Hever Castle Triathlon

Short Report
Swim:  00:36:00
T1: 00:02:43
Bike: 01:23:35
T2: 00:01:30
Run: 48:47
Overall: 02:52:37

Last Triathlon of the season and Em and I decided to make a weekend of it even if it was just south of London. Booked a lovely pub room (http://www.thewiremill.co.uk/) and headed down on the Friday night. Food, rooms, and setting were lovely - overlooking a lake.

Saturday morning and it was a reasonable rise to head to Hever for Em's Sprint Tri. The mists were down for the swim, giving it an atmospheric start. A great race from Em (11:26, 47:48, 20:04 = 01:23:59) meant 16th in her category and 25th female overall. Whilst cheering I also came to appreciate how hard it is to be a good supporter and be at the right place at the right time, shout words of encouragement and take good photos. So big kudos to Em and all those who have ever watched and supported me in a tri.

Unlike prep for a normal tri, we had a few drinks and fillet steak for dinner! Sunday was just going to be some exercise and I didn't want to take it too seriously. Having said that I set the alarm for 4am. Got up had some cereal, a bagel and a couple or croissants (provided by the pub) and was back in bed for 4.15. Alarm went off again at 6 to get to Hever. Given we had gone through everything the day before made it a lot easier this time round.

The mists were down again which made for a fantastic start to the swim, which starts from a beautiful ancient structure. Somehow I had managed to tick a box or click a time that meant I was in the first wave with the 'elite atheletes' . . .never been called that before . . . .and probably won't again when my time gets compared to the rest of that wave!

The water was freezing and the cold, weeds and washing machine start made for one of the more difficult swim starts I have had. The cold was making it hard to breath and the water was very muddy to begin with. I settled into a rhythm of sorts after a while, but I can't have had my wetsuit on properly as the burn in my left arm was far more than the right. The two lap out and back course meant that I could see the leaders swimming back the other side in the mists (very cool). The sun then burnt the mist off to leave a great view back to the castle. The second wave hard started now so there was added incentive on the second lap not to get caught by the leaders. Overall a very good swim in terms of memories and initial challenge. In terms of time, a very poor swim (c36mins).

Helped out of the water and off up to transition. Up a grassy knoll and bang I was down. . .damn it, did anyone see??. . .picked myself up and continued into transition.

The bike was a two lap hilly loop. This meant I couldn't get settled into a rhythm but did mean I constantly had new hills to push up which meant unlike other cycles, I felt like I was pushing hard for the whole race. The mantra was from Rob Brundish's report 'last race of the season, give it your all'  . . . difference being the guy I chased down on the bike was some random from Tunbridge Wells Tri club and not the leader.



Came in to T2 after c1hr23m on the bike and really felt like I had put a good effort in. A quick transition and off on to the run. I felt sluggish (potentially due to the bike, potentially last nights stellas) and got smashed as soon as I started (but then realised the guy must have been on of the leaders on his second lap). Problem with being in the first wave when they are on avg much better is that you have no-one to chase and when you do they are much stronger. My friend from TW Tri came past me towards the end of the first lap. I couldn't believe it. I had put in a massive effort to catch and then drop him on the bike and then here he is again! My run was not going well.



On to the second lap and I felt like I was getting back into the groove. The second wave were now on the course which meant people to sight, chase down and pass. I slowly reeled in my 'friend' and then pushed past. He latched on to me and I was unsure whether I had passed him too early. But in the end as I kept increasing my pace as the KMs passed I turned with 1.5km to go and he was long gone. Up the hill just before the end and wound up the pace on the grass and put in a big sprint to take a couple of people in the finish straight. Unfortunately I later found out the time stopped at the first mat and the second one with the arch was just for show . . . Doh. My slowest ever 10k at c48mins.

Overall a disappointing time, but I was satisfied with my level of effort and had a very good weekend all in. Back to the pub for a celebratory drink, a succesful weekend of races and in general and a successful end to my first proper season of Triathlon.

