Blog Archives
Celtman – The Aftermath!
The very fact that it’s been 3.5 weeks of silence since my Celtman race report tells you something about the aftermath of this race!
Of course, to start with I was a bit tired, but also very happy! Then came the post-race ‘down’ feeling. Both coach and Andy had warned me about this, but I still didn’t like it. After months of having just one main focus, suddenly it was gone from my life! And it almost didn’t feel real that it was me that had gone all that way and done all that racing.
I had a couple of days off all exercise, but getting back onto the bike to ride to work the Wednesday after the race actually felt fantastic.
To beat the blues I was told to “do summat different”. To start with I entered the SMBO (Scottish Mountain Bike Orienteering) Leadhills event. This local-ish series has a low-key friendly feel, and as I’ve only made it to the first one so far this year (when I raced with wee Iain) it was good to go and support them again.
I’m good to Andy again!
I scrambled a last minute lift from a very kind man from Fife – thanks Craig! This was my first time on the mountain bike in TWO WHOLE MONTHS! That’s what triathlon training does to you. Luckily almost everything still worked, apart from a near disaster with a lost cleat bolt at registration – again kind people came to my rescue to help me fix it (Gary, Andy and Andy’s wife :D).
I didn’t take the race too seriously, which meant I was relatively calm as I made some map blunders (soooo out of practice) and pootled around in the drizzle. It was a 3h race and about 1h from the end I sort of woke up as I whizzed up the hill at Wanlockhead to the radar station, caught some fantastic views and raced back down again! This event had a twist – certain controls had bits of grid reference and clues on and when they were all put together we had the location of the ‘golden control’. There was just time to get that before a little race back to the finish. I won a bottle of beer (for Andy) and an Alpine Bikes gift voucher.
Wet, foggy, windy, on a hill. Have I given anything away?!
After a week of feeling very average and quite tired, I headed up onto the Pentlands for a day of “running” (I use the term very loosely) on what was possibly the wettest day in a set of very wet days. The hills are normally popular and busy at the weekend, but I only saw two other people all day. I covered 19km in 5h whilst doing a bit of course planning for the Open 5 in November. I nearly lost a shoe in a knee deep bog, missed two of my own planned control locations (it was foggy, OK?!), got so cold I had to put a thermal top on and dripped all the way home on the bus :D. It felt like quite a crazy wild adventure given I was on my doorstep in June!
Coldingham Bay. A fun day out with The Wild Ones.
Still more pottering followed, when I also managed to lose a bike, which the police recovered 3 days later (amazing), twist my dodgy ankle on a 30 min run in the woods (now armed with many physio exercises) and swim outdoors in 3 different places (Coldingham – fantastic fun waves, Threipmuir – damp and midgy, Salford Quays – really warm, flat and rectangular). By last weekend I was feeling much perkier and did two fantastic fun technical rides on the bridleways near Andy’s house in the Peak District.
Finally, a first. Sunday was the SkyRide Manchester event. On impulse I agreed that Andy could sign me up for a ‘track taster’ session at the velodrome. The thought of being on the track has always scared me a bit, and when I was finally in the arena, next to the banking, it was even worse. Honestly, it’s much steeper than it looks on TV. And because the bikes have only one gear, no brakes and you can’t free-wheel, I had serious concerns about ever stopping. I had visions of being stuck there going round and round and round until Andy could catch me :-D.
Before I’d started. This is my ‘apprehensive’ look!
The people already riding were making it look easy, but my first couple of tentative laps were so frightening! I pulled many faces and was a bit wibbly wobbly from nerves. We were clearly instructed that the faster we went, the safer it was and that we must also accelerate into the bends. I took this seriously and got progressively quicker and quicker – to the extent that I was too scared to go any slower! The first time I had to overtake I nearly had kittens. Then everyone else stopped for a rest and I took off on my own. I got braver and braver and was soon pedalling round as fast as I possibly could right at the top of the banking!! How awesome is that? I even started trying a bit of swooping down from high to low for extra speed.
Proof that I was up at the top!
When our time was up, my legs were burning but I was on a real high from the exhilaration of it. It was so simple and the track so predictable – all you had to think about was pedalling smoothly and going fast. Andy said I didn’t look too bad, but even so, I couldn’t imagine being out there in a jostling bunch. Not yet, anyway :-).
