Place: Buckler's Hard, Hampshire
Organisers: Race New Forest
Distance: Middle ( 1,9K Swim, 90k Bike and 22k Run)
The race briefing took place on the grass bank next to transition and was comprehensive, with an overview of the course layout and the usual reminder not to litter and how to behave. After that we all wandered down the the river to have a look at the river. The course was pointed out to us which was up one side of some boats and then back down the other. They hadn't got the race buoys out yet so some imagination was needed. We did get to see the water entrance/exit at low tide, the following morning it would be full.
Then after wandering back up the hill to the transition area, I headed off to start some carboloading. Unfortunately, the cafe where the rest of the family had set up shop and had a lovely lunch at, had shut the kitchen about 20 minutes before I got there. I did however manage to have a few left over crusts of bread dipped in vinaigrette. (I have yet to see this recommended in any of the triathlon nutrition guides I've seen.)
After that we headed to Tesco to stock up on various food (Some Sandwiches, Caesar Chicken Wrap, Rustler burger and peanuts for the afternoon, porridge, chocolate milk and snickers for the next day.) After watching some Eurovision, and nervously checking my kit I headed to bed for a relatively early night at 11ish and failed to fall asleep for hours, just thinking about the next day.
The Route:
Swim: The swim was 2 laps in Beaulieu river. The first half of each lap would be against the flow but due to the tide it was very slight. After this its a 400 metre run uphill to T1.
Bike: The bike lap is 2 laps of an undulating course, which more details can be found here. (Note the details of speed etc aren't mine in this case)
Run: The run course is an fairly flat 11k loop, which you go round twice. The final 3k are on footpaths, whilst the rest is on quiet country lanes. Whilst it was fairly flat there were some hills to climb, mainly in the first part before coming down them gently in the back half.
The Day: For once in my life, I beat the alarm, waking up at 3.50am. (I'm now told my other half had poked me at this point to get me moving, so I shouldn't congratulate my body clock too much.). I got up to don my Tri-suit and force some porridge down my gullet. After a mild panic and recovery when I forgot where I left my shoes,I strapped my bike to the back of the car and headed off about 4.30. Being that it was dark and misty and I'd been warned about livestock, I took it slowly and arrived around 5.10. I got all my clobber sorted out in transition and got into my wetsuit. The sun was coming up and it was pretty chilly. The car had been saying 4 degrees on the way over and there was frost on the ground.
The race was due to start at 6am with 2 waves, 5 minutes apart. However, to give the water a chance to warm up a bit, it was pushed back around 15 minutes. (By this point I'd stashed my phone in my bike pouch, so exact times may be a bit hazy around here.). We were all stood around waiting, and gradually losing the feeling in our feet. Frosty grass is not what you want to be standing in before a race, or at least I thought so until getting into the water. The river felt like the Med in comparison at its 11 degrees and it was a pleasure to get into the water.
By the time we were in the water, the lead red caps (1st wave) were almost to the turn in the 1st lap. We were advised by the marshalls not to be worried about this turn of speed as they could assure us they were rubbish at the rest. (Obviously this was tongue in cheek, as the results would go to show.)
We, the yellow caps (Wave 2) all drifted over to the start point and awaited the shout of go. It came and the race began.
The Race:
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Swim: Due to the size of the river and the manner of starting, there was very little of the brawl in the water I'd been worried about. There were one or two other swimmers who hindered me and I'm sure a couple could say the same of me. The width of river, and that I started close to the back, meant I soon had free water to swim in and began my odd crawl/breast technique. I could tell from looking at the shore that crawl was much faster but then I'd get concerned about my breathing or that I was going off course, and revert to breast. As the river is fed by an estuary, the water was brackish which aided flotation but did almost cause a reappearance of the porridge once or twice. Due to the tides, there was little to no current to fight against in either direction and I got through both laps of the swim with relative ease. As I clambered out of the river, I asked a spectator the time and they said it had just gone 7am. So the swim had taken me about 40 minutes, my best time ever at this distance. The day had begun well.
T1 was at the top of Buckler's hard. meaning you got top run through the village (Lovely), but also uphill (Not so lovely). I was feeling a bit dizzy from the swim and thought it best to not destroy myself this early in the race. So I briskly walked up the hill, letting my head clear before being around 100 metres from T1 and jogging in.
Transition 1: I pulled off my wetsuit, remembering,for once, that it often gets stuck on my elbows and ankles not getting stuck in it like I have before. I downed my energy drink I had in Baby Bottle (The smallest of the sports bottles) and already I can't remember if I had some sport's gels. ( I think not as no wrappers were in the Transition box afterwards). I generously applied some vaseline to my exposed skin on my sides and my arms, to reduce chaffing, stuck on my sunglasses and clipped on my helmet. I unhooked my bike, and pressed go on my Bike Computer. I ran it up out of transition, across the first timing mat. From start of swim to exit of T1 took 00:49:00.1.
Bike: The bike route started with a flat route out of Buckler's hard before heading out for 2 laps all around the new forest. It was a great route, with beautiful views and very little traffic. Of course that may be because it was still 7am on a Sunday. Their were two parts of the route which have particularly stuck in my mind.
