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Knockburn Standard Distance Tri – Scottish Champs
No pictures … I will keep this race report short and to the point!
I entered on a whim, thinking it would be good race training for Aberfeldy. As it was, I went into it with a dodgy calf after my half marathon / St Mary’s Loch exploits. Being a championship race, most of the fast girls in Scotland had also descended. So my expectations weren’t very high!
Getting there
It was much further away than I imagined when I entered! But the time passed quickly as I chattered away to Jo (also from my club and driving us up there). Most exciting incident was that she had mislaid her cards, so I had to pay for the petrol. Being a non-driver without so much as a single lesson in my life, this felt almost illegal!
Swim
We swam to the start as a warm up, in a small man-made loch. We were all in a single wave, everyone fought for position as we headed for the first buoy, which was quite close to the shore. We squeezed through and then it was round and round for 2.5 laps. I was caught between swimmers at times, but didn’t panic. Fronds of weeds wafted beneath me. My time was OK, but not as good as the previous week.
Bike
Despite it being a course of three laps, it was fun. The roads were very quiet and surfaces were good. I enjoyed riding into the headwind on my tri bars (weird), though I saw people pull away from me on the hill. The descent with a tailwind was fast! I was pleased with an improvement in my average speed.
Run
I was scared of this. Faffed in transition putting my training shoes on (with orthotics inside, rather than my normal race shoes). Plodded out, along a rough track and straight up a road hill. Urgh … what hard work, I was fighting not to walk. It was hot. We got to the drinks station and a loop round the forest – it was about here I started enjoying it a bit more.
Jo caught me up but then had to stop to stretch out a cramp in her hamstrings. We were back on the road and downhill all the way to the finish. Soon we could see the loch inviting us down. I overtook a clubmate who I’d been following all run and then there was just one lap of the loch between me and the finish. My calf was actually sore now, but it was nearly over. I could hear footsteps behind me and they sounded suspiciously female – I didn’t look back but thought it must be Jo. It was, but I held her off by 3 secs as we crossed the line smiling 🙂
Results
I was 8th female. Jo was first female veteran. Penny from our club was first super-vet. Full results here. The race was well organised and had an interesting course. I recommend it. I was just relived to have survived with my calf seemingly no worse than when I started.
Just two weeks to go until Aberfeldy! There I’ll be lining up with Alice, who beat me here by 20 minutes, Eleanor, who took 8 minutes out of me at Trident and Catriona, who just came 3rd in the European 70.3 championships. What illustrious company!
St Mary’s Loch Triathlon
So, I’m still doing pretty well at following ‘the plan’. I had chosen this new standard distance race as prep for Aberfeldy middle distance. It’s well-timed at three weeks before the big one. It’s also organised by Paul McGreal at Durty Events, so I knew it would be fun and scenic! 🙂
Saturday had seen the ‘Durty Tri’ – the off road version of our race at the same location, which I had forgone for more specific training. My friend Marie was competing but had all her kit stolen the day before. Somehow, she managed to get a whole set of everything together (my contribution was the loan of a wetsuit), raced and came second. Another friend of mine, Elizabeth, won – so with mates 1, 2 on the podium on Saturday, I felt anticipation at trying to join them on Sunday!
Although Saturday’s weather forecast looked pretty good, Sunday was dire. Heavy rain all day until 4pm?! At least it wasn’t going to be windy. Andy was doing this race as well. I had persuaded him to do it instead of a more local race, informing him that it would be fun (true), there were lots of people from the club going (true), and the course was really flat and fast (erm …).
Looking at the route profiles and descriptions on Saturday night, I found it wasn’t so flat on the bike – especially with roadworks meaning we had to do two laps of the first bit, which was up and down a moderately sized hill and back! The run was definitely flat, so that was something.
Bike course elevation profile – doesn’t look too hilly to me
My good friend Chris picked us up in his “popemobile”, aka a really practical car for going to races in. Both bikes fit in upright without any need to deconstruct, and the back door opens up like a roof for getting changed under in the rain.
At the race HQ, welly boots were a definite advantage. I practised my smug look as I waded right through all the muddy puddles between the car park (a field) and transition (a different bit of field). I wasn’t so smug at forgetting about the possible midge factor.
After the usual nervousness of getting ready, it was time for briefing. I was waving my arms around and practising dry land swimming, whilst everyone else stood stationary. Straight into the water, and some people were oohing and ahhing about how cold it was. I was thinking it was like a warm bath! There wasn’t much time for more warm up before the hooter went and we were off.
I was determined to put in a decent race effort on the swim. I realised a few races back that I’ve just been cruising the swim and losing valuable time. I’ve also been making more of an effort to attend 5:30am swimming sessions with faster people than me, and didn’t want all that hard work / torture to go to waste!
St Mary’s Loch – scene of the swim and run
© Copyright Andy Stephenson and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
One of the GREAT things about this race from my point of view, was that all the women and super-vet males went in wave 1, with everyone else about 10 minutes behind in wave 2. This meant I was near the front of the pack for the swim. I was doing some great drafting as we rounded the first buoy. I tapped someone’s feet and they sped up, but not for long and I soon struck out away from my little group. There were 3 or 4 people in front but I couldn’t bridge the gap and swam the remaining 1.5 laps on my own.
