This was my second tri of the season and my third bash at the swim-bike-run combo in total, after my initial tentative toe-in-the-tri-water attempt at Taunton tri in May 2014; however, as that was done on a hybrid bike and with the swim done at a gasping and wheezing frontcrawl / breaststroke combo, I am counting 2015 as my first proper tri season!
My last blog, written after the Geopark Event Sprint Tri in May this year, highlighted how thrilled and excited I had felt to podium at my first proper tri event. That said, I was very much aware that it was an event targeted at novices, with a safe, off-road, multi-lap bike route around a velo park track, and so the standard of entry was well below that of an established club organised event. The Oxley is a favourite on the race calendars of many club athletes due to its slick organisation and tough but scenic bike course. At 30km, the bike is also quite long for the sprint distance and was double that of the Geopark tri bike course. With this in mind, and having studied the results from the previous years, I did not expect to repeat my beginner's luck and get a podium place here: I was just in it for more tri experience and to enjoy it!
Haha! Yeah right.... this is me. Although I don't have the kit – got the road bike now, but still not got the cleats, so biking in my running trainers! – me and my £10 Aldi trisuit were still going to give this all we'd got and, who knows, maybe just maybe there might be the outside chance of a category place, if all the other athletes in my F30-39 age group were out for the season having babies!! (There is a reason that this age group attracts proportionately less entrants than the F20-29 and F40-49 sections!!)
Setting up in transition; far too early in the morning!
I have been working hard on my swim and expected to dip under the 8 minute mark this time round, but I felt a bit flat in the water on the day and the swim didn't feel that smooth. Also, ironically, the lane seeding was a bit too much of a success as the other two swimmers in my lane, one man and one woman, were too similar to me! They were going that little bit too fast to overtake them within a length, but too slow so that I was stacking up behind them and having to hold back slightly from the pace I wanted to swim at. All in all, a 7:46 min 400m split was pleasing enough.
7:46 min swim split, slowly progressing!
Exiting the pool and off to T1!
The transition area was over a quarter of a mile away from the pool, so my transition time of over 3 minutes looks dire on paper, but is explainable and comparable to everyone else. Apart from overshooting my bike and having to turn around and head back to it, T1 went smoothly and I was soon off the bike, weaving my way through the twisty, narrow streets of Sherborne.
Time maybe to mention here that I lived in Sherborne for 2 years whilst working as matron (hold the Kenneth Williams impressions please!) at Sherborne International College, in 2011 and 2012. It was here that my running really progressed and training on the lanes around Sherborne led me to my sub 3 hour marathon in April 2012. The bike course was 2 laps of one of my popular marathon training routes, around the back of Sherborne Castle. It was great to have some familiarisation with the route and nice to relive some memories of that time.
There was a 1 mile long hill, tackled twice, on the bike course. My training runs never used to take me up this actual part of the road as there's no pavement and there's too much traffic, but I would often do my hill reps sessions on a wooded track that runs parallel to this road, so I was at least familiar with the length and gradient of the hill. I started conservatively as the hill came less than a mile into the 18.5 mile ride, so I didn't want to wreck my legs and lungs this early on, but, even with holding back, I found that I was picking off all the riders in front of me, many of them men. Over the two times of tackling the hill, I must have overtaken about 15 riders and I didn't get overtaken at all.... the descents, however, were a completely different story! The only people I managed to overhaul on the downhill sections were ladies on hybrid bikes taking it cautiously! It sure highlighted where I need to put the work in!!
Lack of cleats and £10 Aldi suit aside, I am almost starting to pass for someone who deserves the prefix 'tri' in front of their description!
Loving the bike course!
Last hill up into transition and I'm done!
I figured a 1h05m bike split for the hilly 30kms would be a feasible target, so I was shocked and thrilled when I rolled into T2 in just under the hour! I'd averaged 18.5mph! I've never even broken a 17mph average on a training ride on the flat before! Amazing what the combination of adrenaline and a competitive mindset can do for you!
The usual wibbly-wobblness in the legs as I headed out on the run soon worked out and I established a comfortable rhythm and my heart rate began to settle. The run route was a bit twisty-turny and convoluted – as most sprint tri 5k routes tend to be – but it did mean that there were plenty of opportunities for Matt to pop up and shout some encouragement at me... and to take photos! Again, the run route was on roads I was familiar with from my time in Sherborne and so I knew at the halfway point that I felt strong and in control and so it was safe to push on. I managed to pick a fair few people off on the run and didn't get overtaken myself, so it was reassuring that my legs can still react and perform well in this third discipline, even though I have been neglecting it a bit of late in favour of the bike and swim training.
Feeling strong on the run - good to finally have my running legs back!
Running under the finish gantry in the stunning setting of the Sherborne Girls' School playing fields, I stopped the clock at 1:31:36. My pre-race estimations had been for around the 1h40m mark, so I had smashed that! Woop! I had absolutely no idea of where this placed me in relation to everyone else, as, with the wave-start format, you have no way of knowing where the competition is at over the different disciplines. There is a real purity in this style of event as you have to approach the thing as a time-trial and go hard the whole way, which suits my style of racing as I am more than capable of pushing myself and motivating myself without the need of other athletes to work off. Nothing annoys me more than someone who uses me as a pacemaker the whole way only to burn me up at the end in a sprint finish as I have no kick to respond with!!
Running under the finish gantry: always a great moment to savour!
We had arranged to meet friends Wayne and Marie for lunch afterwards and so I wasn't sure whether it was worth hanging around for the presentation ceremony as I was pretty sure I wouldn't have placed as there were some seriously fit looking ladies on some seriously bling bikes out there. I thought I'd better check with the organisers before disappearing though, just in case I had managed to sneak my beak in and they told me that I'd definitely want to stick around for the presentations. It transpired that I had placed second lady and first in my age category, so I came away with two little trophies for my efforts! I was a good 5 minutes behind the first lady, who I recognised from a few running races, but I was a full 2 minutes clear of the third lady, so it was a hard-earned podium place this time, not just a lucky break!
Some triathlon bling to keep the running bling company in the trophy cab!
The tri season is very short in the UK due to our rubbish climate, but I'd like to sneak one more in before the end of the year and I'd like it to be an open water swim. I've proved to myself that I can deliver a decent enough performance in a lovely, warm, smooth-surfaced swimming pool, now I need to step up to the next level and wetsuit it on up: that brings a whole new set of challenges in itself! I have an event in mind... check back in September to hear how it turns out!
