Well its been quite some time since I checked in so with the start of the new season I thought it high time to reacquaint myself with this journal of my triathon escapades. I have to be honest having raced since 2017, I’m no longer new to the sport and I wasn’t exactly anticiptaing a new season with much excitement. In fact it was the opposite. I have been swimming regularly. In recent weeks I have had a slight niggle in my right knee so I wasn’t entirely sure if the knee would hold out during the race, which possibly tempered my approach to the race. I’ve also done very little by way of cycling in recent months. No excuses , just stating facts. I dont especially enjoy long cycles, so when I do hop on the bike I tend to go for shorter cycles of up to 40km but I need to do that more often.
So teh first race of the reason was Carlow triathon, which I have done now three times. Its a river swim which are generally faster swims than in lakes or open water. There was a big turn out from the club so plenty of familiar faces, which is the whole reason I joined a club in the first place, plus I took a lift with two club mates, Antonia and Max which is so much better than driving alone.
We arrived into transition with 20 minute left before they closed it which was ideal timing, however there was still a 90 minute wait until the start of the first wave. I have said repeatedly I believe the start of the race should be within 30 minutes of the transition closing to avoid endless waiting around. Thankfully the temperature wasnt too low but there was rain in the air and I just feel its better for everyone to get cracking as sson as possible.
I was in the fourth wave. Entering the water everyone was struck by the low temperture which was around 13 degrees, similar to last year. The swim course inclives a 200 metre upstream swim and then 500 down stream. What followed was the roughest 200 m upstream swim I have ever experienced. it was just a mess of bodies, arms and legs, people swimming over you, into you and every which way. My googles were dislodged to teh point I had to stop and readjust them as they were letting in water. Thankfully once I rounded the buoy and turned to swim downstream, the chaos evapourated and I got into a real rhythm to such extent taht I started to pull away from people around me and catch up with the swimmers in my wave who hadnt been as discommoded as I had been.
Out of the water in about 13. 15 minutes which was 15 seconds slower than last year which was understandable given the less than smooth sailing i had had in the first 200m. So I had to be content with that. On to the bike route whch is essentially a long uphill drag for 10km out and back. I have to say I didnt really enjoy the outward leg, my strength just wasnt there, but I decided to hammer it on the way back and passed a few people. This probably wasnt the wisest move given the ground was wet and I was hurtling along at 50kmph.My bike leg was 1 minute slower than last year whoch made sense given my lack of miles, but I gave it everything. My entry to transition was slowed by the narrowness of the channel which prevented me from passing a person in front of me.
Then it was onto the run. I had no idea how quickly I was running as I had doubled clicked a button on my watch so that was no good to be. As I said I hadnt really run in recent weeks because of my knee but I didnt feel any issue at all on the run so through myself at it as much as I could. Again I passed out runners and incredibly finished the run in just over 21 minutes , exactly the same time as last year.
In the end I managed 9th in my age group and 69th overall, which was a pleasant surprise given I only managed 16th in my age group I think last year. I think part of my issue with the start of another season is with knowing what pain is coming. When competing, certainly for me, whether I’ve trained a little or alot, I still leave nothing out there, its the only way I know. I’m the better for having raced especially seeing as I have a standard distance race next weekend, which is double the distance of the sprint. Its not ideal having a standard distance race so early in the season but the choices this year are limited. I wont be able to race as intensely as I did in Carlow which I have to remind myself, but the main thing is that I get around in one piece and if I can enjoy the race on the day that will be a bonus too.
mathieunorry 