I was delighted with my time of 24:25, which included the run up to transition.
I was in and out quickly (11th fastest overall), even with putting socks on. After over-taking one or two people on the road, Paul shouted to me that I was second ‘girlie’ at the turn :D. The one up at the front looked very fast though. Since we turned around three times, I could check where everyone was. I was confident of a top 3 finish.
Because we were set off first, we also had clear road up at the front. A few of the supervets passed me, but not many. I didn’t have to worry about drafting, or getting caught up with middle-of-the-pack men who like overtaking and then slowing down. Really, did I mention how great having our own wave was?!
Coming back into transition a car was coming the other way up the rough drive. I hesitated. They stopped for me to pass just next to a big puddle. I went into it with a BANG! Yep, immediate burst tube and flat tyre as the water was hiding a big pothole! Luckily it was right in front of the dismount line, so I jumped off and bumped my way back in.
This transition was more clumsy. Although my average bike speed was disappointingly slow (I need to sort that out) I did feel a bit weebly wobbly standing on one foot trying to get my running shoe on. So I must have worked moderately hard. Eventually I was on my way again.
Andy’s lent me his race wheels for the next two races. Do wheels which double the value of the bike make you go double the speed?
Looking at the results, I was 4:40 minutes down on the leading lady at this point. I was close to 8 minutes clear of the next person though – I didn’t know I’d got that far away!
What I hadn’t realised about the run was how technical it would be underfoot. Although it was flat, we were soon off camber on narrow paths, sometimes grassy and sometimes stony and uneven. It also twisted this way and that through the trees.
I had been really up for doing this run fast after my half marathon success the week before. But the first thing I was thinking was how heavy my legs were feeling. Then after a couple of kilometres my calf started hurting. Uh-oh! This was the same thing I’d had at the end of the half marathon, but I had thought nothing of it since then. I carried on and it didn’t worsen, but never went away.
A couple of guys overtook and pulled away. Then there was an open gate through a field and what looked like a trodden path across the grass. But we had been following red and white tape markers. I hesitated. There was a stile to the left of the gate. It had tape all over it. There was an orange arrow pointing across it and away from the field. And there was a Southern Upland Way sign (we were told at briefing the route stayed on this path the whole way). I leapt (slid) over the stile and was in woods – still worried, but then I saw more tape and knew I was right. My adventure racing skills extend beyond reading a map and choosing a route – I’m also good at arrow-spotting of all kinds :-D.
People cheered loudly from a boat out on the loch, which was fun!
As the path joined a fire road, the guys who’d overtaken appeared – they knew they’d gone the wrong way but hadn’t lost a lot of time. To my surprise, the lead lady was also just in front. She had also gone the wrong way, but had perhaps spent longer getting back on track. I slowly, slowly started closing and just made contact as we turned at the 5km point. I paused for a cup of water and to eat a gel and she opened the gap back up. All the way back along the fire road, I was making no ground.
Andy (boyfriend) and Tom (clubmate) both passed going the other way and yelled at me to catch up. It was encouraging, but secretly inside I was feeling tired and heavy and my calf was hurting. I couldn’t up the pace. However, Tom told me later that I looked the more comfortable. We got back onto the rougher, uneven section. I suddenly noticed that the girl in front was less at ease on this section and I was doing better on the little downhill slopes. I decided to capitalise on my off-road experience and go for it. I ran past and held my pace.
I was concerned I had seized an opportunity, but too soon. We still had a way to run. I didn’t dare look back until the next stile, but when I did, she had vanished. I couldn’t believe it. I just needed to keep this up until the finish. Another stile, another look. I was on my own, and the finish was in sight about 800m ahead of me! Wow. I made a final effort, Heili (erstwhile support of Glen and I at the Bowhill duathlons) cheered, and I crossed the line.
After the Slateman finishing order debacle, I wouldn’t believe I had won until someone who knew for sure confirmed it. Anne was on finish line duty, taking our timing dibbers off us. “You’re first lady” she said. Woweee!!!
Much excitement, and I loved climbing on the very high finish podium to collect my silver plate. My first Scottish race win of the year! Even Andy had forgiven me for the hills and my course mis-descriptions as he had fun. Full results here.
Car with both bikes and rain cover, me with welly boots and silver plate!
The only tarnish to the day was my calf – which immediately seized up after I stopped. The last few days have been a cycle of it getting sore when I sit down, easing off when I walk and generally being a pain. At my pre-booked sports massage with Kirsty, she confirmed it was fatigued, very stiff, but not torn or knotted. Next race only a week later and Aberfeldy (the important one) two weeks after that. She said I would risk injury if I did the weekend, but it was my call ….
And the call (after consultation with my coach and Andy and a full consideration of many factors) is that I will race the Scottish Standard distance champs near Aberdeen. This race wasn’t on the plan and was a late decision a few weeks ago. The competition is likely to be stiff and I may have to alter my usual approach to account for my calf. So I have set my expectations accordingly. The non-stop summer racing continues … but gingerly!