Now I’m feeling back to normal and ready to take on new challenges ….
Celtman – The Race
After months of training and anticipation the Celtman finally landed on Saturday. Although it actually felt like it started on Wednesday, when two of my supporters (mum and Andy) arrived and I had the stress of kit checking and packing. Kate turned up on Thursday looking remarkably bright, given she had left home at about 5am!
It was a long drive north, but we took the scenic route and got to Torridon just in time to register. There were lots of people I knew milling around, which was comforting.
We headed back to the B&B which had awesome views of Loch Shieldaig and was very comfortably appointed. Andy decided to test the water temperature in his underpants and stayed in all of about 10 seconds. Not very encouraging!
At breakfast on Friday we bumped into Izzy, who was staying the night before moving to a cottage with some other people form the club. Upstairs from us there was a French family – the dad Eric was also racing. We had booked a dinner from our obliging hosts and when we wandered in we found yet more people we knew doing the race already happily munching! I wonder whether there was anyone staying in the villages who wasn’t a Celtman racer or supporter that weekend?!
A ‘quick trip’ round to Applecross for lunch on Friday was probably a mistake as it tired the drivers out, though I was happily admiring the views :-). We ended up racing to the briefing, arriving 1 minute before it started! The only thing my mum noted down was the name of the nearest hospital …
More kit checking and logistics back at the B&B and by then it was all getting a bit much. I was glad to get into bed, but I felt bloated and like I had eaten too much. During the night I imagined my feet were hurting, my head was thumping and I was coming down with a dreadful lurgy. At 3am the alarm went off and I leapt up. Somehow I got my contact lenses in and ate some muesli before venturing out to sign on, rack the bike and get on the coaches to the start.
I sat next to a friendly Norwegian who mused about how bad the ‘midgets’ were and how cold the water might be. There was a long wait at the beach but it passed quickly, chatting to people I knew and being interviewed by the Adventure Show crew. By the time I got to the water it was minutes from the start time and I hardly made the line before the klaxon went off! The swim was shortened to about 3.2km due to the cold, so we struck straight out for the other side.
First shock of the day – the sea was full of jellyfish! I have a bit of a thing about jellyfish, and squealed a few times when I hit one with my feet or they floated up near my face. As usual I started at the back, and spent the whole time moving up the field. Every time I tried to draft someone I would overtake, be drafted for a bit, then move on to the next person. That is, when I wasn’t veering wide to get a nice clear view of where I was going!
My day-long tummy problems started halfway over when that muesli nearly came back up – and every time I swallowed a mouthful of salty water I nearly gagged. Still, it was a race so I kept going. I was 22nd out of the swim, which was pretty good.
After the transition my supporters went to relax over some brekkie for a bit, whilst I set about cycling 202km. I felt really nauseous for at least 20 minutes and was convinced this had never happened to me before. Then I remembered it has happened at least twice before on a swim to bike transition! After a while I settled down, probably too much, as I covered the first 60km at 30km/h.
By this point I was running low on fluids and desperate for my support crew to arrive. When they did I was so relieved! This gave me a temporary boost, until I started getting terrible stomach cramps. I also really needed to pee, and had to stop. This pattern continued for the next 5 hours! The cramps were like nothing I’ve experienced before – I was doubled over whilst still trying to pedal and I still have sore tummy muscles 3 days later! Still, I got into a more sustainable pace and really enjoyed the longer climbs and descents in the second half of the course. I was also lucky to be playing leapfrog with Izzy as it kept me motivated and meant I had her supporters cheering as well as mine :-).
At T2 it was chaos. People were shouting, a car reversed into our boot lid which was up in the air, I chucked a sock onto a burning midge candle in the back of the car and midges landed in their hordes! I was glad to get away, and even more glad of the portaloo. That job done and standing upright again at last and my stomach felt a hundred times better. I set off running up the hill, swigging a Frijj and with Andy on his mountain bike. It was great to have company and someone to natter to again 😀 .
The scenery was lovely, and I cheered Izzy on as she passed on the downhill, thinking that was the last I would see her. The last 5km along a tarmac section was tough going, and when I arrived at T2A I was very glad to switch to walking. The first section had been 18km, which is about the furthest I’ve run in one go in recent times – and that’s only been in adventure races!
