Finally - Outlaw Half

Another middle distance triathlon (1.2 mile Swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run) and the race I was looking forward to. Armed with my new kit check list and swim preparation tips from Adam at GreenlightPT (Who also was racing) I had no excuses. The 6:30am start meant I was up at 3am to travel to Nottingham. I had everything, I checked more than 10 times as I didn't fancy considering phoning home again for help. I had already registered the day before which was a bit unexpected. Last minute read of the race instructions informs me of no registration on the day, which obviously was the plan. Only positive about this was I was able to finally hear a full race briefing!
 

Met Daz (Check out Darren's race report) at 5am and made our way to transition. Sorted all my stuff out and hovered about ready to pounce on anyone that considered putting stuff within touching distance on mine, I was seriously in the zone. 6am and believe or not, I was getting into my wetsuit. Managed to put my finger through the leg again which was annoying, put it was on and I was ready. 

In the water I found a safe place to stay away from the 200+ other swimmers in my wave and suddenly we were off. Everyone went out flying ahead but I stuck to the plan and went off steady. After the first 500m I was starting to overtake people, I couldn't believe it and I actually started to enjoy it. The swim was clocked at 33:04 which was 5mins faster than 2 weeks ago, goes to show good prep work and a bit of advice (Thanks again Adam! ) can go a long way!

Transition went like clockwork and I was out on the bike. The plan was to get to the front as quickly as possible and then access the energy levels after. As I hit 30 miles I passed the race leader and I kept the effort going but in the last few miles I started to lose time. The wind was taking back whatever it gave and as we turned off the main road back to transition, where we hit a road surface that in normal situations I would be carrying my bike over, it was shocking.

 

Transition was good again and I was out on the run. Lucky to have bike escort clearing the way of ducks, swans and sunday walkers. I ran the first mile hard then started to ease back to target pace over the next 4 miles. By then I had gained a good gap so I knew I just needed to keep the pace constant which I did. With 1k to go, stomach cramp got the best of me and I was happy to see the finish. I knew nobody had passed me, first across the line so surely I had won?! (Actual finish time was 4:24:10)

 

A couple of minutes later everyone else started crossing the line and suddenly I hear the announcer say 'here is the winner of Outlaw Half 2013, Richard Wilder with a time of 4:22:24, What?? Really? It was only then I was reminded of the other waves! Bollocks! Richard's time was over 2mins faster than mine so I thought that was it, I haven't done enough, time to go home!

When I finally got the results I found out I actually finished 2nd and also had the fastest bike split of the day (2:21:18), just! The winner, Richard, was only 18 seconds behind me on the bike and 1 min on the run. The 2min gap came from the swim so he was always going to be difficult to beat. This fact has me more determined than ever to nail this swimming lark!

2nd overall, 1st in age group. Considering it was never my intention to do middle distance triathlons, the experience turned out quite well. Next year I may focus on Middle distance only and see where it takes me!

Here are the results.

Next Race - Dambuster Triathlon (National Champs + World & Euro AG Qualifier)

Emotional - Grendon Sprint Triathlon

After the rushed preparation of the previous week and its consequences, this one was going to be the one I was going to get right, it had to be! 

I arrived at Grendon Lakes nice and early and by 7am I was racking my bike; my wave started at 8:36am and I was on track for a stress free day. Whilst sorting my stuff out in transition I glanced at area next to mine and noticed that the guy had loads of kit with him, it looked like he planned to camp there the night. Seconds after I realized that I actually didn’t have enough kit; I forgot my bike shoes! Panic set in which is was now becoming far too familiar in my pre-race warm up and straight away I was looking for solutions. First stop was the bike shop stall to see if I could buy a pair of shoes, but no luck. Next was to approach everyone I knew to see if they had a spare pair available, not a chance, who brings 2 pairs of bike shoes! Now was 7:20 and I had to come up with something or the day was going to be a write off. First idea to mind was to tape my yellow Crocs to the bike pedals; this would guarantee a fast transition but wasn't quite sure how safe it would be, it was a solution but not an ideal one. I then made the decision no one wants to make; call home for help!

