After what happened at bala i fancied a shorter race to enjoy...and i love the race at liverpool....my first attempt at Triathlon was the supersprint here and thats where i started on this road that i've now been on over 2 years...
Where: Queens Dock, Liverpool
When: 26th June 2011
Organiser: Liverpool triathlon on behalf of WTC
Distance(s): 1500m Lake swim, 40km bike and 10km run
Marshalling: excellent
Facilities: a few portaloos - hotel and arena toilets and showers
Technical: OW swim with the jellyfish , 4 lap closed roads bike ride ...pretty flat, 2 lap run
Cat decided to enter us at this race as she felt she might need the confidence boost of doing a 1 mile competitive swim before her half IM at cowman next weekend...i'm really glad she did as its a brilliant race really well organised and in a great city.
we decided we'd see how the race was going then see if we stay together ...depending on how far behind she was after the swim etc...in the end though it proved to be her waiting for me..our friend Sarah was racing with us too..here's how it went.
Preperation wasn't brilliant for me...i did a 36 mile bike ride in horrendous conditions on saturday.....then had a 'few' watching glastonbury on saturday night.....hahaha...oops....only a OD...be reet
Race morning came and the 'few' had a nasty effect causing big time AD.....also didnt feel hungry but managed about half a bagel in transition and this was all going to come back to haunt me later in the day.
9.30 and we made our way to the dock to get in the crystal clear sparkling blue water of the River Mersey ...big wave....everybody commenting that it wasnt too cold but it tasted disgusting...i gave cat and sarah some words of encouragement as both were worried about the swim and we were off.
As usual i decided the middle of the pack was where i should be so set off and got amongst it.....a total Biff-Fest at the first bouy where it was very narrow...i had this huge bloke in front of me who would swim a couple of strokes, then panic a bit (it seemed) and stop/BS....but i couldnt get past him cause there were too many other people....i actually shouted 'just keep swimming' which seemed to spur him on and we all then got through...round the second bouy and it all then spaced out and i got into my stride and got to work...i held my place in the pack once it spaced out, passing a couple of people maybe but not being passed much.....going under the bridge there were a lot of jellyfish ...i'm a total wuss when it comes to things like this so i just shut my eyes...hoped i wouldnt touch one and kept swimming.
Then coming to the end i got another BSer righ in front of me....and just as i stretched out my right arm to enter the water...he kicked OUCH...right shoulder fooked again.....anyway kept going round the corner and out of the water in about 33....its about 200m on rough ground the the timing matt...i tried to just run it but had to stop..pull on my little wet shoe things (which dont go on easy wet) then get to the matt at 35.06.
just as i got to the row where my bike was.....i see cat...running towards the timing matt...WTF?...she totally nailed the swim and came across the matt 14 seconds after me.....if you knew what she was like last year with swimming you'd know this was an incredible swim for her and she was absolutely beaming...BRILLIANT.
so out onto the bike...we actually left T1 together having a little chat about the swim...couple of marshalls shouted 'oi...no time to chat..this is a race you know...hahaha'...i started to run and promptly nearly broke my neck tripping on my ice skates...erm..bike shoes.
got to the mount line and got on...set off....hang on...where is Cat?? turnes out her chain had come off right in front of everybody...
Bike was pretty uneventful for me....its not really flat but doesnt have hills...if you know what i mean..always either up a bit or down a bit....coming back from the turnaround there was a strong headwind which made 20mph a struggle...and it was rough too...so gave my back a bit of jip. i took on a gel at about 8 miles which gave me stomach ache....so i was a little reluctant to have another but then about 16 miles it had passed so i took on a different flavour...which went down ok but again i was later to find out 2 wasnt enough.