Now Kate joined me and we set up off the hill, me with my walking poles and a new companion to chat to. It was fun hearing tales of the supporters’ day in the car and some of their crazy overtaking and reversing antics! Kate asked me if I was eating and my answer must have sounded highly unconvincing as from then on she kept taking food off me and giving it back to me in bite size morsels at regular intervals – often directly into my mouth, so I had no excuse!
We passed the people from the Adventure Show again and I did another interview, this time on the move. I tried to think of something intelligent to say, other than ‘it’s amazing, fantastic’! Kate said I was too articulate to be working hard enough and kept the pace up afterwards! It was just after this we passed Izzy again. I was surprised, but I think ups are my forte, and maybe my adventure racing experience was good for me here.
The tops and the ridge were covered in dense fog. As I kept telling anyone who would listen, Kate is a top mountain marathoner, and knows what she’s doing when it comes to mountains and route finding! We negotiated the elusive sheeptrack to cut a little uphill corner, got straight to the peak, down the scree and across the boulder fields. At this point we had a little trail of people following us; I think we all knew we were onto a good thing! It was also fun to have new company and it spurred me on to keep the pace up a little bit. When I checked the gps it was 17km to go. My heart fell that it was so far – but then I thought about the fact that was still less than the first leg, and I felt better.
As the road neared we could hear cheering and it was very exciting. Andy was there with a group of others, who had apparently been hanging around for hours! I threw my bag to him as I didn’t need to carry it any more, but ignored him yelling at me to give up my poles as well. I can be Nordic and ‘European’ as Kate put it … we set off plodding and the endless view down the road depressed me. Then Andy reappeared and said Izzy was just 4 minutes behind. This had a magic effect on me as I’ll always put up a fight at the end of a race :-).
Kate ran in front of me so I could draft in the headwind, whilst I shouted things like “Faster! No, not that fast! You’re dropping me! Now, faster again!” I also whacked her with my poles as I drifted off my line (I was tired) and kicked her heels with my toes when the pace wasn’t quite right. She endured all this without a word of complaint as we blasted back into Torridon. Eric at breakfast the next day was very proud of his 40 minute final run, until I told him I had done it in 36! Mind you, he did finish 1h40m ahead of me :D.
Amazingly, I think I finished 52nd on the run, compared to 60th on the bike, which just goes to show maybe I’m not so bad at running any more, at least, when it involves mountains and comes at the end of a very long day ;-).
Overall, I was 2nd female (54th overall out of 128 starters) and finished in 16 hours and 23 seconds. I was over the moon, as this was way beyond my expectations going into the race. Izzy was 3rd female, and it was great to have another clubmate in the top 3. I think we probably spurred each other on. Elizabeth was the last person to make the high mountain cut off (with a minute to spare), but stormed over the hill overtaking more than 20 people! All nine girls finished and it was great to all get a mention and applause at the ceremony on Sunday. Full results.
The overall winners were Alex Glasgow (12:09:48) and Susanne Buckenlei (13:55:33 – what a machine!).
I can’t thank my supporters enough. For what they put up with on a very long day, with all their driving, pandering to my every need (I don’t get this sort of pampering on an adventure race), accompanying me on various legs and cheering loudly! My mum presented me with a gold chocolate medal and a signed certificate, which was a lovely touch. Also to my coach for getting me through the training and everyone who was there from ERC, racing and supporting, plus various other people I have only met in the last few weeks who were so friendly and welcoming.
Lastly to the organisers, including Stuart McInnes and Paul McGreal, for putting on a great race!
Epilogue: After driving hundreds of kilometres over the weekend, the car broke down 3km from home. My mum was driving, we called out the AA on Kate’s policy, it was my mate’s car … but he was in Croatia. Andy said it was nothing to do with him. The AA man took all this in his stride and told us we needed to find the towing eye somewhere under the mountain of luggage in the boot. Amazingly, we succeeded. But as I sat up front in the big yellow van, and Kate steered the Doblo behind, she realised that yet again she was finishing a race being towed around like a medium dog …..
Celtman – the final countdown
I’ve been very quiet since the Slateman triathlon as I’ve had my head down doing final training for the Celtman. It’s now only one week to go!
