24th of May: Gloucester Sprint Triathlon

The Place: Millbrook Academy, Brockworth, Gloucestershire

The Organiser: Tri Team Glos

Distance: Sprint Triathlon (400m, 28k, 6k)





Beforehand: Here we are once again at a home race. I grew up in Gloucester and learnt to swim at what is now Millbrook Academy. So it was a return to my old stomping grounds, although I've never run or biked around this area. I was fully expecting it to be hilly, as it is in the Costwolds. I was concerned about all the disciplines, apart from the run. I'd had my bike nicely serviced by AE Butterworth in Sheffield, but I'm not sure how benefical it was for the old bike being throw in the back of my car for the journey down. And as for the swimming, well I'd bought myself new swimming shorts so what could possibly go wrong.

This is the first race that both me and Dan have taken part in since aiming to become the Tinpot Ironmen,so naturally we had a brief chat about our expectations. We were both confident of a 1hr 45 time, although I at this point thought it was a  400M, 20k,5k race, Why I thought this, I have no idea?

So on the day of the race Dan came to pick me up from my parent's house at the Ungodly hours of 7.30, as I had a start time of 9.22 and Dan's was at 9.45. The plan was to be there an hour early for setup and the briefing. After a brief struggle getting the bikes onto the rack of Dan's car we were off.

Once there, we racked our bikes and got our kit ready in a very quiet transition area. Hmm, maybe we'd turned up a bit early.It was nicely set up and even though I'm sure we screamed Amateur from every pore, the organisers were very helpful and patient.

After a brief briefing, about what not to do and where the course was going to take us, me and Dan parted ways. Me to go get in line for the start and Dan to do something with his bike I think.

Rhys' Race: We'd been seeded according to our estimated swim times and I'd put myself down for 11 minutes, which put me as Number 23 to start. After a no show from Number 20, and yes shows from 21 to 23, It was my turn to go. Beforehand I'd been strapped up with a timing chip and graffitied with my number on my left arm and leg. After being given a lovely swim cap, I got counted down and I was off.

I started strong with some front crawl but then nearly careened into the swimmer I was sharing a lane with. I'd quickly caught them up, so I changed to breast stroke and hung behind them for a bit, waiting for a good oppourtunity to pass them. It came on about my 4th length of 16, so I blasted pass them and went back to breaststroke. Having neglected my brick training, I was taking this race easier than I maybe could have. I was unsure how much fuel was in my tank and didn't want to crash and burn too soon. My goggles began to leak around length 12 but when you're swimming in a straight line, its not too big a deal. Although looks like I'm adding new goggles to my ever growing list of equipment needs.

After finishing my 400 metres I flopped out onto the side of the pool, like a beached whale. My new trunks had done me proud. Seriously, they're awesome. I then had to walk around the side of the pool (No running or heavy petting allowed) onto a carpeted section. We weren't allowed to run until off the carpet and we were outside. Whilst frustrating when you just want to head off to T1, it may have helped to get the legs ready for the short run into transition.

Learning from previous mistakes, I made sure to towel myself down for once. This meant for the 1st time in my triathlon career, my shirt didn't stick to my back. Well not too much at least. I pulled some shorts over my swimmers, not strictly necessary but I was trying to add some modesty, and laced up my running shoes. My bike and my run shoes are the same, as I don't have fancy pedals. In fact below, is my bike.

My Trusty Steed.

Its a fine bike but its not a stallion, more the mongrel of the cycling world. I was hoping to complete Ironman on it but found out the other day I can't. So keep your eyes peeled for a review of a new bike sometime soon.

Back to the race, as well as neglecting brick work I've also been behind on my cycling. This may wellhave been the first time I was back on this bike since Death Bike 2013 (Or The Wiggle Mountain Madness Challenge depending on your opinion). The bike held up well and I made a fair pace, even if I was never going to melt the tarmac. Most of the hills didn't defeat me, apart from Payne's Pitch,where I did have to get off and push when near the top.

OK, Nowhere near like this photo but it felt like it.

Other than that, it was a lovely bike course and once I've got a lighter bike and better leg muscles, I'd like to think I'll destroy it.

Once off the bike, it was run time and my legs were not feeling it. I had numerous proper athletes overtaking me with a kindly "You alright Chap?" or "Keep Going, nearly there". It was a two lap course without too many hills as far as I remember. Again I may have walked a bit but my overall speed was alright about 9kph. I also made sure to stop to sup the water when it was offered, otherwise it would have been going all over the place.

I got to the finish and managed to speed up a bit to cross it but not enough to break 2 hours. I finished it all in 2 hrs 0 Minutes and 8 Seconds. Gahhh. But that meant that Dan had been out on the course for just over 1 hour 37 minutes, so I settled down to watch the clock and hopefully see him finish. Somehow I missed him though, I think I may have been engrossed  in eating a snickers at the time. But over to him for his race report.


Dan's Race: I was so excited about this race. As my last post said, motivation and general enjoyment of training took a hit over the last few months, but the two weeks leading up to the triathlon things had really got back on track, so I was eager to put my training to good use. Both Rhys and I were using this race as a baseline assessment (teacher term there!) of where we are on our road to Ironman.
Rhys has summed up the morning before the event nicely so I don't need to add anything there apart from the temptation to bin off the race and go for a zebra burger was overwhelming, but we managed to resist.

So to the swim. I had put 10 minutes down as my estimated swim time and that put me at starting position number 46. After securing my timing chip and being drawn on by a lady at poolside, it was nice to watch and support the other swimmers while waiting for my start time of 9:45am, one of which was Rhys. It was good to see him finish in a time under his estimate and helped to spur me on. I was nervous about the swim as it is my weakest event (or so I thought) and part of me was worried I would go over my estimate time, get in peoples way and anger the officials! Anyway, back to the swim. I was asked to enter the pool and await the count down. After a quick fix of my goggles and an adjustment of my swim cap, the ten second countdown began.

