Well these posts are like buses, wait for ages for one and two come along one after the other. So this week, I found myself in Kildare for the Athy Triathlon about an hour away from Dublin. Now I have raced here before, mostly recently being last year when I raced on a blisteringly hot day. prior to last year my last time racinig in Athy was in 2017 in my very first triathlon. Since then I must have done 40 triathlons give or take. This time round I was competing in the Olympic distance race which is double the distance I did last year. Now this isn’t my regular distance so I wasn’t exactly chomping at the bit to get going with race but if I was going to rank officially in my age group again this season I had to comp;ete one Olympic distance race.
The day started out dull and quite cool. I lathered on the factor 50 though as I knew I’d be out on the course for 2.5 hours and even if there was a hint of sun, there would a chance to get burnt. I elected to avoid the melee of the swim that I experienced last week by starting at the front of the swim. When I say the front, I mean literally the front. It was a rolling start whoch meant we entered the water in pairs. I love this way to start the swim as its so calm relative to a mass start which pure chaos. Now I’m not the fastest swimmer but I planned to stay in at the bank away from the faster swimmers who would inevitably pass me quickly enough. All was going well till I had to readjust my goggles as they were letting in water. I had to do this three times which was annoying and robbed me of momentum as I was swimming upstream. But eventually the goggles decided to stay in place and I get into a good rhythm as I rounded the buoy to head back downstream. Remember this was a 1500m swim so I was careful not to go too hard at any stage, because it was going to be a long race.
Despite 3 stops to fix my goggles, I managed the swim in under 30 minutes, not too shabby at all. Out of the swim and then to transition which comprised of a long run which gave me ample time to take the top half of my wetsuit off. I chose to cycle in my runners and go barefoot, which meant running without socks. Having run without socks last week, I felt comfortable enough to attempt the 10km run sockless this week. But first I had to tackle the 40 km cycle.
When ever you’ve just swam any distance, transitioning to the bike is always a breathless experience. I had made up a small bottle of juice with 80 to 100 g of honey in it. I dont usually consume anything in a sprint distance race but this race would require some form of nutrition. I was breathing so hard that I nearly choked as I trued to down a couple fo mouthfuls of my sugar drink, but it was crucial to consume this liquid throughout the cycle as failure to do so meant I would be running on empty later in the race. The first 20km was fine but my back started to really hurt, and I was suffering quite a bit physically. It was frustrating being passed by so many on the bike but i had to remind myself of two things, one being the lack of training i had done at this distance and the fact that the people passing me all had bikes with fancy full disc back wheels, which help you bike faster and cost a fortune !! Finally after 1 hour 15 minutes the bike leg drew to a close and I was off on the run.
Again on the run I had another little bottle full of honey water. At this stage two things happened. I started to pass people whoch was a welcome change to my experience on the bike, and secondly the sun came out. The temperature started to rise quickly, but I felt ok. I had targeted running a 10km time quicker than my 10 km time of 44.44 albeit in a different race last year, but it gave me a target to aim for. It meant i had to run 4.25 per km which I was managing and indeed it was the case that I came home in 2 hours 33 which was enough for me to get 11 th in my age group. I was 149th out of 700+ triathetes. Again this isnt my preferred race distance so I was pleased enough. I actually ran 7th quickest in my age group so I feel if I can get more training in on the run, thats probably my best chance of improving in future, that is IF I ever do an Olympic race again !! There were a few times on the bike when I was swearing blind that I never would again !! We will see.
After the first race last week where I placed 9th in my age group, I was 16th in my age category overall in the rankings. No races now for a few weeks, thankfully, as 2 days later I’m still recovering from Saturdays !! I’m looking forward to doing a few Leinster open water swim races. Theres something very appealing about just doing one discipline instead of 3 in a row for a change !! 🙂
mathieunorry 