On the last lap, coming back from the turnaround i saw cat going in the other direction...just a few minutes behind so i decided to slow down on this lap and then wait in T2 so we could do the run together (i'm taking nothing away from cat here...she would have caught me on the run...just telling you what i decided at the time) my bike time was 1.22.28...not bad at all as i didnt hammer it.
in T2 i got changed from BCTTT cycle top to TL running top put on my trainers and had a drink...saw cat coming towards the matt and gave her a shout to help her find our rack in the usual chaos. she had oil all over her face, it was so funny...had to wipe her face for her then we was off to start the run.
by this time it was getting warm so we just took an easy jog..took on a bit of water and had a bit of a giggle....both of us got a bit of a stitch so had a little walk for it to clear...then ran to the next water station, took on a bit more and cat tried one of the energy bars (she was hungry) which she promptly spat out...
just past the turn point cat had another walk where i then convinced her to run to the aid station...lol....that was my downfall...as from then on she got her stride on and felt better while i slowly started to BONK.....i felt it coming and by the start of the second lap i was flagging big time.....This was not too bad a thing cause it made Cat take the run easy with a view to her race this coming weekend...but i was really struggling and knew i needed something.....i got a gel when we finally made the aid station...it was horrible but i had to have it...round the turnaround....walk a bit , try and run a bit...MAKE cat stay with me...she had to take it easy but i didnt want her to beat me by too much did i..... so i promised her i'd let her cross the line first..lol...
past the aid station for the last time and then i started to feel better and we managed to get going again...over the timing matt and it was banging hot by this time so i was glad it was coming to an end...we went into the finish chute where cat got going.....i was going to sprint past her over the line but i dont want to get divorced ....so in we came with me two seconds behind her for a 3.18 finish....both wearing Team Laws kit and smiling.
Sarah by the way came in at 2.50....a fantastic result for her first OD
Once again this was a brilliant race...its really well organised, really well marshalled and the scouse people are brilliant....really supportive both spectators and marshals and always smiling and so chatty.
If i have one negative aspect to find (apart from the jellyfish) its that they didnt really mark the 5150 thing very much...they had a pro race...and the finish had 5i50 series plastered over it but the medal was the same as the previous two years and i think they could have made it a bit more special...especially given the £74 entry fee.
today i'm absolutley fine...little tired but i not in any pain which has to mean my training is working...even though i'm not really getting faster..i'm obviously getting fitter.
will i do it again?? yeah....i think i'll always do this Race...it was my first ever Tri 2 years ago...my first ever OD last year and a brilliant event where everybody is welcome
Next race is Ironman.....the fear is well and truly knocking on my door now and i cant wait for it to be over....i just hope it ends the right way this time
Tuesday 28 June 2011
almost there again..but first a race
here we are then....just over a month to go...and the fear has gripped me in a big way.....i've not a lot to post really other than 2 very contrasting race reports...one a DNF of what was my B race at Bala...and one a great race at liverpool OD,,i'll start with Bala and then do a new post for liverpool.....these are long and if your in the BCTTT...you've already read them
Where: Bala, North Wales
When: 12th June 2011
Organiser: Wrecsam Tri
Distance(s): 2000m Lake swim, 80km bike and 20km run
Marshalling: excellent
Facilities: portaloos - leisure Centre toilets and showers
Technical: Bala Lake swim , out and back bike 900ft climbing each way, out and back run almost 500ft climb then back down
Freebies: towel, Gel, goodness shakes recovery drink!
Right then, first time i've done one of these so i'm trying to follow others examples with some detailed information about the race, the conditions and my feelings...although my race experience only covers the swim....cause i canned it 5 miles into the bike ride.....anyway....
Bala Middle distance triathlon is listed as one of the 10 toughest triathlons and was featured in a recent issue of Triathlon plus...here's a couple of choice excerpts from the piece
Even in June jumping into the picturesque Lake Bala ...will knock the breath out of you and make your head ring with cold.
The pain only increases with 993m of long arduous climbing over 80k bike
The run is 'so steep in places that you can hear you legs screaming in protest
Soooo.i thought it would be a good practice race in prep for IMUK.....i wanted a no pressure situation (no strict cut offs etc) where i could properly test my race plan....it didnt go to plan.
we rocked up to Bala on saturday lunchtime....wanted to give myself plenty of time to find it...check into hotel...meander down to registration....have a look at the lake and watch people doing a charity swim etc (but OMG the swim turnaround looked like it was a long way away)...meet up with a few people and have a beer and a meal etc...then get an early night...good sleep and be raring to go on race day....weather saturday was great..but the forecasts for Sunday didnt look good...although the forecasts did seem to be improving suggesting the rain would stay away till about 3pm....all good!!