This race won’t be the longest I’ve ever done. I expect it to take about 18 hours, though I’m still finding it hard to judge my bike pace. This compares to four 24 hour races I’ve done in the past. The difference with this one is the fixed distances and strict time cutoffs! I won’t be able to rest between laps or miss a few checkpoints and still be able to finish.
The race is also unusual for me because I’ve invested more time and effort into it than anything else I’ve done before. I’m not sure why – except that my Ironman-finisher friends got me scared way back in November and made me feel like I had better put in some really hard work!
It’s been fun though. I‘ve got used to swimming (rather than just squawking and playing!) in waves and finding out what it’s like to swim to a distant point that never appears to get any closer.
Redstone Rigg: on the way to Duns
On my final big training weekend I celebrated the Queen’s jubilee by making the most of the amazing place I live.
I did a delightful 165km loop over the Lammermuirs. This is the view up Redstone Rigg, which I have only discovered this summer.
And later I persuaded Chris (a car-owner!) to take me further north to some inviting Munros. I did 5 of the summits on the Ben Lawers ridge. I set off a bit scared about tackling such big looking mountains by myself in insubstantial running gear and carrying my small pack containing the mandatory race kit list.
Here’s the ridge:
The Ben Lawers ridge – 5 Munros!
It was much colder up at the top than down at the bottom and I was glad of my woolly hat and gloves, even in June ;-). The route I took was from MunroMagic and was a good one – not too many crowds except for the stretch between Ben Lawers itself and Beinn Ghlas. One of the best feelings about this day was being fit enough to enjoy such an adventure so easily.
Cold water therapy, Loch Tay
After helping some girls with a photo, I took off down a tussocky grassy spur with no path. Even with my poles I managed to nearly twist my ankles several times before making it to the bottom in time for a quick dip in Loch Tay to cool off!
Several stiff days followed, so I am under no illusions as to how long my legs might hurt post-race!
And now I am into ‘tapering’. I was warned I might feel rubbish in these two weeks and it’s true. I get paranoid when I meet an ill person, I freak out every time a car drives too close to me, I imagine I am coming down with ‘something’ every other day and my body is throwing in aches and pains pretty much everywhere!
I am trying to stay calm and get plenty of sleep. This weekend I had fun swimming up at Thriepmuir Reservoir in the rain with some fellow racers and then getting totally lost running on Arthur’s Seat. People who know Arthur’s Seat will realise this was a bit ridiculous – but the fog was right down, I couldn’t see any of the usual landmarks and I lost all sense of direction! Luckily in the race, Kate will look after me on the mountain should a similar situation arise :D.
And so with 5 days to go I am into final preparations: buying my favourite foods, making lists and waiting expectantly for my supporters to arrive. Hurrah!
Slateman
I surpassed my own expectations in this race!
In preparation for the Celtman in June I thought it would be a good idea to practice at least one triathlon. I have done a couple of off-road events recently – by which I mean one last year and one the year before :D. But I haven’t done one with a road ride since about 1999! The setting for the Slateman (Llanberis, Snowdonia) is the place of my childhood holidays and where my dad now lives. It also coincided perfectly with his 70th birthday, which turned into a bit of bash!
The disciplines were:
Open water swim – 750m
Road bike – 51km ca. 590m ascent
Trail run – 11km ca. 330m ascent
The night before I was a bag of nerves. Andy says this is always a good sign, but it didn’t feel like it. My first on-road triathlon in years, no maps, and it was going to be a bit of a sprint!
Swim
We found out at the race briefing that the swim had been shortened from 1000m to 750m because the water was too cold (11.3oC). I thought this was a bit unnecessary, but then I read the British Triathlon rulebook and realised they had to if they were going to comply with the rules!
I practiced windmills and looking foolish on land before hopping into the water about 7 minutes before the start. I wasn’t keen on getting my face wet but it had to be done! The water was lovely and clear but my goggles were totally fogged up, or maybe greasy. I was also trying out open water swimming without contact lenses. I could see the big orange thing we were aiming for – just about.
I got into a good position then swam hard at the start to get clear of slower people. It worked and I soon settled down into a better pace and spent time practicing drafting on someone’s toes and side-side. They both had their difficulties when the person in front would randomly swerve off course!
On the final leg back to shore I couldn’t see a thing because the sun was directly in my eyes, so I didn’t bother sighting and just followed someone else. It seemed to work out OK, as we soon arrived at the beach for a long run across a field to transition.
