XTT off road triathlon. Done!
Well I didn't win, as Jules had hoped, but I did finish. I finished strong in fact. Which is in marked contrast to how I started, but more on that later.
The blog is slightly out of date and I will have to back fill the last couple of weeks training, but all in all I was about as well trained as I could expect given the 9wk window I was working with.
The race was run by run by all about triathlons (http://www.allabouttriathlons.co.uk) down at Hawley Lake in Surrey. It was a foggy start to the day, but there were a number of events on before the Full Tri started so by the time we were ready to go it had lifted to reveal a glorious sunny day. I have been pretty jammy with the weather on my events this year given it was one of the wettest summers on record!
Racking up the bike and laying out my kit was interesting as I haven't done it since I think 2001 ( maybe 2002 I'll have to check). The race was well organised without being stressful, and there was plenty of chat and banter in the transition area and at the swim start.
Despite notes to the contrary we were allowed a quick dip in the lake prior to the start. Which was cold (wet) and very very murky. Race started at 11:30 and I made a reasonable start on the swim but pretty quickly ran into trouble navigating and doing a lot of bumping into folks. Between that and the cold and anxiety I got myself in a right old pickle. I ended up hyperventilating and had to thread water to regain some composure. I gave serious thought to dipping out and heading for the safety boat. But I gave myself a bit of a talking to and did some breast-stroke. With slightly steadied nerves I tried to go back to crawl, but found it very difficult to navigate and difficult to get my balance straight in the murk. I also tried to adjust the neck of my suit at the half way point (get out-get back in style) which ended up in the thing coming undone as I swam. It was almost a bit comedy towards the end and I relaxed once I had reconciled myself to the fact that I would breast-stroke most of the way round. Got out of the swim in 38min, which considering what a total 'mare I had wasn't actually too bad. I then wasted another 4 min in transition, wrestling with my jersey.
Anyway out onto the bike leg and away. Having used my legs far more than expected on the swim it took me pretty much the first 1/2 lap of the course to settle in. The bike course was relatively mild in terms of technical difficulty, and I think 5 inches of travel front and back slightly flattered the course, but the Hi-Fi is a quick bike and I don't think I would have done the bike leg much quicker on a hardtail (and I think the run would have suffered).
Bike to run transition was straight forward, and relatively well practised so I was off and away on the run with little difficulty. By the second lap of the run I was going well and I finished the last 3K strong, taking a number of places back which I was quite pleased about.
Overall results.XTT_Full_08.pdf
Overal Position: 97 (of 120 finishers)
Swim: 00:39:42 114th
T1: 00:04:47
Bike :01:23:26 80th
T2: 00:02:17
Run: 01:00:24 87th
Total: 03:10:37 Male 92nd
Lessons learned?
1. There is no substitute for open water practice
2. Don't Panic
3. Practice Swim to Bike transition
Top kit:
I had ZERO chaffage (none, nadda, 0) issues. So major props to the Orca 226 tri-shorts. Also given the only provided one race number the race belt I bought was an indispensable piece of kit. The Hi-Fi also performed impeccably (top quality bike)
Humour:
Just found this which sums it up well! Triathlon Swim Starts
The blog is slightly out of date and I will have to back fill the last couple of weeks training, but all in all I was about as well trained as I could expect given the 9wk window I was working with.
The race was run by run by all about triathlons (http://www.allabouttriathlons.co.uk) down at Hawley Lake in Surrey. It was a foggy start to the day, but there were a number of events on before the Full Tri started so by the time we were ready to go it had lifted to reveal a glorious sunny day. I have been pretty jammy with the weather on my events this year given it was one of the wettest summers on record!
Racking up the bike and laying out my kit was interesting as I haven't done it since I think 2001 ( maybe 2002 I'll have to check). The race was well organised without being stressful, and there was plenty of chat and banter in the transition area and at the swim start.
Despite notes to the contrary we were allowed a quick dip in the lake prior to the start. Which was cold (wet) and very very murky. Race started at 11:30 and I made a reasonable start on the swim but pretty quickly ran into trouble navigating and doing a lot of bumping into folks. Between that and the cold and anxiety I got myself in a right old pickle. I ended up hyperventilating and had to thread water to regain some composure. I gave serious thought to dipping out and heading for the safety boat. But I gave myself a bit of a talking to and did some breast-stroke. With slightly steadied nerves I tried to go back to crawl, but found it very difficult to navigate and difficult to get my balance straight in the murk. I also tried to adjust the neck of my suit at the half way point (get out-get back in style) which ended up in the thing coming undone as I swam. It was almost a bit comedy towards the end and I relaxed once I had reconciled myself to the fact that I would breast-stroke most of the way round. Got out of the swim in 38min, which considering what a total 'mare I had wasn't actually too bad. I then wasted another 4 min in transition, wrestling with my jersey.
Anyway out onto the bike leg and away. Having used my legs far more than expected on the swim it took me pretty much the first 1/2 lap of the course to settle in. The bike course was relatively mild in terms of technical difficulty, and I think 5 inches of travel front and back slightly flattered the course, but the Hi-Fi is a quick bike and I don't think I would have done the bike leg much quicker on a hardtail (and I think the run would have suffered).
Bike to run transition was straight forward, and relatively well practised so I was off and away on the run with little difficulty. By the second lap of the run I was going well and I finished the last 3K strong, taking a number of places back which I was quite pleased about.
Overall results.XTT_Full_08.pdf
Overal Position: 97 (of 120 finishers)
Swim: 00:39:42 114th
T1: 00:04:47
Bike :01:23:26 80th
T2: 00:02:17
Run: 01:00:24 87th
Total: 03:10:37 Male 92nd
Lessons learned?
1. There is no substitute for open water practice
2. Don't Panic
3. Practice Swim to Bike transition
Top kit:
I had ZERO chaffage (none, nadda, 0) issues. So major props to the Orca 226 tri-shorts. Also given the only provided one race number the race belt I bought was an indispensable piece of kit. The Hi-Fi also performed impeccably (top quality bike)
Humour:
Just found this which sums it up well! Triathlon Swim Starts
posted by Setanta at
29.9.08
2 Comments:
SWEET!!!! Nicely done, and on only 9wks of specific training! (Don't come to Canada - you'll kick my ass) :D
That's just great, and good for you trying the off-road thing. Frankly that rough stuff just scares me. Being latched onto a MTB on a rough trail is not my idea of fun (I like my blood *inside* me).
As for the swim, I wouldn't worry about it. I find that when the water's cold, and I can't get in it before race start, my HR goes from 90 to 180 in about a nanosecond. Once you get used to the water, it goes back down.
Great job!
Ok, so you've put me off triathlons for life :) The swim is the scary bit for me and the mare you had in the water would have done for me! Well done on finishing!!
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