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
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
That's a funny tail chap - for the reader; not so good for your or your wife! Seriously impressed at how well you're going bud. Your biking is ubber fast! The swimming will come for sure.
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