15m32s (including the field run), 5th female, 52nd overall
T1
This says it all!
2m24s, 16th female, 161st overall
But lots of people were in trisuits, whilst I was messing around putting on a jersey, socks, buff and gloves. I didn’t want to get cold on the descents, but was maybe a little over-cautious.
Bike
The bike started with a lovely long, steady climb up Pen-Y-Pass. I had no idea how many women were in front, but I kept working and caught up with a few, as well as plenty of men! The descent was fast and fun, then we turned at Capel Curig for another long, gentle drag. I rode the route on Friday so knew this wouldn’t be too bad, and we had a slight tailwind.
As I rounded the corner I saw a fast-looking girl up ahead. It took me the next 15km to catch up with her and it was a great incentive to keep working hard! At this point there were at least 3 of us near each other. We then caught another girl on a slight hill. I wasn’t letting up the pressure as I knew the bike would be my strong leg and I think it was about here I finally pulled away as I didn’t see the others again. ‘Hello’ to the friendly guy from Hereford Tri who also kept trying to beat me on this stretch!
The local support was amazing, with people in the little villages coming out to cheer and ring their cowbells. I smiled and waved to them as I went past and realised I was actually having a pretty good time! 🙂
The final descent back into Llanberis was marred slightly by a long queue of cars stuck behind slower riders. I had to ease off a bit but kept calm, realising it would make no more than a few seconds difference. Coming back to transition I saw my dad sitting on a wall. I yelled at him and waved – which made the other spectators laugh! I didn’t realise until I was hooking my bike up that the row of empty racks might mean I was in the lead …
1h35m56s, 1st female, 86th overall
T2
1m5s, 9th female, 115th overall
OK, a little bit better!
Run
As I started the run course a few of the marshals were telling me they thought I was in the lead. I couldn’t believe it! But I wasn’t convinced it could last. Almost none of my run training has been focussed on short or fast. After an easy kilometre, the track rose steeply in a series of zigzags, gaining 200m in height over 2km. At least I am used to hills!
This was really hurting!
Lots of people were stopped at the side with cramps in their legs and I could feel my calves screaming. I kept plodding away. Looking back round the corners I could see the next girl, but she wasn’t right on my heels yet. After a little drop, the track went up again. I was in a world of pain. But then the film crew came up and starting driving just in front of me. I now knew for sure I must be the leading lady! I don’t often do head-head races and it was quite a buzz!
I still pushed on as hard as I could, glad of the downhill respites. Through a tricky, rocky, rooty trail in the woods and onto a steep, short uphill. I was fazed by all the others walking and did the same. I found out later the girl behind me had seen this and it had spurred her on! Oops – I’d have felt the same if our positions had been reversed – I think I’m a better chaser than I am leader.
A kilometre later and she overtook me at speed on a downhill. I tried to stay with her but there was nothing in my legs. Another killer uphill and some uneven steps – it was her turn to walk and I wanted to capitalise but just couldn’t! It was only 8 minutes more running until the finish. All the way I had her pegged at nothing more than 25m but couldn’t do anything about it.
56m45s, 5th female, 133rd overall
Finish
I crossed the line 14seconds behind, but ecstatic to have done so well! I had hoped to finish in the top 10, in under 3.5 hours. In the end, I was 2nd in a time of 2:51:40!! Overall 86th out of 454 finishers.
In 5 weeks time I will have to do four times the distances, but this was a great practice run and made me feel like a real triathlete who can even compete with girls on TT bikes with pointy helmets and skinsuits ;-).
The event was televised and will be shown on Channel 4, S4C and Eurosport. The top 3 were all interviewed at the finish line, so hopefully I’ll make the cut for a few seconds of sweaty TV fame!
I really recommend this event as it was well run, with fantastic scenery, very clearly marked courses and all the marshals and supporters were so enthusiastic! I even got my split times texted to me before I had left the event field. Thanks to the organisers, Always Aim High Events. Full results here.