We'd elected to stay at the white lion hotel on Bala high street...and out room was lovely...four poster bed...great bathroom...loads of room for me, Cat and the trek madone...happy.
Met with my mate simon and Andy and his Mrs Mandy (fellow IMUKers) and had a wander round then settled in to have a couple of beers before our meal....this is about where it started to go wrong!!
we booked our table for 8pm...promptly sat and ordered at 8.15 all feeling hungry and drinking water (being very good)...9.20 our meal finally arrived...and tbh it wasnt great...but hey ho...ate and up to our room at 10.
Nice bottle of NUUN before bed sat watching a bit of TV and then turned in about 10.30 feeling tired and thinking i'd sleep just fine...then about an hour later it started!
Bala isnt a big place....i reckon there are 3 pubs...and right next to the white lion is a kebab shop...and over the road a pizza place....this proved to be the meeting place for wave after wave of drunk people singing every song (glory glory man utd.....or even heartbeat...were once i could recognise) and shouting which to me sounded like they were in my room! This continued till about 4 am and every time i nodded off another wave came....it was seriously a bad night and i guess i managed 2-3 hours sleep max...
RACE DAY.
woke up incredibly reluctantly at 6.30 and realised it was going to be a bad day right away...i simply had NO INCLINATION at all to go and do 6-7 hours of exercise....we met for breakfast and everybody was saying the same things....although simon and Andy both said they had managed to sleep through most of the commotion...i was so tired i couldnt even get down scrambled eggs on a single piece of toast.
so we decided to go get our kit and head to rack our bikes and get numbered up etc.....walked out of the hotel (8.15am) and the rain was teaming down!!!
Brill!!!
the next couple of hours were spent either complaining or hearing people complain about how crap the weather was and how much they couldnt be arsed!! and i really have never felt i didnt want to even start before...but i really did not want to race on this day!!
THE MOST EXPENSIVE TRAINING SWIM EVER!!
my race plan was to treat the whole thing as a long training session......my target times were modest....swim and T1 in one hour...Bike and T2 in 3.30.....run in under 2.30....so 7 hours finish.
I was in the 3rd wave with the gun going about 10 and stood around in my wetsuit i was freezing!!!! finally the time came to get into the lake and it wasnt as cold as i anticipated so i was happy...i positioned myself out to the right but not at the back...i figured the swimmers there would be similar to me...not looking to swim over each other but also not wanting to be last....then the gun went!
I read an article last week that suggested the key to swim success in a long race (for people like me) is to concentrate all the way round on technique...and if you feel your technique wander....to slow down...so i did this....and i have to say i was well chuffed with myself on the out leg the pack had spread (though was bumpy at first but i didnt give any of my space away and didnt stop if i got bumped) and i was into my stroke and seemed to be flying along....my sighting was going ok and i swam over to the left to go round close to the bouys as my confidence grew!!! brill....got to the turnaround and it got rough...really choppy....really cold and this seperated the men from the boys...so the field split massively and i was convinced i was dead last (which i was nowhere near)..i got my head down and just got to work...my stroke was proper knocked off but i plugged away and finally arrived at the banking up to the jetti.....i must have looked like a new born lamb trying to get out of the water....got a bit of cramp in the left calf and under foot it was agony (rocky and freezing feet) but i made it out and went to get changed.
AT this point the rain was bucketing down (i hadnt noticed in the water) and when i got to my kit i was freezing....got my wettie off really well (for probably the first time ever) and shivered into my cycle top, tried to put on my arm warmers but as i couldnt dry my arms (raining too hard) that wasnt happening so put on my jacket, hat and shoes and exited T1...1.01...Not bad!!
