4 seasons in Skerries

Yes it was literally a case of all four seasons during my fourth triathlon of the season, the sun shone, the wind blew, it was overcast, cool, hot and it rained !!! I’ll be honest I was still tired from my outing in Wicklow last week but I was committed to doing this Skerries race for several reasons. Getting 4 races under one’s belt means you officially rank in the national ranking. Doing so this early in the season means I can build on what I’ve achieved and possibly end up higher in the table, given the season ends in September. The other reason I wanted to do this race is that I had done this race last year and similar to Harbourman and Carlow which I had also raced last year, I wanted to see if I have improved in the interim.

Quite aside from being stiff and fatigued since last weekend I didn’t sleep well the night before the race. OK so excuses out of the way. I travelled to the race with clubmates Antonia and Niall, which makes the trip much more fun, and is one of the many reasons I wanted to join a club. Travelling alone as I’ve said before isnt fun.

The Skerries organisers decided to have the registration on site as you entered transition which is something all race organisers could learn from as its so much handier for the triathletes. There were 60 triathletes from club Belpark and we were all positioned beside eachother in the transition zone. The result was the atmosphere was super fun. Its funny how pre race nerves affect different people in different ways. I never get nervous myself but I don’t sleep great the night before. I do like to just get started but invariably with most rsced there’s an inordinate amount of time between the closing of the transition zone and when the race starts.

While the race was meant to start at 10am it didn’t start till 10.15am, which is a big difference and a long wait when you’re literally huddled at the waters edge. Anyway, I decided to start near the front again which would position me towards the front of the race even though I’m not the strongest of swimmers. The swim similar to last year involved wading out to a sufficient depth to actually start swimming, as the tide was low. Once I started swimming I noticed the water was colder than in Seapoint where I usually swim. It took me till 100 m after rounding the first buoy to get into a rhythm nut once I did I felt comfortable. I have been trying to not be quite so one sided when I swim. My left side is weaker but I consciously focused on my left handed pull and rotation during the 750m swim. Exiting the water I noticed I had hit the 15 minute mark which given a little bit of choppiness, wasn’t a bad time. It was also 2 minutes quicker than my equivalent swim here last year.

I’m always utterly breathless when running from the swim exit to the transition zone. It never seems to get easier but judging by times it clearly is.

Next it was the bike leg and like last week in Wucklow we were battered by wind almost immediately. On top of the wind which was inevitable given our coastal location we were suddenly pelted by rain showers which felt like hail at times, but I gritted my teeth and dreamt of the finish line !! The bike comprised 2 loops of 8.5km plus a bit extra. The beauty of the loops meant you could see everyone else on the course at one point, but this also led to alot of congestion which is why I wanted to start at the front. By the time the bike leg was finished I was soaked from head to toe. I completed the bike leg 16 seconds quicker than last year even though the bike course was 600m longer.

I had failed to pay attention to where the run exit was but thankfully I found it straight away. I was determined to run a faster time than I had so far this season. Given my recurrent calf problems, I was still a tad tentative but threw caution to the wind given I have no race for another 5 weeks. So I launched myself into the run and I felt good. And I ran very consistently coming home in 20m 50 seconds, with each kilometre clocking in just under 4 m 10 sec.

I was competely spent at the end but as I’d hoped, I came home 4 mins quicker than last year, in 1 hour 16 m. This was enough for me to get 40th out of 500 and 7th in my age group. Before today’s race I was ranked 9th nationally in my age group, after todays race I should still be in the top 10 but will officially rank now.

So that’s 4 races and that’s 4 faster times which I can’t argue with. I have Dublin city triathlon pencilled in for the end of August next. I could easily not race again this season if I chose not to. Each race this season has been hard as I have really pushed it, but being uncomfortable is one of the reasons I took up this sport in the first place, so I have to continue to be prepared to embrace discomfort and that means more races!!

Winging it in Wicklow

So it was to Wicklow for my third race of the season which hitherto has been a successful one. The Harbourman is the name given to the standard distance race I was set to do. The standard distance is double my usual sprint distance race, it comprises a 1500m swim, a 40km bile and a 10km run. In order to officially rank with Triathlon Irelands national standings I have to do 3 sprint distance races plus 1 standard distance race.

I travelled with my clubman to the race venue in Wicklow Town. While the weather in Dublin had been nice, the skies looked alot darker in Wicklow. Indeed the heavens opened in monumental style 30 mins prior to the race start. It rained that much it would alter my race plans but more on that later.

I decided to start my swim towards the front as I had done in recent races, there’s no point in my bring stuck behind slower swimmers even if I was no Michael Phelps myself. As it happened this was a good move as we had a rolling start with 4 seconds between every swimmer. The water turned out to be calmer than I’d expected and the swim was rather enjoyable with only a couple of people passing me. Mid swim I felt the heavens open again. It’s surreal being pelted by rain while already immersed in water. The knly challenging part of the swim was up along the harbour wall as the water was choppy here as we tried to reenter the harbour. I was happy with my time of just under 26 minutes which was 40 secs slower than last year but it turns out last year I swam 100 m fewer than this year. So my swim was faster thus time round which I was very pleased with.

On exiting the water I ran as fast as my heavy breathing would allow. Arriving back to my bike I found the rain had done its damage as everything was rain soaked. I had 2 pairs of runners in this event but both were now wet, as we’re my socks which I intended to wear on the run but that was for later. I grabbed my bike and ran.

The bike leg was tough. I really threw myself into it as I wanted to post a faster time than last tears time of 1h 12 minutes, so I really didn’t relent from start to finish. The wind was brutal at times but I made use of the gels I had diluted in water prior to the race in order to give me vital energy to carry me through. At the 30km mark my back was starting to ache but I fought it and the wind which I was cursing audibly by this stage. There was also a really bad, bumpy stretch of road which was super uncomfortable and I may have uttered a few expletives at this stage too. The last course of kms of the bike are very fast, especially after it has rained and I hit 62kmph which is scary on reflection, but it helped me shave 2 minutes of the bike time.

Arriving back to transition it was obvious my socks were soaked and so I elected to run the 10km sockless, which is far from ideal but I had no option. Really I should have has a plastic bag for the socks but I’ll know next time. I was determined to beat my 10km time of 46 mins from last year and felt confident I would. While I have been nursing my calves of late, my times have gotten faster. I felt confortable and pain-free all during the run and managed to post a time of 44m 44 secs.

A it turned out I shaved 4 minutes off my race time from last year, finishing in 2hrs 26, in 47th place out of 500 and in 9th place in my age group. Nationally after 3 ranking races I’m standing 9th in my age group but there’s plenty of the season left to go yet. I’d love to finish in the top 10 but it’ll be tough. Last year I finished 23rd I think so if I can better that by getting in the top 15 or even top 10 I’d be delighted. I have another sprint race in Skerries this Sunday which will be far easier compared to Harbourman. Last year I finished that race in 1 hour 20 so I definitely want to do better this year.