Trident Triathlon
Back when I was making my plans for the year, I looked for a race that I could combine with a family visit in the middle of June. The Trident triathlon was chosen. By my standards, this race was as conventional as it gets. Standard distance. Flat. On road. Easy to get to. Even the website described it as ‘probably the easiest and fastest triathlon you’ll ever do’.
Well, the second part of that claim was certainly true; the first part all depended on how you raced the event!
The race was based at Newby Hall near Ripon. We were allowed to camp in the grounds right next to the start, transition and finish areas. So I arrived with my mum the night before, set up the tent and went to drive round the bike course. I’m glad I did, as it was full of turns and the map was confusing. However, on the ground it was impeccably signed and we had no trouble following it. It was designed to be fast, a time trialler’s dream. I was sort of glad I hadn’t had the energy or time to actually ride round, as it wasn’t a scenic bimble 🙂
On to dinner in Ripon, which was more of a navigational challenge. Round and round the one way system looking for a car park space and accidentally-on-purpose crossing a ford on the way back! We had a fabulous meal in a restaurant where the chef had actually put some thought and creativity into the vegetarian options. It was worth the slightly higher prices – check out Lockwood’s if you’re in the area.
I had time to rehearse the last part of the run and the transition before bed. What the race lacked with a utilitarian bike route, it made up for with its self-proclaimed ‘iconic transition’…
Transition route: from the river up to the house!
OK, so it was a pretty cool transition and I made sure to enjoy it now, in case I wasn’t in the mood for enjoying it the next morning :-D.
I slept alright. A woodpecker woke me up in the morning, tapping away in the trees overhead!
The race start was super early for me. You had to be ready to go and at the briefing by 7.30. Then there was a trip upriver to the start line. I was feeling a bit sick with unnecessary nerves, but the walk helped calm them. We were greeted by a piper in a kilt … woah, wasn’t expecting that in Ripon!
This wasn’t a target race for me, but there were things I wanted to try out and improve on from my last race. I have rated my performance against each objective :-).
Pre race, the week before
Eat well, sleep well: B+
Plenty of fruit, veg and home cooking consumed, slept more than last time but could do better at sticking to that fictional bedtime!
Swim (1300m, 17:33 – don’t forget, it was downhill)
Race, don’t just ‘get in and swim’: B+
I was one of the first in and started swimming around. It wasn’t too cold at all, but the water was very cloudy and you couldn’t see anyone until you literally swam into them. I even did some little efforts, until I decided to go and find a space near the front.
This was the roughtiest, toughtiest swim I have ever done! As soon as the piper piped, people were clawing at my legs, hitting me on the head, swimming right over my body and generally being in very close proximity. I tried to keep to one side of the mass, but we had been instructed to swim in the middle, where there were less overhanging trees and a stronger current. With concentrating on all of this, I admit my effort wasn’t entirely consistent. I did work hard when I remembered though, and even did a little bit of drafting. As usual, I was moving through the group as time went on.
Transition 1 (2:36)
After the iconic transition run, I left on my bike as 5th girl, 14th overall.
Bike (39km, 1:06:26 – my highest average race speed ever, over any distance and including our club 10 mile time trial!)
Nothing new here, just to work hard: A
Transition practice in the camping area!
I quickly caught a few people, including two girls, on the estate road. We soon sorted ourselves out. I was mostly riding on my own, with the occasional guy powering past. This was the sort of course where a time trial bike would have been a definite advantage over my road bike. I even caught myself thinking a pointy bottle with a straw would be useful. There were no real moments where coming off my bars to get my bottle seemed not to disrupt my speed! I almost ran out of gears with my compact as well, but remembered some good advice for this situation, which is to just spin faster :-).
The course had three roundabouts where you turned back on yourself. I could see the gap between me and the next girl in front widening, but I wasn’t making any progress on the ones behind me until perhaps the last 10km. Full of fear about the run, it spurred me on to keep pushing and pushing until the very end.
Transition (44s)
Eat a gel: A
Transition passed uneventfully, I ate my third ever gel and set off on the run with the announcer shouting my name over the loudspeaker. He confirmed that I was currently third placed female. 4th place was only 68 seconds behind! I was now 25th overall.
Run (10km, 43:09)
Run fast. No, faster! A+
My goal might sound daft. But I was so disappointed in my last race that all the extra run training and intensity work I’ve been doing wasn’t reflected in the result, especially in the second half. I knew I could do better!
There were km markers on the course and my splits were giving me a good idea that my pace was OK. Every time I heard footsteps behind I was afraid it was a girl coming to overtake me. On the plus side, not many men were passing anyway.
Finishing effort
End of lap one and I still hadn’t been caught. My mouth was sticky and dry but I didn’t stop for water. I just kept going and going … my split times were telling me I was holding my pace and from about 7km I actually felt quite good. I was duelling with another guy and we kept each other going. A km from the end, I looked over my shoulder and couldn’t see anyone who might catch up. I was able to run the last part fast, but without panic in my stomach!
Chilling in the cool-down pool!