Waved at Cat and Mandy under their brolly and realised my hands were so cold i struggled to move the gear leavers...and at that point realised my gloves were still in the box...i did not want to be here at all...i went through the town and turned left up the first hill where people were already on their way back (not the leaders...people retiring) and i passed about 4 people on this little hill alone....down the other side where 30mph would be easy....did about 14 as there was a river of water keeping pace with my tyres and making aquaplaning a real possibility....i kept going actually passing people but came upto the second climb (its up up and up till about 12 miles) and it was going into cloud/fog etc.......Sod that...i've had enough...i pulled in..got my phone and text cat to meet me back at the car.
It wasnt a difficult decision and wasnt one i felt i would regret...the race was supposed to be something i would enjoy (its a beautiful part of the world) and a chance to practice....but i was only practising riding carefully and ignoring the cold...and finishing just didnt mean that much to me.
Watching people come in and make it through the Bike leg not one person had a smile on their face and i felt no regret or shame that i had canned it...i was GLAD...over 200 (so i heard) people DNF'd this race...the highest in its history.....the lack of sleep didnt help...and the weather didnt help....its just bad luck really and without one or the other (ie. i'd slept...OR the weather was nice) i may have felt different.
Its not knocked my confidence at all.....in fact the swim went great...so i'm still well up for another bash at IMUK...just a shame my other big race this year turned out like this!!
Where: Bala, North Wales
When: 12th June 2011
Organiser: Wrecsam Tri
Distance(s): 2000m Lake swim, 80km bike and 20km run
Marshalling: excellent
Facilities: portaloos - leisure Centre toilets and showers
Technical: Bala Lake swim , out and back bike 900ft climbing each way, out and back run almost 500ft climb then back down
Freebies: towel, Gel, goodness shakes recovery drink!
Right then, first time i've done one of these so i'm trying to follow others examples with some detailed information about the race, the conditions and my feelings...although my race experience only covers the swim....cause i canned it 5 miles into the bike ride.....anyway....
Bala Middle distance triathlon is listed as one of the 10 toughest triathlons and was featured in a recent issue of Triathlon plus...here's a couple of choice excerpts from the piece
Even in June jumping into the picturesque Lake Bala ...will knock the breath out of you and make your head ring with cold.
The pain only increases with 993m of long arduous climbing over 80k bike
The run is 'so steep in places that you can hear you legs screaming in protest
Soooo.i thought it would be a good practice race in prep for IMUK.....i wanted a no pressure situation (no strict cut offs etc) where i could properly test my race plan....it didnt go to plan.
we rocked up to Bala on saturday lunchtime....wanted to give myself plenty of time to find it...check into hotel...meander down to registration....have a look at the lake and watch people doing a charity swim etc (but OMG the swim turnaround looked like it was a long way away)...meet up with a few people and have a beer and a meal etc...then get an early night...good sleep and be raring to go on race day....weather saturday was great..but the forecasts for Sunday didnt look good...although the forecasts did seem to be improving suggesting the rain would stay away till about 3pm....all good!!
We'd elected to stay at the white lion hotel on Bala high street...and out room was lovely...four poster bed...great bathroom...loads of room for me, Cat and the trek madone...happy.
Met with my mate simon and Andy and his Mrs Mandy (fellow IMUKers) and had a wander round then settled in to have a couple of beers before our meal....this is about where it started to go wrong!!
we booked our table for 8pm...promptly sat and ordered at 8.15 all feeling hungry and drinking water (being very good)...9.20 our meal finally arrived...and tbh it wasnt great...but hey ho...ate and up to our room at 10.
Nice bottle of NUUN before bed sat watching a bit of TV and then turned in about 10.30 feeling tired and thinking i'd sleep just fine...then about an hour later it started!
Bala isnt a big place....i reckon there are 3 pubs...and right next to the white lion is a kebab shop...and over the road a pizza place....this proved to be the meeting place for wave after wave of drunk people singing every song (glory glory man utd.....or even heartbeat...were once i could recognise) and shouting which to me sounded like they were in my room! This continued till about 4 am and every time i nodded off another wave came....it was seriously a bad night and i guess i managed 2-3 hours sleep max...
