So, my final hit out of the 2016 tri season happened last
weekend at the Roadford Relays. A team event with my club, N1, seemed like the
ideal way to end what has, on reflection, been a pretty decent first proper
season as a triathlete. The only issue: I was organising all our club’s team
entries – 6 teams in total; 24 triathletes – which was infinitely more
stressful than the actual taking part bit! I’m not sure how my suggesting that “it
might be a nice idea to do a relays event as a club” turned into me becoming
organiser-in-chief of said event, but, moral of the story, don’t suggest things
if you don’t want to be the person responsible for making it happen! Actually,
it wasn’t all that bad, but, inevitably, the stress levels rose as the day drew
closer and members started to casually mention that they “don’t have a wetsuit”
and they “have never swum in open water before”, or they “have a broken bike”,
or, the worst one, coming the night before the event, “tore a calf muscle out
running, can’t compete”. Thank goodness for the team spirit of the whole club
and the willingness of a couple of individuals to go around twice, ensuring
that we could close the 6 teams we entered.
Waiting for Anne in the change over zone, ready to receive the timing chip and start my leg.
Here I come!
Emerging from the water after what felt like the most comfortable open water swim I've experienced to date!
Now you see the sun, soon you won't! Variable weather conditions at Roadford!
The bike course suited me well: hilly! It was on the edge of
Dartmoor, so not a flat bit in sight (all apart from the short and sweet
section along the dam wall). I attacked all the hills and the 13km route seemed
to fly by in no time. The weather had been superb all week – unseasonably hot
for late September / early October – but not so today. Downpours on a Biblical
scale punctuated short, sunny spells, and, as I came back over the dam wall, a
hail shower. Yes – another hail shower, timed just for me to hit it on the most
exposed part of the course. At one stage I was actually struggling to see, the
hail was driving right into my eyes. But now, whenever I race, I just see it
that I survived two days of far worse at Slateman, so yes, I can cope with
anything else that mother nature has to throw at me! I call it my ‘post-slatemanist
slant’; it’s akin to a postmodernist slant whereby you arrive at a serene state
of acceptance as a result of having experienced the extremes. I believe it has only
served to toughen me up!
The run, well, the run course was weird. Very narrow, very
twisty, very slippery in places, very congested. I’m not fully running fit at
the moment, but that didn’t really matter on this course, as my pace was
dictated by the terrain and not by my fitness levels. I was pleased to post
what I think was the fastest female run split of the day and to give Helen, our
last leg athlete, a decent enough gap over a talented, former pro, triathlete
from a sponsored triathlon team. Helen held her off and N1 ladies claimed the
top female spot overall. The sponsored team, who finished three minutes behind
us, had two really quality athletes in their midst, but they didn’t have the
consistency that we did: we didn’t have a weak link. Yes, my swim was the
slowest (surprise surprise), but my run split made up for it; Cath’s bike was
amazing, Anne’s swim was as speedy as ever, and Helen was consistent across the
three: between the four of us, our overall times were very even. What a great
way to end what has been a great year with the club. Even the extreme rain
showers could not dampen the spirits and the cheering of us N1 gang. Joining
this club was the best decision I made as far as progressing with triathlon is
concerned.
Team Win / Team N1: Helen, Catherine, me and Anne.
