What an amazing day at the relays with my newly found team
members at NiceTri; I haven’t been a member of this club for long, and it takes
quite a while for people to ‘get me’, so I was a bit nervous meeting everyone
properly for the first time…brilliant bunch of peeps, made me feel very
welcome, even though I am a weirdo!
Very proud to be part of NiceTri, an amazing club, with amazing people!
For some strange reason I got made captain of my team which
proved interesting as I normally have a strict routine before a race, but I
spent the whole morning worrying where my team mates were and if they were
comfortable with the course etc. I managed to chill out for a bit and tried to
have a sleep on the grass; didn’t really happen but I managed to chill out at
least!
So I definitely had the team with the best personalities,
Nick, Michael and Toni were absolute top lads and it was so much fun to have
a bit of banter with them. Our team had very mixed abilities and really suited
our team name ‘surprise us’.
The race itself was going pretty well, with the swim legs
out the way, and some good efforts on the bike; we were on for a decent time.
Then from out of nowhere Toni, who was so nervous before the race, decided he
wanted to prove how strong he was on the bike by doing an extra lap before
passing over to me. Well done buddy, I wouldn’t have been able to do an extra
lap…you smashed it! ;)
The run was good for us all, until I decided to sneak out on
the course and started to pace people round…didn’t think it was a problem until
a marshal shouted “disqualification” at me :/ luckily he let it go! Phew!!
All in all, a brilliant day, loads of laughs and I sincerely
hope I get the same team next year!
Newmarket Duathlon:
After a long day out the day before at the National Relays
with my NiceTri Team I knew I wouldn’t be 100% as even though I promised to
myself I would go easy at the relays I kind of went ‘all balls out’!
Turning up at Newmarket I had noticed a couple of my GBR
team mates hanging around, only 1 I knew was racing so was feeling quietly
confident; there was also a decent wedge of prize money so was hoping to grab
myself some of that!
It was nice to see a lot of friendly local faces who I
sometimes train or race with so had a good bit of banter before the race; the
normal, ‘I like your wheels’ & ‘that crank looks light’ sort of talk!
So I went about my normal pre-race set-up: bike into
transition, 1.5k jog, drills, 20 min nap, and I was ready to pull something out
the bag with a very tired body, I think the 2 cups of coffee in the morning was
suggesting my mind was more in tact than my legs at this point!
The Race:
I missed half the briefing so completely missed the info
about the 1st run leg, but I didn’t care; how hard can it be right?
Couple of laps of a field, then a larger lap around another field on to a road
and up some hills….simple! Bike leg was a three lap course; people I spoke to
had said it was very undulating. The second run was two larger laps of a field
and road. Fairly easy…right?!
Put it this way…apparently, bad things come in threes – I
now believe this statement!
Run 1:
The gun went and the pace was slooooow! I didn’t want to
kick because I had no idea where I was going, we were supposed to do two laps
of this field before we headed out to a road so I asked a marshal while we were
practically walking if this was the exit for the second lap…he replied yes! So at
this point I kicked hard, it was only another lap, what could go wrong?
After
almost a full lap I had dropped the walkers with one other GBR lad behind me,
only to be told by a marshal I had run the wrong way! I looked back and saw people
running out another exit…oh lord! So myself and 2nd place turned around,
finding ourselves in the middle of the walkers.. I finally found the tarmac and
decided to kick again to make my way through the pack, luckily it was downhill
so I opened my stride and made it back into the front pack in no time at all, I
decided to take a rest with them for a min, then kicked again to establish a
gap before entering transition.
Transition:
A fairly good transition, at this point I was first by about
30secs so felt good; jumped on the bike and I was off!
Bike:
It was going well, I recovered from the run quickly using
the down-hills to rest and pushed hard on the up-hills for the first lap. By
the second lap I was at a comfortable pace and at this stage was thinking I had
the race in the bag.
Suddenly (lap 3) a little alien wasp decided it would be a good idea
to fly into my neck and work its way down the inside of my tri suit stinging my
chest! I had no choice but to stop and get the little alien out…I managed to
disable the wasp by crushing it on my chest, unzipped and got it out. I left it
in the middle of the road and really hope someone ran over it to finish the
little bugger off! (anybody that wants to kick off with cruelty to animals.. it
stung me first and its not even from this planet…it’s an alien!!) I got on my
bike and quickly got up to pace when out of nowhere 2nd place came past - it
was my fellow GBR team mate, he also ran the wrong way so happy he made the
time back but not happy he was ahead of me. I tried to catch him but had lost
my mojo, I thought It would be ok as I could catch him back on the run…ha, no
chance!
Transition 2:
Couldn’t find my shoes for a second but fairly quick I
suppose.
Run 2:
So I needed to make up 30 secs, I made the same time up on
the 1st run - this could be done. About 20 secs into the run my calf
decided that it would do its normal cramp malarkey; luckily it wasn’t
impossible to run but man it hurt and it slowed me down, It took about a mile
for me to sort it out and by that time 1st had disappeared! I was
not going to catch him so decided to take it easy and run in for 2nd.
It was a good day at this race, and I would probably do it
again, I’m really not keen on the running route – it’s not the best route! I’d
recommend they stick to the roads! Even an out and back would work.
Gutted I didn’t come 1st but with tired legs from
racing the day before, running the wrong way, the wasp sting, losing my shoe,
and the cramp, I am very happy with second pace.
I’m really looking forward to having a race where everything
works out, I don’t think I have had one yet…it’s either that or I’m just very
good at finding excuses! I’m sure I have a lot to learn and I need to make
mistakes in order to do better in the future.
What next:
I have a few more races lined up over the winter but for me
they will be incorporated into my winter training as I want to come out next
spring with a faster bike leg and to move up to middle distance
triathlon/duathlon.
I am also aiming to move up a few distances in my running,
with the Great Eastern Run (1/2 marathon) just around the corner I would like
to start there with a sub 01:11:00, but we shall see, I did post a similar/slightly
slower time a couple of years back on this course under a different name (long
story) so would like to do it again!
From there it all gets a bit confusing… I have a couple of
races I want to peak for…
-London Marathon 04/14 (I will hopefully qualify for ‘championship’
at GER)
-ITU World Championships Sprint Duathlon 06/14
-Run leg for Outlaw Ironman
07/14
-Full Ironman (not sure what one yet)
So the two marathons seem to work out ok for a peak but not
so sure about the Duathlon in the middle, I should be able to transfer the
endurance into speed for it and then back into endurance for the 2nd
marathon. At this point I expect myself
to be peaking with my cycling after a good winter’s training and a few
successful middle distance duathlons, so should be on point.
Somehow, amongst all this madness I will be having swimming
coaching from Adam at Team GreenlightPT who will hopefully make some massive
improvements. I will also be racing for Team GreenlightPT at the Outlaw ironman
and probably a few other races over the next year if they will take me on.
So lots of things lined up, I’m sure there will be a few
surprises around the corner, for now I’m just looking forward to my next race!
Massive congrats to Richard, Chris, Ian and Tom for 1st place at the national relays.. TOP FORM!!