RACE DAY.
woke up incredibly reluctantly at 6.30 and realised it was going to be a bad day right away...i simply had NO INCLINATION at all to go and do 6-7 hours of exercise....we met for breakfast and everybody was saying the same things....although simon and Andy both said they had managed to sleep through most of the commotion...i was so tired i couldnt even get down scrambled eggs on a single piece of toast.
so we decided to go get our kit and head to rack our bikes and get numbered up etc.....walked out of the hotel (8.15am) and the rain was teaming down!!!
Brill!!!
the next couple of hours were spent either complaining or hearing people complain about how crap the weather was and how much they couldnt be arsed!! and i really have never felt i didnt want to even start before...but i really did not want to race on this day!!
THE MOST EXPENSIVE TRAINING SWIM EVER!!
my race plan was to treat the whole thing as a long training session......my target times were modest....swim and T1 in one hour...Bike and T2 in 3.30.....run in under 2.30....so 7 hours finish.
I was in the 3rd wave with the gun going about 10 and stood around in my wetsuit i was freezing!!!! finally the time came to get into the lake and it wasnt as cold as i anticipated so i was happy...i positioned myself out to the right but not at the back...i figured the swimmers there would be similar to me...not looking to swim over each other but also not wanting to be last....then the gun went!
I read an article last week that suggested the key to swim success in a long race (for people like me) is to concentrate all the way round on technique...and if you feel your technique wander....to slow down...so i did this....and i have to say i was well chuffed with myself on the out leg the pack had spread (though was bumpy at first but i didnt give any of my space away and didnt stop if i got bumped) and i was into my stroke and seemed to be flying along....my sighting was going ok and i swam over to the left to go round close to the bouys as my confidence grew!!! brill....got to the turnaround and it got rough...really choppy....really cold and this seperated the men from the boys...so the field split massively and i was convinced i was dead last (which i was nowhere near)..i got my head down and just got to work...my stroke was proper knocked off but i plugged away and finally arrived at the banking up to the jetti.....i must have looked like a new born lamb trying to get out of the water....got a bit of cramp in the left calf and under foot it was agony (rocky and freezing feet) but i made it out and went to get changed.
AT this point the rain was bucketing down (i hadnt noticed in the water) and when i got to my kit i was freezing....got my wettie off really well (for probably the first time ever) and shivered into my cycle top, tried to put on my arm warmers but as i couldnt dry my arms (raining too hard) that wasnt happening so put on my jacket, hat and shoes and exited T1...1.01...Not bad!!
Waved at Cat and Mandy under their brolly and realised my hands were so cold i struggled to move the gear leavers...and at that point realised my gloves were still in the box...i did not want to be here at all...i went through the town and turned left up the first hill where people were already on their way back (not the leaders...people retiring) and i passed about 4 people on this little hill alone....down the other side where 30mph would be easy....did about 14 as there was a river of water keeping pace with my tyres and making aquaplaning a real possibility....i kept going actually passing people but came upto the second climb (its up up and up till about 12 miles) and it was going into cloud/fog etc.......Sod that...i've had enough...i pulled in..got my phone and text cat to meet me back at the car.
It wasnt a difficult decision and wasnt one i felt i would regret...the race was supposed to be something i would enjoy (its a beautiful part of the world) and a chance to practice....but i was only practising riding carefully and ignoring the cold...and finishing just didnt mean that much to me.
Watching people come in and make it through the Bike leg not one person had a smile on their face and i felt no regret or shame that i had canned it...i was GLAD...over 200 (so i heard) people DNF'd this race...the highest in its history.....the lack of sleep didnt help...and the weather didnt help....its just bad luck really and without one or the other (ie. i'd slept...OR the weather was nice) i may have felt different.
Its not knocked my confidence at all.....in fact the swim went great...so i'm still well up for another bash at IMUK...just a shame my other big race this year turned out like this!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
