Well what a day, two days really; so I had best start at the beginning. All my kit had been packed the week before; checked, double checked and checked again. I didn't want to forget a thing, everything had to be perfect leading up to this race.
I set off for Rutland Waters a little later than I had hoped on the Friday due to not being able to pick up the van I was borrowing (to prevent my girlfriend from not having the car), but it didn't panic me and arrived at around 12.30 pm.
The journey down wasn't too eventful although the sat nav had decided not to work so I had to rely on old fashioned road signs to find my way there!
When I arrived I had already seen clearly marked signs out on the bike route on the main road; this was good as I had planned to have a steady reckie of the 42 km course that day. While signing up to the camping and driving round the site I kept my eyes open trying to spot the usual areas that I'd need to find the following day/later that day. These included transition area, competitor sign in tent and where the swim would be. All were close together so were all spotted early on. The 1500m swim looked calm and was sheltered by the harbour.
Unfortunately, there was no swimming permitted before the race but the water temperature was at a reported 17 degrees which was quite warm for a UK race, but still allows a wet suit to be used (the added buoyancy of a swimming wet suit makes the swim much faster than a non wet suit swim).
The marked course for the swim had a really long drag on the back straight and I was looking for how far apart the buoys were, trying to break down how many meters apart they had been set out; this may help for pacing and judging distance in the race. I set up camp, cooked a big bowl of tuna pasta in sauce an set off on the course.
When out on the ride there were a lot of vehicles with bikes on racks driving around the course. As much as this gives a general idea and is better than nothing it really gives little information as to how safe certain junctions are and how smooth or rough road surfaces can be where pot holes are and sneaky little inclines, drags etc which can't be seen/felt when in vehicle. There were a couple of riders about and I did find myself racing past a few of them and having to tell myself to calm down. The course felt fast, and although there were a few short steady climbs (including the Rutland ripple), these allowed me time to sit up from my Pursuit bars an catch my breath for sending it on down the long fast steady declines.
Once back at camp, I decided to have a walk around the run course. The weather was getting hot by this point and although I had been drinking fluids throughout the day, I hadn't taken one with me on the walk and ended up feeling dry half way around.
I had heard rumours that the run course had been just short of 10k in the past; however according to the GPS I have on my phone, it was a full 10k; which I was relieved about, as it's important to get an accurate run time. The course looked fairly flat with 3 drinks stations and marker boards at every kilometer. These things are great for pacing! I learnt another valuable lesson that day, 6.4 miles isn't a good idea to walk in your skate trainers and I could feel the early signs of a blister coming on by the end of the walk! (I'll know that for next time).
By the time I got back from the walk, early registration had opened up so I got signed on. Meanwhile, I had spotted a few of the other Louth Tri club members. Everything had started to feel a bit real by now and I think they could tell that early signs of nerves were kicking in for me! We went our separate ways and headed back to camp. I cooked/burnt chicken an rice for tea and began to lay my kit out, talc my shoes and set my bike shoes onto my pedals with elastic bands for a fast transition; time had gone by pretty quickly and before I knew it, it was 10.30 pm and had wanted to be asleep a good hour before this.
Race day
My wave was set to start at 7.00 am. I find I have to eat my main meal 3 hours before a race to ensure that nature has time to take it's course, and so at 3.30 am the alarm sounds and I begin to cook my porridge and boil the kettle. If I'm totally honest, it was a little keen and I ended up shutting my eyes for another half hour once I had eaten.
My wave was set to start at 7.00 am. I find I have to eat my main meal 3 hours before a race to ensure that nature has time to take it's course, and so at 3.30 am the alarm sounds and I begin to cook my porridge and boil the kettle. If I'm totally honest, it was a little keen and I ended up shutting my eyes for another half hour once I had eaten.
I began to get my kit on/together and by the time transition opened my body was showing its first signs of nerves ....I would visit the toilet 3 times that morning! I got to transition 2 hours before my race!! I think I was a bit keen here as I was only one of 3 bikes in the area. I found my numbered area in the racking and began to set up. The next few hours went by quickly and was all a bit of a blur but remember a few people had wished me luck. I paced back and forth to the van/tent a few times and met my family when they arrived. A quick hello and good luck from the family and it was time for me to get back to transition to get my wet suit on and listen to the race briefing.
The race
The start of the race was carnage; athletes lined up on the beach, the hooter sounds and GO! 250 swimmers all run into the water fighting for their position and swimming space heading for a single orange buoy. It must be a health and safety nightmare but for me after the first two or three strokes all the noise and carnage disappeared and everything became calm as you concentrate on the swim. I managed to get in with the main break away group which eventually split into two. I tried to bridge the gap from my group to the first group but ended up in a no mans land, so decided to stick to where I was rather than flogging myself for the sake of 30 seconds.
