Well it was back into the breach this weekend. Yes like two number 10 buses arriving in quick succession after waiting forever, I was racing my second triathlon of the season a few weeks after my first in 2 years.
So it was off to Gartan Lake not far from Letterkenny in Donegal. Now no offence to the picturesque northern county but racing in Donegal wasn’t on my agenda initially. I had intended to race a bit closer to home but many races have been cancelled this season and I was just happy to be able to take part regardless of where the race was.
The weather for the race was forecast to be poor so with that in mind I decided I would use my clip in bike shoes rather than just my runners as I would normally. Clip in bike shoes for the uninitiated are literally that, you clip into your pedals so you are attached to your bike. The pros use them but I’ve not really seen a huge difference in my performance when I’ve used them especially in my chosen sprint distance race. I chose to use them for this race because if it rained as was forecast I didn’t want to have to run in soaking runners , off the bike.
It did indeed rain on the day but not as badly as expected. The race itself took place in Glenveigh National Park with the swim in Gartan lake, hence the race was called the Gartan Triathlon. The lake was pan flat and the transition area was literally feet from the waters edge. Two races took place on the day, the standard and the sprint. I was doing the sprint.
The temperature out of the water was probably about 16 degrees and in the water about 14 degrees. The swim was a rolling start which I love send went very well. Clearly all the training I’ve been doing with the club is paying off as I found the swim comfortable. Perhaps I am fitter or just better at pacing my swim but I felt very comfortable getting out of the water just shy of 14 mins which is about 1 56m per km pace over 750m , which is slow but for me is rather good.
Then it was onto the bike. Now because it was a rolling start it meant naturally that cyclists would be spread out too and that’s just how it worked out. In fact I only passed one or two riders and was only passed by one myself. The course was what they would call lumpy, in that there were lots of hills and valleys as the route took us beyond the park. I cycled the route as conservatively as I could because it was very slippy in places given the rain. It just wasn’t worth taking a chance for the same same saving a few seconds. The bike route was a out 2.5km shy of 20km but i didn’t mind. I was happy to get back into my runners for the run leg which took us around the lake edge. I was actually surprised again how comfortable I felt on the run, I averaged just over 4min per km pace which is very good for me during a race. I went past a few runners with what I thought was a few hundred metres to go to the end, alas the run was 600 m longer than I thought so i had to maintain my speed for another half a km to stay ahead of those I just passed.
I was happy to see the finish line and managed 12th overall which was good even though it was a small field. Regardless of where I finished it was just great to be competing. I have a couple more races pencilled in and hope they actually happen. Here’s hoping.
mathieunorry 