combination of vacation and staying in shape.

It was engaging enough to completely switch off from work, side projects, and other nagging thoughts.

So thank you, Viktor and Ivan — it was fun and, strangely enough, relaxing. Looking forward to the next camp!

🏆 The Only and the Best – The Team

Viktor Tankov – the ultimate coach, 100% dedication, and the man with the legendary Chinese stool threat

Ivan – soulmate and partner in our grueling trainings, AYRAN + Sponser competition enjoyer 🧋

Vladi – ultra competitions conqueror, a.k.a. the pork-stick destroyer and transition master

Ivo – IM finisher, relentless hunter trying to frag me (and as my mom says, shallow waters are the most dangerous)

Ilian – HYROX and trail running athlete, Decathlon nutrition guru

Estie – IM finisher, tough pancake-free athlete, 21k conqueror

Parents – top-tier support crew

Me – nutrition and gel freak, lemur-look pre-swim and loris-look post-swim, overhype expert

🚀 The Race

It started off a bit disastrously — I arrived at the camp on time but didn’t have enough time to properly set up and load my GPS (which threw off my eating and hydration). I also got behind on my warm-up since shaking supplements turned out to be much slower than I expected 🥲

🌊 The Swim

Skipped the chaotic mass start but immediately got caught in a backflow that dragged us out of the sea… Next year, I’d rather take the slaps than fight the current.

Nobody knows exactly what happened in the water, but one thing’s for sure — it was not cool looking at my watch and seeing 47 minutes halfway through the second lap (2.3 km of 3 km).

Getting out of the water wasn’t very pleasant either, but knowing the bike leg was next helped me calm down a bit.

🚴 The Bike

The first 50 km were all about PUSH, PUSH, PUSH. Once the climbs started, I eased off slightly but still tried to keep a high tempo.

After the third climb at 75 km, the pace dipped, but I kept my cadence high to save my legs for the run. After the final climb — Dushevatka — I hit the flat road and emptied the tank over the next few kilometers.

🏃 The Run

Focused on keeping a steady pace, I started slightly slower, crushed the descents, and power-hiked the ascents — using different muscle groups on the uphills and downhills. I pushed hard on the road descents while staying stable, but the real highlight came earlier: overtaking a competitor in my age group (not realizing he was in 3rd place) gave me a boost, especially since he had passed me on the bike during the third climb.

On the climb and descent toward the Hero Monument, after seeing with the two machines — Ivan and Ivo — I shifted into the next gear for the push to the Lion Head, keeping my pulse in the 160s. On the descent, it jumped to 170 bpm as I tried to keep a high cadence with shorter steps.

Once I hit the road, it was time to empty the tank — overtaking two ultra competitors ahead of me and finishing with a final sprint.

Huge thanks to my parents for their next-level cheering, as always!

Video by Viktor with additional footage from the training camp and race is available here: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/162tN7Nca4/

Stats 📈

Swim

Metric	Value	Unit
Pace	2:15	min./km
HR	154	bpm
Strokes	26	spm
Total distance	3100	m

Bike

First 50km

Metric	Value	Unit
AVG. HR	167	bpm
MAX HR	181	bpm
Time	2:25	h.
Total distance	52	km

The 3 Climbs

Metric	Value	Unit
AVG. HR	165	bpm
MAX HR	183	bpm
Time	1:56:22	h.
Total distance	32	km

Road strainer

Metric	Value	Unit
AVG. HR	158	bpm
MAX HR	182	bpm
Time	0:34:37	h.
Total distance	12	km

Metric	Value	Unit
Pace	6:46	min./km
AVG. HR	155	bpm
MAX. HR	176	bpm
Cadance	145	spm

Total (Source - https://lionheart.bg/personal_statistic/?event_user_id=24216)

Segment	Overall	Male	M 18–29	Pace / Speed	Time
Swimming	39 / 170	38 / 163	9 / 24	02:18 min / 100 m	01:09:28
T1	29 / 170	27 / 163	5 / 24	—	00:03:04
Start → T1 out	35 / 170	34 / 163	7 / 24	—	01:12:32
Cycling 0–11 km	37 / 168	36 / 161	5 / 24	20.33 km/h	00:32:27
Start → 11 km cycling	30 / 168	30 / 161	5 / 24	—	01:44:59
Start → 52 km cycling	23 / 169	23 / 162	3 / 24	—	03:34:30
Cycling 52–71 km	22 / 166	21 / 159	2 / 24	10.43 km/h	00:51:45
Start → 71 km cycling	22 / 166	22 / 159	2 / 24	—	04:26:15
Cycling 71–84 km	25 / 167	24 / 160	4 / 24	12.07 km/h	01:04:37
Start → 84 km cycling	23 / 167	23 / 160	3 / 24	—	05:30:51
Cycling 84–96 km	33 / 169	32 / 162	5 / 24	20.79 km/h	00:34:37
Cycling (total)	26 / 169	26 / 162	4 / 24	19.66 km/h	04:52:57
Start → T2 in	23 / 169	23 / 162	3 / 24	—	06:05:29
T2	86 / 167	82 / 160	15 / 24	—	00:04:09
Start → T2 out	23 / 167	23 / 160	3 / 24	—	06:09:38
Running 0–5 km	60 / 166	58 / 159	10 / 24	07:12 min/km	00:36:04
Start → 5 km running	25 / 166	25 / 159	4 / 24	—	06:39:05
Running 5–9 km	79 / 167	77 / 160	13 / 24	03:45 min/km	00:15:03
Start → 9 km running	27 / 167	27 / 160	4 / 24	—	07:00:43
Running 9–12.5 km	16 / 164	15 / 158	4 / 24	12:04 min/km	00:42:15
Start → 12.5 km running	23 / 164	23 / 158	3 / 24	—	07:43:00
Running 12.5–16 km	17 / 164	16 / 157	3 / 24	04:51 min/km	00:17:01
Start → 16 km running	24 / 164	23 / 157	3 / 24	—	08:00:01
Running 16–20 km	15 / 165	15 / 158	3 / 23	05:14 min/km	00:20:57
Running 19.2–20 km	9 / 165	9 / 158	5 / 23	03:49 min/km	00:03:03
Running (total)	29 / 165	28 / 158	5 / 23	06:34 min/km	02:11:20
Total	23 / 165	23 / 158	3 / 23	—	08:20:58