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.
mathieunorry 