Top 3 women:
Bethan Hughes – City of Chester Triathlon Club – 2:51:26
Rosemary Byde – Edinburgh RC – 2:51:40
Sarah Rose – Manchester Triathlon Club – 2:54:15
Top 3 men:
Peter Brook – Sixty Nine Cycles – 2:20:23
Paul Mountford – Tri 1st – 2:24:11
Chris Standidge – City of Chester Triathlon Club – 2:24:57
Big Ben Nevis Triathlon
My mum decided that if there was one race I needed support at this year, it was this one. I think she was right! After following a rigorous training plan (ahem), I was all set to go on my last big race of the summer.
Race Day
Early, dark, dazed
It all started at the sort of time in the morning that no-one should be awake. Unbelievably, the nice lady at the B&B seemed to think nothing of getting up to give us breakfast at 5.45am! I ate my muesli and toast unenthusiastically and then headed down to the main transition areas to set up my kit. By 6.45 I had my wetsuit on and was as ready to go as I ever would be, but it still wasn’t really light and we weren’t allowed in the water yet.
The Swim
I had written off the swim as unimportant in the grand scheme of things; if it was only going to be half an hour, and the rest took about 9.5 hours, then it wouldn’t really matter, right? In the end, I was proved wrong and I am very glad that I took it seriously and put a bit of effort in. After my recent dip in Threipmuir Reservoir last week, I found the water to be ‘quite warm’ and ‘lovely and clear’ ;-). I didn’t do too badly at following other people’s feet for a while and I even struck a lead out through the mass of half-distance competitors who set off just as we rounded the buoy for our second lap. I bridged the gap to the front swimmers up ahead then got out of the water in 9th, with just one other girl already in transition.
The Bike
This started off up a long road climb. Easy enough. Then we branched off onto a deceptive track that looked easier than it felt – some people were already walking, and the fine, sandy sort of surface mixed with little rocks took effort to ride over. However, it was all rewarded with a swoopy fast and fun downhill trail :D. What comes down must go up, and this was followed by a seemingly endless undulating fireroad climb. It was here on the first lap that the eventual female winner, Hannah Barnes, overtook me. I tried to keep up for a while which was an interesting lesson – we were the same speed up the hills but she kept getting away on the downs because she carried on pedalling – isn’t that cheating?!
End of lap 1
I felt rather queasy – I think this is an effect of swimming then biking. Or maybe swimming in a wetsuit and then biking. In any case, I couldn’t eat anything until after a short technical section of trail down through some mushroom woods to a road. A banana was scoffed as I spun my legs out down to the start of lap 2. It was unfortunate that by this point I already felt really tired, because I wasn’t even halfway! The other laps passed fairly uneventfully, except for a tumble on the technical section and noisy brakes. I kept the speed up and played yo-yo with three other racers.
Ben Nevis loomed ominously above, mostly shrouded in swirling clouds. I tried not to think about it too much.
Tireder, muddier and starting the run
The Run
As well as taking photos and cheering me on, my mum was letting me know where the other girls were. My main aim for this race was to get under 10 hours, but if I could get on the podium as well it would be a bonus. I finished the bike still in 2nd place, but Marie was hot on my heels, maintaining the gap at only about 12 minutes. I was scared of the run, but tried to tell myself I wasn’t too bad on the ups, just the downs, and maybe I could hold it together.
I had been warned that the run was more of a walk than a run, so I set off rather nervously. I managed to keep some sort of jog going to perhaps a third of the way up, when the gradient got too steep and I got too tired. One of the half-distance guys passed and cheerfully told me it was still ‘miles and miles’ to go, but to ‘keep going anyway!’ – no deceiving ‘nearly there’ platitudes :-). I’m not sure it was wise to push on so hard as I felt rather spaced out approaching mid-way and the start of the scree slope. I’m grateful to Matt, another competitor who had caught me up and kept me company for some time before pulling away to the summit. I was getting colder and colder and with the advice of a friend ringing in my ears, I finally stopped to don my waterproof, woolly hat and thick gloves. Eventually I made it to the top, though I somehow missed the path and veered rather close to some very steep cliffs, which alarmed the marshals! Then the sun came out, I glimpsed some amazing views and it was back to running.
