Photo courtesy of Dawlish Warren Life Saving Club. We had more fog to contend with on the day.
1,500m swim, 40k bike, 10k run.
7th fundraising event of 8 for St Lukes and Jeremiah's Journey. http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/StephenDilley
The beauty of multisport events is that it's easier to train more frequently than a single discipline, as you exercise different muscle groups. Consequently, I know triathletes who train 6-9 times a week. The downside to this is when you scale it back, as you should for a race week, you wonder if you are training enough (crazy as though that may sound) but I stick to my guns and ease off in the lead up to the big day.
This race means a lot. It's the only triathlon I've entered this year and after months and hours of training, I want to get it right. I spend a while studying the race briefing and the course.
Mornings are getting darker and at 5am on a Sunday, the sun's sensibly having a lie in. What we do for our sport, but I need to get up early to get some porridge down me to fuel up for today's challenge, plus Dawlish Warren is a decent drive from home and I need to register and set up my paraphernalia. Just look at the kit list:
- Tri suit (leaves nothing to the imagination. Shouldn't really be worn in public);
- Goggles (sprayed with de-mister) & spares in case they snap;
- Wetsuit (hole hastily glued up the night before);
- Nice thick swim hat (not sure why I bother, we'll be supplied a thin one for the race which I'll feel obliged to wear);
- Bike;
- 2 energy gels attached to bike with electrical tape;
- Spare energy gels and bar for before and after;
- Water bottle for bike leg;
- Bottle of energy drink for bike leg;
- Spare water for afterwards;
- Helmet;
- Sunglasses;
- Rear bike light (in case of poor visibility - came in handy);
- Track pump (I took this with me even though I'd checked my tyre pressure the night before. Why?);
- Hand towel (for standing on in T1. Sprinkled with talcum powder so I could dry out quicker.);
- Socks (with added talc);
- Cycling shoes (also sprinkled liberally with talc to reduce chafing. By this stage, my wife was frowning at the smell in our bedroom and had pointedly opened the window. Had to explain how talcum powder was my best friend and then retreat to lounge to finish sprinkling it in my shoes);
- Running shoes - ditto;
- Race belt;
- GPS watch;
- Spray on lubricant (helps wetsuit come off quicker in transition and reduces chafing);
- Headtorch (it'll still be dark when I arrive to register);
- Green tub to put the above stuff in;
- ipod for car (got to get into "the zone" on the way there); and
- Pen (to write my emergency contact details on the back of my race number. There's a comforting thought).
Really, you'd think triathlons were better suited to octopuses.
Upon arrival, marshal glances at my bike on the car roof. The main car park is on the far side of a tunnel through a low railway bridge. He tells me I won't make it. I park in the overflow, means more tooing and froing with said kit. Doh! At least I'm not alone in that.
I glance around the car park and see some highly tuned TT bikes with aero bling and idly ponder if there is room for another bike in our garage (as I have a regular road bike) and at what stage I'd lose all credibility with family members if another bike appeared. Could I pretend it was on long term loan from a friend who never turned up to collect it? Hmm.
Registration. Collect a nice bag housing a sealed envelope containing timing chip, instructions, sticky race number for swim cap, race number for bike/run, drawstring bag, finishers t-shirt, leaflets advertising more races, bike servicing and sponsors and energy bars. Move down line. Mars Bar and banana go into bag. Another energy bar added too. Good job I came alone, not sure the car would have had enough room otherwise for my burgeoning collection.
Go back to car. Use pen to punch hole in race number so it will attach to race belt. Wish chap who parked next to me doing the race good luck. Collect all the bumf. Off to transition. Rack my bike and lay all the kit out. What order? Towel at front, sunglasses, arms open in helmet. Helmet on tri belt. Tri belt on cycling shoes (I'm not skilled enough yet to start with shoes attached to my bike). Hope the neighboring competitor doesn't knock over my little tower. Kit layout is unashamedly precise. There seems no point wasting a few minutes gained on the swim or the bike by losing race positions during transition. It's an easy win.
Transition, photo courtesy of Mick Brian
Back to car and squeeze on wetsuit. Shoes off and at this point a gap in my training becomes apparent. Should have done more barefoot practice as I am now shoeless. Ouch.
See friends: Dave; Richard; Bev; Luke; Terry; Julian and Matt. Hats off to Terry and Richard who are braving it out despite injuries which won't help their run. Obligatory loo stops. Field assembles for the race briefing. Race director defers start for 15 minutes to allow sea mist to clear. We troop over to the beach.
Members of Plymouth Tri club planning their route through the fog. Photo courtesy of Matt Rayment.
I have a wetsuit that zips downwards instead of upwards to close (it's quicker to remove in transition), but this, combined with my shameful lack of flexibility, means I ask Richard to zip me in and rightly take some ridicule.
At first I can't see which buoys we will need to swim around. Then the near one comes into view. Marshals assemble on the beach. Mini conference and they sensibly decide that since their motor boats couldn't find the farthest buoys, we wouldn't stand much chance. The swim course will be shortened to 600 metres. That will make the pace of the swim more frantic than I'd like, but at least the sea is calm.
I am in the first swim wave and we line up. Some giant jellyfish splatter the beach and we need to avoid slipping on them in the rush to the sea. (That would look very Frank Spencer).
The Marshall shouts "Oggy! Oggy! Oggy!" and we respond. We're psyched up and the stage is set.
Off we go.
The rest is now history. A great fast paced race, with a dramatic finish: I got overtaken 50m before the end, but pulled it back on the finish line in an ungainly sprint. It was superbly well organised by Dawlish Triathlon.
The splits:
Swim 11:20
T1 3:14
Bike 1:20:50
T2 0:42
Run 42:23
Total 2:18:32
Overall 45, (24th in my category).
I cross the line at last.
My friend Dave looking strong on the run.
Much later, I arrive home. My wife Rachel has looked after our 3 year old Tom all morning and is tired. They've had great fun at the village dog show. I may have done a triathlon, but in terms of energy expenditure, I probably got the easier end of the draw. Now time for dad duties.