When I exited the water I was in 14th position in my wave. Transition went smoothly and I headed out on the bike. I struggled a little with getting my feet into my shoes but I knew to keep calm rather than panicking about it and took the time to catch my breath. I managed to overtake another two triathletes on T1. The first 3 or 4 miles of the bike ride I rode with a high cadence(rpm) this helps me ease into the ride while maintaining speed rather than turning a big gear and wasting energy early on. At mile 6, came the Rutland ripple; 3 hills in a row. I took my time on the ups here and hammered on down the other side with my speedo registering a maximum speed of 49mph. Here, I dropped off another two athletes who seemed to be wasting too much energy standing up and grinding up the hills. By mile 13 I knew I was half way, and took an energy gel, had a glance at my heart rate on my hrm. It was reasonably low and I felt good at this stage in the race. I felt relaxed so decided for the next few miles that were flat and smooth to really wind up a big gear averaging over 30mph. Another couple of hills at around mile 21 and 23, I took another energy gel and over took another 3 athletes before heading into Transition 2, in T2 I ended up running straight past where my running shoes were by a couple of meters; I realised quite quickly though and rectified the situation, helmet off running shoes on elastic laces pulled tight and a big swig of my drink left beside my racking area and I was off on the out and back 10k run.
The start of the race was carnage; athletes lined up on the beach, the hooter sounds and GO! 250 swimmers all run into the water fighting for their position and swimming space heading for a single orange buoy. It must be a health and safety nightmare but for me after the first two or three strokes all the noise and carnage disappeared and everything became calm as you concentrate on the swim. I managed to get in with the main break away group which eventually split into two. I tried to bridge the gap from my group to the first group but ended up in a no mans land, so decided to stick to where I was rather than flogging myself for the sake of 30 seconds.
When I exited the water I was in 14th position in my wave. Transition went smoothly and I headed out on the bike. I struggled a little with getting my feet into my shoes but I knew to keep calm rather than panicking about it and took the time to catch my breath. I managed to overtake another two triathletes on T1. The first 3 or 4 miles of the bike ride I rode with a high cadence(rpm) this helps me ease into the ride while maintaining speed rather than turning a big gear and wasting energy early on. At mile 6, came the Rutland ripple; 3 hills in a row. I took my time on the ups here and hammered on down the other side with my speedo registering a maximum speed of 49mph. Here, I dropped off another two athletes who seemed to be wasting too much energy standing up and grinding up the hills. By mile 13 I knew I was half way, and took an energy gel, had a glance at my heart rate on my hrm. It was reasonably low and I felt good at this stage in the race. I felt relaxed so decided for the next few miles that were flat and smooth to really wind up a big gear averaging over 30mph. Another couple of hills at around mile 21 and 23, I took another energy gel and over took another 3 athletes before heading into Transition 2, in T2 I ended up running straight past where my running shoes were by a couple of meters; I realised quite quickly though and rectified the situation, helmet off running shoes on elastic laces pulled tight and a big swig of my drink left beside my racking area and I was off on the out and back 10k run.
I don't remember a lot of the run within the first km I was over taken and never managed to catch him up. Between 2.5km and 4km there was a big straight which was also repeated on the return leg; I took the time to have a good look around to see if anyone was behind me. There wasn't and I was able to relax slightly and considered easing off on the run but decided against it and pressed on. By 8km I was starting to feel a little fatigued but with only 2km I knew the crowds were nearing; it was time to compose myself, deep breaths and finish strong. The atmosphere was great and I had lots of support, it really does help as you give everything you've got over the finish line.
9th in my wave!! 14th overall out of 1000 athletes with a time of 2 hours, 8 minutes and 50 seconds.
Best of all, I had managed to finish 3rd in my age group and being a British triathlon member entitled me to 2nd and a silver medal in the British Triathlon standard distance triathlon championship.
9th in my wave!! 14th overall out of 1000 athletes with a time of 2 hours, 8 minutes and 50 seconds.
Best of all, I had managed to finish 3rd in my age group and being a British triathlon member entitled me to 2nd and a silver medal in the British Triathlon standard distance triathlon championship.
Earlier in the year I had registered my intent to qualify for the European Triathlon Championships to be held in Geneva in 2015. My race performance at the Dambuster has given me a top qualifying spot for the event where I will get to compete with Europe's best amateur triathletes!!!
It is with big thanks to my family for putting up with all my training, strange eating habits and early mornings!
It's also a huge thanks to all the support from Louth triathlon club for their belief in me and the cheering driving me over the finish line!
It's also a huge thanks to all the support from Louth triathlon club for their belief in me and the cheering driving me over the finish line!
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