Monthly Archives: October 2012
Snowman Triathlon
Back to Wales again to finish off the Always Aim High triathlon series. I entered the Slateman back in May as warm-up training for the Celtman. But I did better than expected, so thought why not enter the series, as there was a great prize on offer! I knew that the Sandman would be a challenge, only three weeks after the 5-day Terrex expedition race. And so it proved, but not only because of that – I also got a puncture which cost me many minutes. These things happen though, so I came into the Snowman with nothing to lose. But I wanted to still do well anyway, to make up for last time! 🙂
Properly rested and recovered from previous exertions, I had spent at least two or three weeks feeling human again. This was a good sign! Andy was also doing this race. The fell run at the end wasn’t going to play to his strengths, but he seemed set and it was nice to compete together for once. He was more nervous than I was though and got stressed about not having time at the start to get set up. Goodness knows what else he wanted to do though, as I was hanging around for a while!
Llyn Mymbyr at sunset the evening before when we registered
The swim was in Llyn Mymbyr. It was reportedly 11 degrees C. This didn’t worry me too much as my exploits with the Wild Ones had me splashing about in colder than that the week before, and this time we’d be racing. I was determined to actually push it hard on the swim for a change. It was chaos at the start, with bodies everywhere, people stopping to put goggles back on and arms and legs flailing. I did head up crawl for a while, negotiating a way through. I should have started nearer the front. Anyway, I eventually got moving and remembered to work hard. I couldn’t see too many people in front as I ‘landed’. I was 12th out overall and 3rd female.
My transition was OK. I cunningly left my toasty wetsuit all tangled up round my feet to warm them up a bit whilst I sorted out my top and helmet! Into the bike and I felt good. One thing I had worried about coming into this race was a persistent knee / sartorious muscle problem which came on a few weeks ago and wouldn’t clear up. It was complaining a bit on the bike, but was solved by switching to a lower gear and spinning away like mad. The course was short – only 31km with an easy gradient drag back up to the finish. I had a great ride and came into transition 1st female. My bike leg was also fastest female by some way – I only wish we had had to go round again! 😀
Zoom!
Next up was the fell run. I decided to take my poles with me, partly to protect my knee and ankles and partly because they might make me go faster. I am very used to them, so I felt comfortable. Plenty of people said they wish they’d had some! Up to the summit and I was still in first, but as I descended I saw several girls not far behind. Indeed, halfway down two of them (Sheona Schofield and Helen Pitt) came flying past. This was reflected in their final run times – they did the whole run 10-12 minutes faster than me! However, I held on for third and was delighted to stay on the podium.
Me coming into the last couple of km on fireroad
I ventured back up the course to cheer Andy on, madly ringing the cow bell my dad had acquired at every competitor. Just as we thought Andy might have got lost, he appeared with a smile on his face!
The men’s race saw the fell runners taking a big advantage too. We all spent longer running than we did cycling! It is nice that the series overall plays to different strengths in the different races – it makes the podium less predictable. In the prize bag I got a pair of my favourite goggles from Aquasphere and also some sunglasses from Scott. Nice!
Bethan, who won the Slateman and was second at Sandman put in a solid time and won the series.
Full results here and event report here.
Bad luck aside, I had a great time at these races. They were well organised and I was especially impressed with the course marking and strict transition entry / exit security checks. They are also set in some stunning locations. I haven’t decided on my final race plans for next year, but these will definitely be on the potential list.
Oh, and although my knee hurt on the way up the hill (as it had done on every practice run in the preceding weeks), 3 days later I still can’t feel a thing. It could be masked by the intense pain in my quads preventing me from getting down any steps. Or maybe an 8.5km mountain ascent and descent is the perfect cure?!
Polaris Challenge – Askrigg, Wensleydale
I had hardly had time to get over the disappointments of the Sandman before it was time for the next race. I had entered the Polaris Challenge a week later! I spent the week feeling tired and wondering why on earth I had signed up for this. By the time I got to 15:30 on Thursday afternoon I didn’t think I would make it through Friday and asked my boss for an ‘emergency day off’ (to be deducted from annual leave, of course!). He agreed – and what a good decision it was.
