After the Bastion, I knew completing an long distance triathlon was possible, so this was going to be to target a challenging finishing time and hopefully with that a good AG position, little did I know how well the day would go. Stepping back a few days though and the week leading up hadn't been without issues. On the Wednesday I took part in the Tri Spirit Events Go Tri Ashford, basically a 300m swim followed by a 2.5km run. Nothing happened on the event, I did a decent swim and run to come in 3rd, but I was also bitten at some point by some creature on the back of my leg. What started off as an annoying itch turned into a massive inflammation on the Thursday morning, "Oh great" I thought, just what I need before Weymouth. I just put lots of bite and sting cream on and just hoped it would die down. It did luckily by race day, but not something I needed to be honest.
I got to Weymouth on the Friday, and I was determined to enjoy the whole big event atmosphere and just relax for a few days. I got registration all done and dusted as early as possible, said hi to the guys from ERDINGER Alkoholfrei whilst they were setting up. I even bumped into Kate from SUNDRiED and had a great chat, conveniently wearing my SUNDRiED Tee and Sunnies. I also had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with fellow SUNDRiED ambassador Nikki Bartlett on Saturday.
Nikki and I after our races
Saturday morning I decided to see what an early morning choppy sea swim was going to be like, the temperature was good, but it was a hard swim and with the waves crashing to shore fairly hard I knew with the weather being forecast for Sunday being similar, it was probably going to be a tough swim, not great for my targets. After a quick spin on the bike in full race setup, to check all was working fine, it was a day that was spent relaxing with Heather and my parents before getting the bike racked in the evening.
Sunday dawned after a surprisingly good sleep, what wasn't so good for a weaker swimmer was the sight of waves crashing to shore with a big swell, this certainly wasn't going to be pleasant. I got the bike and bags all sorted, and went back to my hotel room to get my Blue Seventy Reaction wetsuit on. Back in transition it was soon announced that swim course was being changed to an out and back course and shortened as a result. Bit of a bonus for me, but it did mean one of the targets of a sub 10 hour ironman had gone out of the window, hey ho never mind, lets just focus on the other goals.
As we lined up for the swim, I will admit I wasn't looking forward to it, and the first swim to the far buoy was a mixture of fear and sheer willpower just to get the swim over and done with. Actually once we reached the first buoy I settled down and swam pretty comfortably for the rest of the swim. I guess once I knew I wasn't going to drown there was no fear. At least I know for the next sea swim just to get on and enjoy it.
I am in there somewhere, to the left
Now the best bit was to come, coming out of T1 in 160th position wasn't the great, but I knew the pace I could go and just got down to riding the bike how I know I can. It wasn't long before I started passing the faster swimmers, but I did notice that I was feeling that great stomach wise, I just felt as though I had bad stomach cramp. I just rode on hoping it would settle down and it was probably due to a lot of ingestion of salt water. I had made the decision to use my own nutrition and just take water from the aid stations, this made dealing with the aid stations nice and easy as well. I did struggle to take in gels however, and stuck to mainly Powerbar Isoactive in a strong solution and my Powerbar Powergel Shots, this seemed to work though I was conscious that this might be a tad on the low side.
It wasn't long before I overtook one of the top guys in my AG and then some of the Pro ladies, there were very few moments where I wasn't overtaking someone which was pleasing I must admit after the terrible swim. Near the end of the 1st lap I had even overtaking one of the pro men, bloody hell I must be going pretty well. I started the second lap feeling much better with my stomach, though I was bursting for a pee, now do I stop on the bike or can I wait until T2, I tried to hold on. It wasn't long before I saw one of the pros fixing a puncture, a quick check to make sure he was OK and it was back on it, but I was getting real desperate for a pee now, there was no option I had to go. I was only stopped for a minute or so, but the pro, Keegan Williams had caught me up, no bother I thought. Up the hills he would power away, but as soon as we went downhill or along the flat I was right back with him and with me not wanting to compromise my race I went by, the next hill he came back past again, and so it went on. After a while we started working together and it was here I experienced what the pros do when they are in a pace line, periods of soft tapping followed by solid effort when on the front. The 10 metre rule might seem as you don't get much help, but it gives you enough to ease off the legs a little.
