Before I start my race report, a few things happened before this race. Firstly, I pulled/tore my calf back in March, resulting in me only getting up to 10k a couple of weeks ago. Secondly, my race bike decided to dissolve on itself meaning I had to get a new bike a month before my race. Which I only had measured to fit a week before the race. I also had massive bike anxiety, even on my old faithful commuter bike, mostly due to angry London drivers.
So here we were, race day. I'd slept badly the night before, even worse after the slats on the bed decided to fall off for no particularly good reason. I was very anxious. What was I doing here and who was I kidding? It was great to see the Team Twinkle ladies though and I got a lovely hug or two. It was a very grey cloudy day and I noticed a lot of people had covered their shoes etc over so I took a spare plastic bag and my waterproof swim bag and covered mine over too.
I chatted to some lovely Twinkle ladies I'd not met before at the start and then it was time to go. Too late, my stomach rumbled and I realised I'd not eaten my protein bar before my swim. Sorry coach, that was stupid. As I got into the water, my foot caught a rough piece of stone and scraped all the way up my Achilles. Ouch.
I absolutely hated the swim - I say this as a lifelong swimmer and someone who will willingly swim in the sea, the local lido, the docks etc. I think the lack of food (since a small pot of porridge in the early hours) really didn't help. I spent most of my time with the song "I'm outta love" going round my head, cursing myself for entering this race, and seriously considering leaving triathlon and never training or coaching again. I did eventually realise that the reason I was grumpy was because I was hungry and was determined to grab some nutrition when I got to the bike. I got round, a little bit of argy bargy round the buoys, and finally to Shouty Dave at the exit helping us out of the water. Swim done in 50 minutes, definitely room for improvement there.
Into transition, and time to get on with the bike. As I said above, I only got my new bike, Bob, four weeks ago. For the first time, things seemed to click and we motored along at what is a pretty respectable pace for me - I've definitely got more speed in me so I need to work on this too. The bike was absolutely miserable - drizzle pretty much all the way. I say this every time, but I always bring terrible weather. Rain, wind, or baking heat, not very much in the middle. This time was the drizzle, descending to proper rain at one stage. I had the song "Desperado" going round my head, "Desperado, why don't you come to your senses, ... you better let somebody love you, before it's too late" I ate and drank as much as I could on the bike even though my nutrition did get a bit soggy by the end... I even had to stop to refill my water bottle and had a couple of concerned cyclists go past and ask if I was OK. I had this nifty cycle saddle that you can adjust but the issue is it seems to self adjust mid ride so I had to get off at the aid station and get a nice man with a set of Allen keys to readjust it. Thankfully it stayed in place for the rest of the ride, but I'm not best pleased with it. I didn't have to stop as much as last year and actually managed to overtake some people near the end. It was great to see Helen out on the race course after last year, and Stuart near the start, for some much needed cheering.
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| Shuffling on the run |
And finally on to the run, my legs refused to work (not enough brick training?). I shuffled round to Stuart, by which stage I had started to hyperventilate. I told him I wasn't sure I could carry on, but he encouraged me to keep going. Off I shuffled, like some kind of loon, everyone coming past me including Angela who I'd come into transition with. I got my breathing under control, but then a familiar pain started. My calf was acting up. By the time I got back to Stuart, I wasn't sure if I should continue and risk further injury. I decided to take a couple of paracetamol and continue going. The finish line was absolutely rammed with spectators - a big change from last year where they weren't allowing people to cheer us on - and you were hit with a wall of noise as you went past. I saw Tracey and told her about my calf and she said that we always knew it was going to be an issue. Onto the second lap, and it was starting to get a bit quieter. Also the sun started to come out - it ALWAYS comes out on the run, and then you boil after freezing for hours. Past Stuart, more soggy hugs and kisses (poor bloke). Got more cheers from Twinkles including "by far our favourite scientist"... I met this lovely lady called Jo from Celtic Tri who I ran/walked with for a while. I realised that some of my pain in my leg was actually due to the graze I'd gathered earlier on in the day when getting into the lake (rolls eyes)... The paracetamol was doing its job so it didn't hurt so much. I was surprised when I caught up with Angela and passed her as I thought she would have been finished way ahead of me, but she admitted later that she went off too quick and faded about half way around. My feet started to hurt and I suspected blisters but I kept plodding on until somehow I was on the final lap, it was getting quieter but I caught up with Jo again and we spent a good couple of km keeping each other going. Back through the little village and someone said "Oh I thought you were last" I said "I probably am" but there were people behind me. The marshalls were amazing again and I really appreciate their support. I had made it to the end, with barely enough energy to raise my arms in joy at the finish.
And I finally got to go back to bed as I promised myself and have a nice snooze