Knowing I was just about to ask my wife Emily to get up, dig out my bike shoes and make the 45 mile drive to Northampton before 8:30, you could say the call was one I was not looking forward too. I was clearly out of my mind! Fortunately as we were out the night before my children stayed at my parents, had this not been the case it would have been the yellow crocs for sure!

You can sort of guess how the call went and only after I hung up the phone reality and the remorse of asking such a request was starting to sink in. It was a massive request but Emily didn't give it a second thought and made her way to Grendon. I am a very lucky man to have such a great wife! I went back to my car and waited for Emily to arrive. During this time I was again able to miss the whole race briefing; so no change there then. Emily arrived just after 8:25 understandably very angry and upset, time was ticking and I had to grab my shoes and run to transition before it closed at 8:30. My head was all over the place; I had upset Emily and knew very little about the course, could it get any worse? Of course it can, the race hadn't even started yet!

I sorted out the shoes and ran to the lake. As I arrived my wave was already entering the water #turnertime! Fortunately there was no need for me to warm up as I had already ran my arse off getting to this point. The race started almost instantly as I got in, the adrenaline was pumping and I managed to get to the 1st buoy, but I was done, completely over cooked it! I started to take on water and lost the ability to produce anything that resembled a swimming stroke. I was relieved to make the exit, but absolutely fuming with how the swim went. I should have swum sub 13mins for 750m, however I ended up swimming 14:40. Not happy!

Transition was quick and I thought I was back on it. I ran my bike to the Bike out flag, followed the mat up to the road and immediately jumped on. Suddenly I was confronted by excitable BTF officials jumping and shouting at me to get off the bike and return to the matting to start all over again (I had stupidly mounted the bike 10m too early). I repeated the process and I was on my way.
The first mile out to the main road was terrible, full of speed bumps and cars, both were taking casualties everywhere you looked. Not sure how many people crashed but there was quite a few. As soon as I got to the main road I was gone, I had already lost enough time during the swim and lack of concentration exiting transition so it was a full on effort. I completed the 14.4 miles in 34:31 which was the fastest bike time of the day.

Thankfully nothing else happened after that and it was just a case of finishing the run. The run course was 2 laps around an electric pylon and a cone, over terrain that resembled a building site and on occasions having to dodge the odd 4x4 truck driving on the track where we were running, so overall a pretty crap course!

I was glad the nightmare was over, but somehow I still managed to finish 5th overall, 3rd in my age group and qualify for European AG Championships next year! Looking at the final results I was only 54seconds off the race leader so really disappointed I messed it up.

Here I am on the Age group podium wondering how the hell I got there:

I just want to say again how truly grateful I am of my wife Emily being there in my hour of need. Emily you are amazing!

Next report - Outlaw Half

Going long – Bedford Middle Distance Triathlon

My 1^st triathlon of the year and it’s a long one. I decided that if I was going do this I had to do standard to middle distance to have any sort of chance of being competitive as my swim and run is just not fast enough. As you can guess I’m a tad too competitive to actually do this for enjoyment.

Putting both my two previous attempts of triathlons behind me (late for the swim on both occasions) this race was going to go like clockwork. So I thought!

Woke up at 5am, stuffed myself full of breakfast, loaded the car and headed over to pick up Daz. Drove to Priory Park Bedford, registered and then got our stuff sorted. So far so good, we have plenty of time before the start. Daz goes off to queue for the portaloos and I wandered down to the water edge to see what we needed to swim. Water was still as a mill pond, air was cool and fresh I was pretty relaxed, although seeing the first buoy in the distance was a shock to the system as I struggled swimming 400m  only 2 weeks previous.

Made the walk back to transition and joined the queue for the portaloos. At this time I was conscious that time was ticking. Thinking that #turnertime would be ok I continue to wait patiently.  Finally got my turn and upon exiting noticed the race briefing had already started. A moment of panic kicked in and I legged it back to transition passing the masses all ready, hats on and listening intently. I get to my stuff, strip off, wetsuit flies on in record time and people are looking at me as though i'd mistaken the getting ready bit as the first transition. By the time I am ready I actually miss the whole race briefing and was also able to distract Daz enough for him to miss it too. Considering it was his first triathlon I don’t think he was too impressed. Also, in the process I was able to put my thumb through the leg of the wetsuit. Being the first time I was racing in it, it was not a great start!