Into the finish chute, happy to have executed my plan, and most of all to have had a respectable run. The next girl was nearly two minutes behind, and I had actually held my position and time over the second half. My pace was very consistent – in fact, I was 30 seconds faster on lap two, which I think some people would say I could have gone faster?!
Years ago, running was my main sport and in the few triathlons I did, was where I excelled. This run gave me encouragement that soon I might race with some confidence again in my ability for the final leg.
Time to jump in ‘the pool’ to relax and cool down :-D.
Post Race
The winner was Eleanor Haresign, racing for Torq Tri Team. She was 8 minutes ahead of me. Wow. We had a chat afterwards and she cheerfully told me she’d be racing Aberfeldy this year (my next target race), so I know who I’ll be seeing disappear into the distance then! Emma Wolff was second. I was 27th overall, out of 141. Full results here.
Podium
The prizes at this race were very generous. Actual cash in an envelope! Even for third, I got £75 and an inner tube :-).
Trying out kit from The Pink Jersey
There was also a £10 voucher for a new ladies run, bike and triathlon gear specialist. They had a stand at the event. They’re called ‘The Pink Jersey‘. I promptly went over and spent my voucher and most of the prize money on shorts (which I needed) and a jersey (which I didn’t, but it looked nice). They had a really good selection and the women running it were friendly and helpful.
This race is very family friendly. As well as everything else, you get free family entry to the hall and gardens with your race number. The advantage of such an early start is that you’ve finished with plenty of the day left.
So my number 1 supporter (mum) and I went and got a good lunch in the café and spent a couple of hours enjoying the extensive gardens. My legs were then ready to give up (so tired, after such a short race!), so we fortified ourselves with tea and cake before heading home.
Oh, I forgot to say, is this the food of champions?!
Slateman 2013
My first target race of the year.
Wave 1 – I must be in there somewhere!
This big event is well organised by Always Aim High events, with great scenery, smooth roads and a tough challenge of a run. I recommend it!
Nearly ready
Getting Ready
I was my usual somewhat nervous self as I racked my bike in transition. To add variety, a TV film crew were there and did an interview as I was one of the favourites for the podium. The guy was nice – he has worked with Open Adventure before, filming the Terrex. My transition area looked sparse, but the less stuff there is there, the less there is to go wrong!
Swim in Llyn Padarn 1km: 19:57 / 5th female / 37th overall
Off I went down to the lakeside for the start of the swim. I was a bit apprehensive about the cold water as I hadn’t practiced yet this year. My one chance to do so the week before was scuppered when I sliced through my nail with a chainring. Don’t try this at home – it hurts a LOT 😀
We weren’t allowed in the water until a few minutes before our start time. I was only able to swim to the line, get my face used to the cold and we were off! The swim passed by OK, except when someone randomly veered across my path. It was hard to spot the red turning buoys as I was in the ‘red hat’ wave … As usual, I struggled to find good people to draft and at the end I was crossing open water to a group ahead. My time was merely ‘alright’ – afterwards, I thought I could have done better. Somehow I find it hard to race this part of a triathlon.
Running and getting a wetsuit off at the same time is harder than it looks!
Transition 1: 1:34 / 6th female / 38th overall
I did a good transition – much better than last year.
Bike round the edge of some mountains 49km: 1:33:39 /2nd female / 87th overall
I set off enthusiastically on the bike. I knew there were a few other girls ahead, but I had no idea how many. I passed one quickly. I caught the next girl, called Jane (we all had our names on our numbers), halfway up the 5km climb of Pen Y Pass. Then a crazy coach driver decided to overtake just before a narrow bend – only to find a bus was coming down the other way. He pulled in sharply, taking out a cyclist in front of me. I gasped, but he had been aware enough to stop and steady himself against the now stationary coach. A little group of us all had to wait a few seconds until the two vehicles had inched past each other.
After that the cycle was straightforward. On the long downhill I was spinning out of gears. Jane passed me again here. She was on a time trial bike and I suspect she had an advantage on the flatter sections. Without drafting, I kept her in sight until the turn back uphill to the Ogwen valley. I overtook again and was motivated to push as hard as I could on the downhill and flatter bits, taking more risks than I normally do.
As I was in the first wave this year, I had a clear run back into Llanberis. My time was comparable to last year – a couple of minutes quicker, but roadworks had shortened the route. The difference was that last year I had felt invincible, and this year I didn’t.
Transition 2: 56s / 3rd female / 24th overall
Even better than T1 …
Run in slate quarries and wooded trails 11km: 55:37 /6th female / 102nd overall
Onto the run. I was determined not to walk a single step – and I didn’t. Surprisingly, half way up the zigzags in the slate quarry I overtook another girl. I could see she was struggling a bit and gave her some encouragement. I still didn’t know what place I was in – was anyone else still up ahead?
Sprinting is a painful business …
I had noted where on the route my halfway point in time had been last year. I got there a couple of minutes quicker and thought I was on for a great run time. My shins started cramping a bit, but I kept on at what I thought was a good pace and I felt relaxed. I kept aiming for the next runner in front (there were quite a lot as our course joined that of the sprint course).
