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Tewkesbury Triathlon 2009
May. 17th, 2009 10:31 pmI can see why Tewkesbury floods - it rains all the time! Despite it being lovely weather for ducks I managed a storming 1:21:45 PB, about which I am ragingly stoked. The splits aren't out yet, so I can't tell if it was a funny course or pure mojo.
The swim - 400m, pool - was grim. Tewks Tri run the lanes on predicted times, slowest first, so absolutely everyone first swims up the arse of the slower guys finishing off, then gets their own arse swum up by the faster guys starting after them. Bonkers, and lots of traffic -- though the system does mean that the race as a whole is more time-compact and finishers come in fast and furious. Anyhoo, I overheated and grimaced through it.
T1's planned glory encountered the T1 Brane: I ran into the wrong aisle of bikes, found the bike with my style of aero bottle, and stared at it angrily for daring to be the wrong bike. Silly bike! Then the lightbulb went off. Bike identified, T1 was executed with brilliance and aplomb. Mostly. There was the number belt faff to consider.
The bike was gruelling stuff, a headwind the whole way. One of my shoes misbehaved and I had to stop and fuss it, and while I was doing that, #48 came hooning past. I'd already tagged her as being rather lovely (clever, nice, great arms - le sigh) so when she passed me on the bike, that was it: the dog had seen the rabbit and I had something to chase. And chase. And chase! The routine of deep-tuck during the exposed bits and sit-up-to-stretch when a hill took the speed off worked well, and then at about 9 miles in, something weird happened.
I got lungs 2.0. All of a sudden my lungs opened up way, way deeper than usual - and that meant that at last I was able to really gurn it and get a real snot up. I've missed that feeling so much; it's not been like this for a couple of years. So, there I am, belly-breathing like Ullrich with lungs that go down into my thighs, past #48 with a cheery hello, and slacking the shoes before T2.
T2, at least, was seamless. Feet out of the shoes and on top of them in the final half-kilometre, off bike, run in, bish bosh job's a good'un.
The run was... not easy, but not hard; two laps over grass round the Abbey grounds. All that lung meant that I could run at the limit of my legs, so I did (the legs in question doubtless under-trained and over-loaded). For once two laps suited my mood, and the rain was just nice. I lost places as usual, and of course #48 came wooshing past. After finishing I was pretty bokey, but the run was steady and strong.
I can't wait to see the splits. The bike was long - 24km - and there's a rumour that the run was a bit short.
The marshalls were excellent. Kudos to you all for controlling traffic, waving arms and all that good race-marshall stuff in the hideous drench. It was greatly appreciated.
Next stop: Burnham!
The swim - 400m, pool - was grim. Tewks Tri run the lanes on predicted times, slowest first, so absolutely everyone first swims up the arse of the slower guys finishing off, then gets their own arse swum up by the faster guys starting after them. Bonkers, and lots of traffic -- though the system does mean that the race as a whole is more time-compact and finishers come in fast and furious. Anyhoo, I overheated and grimaced through it.
T1's planned glory encountered the T1 Brane: I ran into the wrong aisle of bikes, found the bike with my style of aero bottle, and stared at it angrily for daring to be the wrong bike. Silly bike! Then the lightbulb went off. Bike identified, T1 was executed with brilliance and aplomb. Mostly. There was the number belt faff to consider.
The bike was gruelling stuff, a headwind the whole way. One of my shoes misbehaved and I had to stop and fuss it, and while I was doing that, #48 came hooning past. I'd already tagged her as being rather lovely (clever, nice, great arms - le sigh) so when she passed me on the bike, that was it: the dog had seen the rabbit and I had something to chase. And chase. And chase! The routine of deep-tuck during the exposed bits and sit-up-to-stretch when a hill took the speed off worked well, and then at about 9 miles in, something weird happened.
I got lungs 2.0. All of a sudden my lungs opened up way, way deeper than usual - and that meant that at last I was able to really gurn it and get a real snot up. I've missed that feeling so much; it's not been like this for a couple of years. So, there I am, belly-breathing like Ullrich with lungs that go down into my thighs, past #48 with a cheery hello, and slacking the shoes before T2.
T2, at least, was seamless. Feet out of the shoes and on top of them in the final half-kilometre, off bike, run in, bish bosh job's a good'un.
The run was... not easy, but not hard; two laps over grass round the Abbey grounds. All that lung meant that I could run at the limit of my legs, so I did (the legs in question doubtless under-trained and over-loaded). For once two laps suited my mood, and the rain was just nice. I lost places as usual, and of course #48 came wooshing past. After finishing I was pretty bokey, but the run was steady and strong.
I can't wait to see the splits. The bike was long - 24km - and there's a rumour that the run was a bit short.
The marshalls were excellent. Kudos to you all for controlling traffic, waving arms and all that good race-marshall stuff in the hideous drench. It was greatly appreciated.
Next stop: Burnham!
