The Bastion - Hever's Finest Offering

My first long distance triathlon and one I became to really look forward to. After the Grafman recovery and training had gone very well, even with the added inconvenience of having to go away with work several times, and that meant no bike or swimming. Still I suppose I got some extra run training in and this is always going to be worthwhile.

The prep for the Bastion probably wasn't the best compared to what you would normally do, running was really ad hoc up until the middle of May and even after this there wasn't really enough time to get loads of long runs in, plenty of 1 hour tempo runs, and the odd smattering of 2 hour easy runs, and just the one 2.5 hour run, yes that 17 mile run was the longest run I would be doing before doing a marathon off a nice hilly bike ride.

The Sunday before I had the chance to do a recce of the run course, oh dear it was a bit hillier and more off road than I expected, and very muddy in places, this was going to be a tougher run than expected, but hey ho nothing you can do with a week to go is there.

The few days leading up to the event, my story of being obese and then losing 45kgs to become a fit athlete was gaining a bit of momentum, I was only asked for a brief bit of information for the commentator. This meant I felt a bit of a celebrity, maybe a D class one LOL, but surprisingly it relaxed me more than getting me nervous.

Heather, Killian and I all travelled to Hever Castle on the Saturday to register, set up the tent, and do all the pre race racking, briefings, etc. I met with the wonderful Castle Triathlon Series crew and spent a nice Saturday afternoon exploring some of the castle grounds, it was just a fantastic venue to hold the event.

Sunday morning dawned with a severe lack of sleep from me, pre race nerves finally kicking in and the constant stream of planes in and out of Gatwick saw to that. I didn't feel too tired though, I think a lot of good sleep leading up to the weekend really helped here. After a quick check of bike, tyres and my bags in transition I got myself all suited up for the swim. A final quick briefing on the loggia in front of the lake, then it was into the slightly chilly and murky waters. After a few minutes warming up the countdown to the 1st ever Bastion begins. 3-2-1 klaxon and we all start down the lake and then the river section. Even with a small amount of competitors there are a few bashes and swimming into people, guess we are all aiming for the shortest distance. Once a few hundred metres down the lake, things settle down and it was just a case of trying to find the toes of slightly faster swimmers who were hopefully going the correct way.

After the first lap of 1900m I felt pretty good and thought I would try and up the effort slightly, and if anything the second lap felt better going. I came out the water probably about mid pack, and slightly slower than I would have liked, but according to my Garmin I had swam 4.2km, so probably had a bit of zig zagging in my swim, though my 100m pace was decent at around 1:41.

After a lovely run through the Italian Rose Garden we got to T1 where the crew were so helpful at assisting you with transition and tidying your stuff away for you, felt a bit like a pro :). Off out of T1 and onto the bike, mounting the bike in front of the castle itself was a very nice touch.

On the bike, I knew what sort of pace I could do, but with the roads being wet after a downpour during the swim, the first part was just take it steady, gets some fuel on board and get the legs working well. I soon got into my stride and the first of the hills seemed easy just twiddling up them, it would have been so easy just to ride up them hard, but I knew that would come back to bite later, I was still doing  near on threshold power at times so there was no point going any harder. I did have one guy keep coming past on the hills out of the saddle grinding away, only to pass him once over the top of the hill, probably not the best way to treat an ironman I thought. Speed was good though and across the Ashdown Forest and down into Maresfield was the first real opportunity to see where I was placement wise. I worked out I was about 20 mins down on Fraser Cartmell, which wasn't unexpected with him being a cracking swimmer, but was surprised that there didn't seem to be that many others between me and Fraser.

 

Photos courtesy of Darren Wheeler

I kept to me plan of riding tempo on the hills, and trying not to go near threshold and then recovering as much as possible on the downhills, the rolling sections were quite easy to pace with power. It certainly was a different way of riding for me especially compared with how I would attack a 100 mile TT, but I knew I would need all available energy for the run. Another thing I struggle with is eating and drinking on the bike, I can easily do a 6 hour ride with just 2 bottles if needs be, but I knew I would have to keep on taking in fluid and gels for the duration of the bike. I think mentally this was the toughest thing for me. I have never drunk so much on the bike before, even in a 12 hour TT.

The 2nd of 3 laps felt a bit slower, the wind was getting up and although the rain had gone and the roads were drying out it just seemed a little harder than expected the 2nd time around. It was by the end of the second lap I passed the 1st lady, pro triathlete Alice Hector and I presumed I was now 2nd behind Fraser, but I knew there was no way of catching him, he was in a class of his own. I started the 3rd lap feeling good, and even joked to photographers on the course about taking pictures on the more difficult parts of the course and liking to watch us suffer.

