Last weekend (18th March), I took part in my
first duathlon at Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire. (Well, my first proper
duathlon – I had done one of N1’s summer series mini dus at Westpoint Arena
last summer, but these are low-key, training affairs, with about 15
participants – not quite on the scale of the 1000 entrants of this one!). I had
kept fairly quiet about my participation in this event as it was the first of
three qualification events for the GB age-group sprint duathlon team for the 2017
European championships and so I didn’t want to put added pressure on myself,
advertise it and then go there and be shit! For those of you not familiar with
how the GB age-group qualification system works – and without boring the pants
off you – here's a brief summary:
There are 20 available slots in each age-group. There are 3
qualifying events for each championship. You have to finish in the top 4 in
your age group at one of these events in order to secure guaranteed
qualification. The remaining 4 places are reserved for pre-qualified athletes
(who medalled at the same championships the previous year) and/or discretionary
/ roll down places for athletes who finish 5th / 6th in
an event but who are within 115% of the age-group winner’s finishing time. More
info for geeks here: http://www.britishtriathlon.org/ge-gb-teams/age-group/detail/2017-ETU-Sprint-Distance-Duathlon-European-Championships_5980
At Clumber Park there were two different events being held
concurrently; one was the standard distance (10k run, 40k bike 5k run), the
other the sprint (5k run, 20k bike, 2.5k run). Due to the fact that I am still
building up both my running mileage (after injury) and my biking mileage (after
the winter), I thought it was too early in the season to tackle the standard,
so I opted for the sprint. I should point out that in triathlon parlance the
word ‘sprint’ is somewhat erroneous, as you can’t go flat out for 7.5k of
running and 20k of cycling; there has to be some element of pacing involved. It
just signifies that it’s the shortest distance on offer comparatively.
There is a lot of commitment needed for an event such as
this. I had to enter well in advance, as the places soon sell out, and, for me,
this always carries with it the worry of entering, paying, getting injured,
being unable to compete, losing money. Unfortunately, due to insurance costs,
tris and dus aren’t cheap: we’re not talking turning up on the day and paying a
tenner here, like my running days of old! Also, none of the qualifying events
are in the southwest this year. This adds transport and accommodation costs into
the equation. When you also factor in that Matt, my supporter in chief, then
has to take holiday time from work, there is definitely added pressure for me
to make the trip count.
It had been a hectic week for Matt: he’d been in London all
day Tuesday for a conference, leaving the house at 5am, not getting home until
10:30pm; then on Wednesday he headed to Liverpool for one of his hospital
programme assessments. He stayed overnight then got the train to Alfreton on
Thursday, where I picked him up in the car Thursday night, having tackled my
own personal challenges in the shape of the M5, M42 and M1! To ensure we enjoyed
the weekend, regardless of the outcome of my race, we booked a lovely hotel
(the Maypole at Wellow, recommend it, check it out: http://www.maypoleinn.com/www.maypoleinn.com/HOME.html
)
Our hotel for 4 nights - the Maypole, at Wellow.
View of said maypole from our room, from whence its name is derived.
It was in a nice area, being just on the edge of Sherwood Forest. We decided to stay for 4
nights as, with the duathlon being on the Saturday, it meant we’d then have a
full day at the end to relax and explore. There was a moment of awkwardness
when I asked the lady at check-in if I could take my bike up to the room. I
asked out of courtesy more than anything, not imagining it to be a problem, but
her combined look of consternation and perplexity suggested otherwise. If in
doubt, call the manager, who then appeared in order to personally escort me out to my
car where he proceeded to inspect my bike for cleanliness by running his hands
around the entire circumference of both wheels. This activity was succeeded by
him inspecting his palms and announcing: Congratulations, you keep a very clean
bike, you may bring it in. (Oh, golly, thanks!) Fortunately he neglected to run
his hands over the oily chainset, or I’d have had to revert to my default line
of attack and proposition him that either Cannondale checks in with me, or we’ll
all be finding alternative accommodation! Mild annoyance that we had been allocated the
room upstairs, the furthest away from the main entrance, but luckily Cannondale
is light and rather mobile. He settled into his accommodation with ease.
