Tuesday, September 29, 2015

New Forest Middle Distance - the top of the triangle

A few facts before I start:
- 5 years ago I was technically obese
- 4 years ago I started the "Couch to 5k challenge" to relearn how to run further than a few metres
- 3 years ago I did my first ever triathlon, the London Triathlon, where I did the Super Sprint that involved a 2.5 km run "because 5k was too far". It took me an hour.
- 2 years ago, after taking a few months off to get married, I did my first two Sprint distance races - Bewl was my first, and as anyone who's done Bewl will know, quite a challenging course. It took me two hours (Leybourne, later on in the year, and much less challenging, took around 1 hour 40).
- Last year I decided to up the distance to standard/Olympic. I decided I needed the help from a coach so I was coached for a couple of months before completing my first (Dartford, a great course) and second (London) standard distances, both within 3 hours.

So late last year I caved to what I describe as "triathlon peer pressure" and entered my first middle distance triathlon in New Forest. Oh, I thought, I've got a year to train, and everyone keeps telling me it's not that much more training than doing a standard. I even did a half marathon in preparation as I was worried I wouldn't be able to run that far.

My preparation went OK I guess - I tried to follow a plan of sorts, but half the time I kept missing running training or swimming due to being exhausted or simply just busy. I could have done more, but I didn't. The date got closer and closer and I did consider pulling out, but I'm just one of those people where once I've committed to something, I go ahead with it. I did manage a couple of 90k bike rides and rack up over 200k of cycling over a week a few times, but I never managed a complete continuous ride and certainly not one with a run straight after it.

The day arrived, freezing cold and dark. I'd kind of forgotten that it might be dark at 5 am as we wound our way from the B&B to Sandy Balls (a silly name for a lodge/campsite!) through the narrow country lanes. One of these lanes we encountered a very furry mammal running away from us. Stu was trying to encourage me to go past it as it had got out our way but I realised it was a badger! I'd never seen a real live badger ever so I watched it scamper away. I hoped that was a good omen for the rest of the day. We also saw a deer as well. I completely missed the turning for the car park and then managed to get myself stuck in very deep grass trying to park (thanks Stu for pushing me out!). As we were driving along my car put up a red warning snowflake on the dashboard - telling me it was 0 degrees outside. Pretty cold!

I dumped my running bag in transition 2 (two separate transitions), we got on the bus and made our way to the lake. The lake I had been to the day before, first to have a swim first thing in the morning to check it out, and second to rack my bike. I'd thought it would get dew over it during the night so I'd just racked the bike up and not left anything else, which was a good thing since there was loads of dew everywhere. I now knew why a couple of the competitors had racked their bikes up covered in plastic! The organisers decided that they would have a mass start so that nobody was waiting around in the cold to start. This was good because we didn't have to wait, but bad because there were over 200 people all waiting to be started off on the race! I got myself into a real tizz before the start and there was a tear or so and I was so glad for Stuart giving me some much needed support.

I'm really not a fan of mass starts, especially when there are people trying to kick you from all sides. The water actually felt warmer than outside, but it was still pretty cold for the first lap. I spent my first lap attempting not to get kicked or hit in the washing machine that was the mass start. It was cold but I tried to concentrate on getting to the next buoy, which never seemed to get any closer! I have a tendency for my mind to wander when I'm swimming and I started to think about writing this blog as well as going through the things I'd used up to get here: my wetsuit, one swimming cap, one pair of goggles, trainers, socks, hundreds of energy gels, Shot Bloks, Trek bars, peanut bars, at least a couple of swimming costumes, trisuit bottoms, cycling shoes, my sanity... The list goes on. I also thought of Paul, the poor bloke who lost his life at Leybourne, and although it might sound a bit odd I felt he wouldn't want me to give up and stop swimming.

