It had been suggested that I didn't race the Gauntlet at Chateau de Chantilly, that in all honesty was never an option, this was a race I needed to do even if it went crap. It ended up being a really great weekend, a great race spent with great people in a real great location. In short it was just the race I needed to get fully motivated again.
The weekend was due to be a scorcher and when we arrived on Friday evening it certain was a little warm. Saturday ended up being even hotter, and most of the day was spent trying to find shade of some sort, as much as I like the warmth, >36 degrees was a touch too hot for me really. Sunday was looking cooler but all I could think about was trying to avoid being cooked on the run, I had visions of a very difficult run.
Sunday dawned a bit cooler than the Saturday and a bit windier as well, in fact I was unsure that I had made the right choice of an 80mm front wheel, but decided to go with it and hope the wind wasn't too bad out on the road.
SWIM:
Since Challenge Weymouth back in 2014 I have been pretty confident in the water, swimming in the rough sea on that day made me realise that if massive waves don't worry me, then mass start lake swims should be a breeze. Things have been great but on race day at Chantilly I had one of my worst panic attacks yet in the water. After 100m I was gasping for breath amongst those swimming around me, and although I hadn't really been hit too much I just really struggled to get into clean calm strokes, tried swimming head up, but still no joy and only getting worse. Luckily I was able to stand and in those 10 secs or so, get my breathing under control and get my head sorted out. I got swimming again and although it hadn't really thinned out at all I felt so much better and for once just started overtaking swimmers left, right and centre. I did think back to all those pro athletes that have mentioned their swimming fears and I realised that the time lost was probably pretty minimal and I could still have a good swim. I felt great overtaking swimmers, and only towards the end of the swim did I run out of feet to swim onto and past. I came out the water in just over 33 mins, for what was a horrible panic stricken start I was over the moon with that.
BIKE:
After a nice step laden run to transition (Brian doesn't like to make these events too easy) it was a quick wetsuit strip and off out on the bike. The first km was down an estate road which was narrow and a bit rough so I took it easy and got myself all prepped for the following 90km. Once out on the road the wind was noticeable but I soon settled into a nice effort. On the first out and back section I could see roughly where I was, and seemed to be about where I expected to be given the swim. I soon started overtaking other athletes and with the superb road management and good quality surfaces the speed seemed pretty good. As we did a big loop the wind changed a fair bit but I was soon hitting headwind and sidewinds, the headwinds just slowed you down but the sidewinds meant I had to keep up my concentration with the deep front wheel. The course ended up being a bit lumpier than I expected, not hilly by any stretch, but with the wind it felt hillier than it actually was. After a pretty lonely first lap, the second lap was a bit more congested with the Olympic distance athletes joining the course. This unfortunately meant a few holdups as cars waited to pass riders safely. Really impressed with the standard of driving around the course and although some of the holdups were frustrating it probably only amounted to a few minutes at the worst. The second lap seemed to fly by and it was just short of 2:30 on the bike that I was heading back into transition.
RUN:
After what seemed a long run through transition with the bike it was off out on the run. I took the first couple of kms steady and tried to get some fluid and electrolyte down me. Being fearful of the heat and how much I sweat I didn't want to start suffering towards the end with cramp. After about 3 km I was passed by a few athletes who I had passed late on in the bike, now this was the time to just run hard and I decided to try and keep pace with them for as long as possible. It wasn't long before one of them dropped away but I felt pretty good and although tapping along at 4:30 min/km was challenging it felt very doable. Eventually it was just me and one other, though towards the end of the first 10.5km lap he had edged away as I just tried to get fluid in and water over me at the aid stations. As we started the second lap I could see another athlete closing in on me, and I could see he was a Gauntlet competitor. He passed me but I started to run with him, the pace still seemed good but he did gradually ease away slightly, never a great distance but enough to break the tow. As I got to 7km to go I decided it was time to just give it everything and if it all fell apart then so what. It was pleasing to see him gradually being reeled in and my pace was getting faster. My feet were in agony with soaking wet shoes giving me blisters that I could feel getting worse with each step, but I could see my target getting closer still and the pace still getting faster. I managed to catch up with a km to go, now it was decision time, do I run easy and have a sprint finish, or go for it. Rather than risk being outsprinted I decided to just go for it and run as hard as I could past him and then just hope he didn't counter attack. It worked and I ran the fastest km of the race in that last km, it only meant going from 20th to 19th but mentally it was massive. This was a really pleasing run with no niggles (apart from my feet), no back pain and I managed to negatively split the run which certainly is a first for me.
Swim: 33:19
Bike: 2:28:47
Run: 1:38:39
Total: 4:46:15
This race meant more to me that positions, it reminded me that I am hungry for success, and that I could hurt myself in pursuit of that success. It also confirmed to me that racing middle or long distance is full of ups and downs, it would have been so easy to give up after the torrid start of the swim but I stuck with it and had a great race.
When I first finished it looked as though I finished 4th in the V40 AG, but by the time the presentations were held I was in 2nd. I actually missed the podium presentation, so my wife, Heather, took pride on place on the podium instead of me LOL. As I said to Darren afterwards, this was the race I needed. It really has put me in a great positive attitude heading into Ironman Wales and more importantly I have a great fun weekend doing it.
As for the race, well wow what a great setting for a triathlon, this really was a fantastic weekend put on by the Castle Triathlon team. For me it ran really slickly and the support out on the race course was superb. This is one event I will be back at next year without a doubt, it is one I would highly recommend to anyone wanting to experience an overseas event that is friendly and so inviting. Thank you to all the Castle Triathlon team for being some welcoming and running such a great event.
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