End of the road for this shoe
Just 6 minutes after I left the top, Marie passed me going the other way, so I knew I didn’t have much of a gap and was just as brave as I could be on the descent. I started feeling stones prodding the soles of my feet, which I thought was weird until closer inspection showed that my shoe had fallen apart! I kept pushing on, taking the shortcuts, and trying to dodge the hordes of charity walkers spread across the path. Just as I emerged onto the road at the bottom Marie caught me up! I grabbed a cup of water (I had run out of drink), and set off after her. She was suffering a bit from cramp and I felt sorry for her, but I couldn’t give up after all this time! I dug deep and ‘sprinted’ onwards for the last 3km, opening a small gap. This last effort totally finished me off and I collapsed over the finish line making some very strange noises.
I think I'm about to fall over
Marie came in 2 minutes later, all credit to her for her performance. And so it was that the 7.5 minutes I had gained in the swim stage 10 hours earlier came to give me second place on the podium. Hurrah! Hannah thrashed us both, finishing in 8h25m and beating all but 4 men. The statistics tell me everything about which part of which discipline needs serious work …
This ranks up there as one of the hardest races I’ve ever done. It was also one of the friendliest – when else would the leader high five you on their way past back to the finish?! If you want a challenge to test you to your limits I would highly recommend this race. If you can get someone to give you moral support and drive your aching body home, all the better!
Decorative slate plaques all round!
Last minute training
I’m facing my last big test of the summer! Next weekend I’ll be heading north to Fort William for the Big Ben Nevis Tri. This is billed as ‘gruelling’ and ‘the UK’s toughest triathlon’. Nothing to worry about then …
With only a week to go I realised there was some essential pre-race training to be done!
SWIM (1.9km). I had only swum in my wetsuit outdoors once this year, and that was in May. So I took my last opportunity to go out with a group on Wednesday night. This was at Threipmuir Reservoir in the Pentlands. Just an 11km uphill pedal away from work, I left a meeting at 6pm and rode up as fast as I could to get there on time. About then, the thought crossed my mind that I really should have brought some water.
The scene of my test swim
3 laps and 2.1km later, I stumbled out, found I couldn’t really speak any more and spent so long getting changed that my feet froze and everyone else had gone home. I was still thirsty – when I had accidentally swallowed some of the murky, peaty water it seemed to taste good! Halfway through the long ride home I hit the metaphorical wall and began staring longingly into takeaways when I was stopped at red lights. I stumbled in at 9.15pm and began emergency re-fuelling!
Oh, I have also been having problems with old leaky goggles which will be no good with contact lenses in. So I ordered a new pair, which arrived on Friday and got a test in the pool today. They leaked a bit but I was checking what 1.9km non-stop would feel like and how long it might take, so I didn’t want to pause and adjust them. I also got an unrelated cracking headache – hmm.
BIKE (90km off-road). Well, I ride to work all the time, so not too many fitness worries with this one. But after the Trans Wales, I couldn’t backpedal in the small rings of the cassette without the chain catching. Cue an emergency trip up to the Bicycleworks for some investigations. The mech hanger was straightened, the (supposedly-long-lasting) cables were lubed a bit and the tension adjuster twiddled. But unfortunately no concrete diagnosis could be made. Ach well, it still seems to go forwards OK. I’ve also added a headset protector and mudsplash thing, as I think some gritty bits got into the bearings and I don’t want it getting any worse! Only one decision left – whether to ‘test out’ the new saddle in a race or stick with what I know?!
This week's running kit - I hope I wasn't spotted by too many people I know!
RUN (21km – up Ben Nevis and back). I’ve been nursing a twisted ankle, which doesn’t bode well for the ascent, or more likely, the descent (!) of Ben Nevis. However, I did want to test out what it would be like to carry all the required kit for the running stage in my hip bag. I set out from work to do a loop round the grounds one lunchtime last week, looking the picture of sartorial elegance. I’m glad I did, because it didn’t go well – the bag was too heavy and bounced up and down, I had to tighten it so much it dug into me and it was generally uncomfortable. Rucksack it is then. I’ve been assured it’s mostly a walk anyway 🙂
Given how all that has gone, I’m changing tack. Between now and the race I’ll be taking it easy and trying to get some decent long nights of sleep. My mum is doing the honours of taking me to the race, cheering me on and looking after me. I think I’ll need it!
There are not many women entered – 8 of us so far – which is more than usual. I have just noticed that the course record holder Hannah Barnes has also signed up, so there’ll certainly be competition! For this race though, I am concentrating on a) finishing and b) getting round in under 10 hours. Anything else will be a bonus.
Planet Byde 