I relaxed on Thursday night, had a lie in on Friday, sorted out my packing without panicking and did a few chores before it was time to get the train. By then I was feeling much more positive and cheerful about the whole venture :-).
I entered the race as a female pair with Lucy Harris. Lucy and I spent the winter sparring over the Open 5 series, so we knew we ought to be well matched! This was a bit of an experiment to test that out and to see how we got on working with each other instead of the usual head to head.
By the time we had registered and got to Lucy’s friend’s very nearby house for the night, it was late. I wanted to examine maps, the others wanted to chat! I looked at the map anyway, after they had gone to bed, and felt better for it :-). The difference between this and an Open 5 is the size of the thing. 4x A4! It was also very pink, which suggested many contours.
The map
Me all cozy in sleeping bag in roomy tent!
This event had the option of an overnight camp at a remote location, which we took. It brought back many memories for me of my first ever adventure racing event. Myself and Robert got hopelessly stuck on ‘indistinct paths’ in a place named ‘Hannel Bog’. On day 1 we lost all our points for lateness, didn’t have much food and squeezed into a tiny tent for the night. This time it was going to be different!
For a start, I persuaded Lucy to let us take the really roomy tent at a 500g weight penalty, in exchange for leaving behind the big stove, my thermarest and some unnecessary extra food. The sun was shining; we set off in high spirits. As others passed us we carried on at our own pace, chatting away non-stop. I had a bad time between hours 4 and 5 but then got a new high, especially as we really started racing along about an hour from the end (7 hours in total).
At the camp location we were surprised to find that we were up near the two leading mixed pairs on points, and just in front of Iwona, who well and truly beat me last year in the solo category.
As the cold started to bite we dived into our toasty down sleeping bags well fed and happy. We chatted until ‘late’ – or so everyone commented the next day, but it was only about 10pm!
Day 2 started cold and misty. The atmosphere seemed different from the previous day, perhaps also because we thought we should take it seriously now. We got caught up with some people dithering over navigation and it was a distraction. Lucy was also not feeling as good as the day before. It turned out she had a bit of a cold coming on. But we got ourselves untangled and cleared our minds.
Our route seemed OK until we found ourselves bumping down a highly technical ‘byway’ = narrow, rocky, rooty, strewn with vicious stinging nettles! Then we emerged onto the road and followed an arrow for a ‘bridleway’ = overgrown and covered in those big leafy giant rhubarb like plants you get near water. We were heading for the ‘ford’ of which there was little sign. After considering turning round and going the long way round the road, I suggested we were here for the adventure and should go this way, even if no-one else clearly ever did. We eventually clambered out with very wet feet and big smiles (well, from me anyway!)
The stones were definitely NOT visible, and neither was the track clearly defined as it is in this shot!
© Copyright Gordon Hatton and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
The second half of the 5-hour day went well, and we were moving at a good speed similar to the day before. After an agonising debate on a final control (would penalties wipe out all 60 points it was worth?) we sped to the finish. We thought it had all gone OK. But straight after download we realised something was awry. Our Saturday score was 11th best, but on Sunday we were only 26th and about 100 points down! This was a bit of a low point. However, on reflection our route choice wasn’t daft – we just didn’t have quite enough oomph on the day to pull it off properly at the end. There were also one or two smart tweaks that would have saved us energy or got more points for effort earlier on.
These things can happen, but we were 17th overall and first female pair. More importantly, we did get on and we did have fun!
I also learnt what happens to Lucy when she gets a bit low on food. Some sort of mild mania sets in. We got back to the van to find two flat tyres. Lucy assured me this was normal and that she would fix it with her track pump. Whilst I was half naked in the back of the van trying to get changed, the pump broke and I could hear panic going on outside but could do nothing! As soon as I was decent, I hopped out and suggested using my trail pump. I got going and it was truly working (slowly) – though it felt faintly ridiculous pumping up a tyre with the weight of a van above with this:
Luckily a man came and helped us out with a proper compressor, and wasn’t until we had to try and negotiate incompetent reversers in the train station car park that the craziness set in again! 😉
Planet Byde 