The first was my favourite part, which we got to ride 3 times which was great. It was a right turn off Hatchet Lane for the 1st two laps and a left for the final approach towards home. It was a very slight hill which seemed to always have a wind at the back and swooped nicely. Just at the top was a photgrapher and I used just after the photographers spot to stop each time to fuel up and have some water. On the 1st 2 passes, faster cyclists lapped me and all shouted to check I was alright as they passed, I gave a cheery wave with a mouthful of gels and all was good. The turning onto this part of the course had the the most enthusiastic marshall of the day. All the marshalls were excellent but this lass was dancing around and joked with me each time I passed. Admirable, considering she must have been out there on the course alone for a good 4 hours by my 3 time of passing her. (You should be able to see the turning here, as I cant get the image to embed.)
The second part was my least favourite. It was the gradual climb from Ashurst to Lyndhurst, which was all on a dual carriageway. It was still possible to get some speed up on this at times, but the continual gradient, even if slight sapped the energy. This road also seemed to have the worst surface of the course but compared to the moonscape that passes for roads in Sheffield it was smoother than a a baby's bottom.
Throughout the bike ride, I kept checking my bike computer to ensure I was keeping my average speed above 22kph. As well as this I had an old Tori Amos song running through me head. As I have not heard this song for years and don't even know it that well, I have no idea why I was huing the one line of it over and over again. The mind is a mysterious thing. And which song was it?
A good song but an odd one to have on a long bike ride. This and my usual Sunday morning phone alarm, (Which went off after 60k on the bike to tell me it was time to get out of bed) were the main audio I had for the bike course.
So with an earworm, a phone alarm and tiring legs, I was pleased to pull into T2, with a bike time of 03:48:42.65
Transition 2: Getting off the bike after a long ride, my legs are always wobbly. So wobbly that I nearly toppled over at the dismount line but held it together. I wheeled the bike back to my gear, got my helmet off, popped on my suncap and revaselined my arms. I scoffed some gels and drank some water and headed back out onto the run. This seemed a quickish transition but it's impossible to tell.
Run: Straight out onto the run and there was an aid station directly after transition. I declined as I'd topped myself up in T2 and started a slow jog up the hill. I managed to keep a steady run up for around a mile and realised that whatever mile markers there were, they weren't going to be every mile. This was slightly disappointing, as I love touching the markers as I pass, just so I know I did it. Its just a habit I've acquired over the years.
At around the 1.25 mile mark, my fiancee and her family were there for moral support/to shout at me to hurry up. It was nice to see some friendly faces and they then overtook me in the car about 10 minutes later. I settled down to a mix of walking and, lets just calling it running to be charitable.
The 1st lap went fairly well, and I started up the hill at Buckler's Hard and heard family voices to my right. I had my head down and waved acknowledgement, forcing myself to run up the hill. Loads of supporters were at this point and most seemed to think I was on my 2nd lap, with cries of almost there and nearly done it. It was great to know they were cheering on but slightly disheartening that I knew I had another lap to go.
I got to the aid station and starting refueling to find that I'd had company on the hill run. Del (My fiancee's Stepdad) had chased after me, thinking I'd missed the finish. I had to let him know that I hadn't and I was heading out again. With that message and a quick fist bump I set off again.
It about 10 minutes that after this point that disaster set in. Something went in my hip. I'd either pulled something or just the general exertion had got too much. I was hurting, and not in the usual exertion manner. This forced me to drop to a walk, and despite the odd bit of running, I had to walk the majority of the rest of the course. This was disappointing to say the least, as I could tell time was ticking away and I was going to miss the 7.5 hour cut off.
The final mile of the race through the woods seemed to go on forever. I could see groups and couples heading in the same direction as me, having a leisurely Sunday afternoon walk. I seemed unable to catch up with any of them and it seemed I was stalking them. So I put on a little burst of speed to overrtake them and then carried on limping on.
Getting to the bottom of the hill, I could see the family standing on the grass, by the pub, cheering away. The crowds had dispersed by now and they'd even started packing up. However, the finish was still in sight and looked to still be manned. My Fiancee's Sister's boyfriend, (let's call him Ben to make it easier.) Ben ran up alongside me saying he'd run in with me. I think I grunted something and managed to dig deep for some last reserve of energy.
I managed what appeared to me to be a Sprint finish, but was probably a lurching amble. With that, my first Middle Distance Triathlon was over in 07:55:40.15. With that we all headed home for well earned rest and a bath for me.
Aftermath:
Now usually here, I'd do a breakdown of times and splits. However I'm saving those for a later post, as due to only 3 timing mats, I'm going to do a bit of number crunching later to get some splits on laps and transitions etc.
It was a great race in lovely part of the world. I really have very little to criticise.
Pros: Fairly flat, well organised, beautiful surrounding
Cons: More Timing Mats,prompter start on swim,
Blisters? Yep, a bad one which was bleeding on the back of my right foot. This was due to my sock breaking and causing a hole to form making a lovely cheese grater effect. Other than that, no problems.
Do it again? I'd be tempted
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