Eventually I rounded the last corner and the last buoy finally came into view and I struck out to the shore. Out into the still-freezing morning and on to transition, trying with freezing hands to get my wetsuit on, my compression guards (aka leg warmers) and socks on over wet feet and my cycling top on. I got out of transition and I was onto the second leg. The cycling leg involved two and two thirds of a loop round the New Forest, navigating a long grinding hill to start with, then a long section that just went on forever, followed by another couple of straightish sections before we got to a mainish road which got us into Godshill and past Sandy Balls, the highlight of the loop as that's where the majority of the supporters were. After that was a bit of a nasty fiddly technical section involving some blind corners and lots of turnings. I managed to power through the first loop but after that it just ended up being a battle against the agony in my legs and hips. The third loop also brought a super lovely headwind which felt like I was going nowhere fast. I had to stop after the second loop to fill up with water which gave me a couple of minutes of respite from the agony. There were almost tears because of the pain. I was watching the clock all the time. My watch kept auto-pausing annoyingly through most of the ride, so I was hoping it wasn't too far behind my time. Part of me half hoped I didn't make the cut off time so I didn't have to do the run, the other part of me wanted to finish what I'd started. It was about the first time I'd been on my bike and actually able to feed myself without stopping, a real accomplishment for someone who doesn't have any balance! I'd learnt that if I break everything up into bits then I can just grab something from the 'bento box' and shove it into my mouth. I had a real mixture of Shot Bloks, cashew nuts and a Trek bar all broken up. I'd get salty Bloks but with the amount I was sweating it didn't matter.
By the last lap I was following a guy with Hope for Heroes kit on. He was suffering - I think more than I was - and had cramp. I mentioned to him when I passed we were getting close to the cut off point and he seemed to think he had lots of time left. I could see from my watch that we had about 10 km and half an hour to go - which is approximately the amount of time it takes for me to do 10 km when I'm commuting to work! I finally turned the last corner and made it back into Godshill.I was so glad to get off my bike but I couldn't run into T2. The marshal told me to take my time but I knew I didn't have much before the cut off. I zipped through T2, almost forgetting to take off my bike top in the process, grabbed some water and finally found a place to have a comfort break - I'd been completely unable to go for four hours! The BTF marshal told me I'd just made the cut off point (I reckon by a minute!) so off to the run I plodded. As I started the run a lady came past me who said "Can you believe we now have to do a half marathon?" I couldn't really but I had to try. I'd taken a small water belt with me that I struggled with for the first 5k or so until I got it and my number belt to agree and stop jostling round my waist. There were also the hills, Oh those hills! My poor legs were tired by this stage and I just struggled, so I walked uphill. One of the people coming the other way encouraged me to swing my arms and powerwalk it which did help. I tried my best to run on the flat bits and downhill, even if it wasn't much faster. I knew by this stage I must be last, even when I said this to one of the supporters who said there were masses of people behind me. At the turnaround point I knew this to be a lie; there was no one behind me. Figuratively speaking it was true due to the number of people who dropped out after the swim/bike, but in reality it just felt like a big fat lie. Ah well, I thought, someone has to come last. I was spurred on by the thought of the next aid station and as much water as they could offer me, as well as the fantastic marshals offering encouragement. By this stage it had gone from absolutely freezing to surprisingly hot and blindingly sunny. I was very glad for my little bottles of water and the aid stations, as I get very thirsty! I was expecting something exciting at the turnaround point, but instead it was just a table for the aid station and a cone in the middle of the road to mark where to turn! I caught up with the lady who'd overtaken me earlier, she was suffering with nausea. The medics also wanted to check I was ok, the only issue I had was exhaustion! I was so glad to be heading back. Even though there weren't runners coming in the other direction, we were still cheered on every now and then by other walkers and the marshals on the way. I did eventually pass two other runners and the girl in the blue top and I exchanged places several times, because she was a faster runner but kept stopping to walk. By the time I crested the last hill I was so glad to see the road again. We'd been running on gravel tracks most of the way, which didn't help. Half way down I spotted my husband who'd come to see where I was after getting worried about me. The strap to his folding chair had broken so he was having to lug it around under his arm. It was still another mile to the end so he then ended up clomping after me in a very distracting way as I was trying hard to finish this race! Trying to run with someone thumping right behind you, especially when once upon a time you had your handbag snatched by someone running up behind you, is a little freaky!
I was so glad to get into Godshill and finally Sandy Balls hoved into view for the final time. There was the end, the finish, and after nearly 8 hours of exercise, sweat and pain, I crossed the finish.
I did it. I can't quite believe it. And no, I'm not doing a full on ironman next year. I've decided to focus on the standard/sprint distances and see if I can get my 10k time to below an hour.

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