I kept checking back, which I don’t normally do. I wanted to see if anyone was catching me. Last year I was caught 10 minutes from the end and couldn’t make the gap back up. This year, I saw another girl bearing down on me with about 800m to go. I picked up the pace a bit, rounded the corner at the bottom of the hill and crossed the river. 400m to go, but I could hear her footsteps getting closer and closer. I gave it everything I had, but sprinting really isn’t my thing! About 200m to go and she came past – it was Jane again. I was spent, eased up slightly and collapsed over the line just 4 seconds behind her.
Post-Race
The TV crew came over and wanted to interview me. “You’re third!” they said. I was anxious about any girls who might be in later waves with faster times and tried to explain this. We had been asked to email in if we thought we would do a sub-3h:10 race, but I knew not everyone had responded. The lady went to check the situation and came back telling me “you have to be in the first wave to count for the podium, so you’re definitely on” … OK, I thought, and did my interview.
An hour later at prize giving I still had some misgivings. And rightly so. As they announced the results it transpired that someone else from wave three was in third place … as my mind clicked and whirred I realised what this meant. Yes, she had finished in time between me and Jane. In fact, she was just one second ahead of me. The winner of the women’s race, Rhian Roxburgh, stormed round and was over 5 minutes clear of all of us, despite having had a baby just 5 months ago!
Andy was racing too – here’s his report.
James and Andy
Reflections
I shall gloss over my mood for the next day or so! I was disappointed I had not done better in my target race. In some ways, thinking I had come 3rd only to find I hadn’t was as hard to deal with as coming 4th by such a tiny margin. However, as I was told by more than one person: the occasional setback will spur me on to improve. And my actual time and overall position wasn’t too bad – 61st out of 660 finishers.
Bad luck cost me those vital seconds, a pause behind the coach here, a fumble with my shoe there, easing up before the line (something I never normally do). But I do not want to leave a race to that sort of luck – if I had been a minute or two ahead it wouldn’t have been an issue!
Reflecting
Now I’ve waited a week and thought about the race, I’ve decided things just didn’t come together on race day. It’s almost like I peaked two weeks early at the Shropshire Open 5 when I felt wonderful!
It has also been a lesson in how what else is going on can affect performance – it’s not just all about the body.
- My training diary for the week before says ‘tired’, ‘tired’, ‘tired’ … I’m not sure of the cause, but work has been busier than usual and this probably had an impact.
- The week before the race my back started playing up. On Saturday I was panicking and icing, using Ibuprofen gel, contorting myself on the roller and sleeping on the floor to get things back in shape! Although it was fine on race day, I went from focused on Monday, to distracted and worried by Saturday night.
- I was disappointed with my run time – only a minute faster than last year despite big gains in speed (2 mins off my 5k time). It’s possible I needed to eat a gel or something on the run (though I didn’t feel it at the time).
What next?
Well, I have already moved onto thinking about my next race! It’s not a target for me and doesn’t particularly play to my strengths. It’s a standard distance tri, so the bike is shorter relative to the run, and it’s flat. So I am not focussing on position, but have a few other ‘process goals’. My mum is going to be supporting me, and I’ve got a role ready for her too! That will be on the 16th June.
In the meantime, I have already cheered myself up by doing hill walks, hunting for vague footpaths, going on my bike club chaingang ride in the sun and pottering down to the beach with friends. I even took a dip in the North Sea without my wetsuit – acclimatisation has happened quickly this year!
Kendal Sprint Tri
My first ever win in a triathlon!
But back to the beginning …
After the Tranent triathlon was cancelled, this was my only ‘warm up’ before the Slateman in May, which is one of my target races this year.
I wanted to practice transitions, clothing, coping with race nerves and also to get a confidence boost, if possible :-). It’s easy to get carried away thinking I’m a great biker when I race triathlon, but doing the Tour of the Meldons a couple of weeks ago was a pertinent reminder that up against cyclists I have my limitations!
This way home
So, I set off to Kendal on Friday evening, thinking how simple all the packing had been compared to an adventure race. What, no first aid kit or foil blanket?! Things got a bit epic just heading into town to catch my train. I set off in sunshine but was pelted with pea-sized hailstones halfway there. I leapt under a bus stop, but too late to entirely save my bare legs, still bearing little bruise marks 3 days later!
Kit laid out for transition practice.
Saturday was warm and sunny. I had met up with Andy and we went and rode round the course. It was good to practice a couple of bumpy sections, awkward bends and a tricky fast, narrow descent with gravel all over the road. I did that bit twice! After a fab lunch at the Waterside Café, we practiced transition a few times in our hostel room. Time well spent.
The race was large with 200 competitors, plus a kid’s event straight afterwards. Because it was a pool swim, everyone was going off in waves. The first was at 8am, mine was at 09:15, Andy wasn’t on until 11:00. After a basic poolside warm up it was time to go. I started much too fast and felt sick. I had to tell myself to calm down and get into a rhythm. After 500m / 7 minutes and 53 seconds (not amazing, but respectable enough), I jumped out of the pool and exited through a side door into a wet, cold, drizzly, windy day.
