May 2009

I know that I said that I would update this blog more frequently, given that we have entered the race season but clearly I have failed as it has been at least a month since my last update.

My training has still been a bit haphazard as I am also studying for my Management Accountancy exams and have therefore not been at the office every day for the past few weeks, and because I cannot ride or run into work when I am at college, my overall mileage has reduced somewhat!

Well we are in amongst the races. I helped marshal my club’s off road triathlon on May 10th, which went without a hitch and helped me prepare for my first triathlon the following week. Because of studies I had an enforced taper that really only saw me swim on the Monday night, giving me plenty of rest leading up to Sunday’s race. 

RACE REPORT

This race has been along time coming, and I have collected all the gear, read all of the articles, listened to all of the podcasts and questioned my triathlon buddies on Twitter, so felt very prepared, but so worried that I had got everything covered. Over the two weeks prior to the race the one thing that I hadn’t sorted out was something to wear. I had ordered a tri top and shorts from the tri club, but in case they didn’t arrive I bought another set on ebay. Why is it that Tri Tops are so short? The tendency for them to ride upwards and reveal my midriff was more than my kids could stand and so the items were duly banned from public viewing, the club kit arrived and followed a similar fate!

On the day before the race I packed everything together, a list of 50 things and I practised my transitions, including the leap of faith on to the bike with bike shoes attached. Having sort of mastered the approach i.e. didn’t fall off, I packed the bike and kit in the car ready for a 4.30am alarm call on Sunday morning.

Race Day arrived through bleary eyes as the alarm brought me to my senses and I shut it off to avoid waking my wife and children. I went down to my pre race breakfast (2 slices of toast and marmalade – does everyone call it marmalade? Its an Orange based preserve, if that helps), glass of fruit smoothie and a cup of coffee. I looked out of the window to see the bright sun shining through the window! I wish, it was persistently raining, a polite way to say that it was pi$$ing down.

I drove the 83km to the venue through pouring rain but arrived with plenty of time to register, get marked with my race number (46) and collect my goodie bag. I racked the bike and then joined the crowd under the awning trying to decide how to lay out the transition area amongst the puddles.

I had done some preparation and had a plastic crate to collect all of my kit, but luck would have it that the God’s smiled down on us poor triathletes and turned off the tap for a while. A mad dash followed as everyone started to lay down their claims. I opted to follow the advice given to me on twitter by Thomas De Vos (@traintriathlon) who advised to put the bike and run shoes into carrier bags, so I changed my strategy and decided to put the bike shoes on in T1 rather than leave them on the bike. I had also decided that due to the cold, wet weather that I would wear socks on the bike rather than try to go bare footed. As for kit I opted for the  Tri shorts and a running vest (to make it easier to get the bike jersey on in T1) for the swim section with the intention to put a bike jersey over the top for the bike leg, so all of these were carefully laid out in transition.

The swim went really well apart from the muppet that smashed me over the head whilst trying to overtake in the swim lane. He knocked my goggles loose so I spent a couple of seconds getting them water tight again. The remainder of the 12 lengths went by quite smoothly and I felt that I had kept up a good solid stroke and I climbed out of the pool after 6 mins 20 secs, a mere 10 seconds up on my time trial time at the previous club swim session.

T1 was an experience! I felt ok but trying to stand up and put socks on to wet feet was interesting. I felt a bit dizzy but got there in the end (Learning Point #1 – practise without socks for bike leg and start with shoes on bike).

The bike ride was awesome.  The route was pretty good, basically flat but with some rolling hills, bordering the Newmarket Racecourse and Stud farms (Newmarket is renowned in the UK for it’s Horse Racing). The wind wasn’t too bad but getting down on the aero bars showed about a 1-2 mph increase in speed. At the end of the first lap I did get a touch of cramp at the top of my calf muscle and I frightened the marshall as I unclipped my leg going around the roundabout to shake out the cramp. I eased back a little and tried to get everything working again, and after a couple of minutes it felt ok and I pushed on. The 22kms went by in 44 mins 27 secs and I arrived in T2.

T2 was easy in comparison. I eased off the bike shoes, slipped on the running shoes, put the helmet on the bike and was gone!

The run (Learning Point #2 – practise brick sessions). On reflection the run wasn’t too bad. The run downhill at the start was a little tricky because I could feel that my calf muscle was still a little sore and it felt like it could go again at any second, but as the run went on and the feeling returned to my legs I felt ok. The run was only 4km so the second lap came around very quickly and it was lovely to hear the commentator as I ran up the hill for the last time. I even managed a sprint to the finish line to record an overall time of 1hr, 14mins & 16secs.

I have to say that I am absolutely delighted with the race. All of the technical stuff went well, I managed to beat my target time by nearly four minutes and I felt good at the finish, well after a couple of minutes that is.

It is nice that I can finally call myself a TRIATHLETE. It is a fantastic sport and everyone is so friendly. It has been great talking to fellow competitors and it will be nice to see them again at future races. To complete the facts:

 I finished 75th out of 150 competitors, I was 60th male and 9th in my age group, so no prizes but a target to knock off 15 minutes if I want to start winning my age group!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank a few people for there support, encouragement and understanding.

Firstly to my wife and kids, despite laughing at me in my tri kit! Seriously I am a bit all or nothing and Triathlon is never far away from my mind, although I hope that I have managed to keep a sensible balance. Thank you for your support.

I would also like to send special thanks to Barb, the Kelownagurl (@kelownagurl). Barb produces a fantastic podcast on a weekly basis aimed at the newbie triathlete and I have listened intently to everyone of them. She has inspired me, provided lots of tips and generally entertained me on my runs and countless train journeys. Check out her podcast, there is a link in the side panel. In fact this update is dedicated to Barb, who gave me a mention on this week’s podcast and ashamed me into posting an update to the blog (I hope you enjoy reading my race report).

Another excellent podcast is The Age Grouper. Jeff and Eric have helped me put my plan together for this year and like Kelownagurl, keep me entertained on the daily commute, again there is a link to their podcast in the side panel.

Well that is it for this update, just 18 days to go to my next race, The Braintree Triathlon, which is being organised by my Tri Club so there will be lots of people I know on the course. It is also a lot closer to home, so the family will be out in full support.

To quote Eric from the Age Grouper “Keep Tri-ing”.

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