After working together for a while I went to the front at the 100 mile mark and only saw Keegan again on the run. Nearing the end of the 2nd lap I went past a suffering Tom Vickery who seemed to be having a tough day on the bike, the final downhill section into Weymouth should have been fun, but with lots of traffic and slower bike riders it meant quite a bit of freewheeling and braking. Even worse was the queue to one of the roundabouts, cars were queued back some 1/2 to 3/4 mile, not ideal in all honesty and with no separated cycle lane it meant going down the outside. Once around the roundabout it was a quick tailwind blast back to transition.
T2 went well and now out on the run in 9th position (I didn't know that on the day though), Keegan and Tom flew past me quite quickly, this was not surprising, I am not even in their league when it comes to running. My run legs seemed pretty good, hamstrings a bit tight, but on the whole I felt good. I settled into the pace I was confident I could hold until at least halfway. Mentally this was a little tough at first as I was being passed by faster runners doing the Challenge Weymouth Half, but I soon sorted my head and it wasn't long before I was passing the slower runners. I was feeling good in general, and taking on water and coke from every aid station. The crowds in Weymouth were fantastic and the encouragement was much needed. With the run being up and down the promenade in the main with a small section through the town, you were never far away from anyone, but the section along Preston beach was a bit different, not that many people and with a stiff headwind in one direction made it a little bit more challenging.
As we passed by the finish each lap I just count down the times I needed to go to the far end, but about 25km my legs were starting to feel the effort more, but I was still doing a good pace, with the exception of the bit into the wind, I almost fell into the trap of going too easy but I knew others would be chasing me down. It was around this point where the pro ladies started going past me, but I worked out I was still in a fairly decent position as only one other Age Group athlete on the same lap as me had passed me, though I didn't have a clue how many were in front.
Onto the last lap and mentally I knew I would do it in a good time even if I hit the wall, but I just tried to make sure the pace didn't drop much, now my legs were hurting though I had obviously done enough feeding as I wasn't getting cramp. I managed to up the pace over the last few km's to finish the race in 9:04:35. Now I know the swim was short, and the run ended up being slightly short as well, but I would have beaten my 10 hour target by a fair margin.
Now it was time to meet up with family and recover, I hadn't a clue of my final position, and to be honest I wasn't really bothered at first, I just hurt too much and was feeling just a little bit sick. Once I had recovered I looked at the results, and that is when I could really enjoy the moment. Being able to share my enjoyment with my wife and my Mum and Dad was special, but the one I missed was my little lad, who said he would rather not miss a day off school.
RESULTS
16th Overall
13th Male
3rd Age Grouper
1st in the 45-49 AG
I was also down as the 4th fastest bike split (though I think the timings are out slightly, as I didn't spend 9 mins in T1), and I had a run time of 3:18 (the run was short, but even so I would have probably beaten my 3:30 target). The pleasing part of the run was I was the 4th fastest in my AG so the run was a very solid run for me.
The main competition I knew anything about really was the guy who finished 3rd in my AG, 24 mins behind me, back in June at the Grafman Middle Distance race, he had beaten me by 20 mins. To turn that around and run with a faster run split at Challenge Weymouth shows the progress my coach, Ruth Eyles and I have made now I have given triathlon my full attention.
The result is somewhat shocking to me, I knew I had made progress with my running and I knew my biking, though not at it's best, was still strong, but I never expected to finish one of the big iron distance events so high up the order and in such a strong way. Whereas the Bastion I felt I did a great ride and held on with the run, I felt here I was more rounded a triathlete, though still crap at swimming. Let's hope the progress continues over the winter.
I have many people to thank, but not least ERDINGER Alkoholfrei for the entry, thank you very much guys. Also big thanks to Zipp Wheels, Quarq Powermeters, Powerbar, Blue Seventy, SRAM, Vittoria Tyres and Skechers for supplying quality kit. to Liz and Ali at the Tri Spirit Team, thank you for your never ending support and advice. Also thanks to SUNDRiED and your support. Biggest goes to my wife, Heather is amazing in many ways, but thank you for your support of my stupidity ;)