Before the race I had worried about whether to put on an extra top for the bike leg, and had laid one out in transition. In the event I decided to stop being a wuss and just get on with it. A big relative improvement in my transition time compared to some races (even with putting socks and gloves on) and I was off again. I soon flew past the few girls who were ahead of me from my swim heat and was racing round the hilly bike course.
I like to ride my bicycle – picture thanks to James Kirby
I was a bit disappointed with my time coming back to transition – way off target (38:11 for 18km). But afterwards, I realised my target had been faster even than the best men’s times. I think I had been a bit optimistic and not taken full account of the 27mph headwinds, the ups, steep downs, twisty roads and the couple of minutes spent on the grassy run in and out of transition!
I had started to catch a few people from the previous heat out on the road, and heading out on the run there were a few more. But it was still quite a solitary affair, just passing a few people here and there. I had to mentally tell myself to keep working and run fast (it was only 5km after all). I was back in just under 22 minutes – pleasing given there had been a big hill in the middle of the run. It’s not like doing the Cramond Parkrun!
With a race like this, you don’t exactly know where you’ve placed. I sprinted under the banner with no ceremony and then waited. By the time Andy had started I was changed, warm and dry. After his swim I checked the computer screen for the latest results. Darn! It said I was second. But wait … had first place really been 12 minutes faster on the bike? The bike course went out, did two shorter laps and came back in again. I suspected she had accidentally missed one of the bike laps out, so I put in a query, later backed up by Andy.
Andy had a good race. At least, he finished, which was better than his last event in the rain! And he had a good run, though he didn’t manage to get within 60 seconds of me over the 5km as promised – being 60.3 seconds slower :D.
Later in the afternoon, we got an email with the final results. But I was still second, with another girl ahead whose bike time was 6 or 7 minutes faster than the winning men. I felt unsporting making another query, but it was important to me that it was right. I eventually found out at about 9:30 at night that I had won! The potential immediate excitement had worn off, but I was still chuffed to bits to do so well.
Hilly time trial and new mountain bike trails
April’s turning out to be a busy month for me. Somehow I seem to have lined up a race every weekend 5 weeks in a row :-). Of course, not all of these are target races, some of them are training in aid of the bigger goals. The last two are in this category.
Because the Tranent triathlon was cancelled I hadn’t even been out on my road bike since the New Year’s Day triathlon. I was also worrying that with a greater focus on running I might be losing speed on my bike. So I entered a hilly 40km road time trial organised by my club. I’ve done this one a few times before. But this year it was also the Scottish Championships.
It was only a week after the last Open 5, which was a tough one. I was lucky to have just about recovered in time :D.
The forecast wasn’t great (to put it mildly), so Andy arranged a lift to the start. Meanwhile, I rode over in a raging headwind and intermittent downpours … someone actually stopped and offered me a lift when I was partway there. I declined thinking I felt OK, but just after that I was at an exposed moor section and it all got a lot harder.
The Meldons are very scenic in good weather when you’re not racing!
© Copyright Jim Barton.
On the plus side, I only got to the sign-on about 30 minutes before my start time. I decided I had done plenty of ‘warming up’, got changed and didn’t go back outside in the cold until it was time to go. I ignored the weather and just got on with the job in hand. After the first hill, we turned into a headwind that I knew would last for at least 12km. It was actually longer, as we turned another bend and the wind still bore down on us. The final turn up and over the Meldons was the exhilarating payback. I have never ridden up the hill so fast!
I was set off first and somehow wasn’t caught up, so had the enjoyment of crossing the line first. That was as good as it got … I was almost dead last and only beat someone recovering from being ill and someone coming down with a bug! Mind you, that was out of the people who; signed up, turned up, started and finished. I think there were dropouts at every stage ;-). One of them was Andy – his tale is here, but don’t worry, some good home cooking cheered him up!
I cruised home 50 minutes faster than it took me to get there, and it felt good to have had a fast, hard ride. My average speed was fractionally faster than last year over a longer course in significantly tougher conditions.
Jess marshalling in the wind and rain (thanks to all the marshals!)
The next week I decided at the last minute to enter a local SMBO (Scottish Mountain Bike Orienteering) score event in Mugdock Park, which is just on the outskirts of Glasgow. I got a lift over very early in the morning. Too early, considering I was out late watching an Italian film the night before.
This event was very low key, with only three female solo competitors. I was pretty relaxed about the race which is unusual for me. And the result was just a second place – I wasn’t concentrating or working hard enough and one of the other girls was strong! The map was challenging, with intricate detail I’m not used to for mountain bike navigation. There were also many controls seemingly placed ‘on a tree, in a wood’. They weren’t joking at the start when they said the descriptions would give you a ‘clue’ as to the location …!
Never mind, I had a good time riding my bike in new places out in the sunshine and won a few things from Alpine Bikes. I then took the opportunity to meet up with a friend in Glasgow and spend a lazy day eating noodles, chatting, sleeping and eating brunch.
Next up … a sprint triathlon in Kendal. No slacking on this one. Despite it not being a target race, it’s important for me as my only actual triathlon before the Slateman in a month’s time. I want to get everything right and have my own goals in mind!
