Yesterday- RB wins and I look focused

A new triathlon season is upon us. For those of you that don't know the sport, it involves a swim, bike and run. Races last from around 1 hour up to the extreme ones which go on for days. I came to the sport around 15 years ago by accident. I was an average bike rider who decided to do a 10km run for fun and went under 37mins first time round. Before I knew it, legendary athlete and coach Scott Balfour had talked me into attending a swimming session and within a few years I was racing in Ironman events.

Back then the sport was still in it's infancy in Scotland and the sport had a bit of a pioneering feel to it. Only a few people in my club had done Ironman and the event seemed so much more extreme then.

The sport seems to have changed now with a much wider demographic including:
1) The 40 years old white males , who pick triathlon rather than buying a Ducati
2) The participants who do it for a 'life challenge' usually for charity, similar to people who do the big marathons.
3) The endorphin junkies (also fit into group 1) with staring eyes who just need their next fix of training
4) The technology geeks who 'believe the hype'
5) The purists who simply do it for the love of the sport
6) The really fast ones that I don't seem to get the opportunity to talk to anymore.

I like to think I'm a purist who feels sheer joy from training. I've had 10 years out through lack of motivation and injury. To be starting again, experiencing trail running for the 1st time, enjoying open water swimming, learning to love savage swimming sets and having the experience to know when to rest..... i just love it all.

Today was a highlight for me. Rosemary won her first triathlon, a sprint in Kendal. I'm so excited and proud. I can big her up, guilt free, in a way that would not be possible had I won it myself. The only thing I could compare it to was opening my degree results and seeing '1st Class'. I had a tear in my eye. I've learnt more from Rosemary than any athlete I've worked with. That's because we share stuff that's not typical in a coach-athlete relationship. It's challenging sometimes....for example, the post Celtman dip and the extreme mental & physical fatigue after the Adidas Terrex. Fortunately, Scott coaches her, I trust him as he was an important mentor to me and he compliments my advice.

So to the day. It's a journal after all. I was really nervous as the weather forecast was looking bad. We had an early breakfast and then headed off into the very 'wet' rain and were soaked by the time we reached the sports centre. Rosemary was being indecisive about what to wear....."how hard can it be?" I thought....snapping a bit and swearing at her. Eek... I internalise stuff whereas she likes to explore every option in detail. This is usually fine but with pre-race nerves, it can be challenging. No excuse for profanity though.

It was a pool swim and Rosemary was off the fast female heat and a few hours before I was due to go. She had a good swim, although it highlighted a few technical aspects of her stroke that need to be worked on. Her bike was awesome in wet and challenging conditions, with the next girl being quite a bit behind. Her running has been improving all year, driven by the fear than I had started to run as quickly as her.....but alas speed work means that I'm now playing catch up again. Her performance was solid and I was sure that she would win.

I was off at 11:00am. The surprising bit for me was that most of my fellow competitors were nervously chattering or simply sitting down. Despite my man boobs, I started off with skipping movements followed by more swim specific actions to warm up. It focuses the mind as well as getting the heart pumping, so should be integral to most people's pre-race regime.

There was only one other chap in my lane and he was dead nice. A quick chat sorted out our lane etiquette which can make such a difference. In my last pool triathlon, despite tapping toes a few times and then being forced to pull a leg, the guy refused to stop to allow me to pass. If I was a violent person........ Anyway, the swim went to plan with me only being a wee bit short of my very optimistic estimate.

Transition was fine, until I put my glasses on. They were steamed up and covered in water droplets. Seeing was almost impossible so I continued ultra cautiously in the wet and windy conditions.... I shifted down into my wee ring for the first significant climb and the legs were feeling good. Then, I tried to shift back but my gears kept slipping....no big gears for me (after the race, I found a big kink in the front gear cable). On the 2nd lap, the rain eased and my glasses cleared. Wow, I can see, I can see....I shouted within my head in a the way I can imagine a blind man doing so after being touched by a $50 healing preacher man. I sped up considerably but it was too late and I recorded a poor bike time.

The run was great though, despite an uphill into a headwind in the opening few km. I wanted to do double the distance. The final km was downhill, so I concentrated on staying relaxed running at my limit. A wee slip on the final corner but I kept my feet and got over the finishing line in one piece and reasonably happy. Lessons learnt:

A-practising transition was so worth while. Top demonstration from Rosemary of how best to roll up a sock for easy entry saved at least 10 seconds (socks needed in weather). Attention to detail is everything.
B- Keep glasses dry in the transition area...consider not wearing them in wet weather...poor eyesight is better for riding than being totally blind
C- More race intensity bike riding on the road rather than the turbo is required
D- Rosemary winning is as pleasurable as me doing well, if not more so.

As a practice for the Slateman next month, the race certainly served its purpose. The only downside was that the organisers didn't have a prize giving at the end and released provisional results with some obvious errors in them. It meant that we didn't know for definite that Rosemary had won until 10pm. That said, they put on a good race on an excellent course. I'd do it again. Well done to Dean and Ed of Man Tri who were 9th and 11th, respectively.

Thanks to James Kirby, the Kendal photographer extraordinaire for today's image. Strictly speaking, against Blip rules but I didn't have any images of my own to use for such a noteworthy day. My iPad app put the entry in on the wrong day....