New Forest Triathlon

[andygates]

I'm happy to report that the New Forest tri passed off without woe or catastrophe, and a PB of 2:50:20 ish, about 2:30 up on last year.  In fact it was a PB-fest all round.  But not without event...

The lake had been threatening to be Baltic - swim-cancellingly Baltic - so it was a nice surprise to see it warm enough for the full swim.  To stop people hanging around in the cold, it was a mass start!  I let them all bugger off into the distance, finding my rhythm and chewing along in reasonably good order (albeit at the back of the pack).  Somewhere along the way I sussed that aiming for the right of each buoy meant that my natural veer left was neutralised, and I miscounted the buoys too so got a nice boost with only one to go instead of two when I was starting to tire (and go floppy).  This was also the first open-water swim where a safety boat hasn't asked if I was okay.  Result. 

T1 was solid.  The new wetsuit (Ironman Instinct) its much better so it is much easier to remove.  Bish bosh, and off we jolly well go.

The bike was curious.  Because it was a mass start, I was keen to take as many places as possible, which meant that I got chase-blind.  I wasn't so much riding a time-trial as a series of chase-down pursuits.  This was expensive - lots of time on the aero bars, lots of Ullrich high-power gurning, and I was feeling it in my back and hamstrings as well as not drinking as much as I usually do.  I decided to take the risk that the run might be ugly.

T2 was nothing to write home about, again, solid.  No socks, lots of talc. 

The run, ah.  Yes.  First kilo was a really horrible shuffle.  Munky didn't do any bricks, did he?  No.  Munky paid for that.  But there was worse to come... all that muscling around on the aerobars left my lower back and hips really unhappy.  There was a *lot* of walking to stretch out a really painful back.  Every hill was a brute.  Yes kids, maxing out on the bike is bad, hm'kay?  In a sprint maybe, but not at this distance.  The last mile or so had me checking my watch and putting down the hammer to try for under 2:50.  Just missed it, just, because the hips went again and I had to speedwalk the very last rise, then charged down into the finish at MHR puker intensity. 

The times aren't out yet, nor are any official photos, but I'm guessing that the swim will be about a minute faster, the bike will be faster than before by a good chunk, and the run ver' slow indeed.  Plenty of TriTalk folks in attendance and a couple of Exeter Tri bodies as well, so good craic.

Lessons learned:  Bricks and more run training, silly Munky.  Do not get chase-blind on the bike.  Aim to the right of the buoys.

Comments

[fialta.livejournal.com]

Well done! What is chase-blind?

[ehutch.livejournal.com]

How are you doing now? Extremely tired here and war wounds sore. Sleep cometh soon. Fallen off your new toy yet?

[arabis.livejournal.com]

Congratulations - especially on the stronger swim!

[ravenbait.livejournal.com]

Further congratulations.

I must now go and incubate my phone again.

[despaer.livejournal.com]

I have a theory that the swim might well have got shortened is they had taken the temperature from the middle of the lake not the side. The temperature was supposedly the same as last year only this year I couldn't put my head into the water for more than about 5 seconds in the netire swim and my vision was going weird by half way. I think a cap or a cowl may well be called for (since I am unashamedly a wuss wioth cold water).

Having said that, the whole event is lovely. Gorgeous lake to swim in, lovely bike on (mostly) quiet roads round the new forest and a run partly on quiet roads and partly on firm tracks in same said forest. Can't be beat.