Race Day

Rosemary was more relaxed than normal. She's not been very well for 10 days. Not competing is never an option for her though. Whilst not always a positive, I wouldn't want to change her attitude if I could because it's the same attitude that makes her a formidable athlete, especially when conditions are bad.

I was a bit grumpy as I had to do a cycle from the 1st transition area to Aberfeldy and the weather forecast was bad. I soon snapped out of it though especially when we got to the race. I met Hazel, herself a very good athlete, who was there to support her boyfriend Stuart. She suggested we went a run during the race, but unpacking my kit would have made Rosemary late.

There was a slight panic as the loo queue was massive. R had to choose between the race briefing and a poo. I insisted that latter was more important and she agreed.

I met old friend Jason and his wife which was great...with us reminiscing about our Ironman in Switzerland many years before. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the excitement of the naked girls in the jacuzzi in front of his missus though. Rosemary reappeared and following a hug, kiss and a good luck, she headed off to the deep water start-line. I was feeling a bit envious, as I have found the love for racing again and wanted to be on the start line too.

They were off....350 people out for a 1.9km swim. After 20minutes Fraser Cartmell exited the water looking very strong. 10 minutes later and there was no sign of Rosemary and I started to worry. Chris hadn't seen her either and we had both been close to the water's edge. After 40 mins I was panicking, thinking her poorlyness had won the day.

I found the race organiser who radio'd the safety boat but she wasn't it that. I was told to wait by the timing van and shortly afterwards Henry the head timer arrived to tell me she had passed over the timing mat at 29mins 47secs.... The relief soon changed to fear again as she would be upset that I'd not cheered her through transition.

I then cycled into Aberfeldy, staying dry throughout. The weather in the mountains is notoriously hard to predict, but I heard the racers were less fortunate. Reports had it that there was heavy rain and high crosswinds on the other side of Scheahallion. I found a nice cafe in Aberfeldy though and they served Has Bean coffee. Perfect. I wasn't expecting a quality latte in this neck of the woods.

It was then back to the course to see the 1st athletes coming into town. Rosemary arrived, looking as if she was in 5th or 6th place. It was hard to tell though as there were a number of relay teams too. I waited on the bridge and she was soon heading out at the start or her half-marathon looking to be running well. I hung about for a while, taking photos and cheering those who I recognised.

Fraser Cartmell was still leading the men's race with 1500m to go , looking so much stronger than all the other athletes in the field. I headed off to the finishing line just ahead of Rosemary's best predicted finishing time. Old friend Mike was the 1st person I knew who finished, and shortly afterwards R came into view. I was very impressed as her running technique was looking great. She finished exhausted but in a very respectable time of 5hrs 15mins. The well done hug and kiss was horrible though....she tasted like a salty chip wrapper but without the guilty pleasure of having eaten a bag of chippy chips.

After her quick shower, we headed back to the nice cafe for lunch. My Guatemalan Aeropress wasn't great though....I suspect the grind was a bit too small, resulting in the nice acidity turning to a slight bitterness. Easy to do though.

Prize giving was unexpected. We thought Rosemary had finished 4th or 5th but one athlete wasn't eligible for the Champs and Catriona Morrison had been part of a relay team. Yippee...3rd in the Scottish Champs and 4th overall. Rosemary looked bewildered on the podium and I didn't get a good photo.

It was great to see Jason and Mike from the old days and there was some superb racing. My Blip is of Fraser Cartmell who was just an up-and-coming junior when I was first involved in the sport. The hunger grows to compete in a longer race and to be relatively competitive. I'm back to being a novice again though so avoiding frustration is the key!