Thanks to the TriLondon cheerers on the course. Not usre who you were there with but thanks for the cheers (same goes to someone at Dorney Lake last week too).

HSBC HumanRace Olympic Tri - Dorney Lake

Short Report:
Swim 00:33:02
T1 00:01:55
Bike 01:15:09
T2 00:01:18
Run 00:42:46
Total 02:34:11

Long Report
I have been to Dorney Lake twice before and its a very flat course and the only issue it has is that there can be a substantial headwind blowing down the course. But while this hinders on one side of the lap, its aids on the way back.

This was supposed to be the big attempt at my first sub 2hr30mins Olympic Tri. I was supposed to be in prime condition 5 weeks after Challenge Copenhagen. Unfortunately, things had not gone according to early season planning.

1. I had done next to no exercise since the Ironman;
2. I had mainly been eating and was c6kgs heavier than going to Copenhagen;
3. I had managed to pick up a niggle in my knee getting up from my desk strangely;
4. My drinking had resumed to pre IM training levels and finally;
5. The weekend before was my Stag Do . . . . . . .

Given all of this I had written the event off and thus was just treating it as enforced exercise. As such I went out on Friday and Saturday night and declared myself available to play on Saturday, putting in my first contact of the season with 80mins playing at no.7 for the 3's.

Needless to say as I struggled to get my wetsuit on due to sore arms . . . I wasn't feeling it. My aim was already just to beat last time 02:37 and see how close to 02:30 I could get.

Eased my way into the swim (2 laps) and tried to push a bit harder on the second lap. The water felt quite cold (we were the first wave at 10am) and feet were pretty cold by the end. Still didn't get much drafting done, seems my time was putting be in between groups of swimmers. Though I did catch a group towards the end of the second. Sighting is easy as the bhoys are massive and easy to spot and the water pretty flat with little wind. Equally there are effectively lanes created by the mini-bhoys for the rowing lanes.

When I left the water at c33 mins I was happy to be c3 mins quicker than last year. But I had also hoped to go faster.

On to the bike (8 laps and thus a bit tedious). I fired off hard as usual with my HR up in the 170s, soon came down to the 160s a rate that I had easily held for a sprint 6 weeks ago. However, at the time and on analysis it dropped pretty constantly through the bike to the 140s. I would push every now and then and get it back to the 150s. But I either didn't have it physically or mentally to maintain the effort. Overall I am annoyed about my bike split. Since last year I have a new bike, aero wheels and bars and have put in a f**k load of hrs on the bike to come 2 mins slower. I know I listed my excuses at the top but I still thought I should be able to go better. . . . still lots of work on the bike needed.

To the run, having gone without socks my feet were like ice blocks. I couldn't feel them until over 5k in when they started to tingle. My HR was up in the 150s and 160s and I was going OK. I knew I wasn't going to go sub 40mins which I now needed for the sub 2h30m so I just kept going. My knee flared up on the first lap but then died down so I kept going. It hurt but not to the extent that I had to adjust my style etc. Legs felt heavy but expected them to. Beat last years time by 2 mins came into the finish with a new Oly PB (3mins quicker), but very dissappointed. I know I can go faster and I know there were reasons for not achieving it this time. But most of the reasons were down to a loss of focus and motivation after my A race and therefore I was annoyed at myself for not kicking on and taking full advantage of the massive effort I put in over the spring and summer. The level of which I may never repeat. Still a handy two and a half hours of exercise for a Sunday morning. rest of the afternoon spent cheering on the rest of my family who were competing in the sprints (brothers) and super sprints (Mum).

Last tri of the year next week at Hever Castle. Another Oly but with a hilly course I won't be challenging the 2hr30m, but rather enjoying the scenery. Main aim now is to get back on exercise, sort knee out and ensure I don't ballon for the forthcoming wedding and honeymoon.