 

                                                                                          Smiling to the cameraman

                                                                                           Photo courtesy of Darren Wheeler

 I decided that I had to make sure I didn't get into T2 with myself feeling too fresh as I didn't want to start the run too fast. After stopping for a toilet break and spending what felt like mins going, I was able to start taking on a lot more fluid and then I started pushing the effort a little bit more on the hills. I came into T2 slightly down on what I though was possible, but still happy it was a decent time on that course.

Again going into T2, the bike was racked for me, and I even had the pleasure of Brian Adcock the Race Organiser helping put sunscreen on, it had actually turned into a cracking day with the sun blazing down. Off out onto the run, I saw Heather and Killian, and I just had to give Heather a kiss, it was now just a case of keep telling myself NOT to go too hard, use the first few km's to settle down and find the run legs. This can be very difficult with all the crowd encouragement, but once out of the castle area it was easier to do. In contrast to the bike, I took on fluid from every aid station with a mixture of coke, water and electrolytes, anything basically to keep me hydrated and fuelled.

The first 2 10.5km laps went pretty well and I was still in 2nd place, but I knew that Alice would be hunting me down, as she is a very accomplished ultra endurance runner. She passed me just over the halfway point and proceeded to pull away very easily. I mentally just thought about getting through lap 3 in as good as shape as possible and then empty the tank on the last lap. My legs were starting to feel the effort after about 28km's and it wasn't long before Fraser lapped me on his way to a great win. Not knowing how far I was ahead of 4th place I just knew I had to grit my teeth and go as hard as my legs would let me. I started the 4th lap in some pain, but thought I am going to finish now and being on the podium would be fantastic, so it really was just a case of digging deep. I had been warned the 30km mark is where it can all fall apart, and as I had never run this far before it really was a big step into the unknown, the other unknown was how far behind is 4th place.


 It was on the last lap I had to finally resort to walking up a steep pea shingle path, it was probably quicker than I would have "run" up it anyhow, but really happy to say this was the only time I walked a section. Back running and each uphill section was proving tougher each time as the quads and hamstrings felt on the edge of cramping, these sections just seemed to get slower and slower. I suppose in the back of my mind I knew everyone else would be suffering as well, but I just felt 4th place was bearing down on me fast. As soon as I got to the last 1.5km I knew it was all downhill/flat and was just as case of not slowing down, the last 500m seemed to go on forever but as I neared the finish I started looking for Heather and Killian, as I wanted Killian to run over the finish with me. I then saw him already over the barriers ready to run, so a last look over my shoulder, no-one behind and a unhurried run to the finish tape, with my little lad racing me - he won very easily.



What an amazing day, being the first non pro, 3rd overall and 2nd male in what was my first long distance triathlon. I was also told I had the fastest bike split, I had managed to beat Fraser by 15 secs on the bike which still surprises me, I know I am pretty decent on a bike but Fraser is no slouch either. One of the nicest surprises was seeing Liz from the Tri Spirit Team taking photos at the finish, and then I noticed Ali as well, it is sometimes the simple things that please you the most. So proud to have represented the Tri Spirit Team at such a great event, and do a great race at the same time.

Timings were:

Swim 1:11:42
T1 5:14
Bike 5:36:27
T2 1:44
Run 4:09:55

Overall 11:05:03

Obviously there are lots of people to thank for supporting and encouraging me, without their help things would be a lot tougher. First of all I must say a massive thank you to all the Castle Triathlon Series Crew, marshalls, helpers etc, without your time and effort these events just wouldn't happen. To my equipment suppliers, Zipp Wheels, Quarq, SRAM, Vittoria Tyres, Powerbar, Tacx, Blue Seventy, Skechers, CompressSport thanks for all your help and support with quality products that work. I must say a huge thank you to Ruth Eyles my coach for having the skill to not only turn me into a triathlete, but to do it whilst trying to win a National TT Series as well.

Thank you Heather and Killian, for just being the best supporters one could ask for, you really do make my life so much easier with your support, and it is a real pleasure to enjoy any success I have with you. Being told by my mum that Heather was so excited she had to call someone means the world to be as well, I truly am amazed at the support I get from Heather, and very thankful for it.

The Bastion will be back in 2015, be a part of what will be another iconic event and if you get in early you can get a discount of 30%, trust me it is worth the price. I will certainly be back next year. If a full long distance triathlon is not your thing they do a whole variety of distances at various castles around the country, you won't find a better crew.