I hope you are comfortable, Cannondale; I had a fight on my hands to get you in here!
Limekiln avenue - a lovely section of the bike course through Clumber Park.
This is part of the bike section – a long, tree-lined avenue
– and I was starting to get excited about the race. The bonus of the venue was
that it’s owned by my employer – the National Trust – meaning I avoided the £7
parking charge and managed to wangle cheap tea and coffee by flashing my staff
card!
Neither the bike nor the run routes were flat, but, given
the choice, I’d prefer that. My strengths in both disciplines definitely lie in
climbing and so the undulating course appealed. Crucially, the road surface
seemed clean, much to my relief, as my worst fear was spending all the time,
effort and money to get there, only for me to puncture on the bike: in a sprint
distance, that would mean game over.
Saturday morning came and it was a relatively civilised – by
triathlon standards! – wake-up call of 6:45am for me. The event was just a 15
minute drive from our hotel. I was one of the first people to arrive – I always
am, I hate to be rushed, it adds to the stress – and so I whizzed through
registration and racking in no time. One minor concern was that the ‘bike-out’
route from transition was over grass that was littered with fresh mole-hills. I
had visions of my cleats clogging up with mole-hill soil and being unable to
clip in! I spent some time figuring out a route that would avoid treading in
any!
It was a wave start format. I was in wave 4, starting at 8:51am,
along with all the female athletes for the sprint distance aged 30+ (the under
30s started 2 minutes earlier in wave 3). Off on the first run and one lady
shot off the front at speed whilst I tucked in to a group of about 5 or 6 other
females. A mile in and I had managed to pull ahead of all these females in this
pack and was making in-roads on the lady who went off (too) fast. I also started
to catch the stragglers of wave 3 and was steadily making progress, with my
first two mile splits being 6:13 and 6:15 respectively. At the turnaround I
caught the fast-starting lady from my wave and I arrived into T1 in the lead
after the first run. I was, however, under no illusions that I would be able to
sustain this lead once we departed on the bike! The run is by far my strongest
phase and so I needed to bank all the time I could on that.
On the first, 5k, run.
A far from perfect
but far from awful T1 done with and I was off on the bike. The first 4 miles
were predominantly downhill, so a nice easy start to establish rhythm, then we
left the parkland, swung a left onto the main road, and encountered our first
climb. This is where I started to overtake riders in front of me: getting out
of the saddle and dancing on the pedals is what I love to do and so I made sure
I got off the comfort of the tri bars and up onto the hoods to push every
climb. My weakness is definitely to be found in bike handling and in my lack of
nerve. Cornering, I would lose ground on the riders in front with my excessive
braking, lose my rhythm and have to work hard to get back in touch. On this
next section, which was a long, straight, undulating road, there was a strong
headwind. I found the going tough on here and got passed by a couple of ladies
who I recognised from my wave, but, of course, they could have been any age
from 30 to 60+, so without actually asking them as they flew past: ‘Excuse me,
are you in the 30-34 age group?’, you have no way of knowing what position you
are in within your category. I wasn’t aware of any other women coming past
though, so I felt that I must be doing ok.
Loving the bike!
Coming into Clumber Park at around the 9 mile point on the bike.
T2.
The second run - definitely not as comfy as the first! Thankfully only half the distance.
T2, the usual faff with shoes exacerbated by my fingers now
being semi-numb due to the cold wind / fingerless gloves combo, and out of
transition I go with a mere 2.5k of running left to do. 2.5k, half a parkrun, that’s
nothing…. except that just a few hundred meters in, I developed a horrendous
stitch. Stitch is not something I usually suffer from and, if ever I have, they
have been mild and have soon passed. This bugger wouldn’t shift. It was
particularly uncomfortable on the downhill sections and it slowed my pace
considerably: I usually run really well off the bike, not today. Maybe I took
on too much fluid on the bike? Maybe I was tense – try to relax (easier said
than done when you’re in pain!). I ran about 2k of this run holding my side
and/or wincing. Finally, as I mounted the last hill and turned towards the
finish, the stitch vanished, and so I was able to raise some kind of concerted push
for the line. My finish time: 1:08:23. Run 1: 19:10 (pleased with this, fastest
5k for a long while!), bike – 36:36 (meh, nothing to set the world on fire, but
I know my bike training has been pants over the winter, so I couldn’t really
ask for more), run 2 – 9:57 (given the stitch, not too shocking, but could
definitely have done better). T1 – 1:19, T2 – 1:20 (average).