New Year’s Day Triathlon
The first race of 2013 was on the first day of the year and was the first in my new “shorter, faster” plan!
The initial challenge was getting to the start line in one piece. I had my training for the weeks leading up to the race all planned out. I even went and did the Christmas day ParkRun to keep my legs turning over nice and fast. And then I got a chest infection and was knocked out for a week!
By New Year’s Day I was feeling human again, though nerves were getting the better of me at breakfast and I felt a little queasy. This is usually a good sign, though it felt worse than usual. A short pedal up to the Commonwealth Pool (the Commie) to register and get set up. How nice to race without a long train journey first!
I was worried my kit would blow away in transition, I fretted I might get a puncture, I couldn’t decide how much water to carry. One thing I wasn’t worried about which everyone else seemed to be – the cold! Lots of winter racing means this weather looked balmy to me … dry, sunny and only a little bit windy :D.
Faffing about setting up transition
It was great to be able to get a proper warm up in the diving pool. Then before I knew it, I was off. The heat was 50 people following each other at 5 second intervals up and down each of eight 50m lanes, ducking under the lane rope at each end. The first 3 or 4 lengths were fairly orderly, with slower people on one side and overtakers the other. Then it turned into a melee as we all bunched up and it was a free for all! Lucky I am more used to open water swims, so I claimed my patch of water, swam hard and tried to maintain position.
The swim before it got a bit crazy!
It was a bit chilly on the feet running outside to transition and I struggled into my fleecy top. Once I was off on the bike I felt great though. Because the faster swimmers went last, and it was a three lap course of Arthur’s Seat on the bike, we were soon passing slower riders. I followed my plan and worked hard off the top of the hill and into the wind before screaming down the hill the other side :-).
Feeling good, enjoying the sunshine!
After the bike I wasn’t looking forward to running but it had to be done! I surprised myself as I set off feeling quite sprightly. Maybe it was the effect of my brand new, unworn, lightweight shoes with sparkly bits, though they were rubbing my dodgy ankle by the time I got back! Up the hill for the final time I told myself it wasn’t really that long and I would have to run up far more hills on Sunday (at the Open 5). I can play a lot of mind games when I’m racing. I even tried to follow a couple of runners who came past me but they were going just a little bit too fast.
Over the top and I relaxed into the downhill before attacking the final little climb back to the pool for a sprint finish.
My determined face …
That’s when the coughing fit that lasted about an hour started. I had been fine in the race though. I was worried I hadn’t worked hard enough, but I soon felt wibbly wobbly and needed a little sit down. 😀 I had a target time of 1:15:30 and got 1:15:15. My transitions were very slow compared to other people, the swim was OK, my bike was ace (fastest female!) and my run was ‘not bad considering’ and 3 minutes faster than I planned.
Tired now!
Final result – 2nd female. A good start to the year, in my first short fast one!
The race was followed by some great grub in the congenial company of clubmates before dragging ourselves back onto the bikes for a slightly wobbly ride home! Only joking – my mulled wine intake was moderated :D.
Next year is nearly here!
It’s time I had some race plans for 2013!
About this time last year I had some vague ideas for 2012. It was then that I decided to enter the Celtman and get myself a coach to make sure I did myself justice.
2012 was a massive year, with the Celtman and the Terrex Sting in Stirling 5-day event. I found it really hard to recover from the Sting. After feeling better, racing and then feeling worse again a couple of times, I had to take a good 6-8 weeks “off”. This meant no hard training.
Celtman Finisher
End of The Sting – little did I know how long it would take to get over this!
I started thinking … so what did I learn? And what next?
I put my down-time to good use planning for next year. I decided the Celtman was a bit too logistically complex, expensive and time consuming to do two years in a row. One of the biggest adventure races in the UK next year is the Coast to Coast. However, it involves a lot of kayaking and I’m not sure I could dedicate enough training time to do it competitively.
First question: What did I enjoy about this year? I really thrived on having a target which I had to work towards. When I entered the Celtman I couldn’t have done the race within the time limits. I also found that I was good at ‘normal’ triathlons. Coming 2nd at the Slateman was a revelation – I really enjoyed the head-to-head racing and the satisfaction of doing well in a competitive field. And having Scott as my coach worked really well, so he’s still on board for 2013 :D.
Turns out I’m quite good at this
I believe that it’s important to make the most of your strengths. I love mountain biking and always will – but my technical skills will never be the best. From this year’s events I realised that I have the strength and endurance needed to be good on a road bike. I also swim well, especially outdoors. Back in 1999 I stopped running because I got so frustrated with injuries. Running is still hard due to recurrent niggles. But it seems I can produce a half-decent run on not a lot of training!
I can cope with a bit of this … even if I’m often chasing!
Lastly, I like variety and need to do keep ‘doing different things’ or ‘doing things differently’!
Love this and even do it for recreational purposes!
Thinking about all this helped me to narrow down my choices.
I decided on my target: a middle distance triathlon. This is 1900m swim, 90km road bike and 21km run. It should take about 5 hours. Why did I choose this?
