Wattisham Triathlon 2012

I've written this a long time after the event (22/04/13) so it'll be patchy but I wanted to attempt to remember details in advance of the 2013 Tri...

 Beforehand

• I got there mid-morning for the sign on and debrief.
• I was issued number 159 (written on calf) and a start time of 14:20.
• Much faffing ensued between now and the start.
• Met up with Simon Lockwood, he talked me through setting up my kit at the bike racks.
• Further faffing...
• I wore a Nike Pro Combat compression sleeveless top and Altura Stream cycling shorts
• I didn't use any energy bars/gels/etc but did have an SIS Go electrolyte drink on my bike and had plenty of bananas and flapjacks before hand.

The Swim (300m)

• Wattisham Tri has an indoor swim. The pool is divided into 6 lanes, you swim up and down each lane and after 12 lengths (300m) you climb out of the far side.
• Around 14:15 I queued up by the side of the pool and waited my turn.
• I set off too quickly and tired myself out by the 6th lap.
• Plodded to the end but was overtaken on my final length.
• As I climbed out of the pool my legs were like jelly and my head was spinning (mix of tiredness and adrenaline).
• Ran/wobbled to the transition point.
• Very quick dry down
• Socks, lid and SPDs on (socks a proper faff)
• Ran with bike to exit of transition area

The Ride (20km)

• The swim had properly tired me out and for the 1st mile or so I couldn't focus on the road
• I even went off the wide clear track at one point on to the grass verge!
• The off-course moment seemed to clear my mind and I finally found my rhythm.
• The course involves 2 laps of the airbase including riding up and down the runway.
• The runway has a strong wind passing down it, so you fly along it to begin with, then do a hairpin turn at the end into a wall of wind.
• The slog into the headwind was very hard work I kept looking up and seeing a marshall in a hi-viz vest at the end but he never seemed to get any closer!
• Once back at the transition area I dismounted and ran to my transition point.
• Removed my lid
• Swapped SPDs for trainers

The Run (5km)

• Before the Tri I'd been recording my runs on Endomondo and had been getting around 24-25min times for 5km.
• According to a comment I made on Facebook I was suffering significant stomach cramps as I started the run.
• My legs struggled to do anything for the first 1/2mile.
• Grabbed water at the 1st water-stop but ended up wearing most of it.
• After the 1st lap I found my pace.
• On the final straight I somehow managed to sprint the full length of it (200m?)

In the end I was 88th out of 262 entrants or 16th out of 30 in the "35-39 year old males" category.

My split times were as follows;

• Swim + Transition: 00:08:20
• Bike + Transition: 00:38:07
• Run: 00:22:20
• Total: 01:08:48

I'd set myself what I though was a realistic goal of 1:15 and a stretch of 1:10 so very chuffed to beat my stretch!
 
Karen Aldis took a few pics of me.

Triathlon Training - Part 2

So, on Monday morning I found myself sat in the bath wearing black padded cycling shorts and a black compression vest...

Since my last post I've done quite a few rides and runs and tried to focus mostly on transitioning from one to the other, this has been going pretty well although I'm starting to think that running is shaking my joints apart!  I've largely ignored swimming as I know I'm a decidedly adequate swimmer and won't be able to improve on that in the remaining time.
There is now less than a week to the event so I'll have a few more days of training then I'll rest up.  This weekend I've been for a 50mile ride on Saturday and then a 6mile ride followed by a 3mile run on Sunday.

So back to my idiotic bath-time...  I didn't feel like embracing the humiliation of going to the public swimming baths looking like a member of the Goth version of Right Said Fred, so bathing while clothed was my alternative way of testing out the swim-cycle transition.  Having leapt out of the bath and legged it downstairs while futilely towelling myself down I hurriedly pulled on socks, cycling shoes and bike helmet, while simultaneously attempting to convince Clare that this is a perfectly normal way for her husband to be starting a bank holiday Monday...

From leaving the bath to setting off on the bike took 1min 25secs, at least 25secs of which was me struggling to pull socks over my wet feet.

Fortunately it was a fairly mild morning so cycling while sopping wet wasn't too uncomfortable and I had one of the best rides I've had in a while.  I covered approx 12.75miles (which is further than needed for the event) in 38mins and 12secs and maintained a 20mph avg speed (very pleased  with that).

Once back home I kicked off my helmet and shoes and pulled on my tatty old trainers, I then faffed around switching my GPS tracker from cycling mode to running mode.  This transition was about 1min, but much of that was due to me fiddling around with the GPS.

I found the run hard work and was 30-60secs slower per mile than usual, but covered 3.5miles (again, further than needed for the event) in 29mins and 27secs.
Towards the end of the run the underneath of one of my trainers was starting to hurt my foot.  I suspect they're at the end of their useful life but I'm reluctant to use new, unfamiliar and not yet worn in kit for the race, so hopefully they've a week's worth of use left in them...

Overall, the whole session took 1hr 10mins & 7secs.  So adding 6-7mins for the swim and deducting the phone faffing time hopefully means I'm on target for a 1hr 15mins-ish time.

For Tuesday and Wednesday I'll do some more cycle-run transition practices and get a couple of swims in too then that should be it till the big day!

Gulp...