I got off to a good start and caught the person in front of me by the end of the first length. I had a good rhythm going and didn't want that hampered so I made my move on the second length and overtook him. Now I don't often overtake when it comes to swimming so it was a good feeling to do it here (I'm ignoring the fact the other guy was on his last length and probably shattered). The last time I took part in a triathlon was back in September 14 and during the swim I was unable to mantain front crawl throughout. This poor swiming ability made my seek training in the form of the swim coaching sessions run by TriTeam Glos. A real sign that I have made some progress was that I was able to maintain frontcrawl for the entire distance and also maintain a fairly decent pace (for me). When the moment came when I saw the board lowered into the water indicating I only had 2 lengths left, I felt I had plenty left in the tank. Similar to Rhy's beached whale analogy, on completion I rolled out of the pool with little grace, peeled off my swim cap and began the tedious walk down the poor man's red carpet to T1. This walk is included in your final swim time. The swim itself I was really happy with, but the walk unfortunately adds another minute. Anyway, onto T1.

T1 was a little slow to be honest. A quick dry down with a towel, no problem; socks and cycling shoes on, no problem; putting the cyling top with numbers safety pinned on both sides: PROBLEM! Lets just say I got a little tangled up. It was frustrating to see people who finished after me in the swim make a very quick transition and head out on the bike route while I had tied myself in a knot. This is an area I need to work on.

Bike: I was looking forward to this leg. I had a new road bike which I have really enjoyed riding so was feeling confident about this leg of the race. That confidence soon dissipated. My start pace was good, and maybe I went off too fast as my legs began to burn within the first few miles. The course wasn't particulalry hilly, apart from one hideous climb which Rhys mentioned earlier, so why my legs just wanted to give in I don't know. It wasn't long before I began to get overtaken which is a real downer. Lap 2 went much the same, apart from when I arrived at the killer hill I slowed to a crawl. I maganged to cycle without leaving the bike but it was so clear that my pace was way off the mark. Looking at the finish times of others, it was apparent how far behind the standard I am at the moment. The bike itself however was awesome. I'll write a full review at a later date, but for now I'll give two ratings for performance: The bike - 10/10.   The rider - 4/10 (at best)

T2 was better but I still made mistakes. Once finally back in from the bike, I needed to hang my bike back on the rack. Unfortunately, others had 'plonked' their bikes back with little care and I couldn't find my space. So after pushing a row of bikes to one side like a curtain, I found a space. Next I needed to swap shoes from cycling to running. No problems here. Stupidly, what cost me time was me running after a bottle of Lucozade which was rolling away because I was thirsty. I had a bloody spare in my bag! Muppet.

Run: This is the one discipline I am confident in. Although running after a long cycle is different from just running, I knew it wouldn't take long for the legs to find their rhythm. What I was surprised at was how comfortable the run felt from the off. I took it easy for the first kilometer to get the legs going, then upped the pace gradually. What was nice was that I managed to overtake quite a few people who overtook me on the bike route. The first lap came and went with little drama. The second lap saw another increase in pace. What I love about running races is setting mini goals. Spotting someone in front and trying to catch them. On the final kilometer I had another runner in my sights. I knew there wasn't long to go so just went for it and caught him with plenty of road ahead to spare. I was really happy with my run and felt I could have even gone faster which is really positive.

I finally crossed the line just under 1hour 45 minutes and was greeted by a welcome bottle of water and a medal. It felt great to finish. Not sure how I missed Rhys waiting by finish, so I went to look for him (I assumed he'd gone to sample some Zebra). He was by the finish all along. After meeting up, we found a place to sit, discussed our races and had a Snickers. Although we both had areas we were dissapointed with, there were also plenty of positives for us both too.
Finally, we packed up our bikes, took a selfie of us with our medals and left having thoroughly enjoyed our morning.

Finishing Times and Splits (Rounded to nearest Second):

Rhys' Times: Swim (including walk from pool to T1): 10min 20 Seconds
                      T1:       3 Min 00 Seconds
                      Bike:   1 hr 6 mins 42 seconds
                      T2:       35 Seconds
                      Run:    39 minutes 31 Seconds
Total Time (Exact): 2 hrs 0 Minutes 8 Seconds and 88 Milliseconds

Dan's Time: Swim (including walk from pool to T1): 9min 54 Seconds
                      T1:       2 Min 52 Seconds
                      Bike:   1 hr 2 mins 36 seconds
                      T2:       1 Min 44  Seconds
                      Run:    27 minutes 49 Seconds
Total Time (Exact): 1 hr 44 Minutes 54 Seconds and 38 Milliseconds

As we can see Dan is better at everything than Rhys, apart from T2. Dan wins this round.


Pros: Really Well Organised
          Great Camaraderie and Atmosphere for other participants

Cons: No Mile Markers,
          No T-Shirt
       

Blisters: None for Rhys. None for Dan either.

Do it Again? Rhys says he definitely would, it was a great local race.
Dan says he'll be coming back again next year without a doubt, loved it.

What we learnt:  Rhys learnt he needs to get much better at biking and also to get some brick training in asap. Also maybe take a plastic crate to keep stuff in in transition, rather than having it strewn around the place.

Dan learnt that biking is a major area for development. A vast amount of practise is needed. Also, a Tri suit is a must as it helps reduce transition times a lot. Don't waste time chasing Lucozade bottles and finally, if you feel you could push it harder, or go faster then do it!