- I excel at this race duration.
- I will use my swimming and road biking strengths.
- I can still do fun mountain biking and adventure racing as training. This is especially true over the winter.
- I can recover much more easily from this distance. Weeks rather than months!
But .. I could finish a middle distance triathlon next week if I wanted to. So where’s the challenge?
I’m going to enter the Scottish Middle Distance championships in Aberfeldy. I’ll set myself stretching target times that I couldn’t achieve now.
The next question was – how do I structure my year to achieve that? This was an iterative process. I started with a full list of all the races I fancied doing. There were 47 of them in 12 months!! I talked to Andy about how things fitted together. He is an experienced triathlete and fully qualified cycling coach, so knows a thing or two, even if we don’t always agree ;-).
Of course, I also asked my coach, Scott. My list went back and forth a couple of times. I listened to their advice and reluctantly removed a few races and switched others from off-road to on-road. I also deleted events which looked a bit dull – I still want interesting courses and scenery!
I will need to be quicker. My endurance and pacing are already very good. So my lead up races are mostly shorter on-road triathlons with open water swims. They have similar physiological demands to a middle distance tri, but will help me get faster. I should also recover from them quickly. I need to watch how much travelling I have to do, and think about how I can combine races with family visits!
Before then I will keep doing the Open 5s. The plan is to do them with Lucy in the female pairs category. This will keep things interesting (I did them solo last year). A target once a month through the winter also helps keep me training hard when it’s cold, dark and wet outside.
After Aberfeldy I will just do what I feel like – which may include the Craggy off-road tri and a 24h MTB race – I haven’t done one for so many years!
So here’s the plan … no doubt I will have to change and adjust it as the year unfolds, but at least I have something to start with :-).
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?!
Anglesey Sandman
Before I did the Sting in Stirling I decided to enter the Anglesey Sandman. It is part of a series of three which included the Slateman. Because I did so well in that race I thought I’d take the chance on being recovered enough to do this one and get a decent time for the series.
Three weeks after the Sting, I wasn’t really sure I was ready! I’d done what I could to recover, which meant generally eating and sleeping a lot. I’d also done a few gentle rides and short runs to get the legs moving again. I’d had a slight niggle at the back of my knee which I ignored as it seemed like something just settling down.
On the morning of the race the wind was up and it was raining. Usually I relish bad race day conditions, but today I wasn’t so certain! The swim was moved to be more sheltered but still, it was very big and bouncy. I had so much fun, I’d happily have just done the swim leg three times (despite an annoying leaky goggle). Unfortunately for me, the swim move meant an extra 1km run leg back to transition! I jogged through it and got my bike. I dithered about what to wear and in the end put on my long sleeve jersey.
Out on the bike and I was really enjoying it … for a while! I caught one or two girls, including Jen who had won this event last year. But then it started to hurt. Jen (who went on to finish 3rd) came back past me looking strong and jumped across to a group in front. I was left feeling the burn as we went up another short climb. I was still well in the mix, as I had just come past the girl who eventually came first with a storming run. I was hoping that it was only feeling tough because the conditions and course were tough – maybe everyone felt the same!
The bike route, lumpy elevation and my heart rate dropping as I fix the puncture, and rising as I pump it up! We had W / SW winds.
Then disaster struck. About 7km from the end of a 60km ride, I got a puncture. This has never happened to me on my road bike in a race before and I was momentarily stunned. I thought about riding back on the rim but that would have been nuts! So I stopped and set about fixing it. I was in driving rain and a strong crosswind on a nice exposed section at the time – of course! I’d never heard of magic hole sealing foam, and don’t carry CO2 canisters, so it was manual job. Wheel off, tyre out, found source of puncture (a small metal staple), new tube in and start pumping! I now know that the shiny mini pump that Andy got me as a present works a treat, but takes some effort. By this time I was starting to get cold – thank goodness I made the choice to put on a jersey.
I looked this bad and there were still about 4km left to go!
Apart from the time lost fixing the puncture, I lost a bit more as I set off with cold muscles and a little less motivation. I rolled into transition and started the run rather unenthusiastically. Luckily for me, partway round a girl from Chester Tri came past and she was just the right speed for me to sit in behind. I tried not to think about how much this was hurting. Eventually a marshal said ‘1km to go!’ (though I think this could have been a ‘marshals 1km’ 😉 ) and I put an extra effort in. But when we hit the choice of sand or stones on the beach my legs nearly packed up and I was in a sorry state at the end.
Those little niggles turned into enough pain that by the evening I couldn’t bend my knee and ice wasn’t helping. Although it got a lot better very quickly over the following week, I still felt quite down and very tired for several days. I think the effects of the Sting hadn’t quite worked themselves through!
If I hadn’t had to stop, who knows how the race would have gone for me. A good result and a positive mind can make you feel so very different (physically as well as mentally). But bad luck can happen to anyone and it was out of my control, so I have moved on quickly. The series isn’t realistic for me any more – though my dad keeps suggesting that you never know who might get attacked by a peacock on the bike course at the next race. Any potential Snowman competitors out there – you have been warned! 😀
Planet Byde 