Post-race pose! Glad it's done - now I can relax!
As the event was chip timed, you could get a print out of
your results there and then to see how you’d done position wise and so I hoped
it would tell me my position within my age-group. Unfortunately it did not, only
my overall position, so I didn’t know if I’d qualified or not. It was a
bitterly cold day and I was starting to shiver, hanging around outside, but I
was desperate to know if I had secured one of the GB places. Matt suggested
that if we wait for the prize-giving, they might announce the winners’ times,
then I would at least have an idea of how far behind the winner in my category I
was and whether or not I had a chance of having made the top 4. There was the
usual delay with the presentations and I was getting colder and colder and so
we were about to give up and leave, then the announcer came on the PA for the
prize-giving. When it got to my age-group, he announced, ‘And the winner of the
female 30-34 category, in a time of 1:08:23….’. My grey matter woke up and
said, ‘Hang on a minute, that’s my time!’, ‘…. is Ellie Dominey of N1 Tri Club’.
I honestly couldn’t believe it. I never in my wildest dreams would have gone
here expecting to win my category at the first (renowned for being the most
competitive as everyone wants to get qualification out of the way early), of
the three qualifying events. I was hoping to scrape in with a 3rd or
4th spot, but winning never crossed my radar. I actually started to
shake and cry with joy, I couldn’t believe it. (Even when I won Guernsey
Marathon I didn’t feel this shocked… I guess I’d had 26 miles out in the lead
to get used to the idea that that was happening there, but this one came as a
total shock). My prize? A fab trophy, a kit voucher for a Nottingham based tri
store and a 24 pack of lager. ‘Oooh, yeah, a decent prize’, exclaimed a joyous
looking Matt as he inspected the haul, shortly followed by a rather more deflated expression and: ‘Wait,
what’s this say? Alcohol free?! What’s all that about?!’ I guess they
discourage wannabe GB athletes from swilling alcohol before they represent
their country!!
With my prizes... the beer is alcohol free, much to Matt's consternation!
The day was topped off with a trip into Nottingham in the
afternoon as Exeter just happened to be playing away to Notts County…. and they
won, 4-1, their best performance of the season! Meanwhile, I went into the
city, spent my tri kit voucher (new over-shoes for the bike and wetsuit repair
kit), had coffee in Starbucks and watched the world go by. That night,
celebrating mine (oh and of course Exeter’s) win, we enjoyed a rather large meal
at the village pub opposite our hotel… and I enjoyed a couple of proseccos. The
alcohol free lager remained in the car.
Enjoying a delicious post-race meal in the local opposite our hotel - how much food?!
I would like to point out that I could not have achieved this
without the support of my amazing husband, with his unflappable, calming,
chilled-out presence. Both before the event by planning the hotels, the journey,
things to do on route, and during, by holding my bag, my water, my inhaler, my
number etc. as I dashed off for the 4th of 6 pre-race wees in the
bushes (sorry, Clumber Park, that my scent markings are now scattered all over
you…). But also, I could never have even contemplated entering something like
this without the support, encouragement and advice from my tri club, N1. Dennis
and Liz Elliott, in particular, have been amazing, especially considering that
this over-enthusiastic, over-loud, over-exuberant, but clueless newbie only
joined their ranks last August. Everyone in the club has been so welcoming, it
was great to be able to reward their faith in me with this victory. Thanks N1! Here’s
to a great year for the club. J
Afterwards, I enjoyed some time exploring the Peak District (above) and Sherwood Forest (below) with my number 1 husband and supporter :-) Thank you Mattie. xxx