We head to the water and it is as expected, freezing! Fortunately the cold water was enough to numb the pain in the feet from the long walk to the lake over paths that bear resemblance of walking on glass. I get in the water and find a safe place to keep out the mix and suddenly we're off. Straight away I noticed I was unable breathe to my left as my chest felt constricted. Thoughts started entering my head that I should have spent more time putting the wetsuit on correctly. Managed about 300m and was not enjoying it at all, I actually felt like I was going to freak out.  Did a bit of breaststroke and pulled my shit together and got to the other end. Swim was timed at 38:04 which is not great but I was just relieved that I made it out alive.

Due to oxygen starvation the long run to transition was a bit of a blur which distracted the pain in the soles of my feet again. Had a welcomed reunion with my bike and started to go through the motions. 

I was glad to get out on the bike and started ticking over a decent pace. I was pasting through the field surprisingly quickly and the effort didn’t seem to be too bad. After the first 15-20 miles I noticed that I was well above my target pace and was actually hitting 24mph+. The field started to thin out as we headed to the first turn around point where I saw the race leader. I continue with my current effort and passed quickly and carried on nice and steady. By the time of the next turnaround point I did a time check on 2^nd and 3^rd and found I was making a lot of time up and this gap seemed to get bigger at the final turnaround so I knew I had some time banked for the run. During the ride I had taken my two High 5 gels that I had in 45 min intervals, with 500ml every hour which I thought it would be enough, but towards the end of the bike I felt the tank emptying. I think one more gel would of sorted me out, so a lesson learnt. 

First into transition, threw my socks and shoes on, took on another gel and off I went for the run. Plan was to run 6:30's but after the 1st mile I'd hit 6:17 and feeling ok and continued around that pace until I pasted the 2^nd place runner after 2.5 miles. By this time I had worked out I was a mile ahead which allowed me to settled back to target pace to prevent blowing up towards the end. This was actually the least of my worries and nature was calling and I had to make the decision at 5.5 miles to finally relieve the pressure to save my kidneys. After the longest 45s ever I got back on the run and felt much better. Got to the turnaround at 7.8 miles and started heading back along the route I had just come. As I past 2^nd place I clocked him at 2 mins 40s behind and not looking too comfortable fortunately. 3^rd was clocked at just over 4 mins and then 4^th place at 7 mins, although the 4^th place guy was sprinting and looking like he was running a 5k. Did the calculations and worked out I could settle into a more manageable pace of 6:45 to the end and the day was starting to take its toll.

I took the win with a time of 4:29:35 which was a massive surprise as it was not expected at the start of the day or after the stressful swim, so I was really happy with what I was able to achieve. 2^nd place came in exactly 4 mins after and it was the guy I saw sprinting earlier. He still looked very strong so I was glad I was able to bank enough time on the bike.

Overall a great day. Weather was kind and everything nearly went to plan and a win to start to my first triathlon season is more than I hoped for. Just hope I can get a bit more organised as the season progresses.

Splits for the day: Swim 38:04, Bike 2:20:40, Run 1:28:06

Also a massive well done to Darren Preston who managed a 4:57:52 for his first ever triathlon.

Next up Grendon Sprint Triathlon - European AG Qualifier

Blog Intro

This blog is intended to record my journey into Triathlon and to share some of my experiences along the way.

I took the decision last year that I would focus my efforts more into Triathlon rather than the Duathlons I had been doing previously. This no doubt has also been spurred on by the fact that the World Age Group Championships are being held in London this year and provide a great opportunity for my family to come along and support me.

I have always liked a challenge and learning to swim any sort of distance has definitely been one of the hardest I have undertaken yet. With the help of Adam Gibson at GreenlightPT it’s now finally coming together. Cycling has seemed to have progressed quite naturally which I am most grateful of and if it continues this way I will have no complaints. My running however has always been a funny one for me as the progression seems to be halted by one thing or another, mainly a lingering cough. I’ve felt I’ve never really achieved my potential in this discipline but having such a great training group (in particular David Connell & Darren Preston) that encourage me along the way, I am hoping in 2013 it may just be possible.