The Dambuster Triathlon

It was a return to Rutland Water today, to compete in only my second only Olympic distance Triathlon - the first being the same race this time last year - so, a good opportunity to test my fitness with Austria just around the corner.

Swim 33.47

This was very choppy this year and because of this I had trouble breathing in the first part of the swim out into the lake. Indeed, I was not enjoying myself and was a bit miserable in truth - it also felt like I took a lot longer than last year - however it was just 6 seconds slower , so not too bad I suppose.

T1 - 4.24

Last year I cocked up T2 by losing the bike and this year I cocked up T1 by losing my bike so at least I'm consistent ! After finding the bike, I struggled to get both the wetsuit off and the bike jacket on - by the time I left I was in a stinking mood !

Bike - 1.27.02

Onto the bike and out into the wind - very glad that I took the extra time to put the jacket on. The tri-bars that I'd recently installed were working a treat and I was going at a good pace. Before I knew it I was at the ripple, but this seemed a lot easier to tackle this year which shows the benefit of all those miles on the road. At this point I remember smiling for the first time and thinking that actually things were not going so badly after all. The remainder of the bike was sensibly paced and I ended up finishing this section 6 minutes faster than last year.

T2 - 1.12

Having got the whole bike losing episode out of the way earlier on, I was able to relax and pull off a really good transition.

Run - 46.45

Last years run time was 55.11 which I thought was fast, but today - possibly because I'd had two rest days - my run was super quick and I had no problems keeping a faster pace. The Dam section was fun, keeping an eye on my Lincoln Tri clubmates who were catching me up, and having the weather alternate between heavy shower and hot sun !

In total 2.53.10 and 14 minutes quicker than last year - now to tackle Austria - Game On !!

3 weeks to go..

3 weeks today , I shall be in Austria, taking part in my first Ironman. I have been training for this in earnest since New Years Day, however I suppose I really started training for it the moment I went out for my very first run of 2009, when I managed to get about halfway around the block !

Going back to this years training, I have been following a 30 week plan by Don Fink - and week 27 has just been completed. The peak distances in each of the disciplines have now been reached : 3km done in open water, 18.6 miles run and today by riding out to Melton Mowbray from Lincoln that was 82 miles done and dusted, which I rode on my own to recreate the conditions that I will face in Austria where I can be no less than 10 metres between the next rider.

Its the start of the taper period now and after this week the schedule starts to lighten considerably with the idea being that by the time I get to the start line in 3 weeks time I'll be fresh and ready to tackle the challenge before me.

Next weekend is my final race before Ironman - the Dambuster at Rutland Water - an event that I did last year and hopefully a useful last training race.

Blenheim Triathlon 2011

Lets get this out of the way early doors – this is the best Triathlon I have ever done – both in terms of the experience and the setting. Yes, it cost £68 to enter, but in my opinion, it was worth every penny !

Friday
Being from Lincoln, we decided to make our way down to Oxfordshire on the Friday evening and I found a very cheap Travelodge at Cherwell Valley services that only set me back £19. The room was a little ‘skeffy’ and the people above had a dog trotting about for most of the evening, but for the price what could I expect ? Besides if anyone asks, we stayed in Cherwell Valley which sounds like the Welsh countryside to anyone not local !!

The day
We only had a half hour drive from our idyllic country hideaway to get to Blenheim Palace so we arrived in plenty of time. There was ample parking and we had the added benefit of being parked right next to the ugliest old tree in the car park, which was useful when I forgot to take Heidi’s spectator pass to the entry point and had to run back to the car (this theme would continue later in the day !). We had a good walk around the expo, and even managed not to buy anything which is a first – however, I decided to save it for the Ironman expo so it will get spent either way ! I took the bike into the massive transition area and then made my way 400m or so down to the swim start for my 12.20 off time.

The race
The swim – A floating start and time to get used to the water – that’s a first ! I positioned myself in the middle and towards the back of the pack and before I knew it we were off. The swim didn’t seem to go on for very long and I felt I swam well the whole way round thinking I was on for a 15 min swim – in the end the clock read 17.03 which is still my quickest 750m open water swim to date, but felt it could have been quicker.

T1 – Transitigeddon !!!!! Where to start – firstly, there is a mostly uphill 400m swim exit before you even get to transition, then when I got there I thought I’d pulled off a textbook transition only to find at the mount line that I’d forgotten to put on my race number, so it was dump the bike and dodge my way back up my bike aisle to retrieve it – this must have cost me nearly a minute all told – D’OH !! 5.09 in total and my slowest ever !
Bike – This was more like it – closed internal roads stretching around the stunning Blenheim estate, some ups, some downs and lots of bends making it ideal bike racing. There were that many racing at the same time that it was impossible not to draft at some point ! the first lap took 13.15, the second 13.20, but by the third lap my legs were beginning to cook and I was happy to pull into to T2 having posted a 40.26 split which was 277th out of 1831 finishers on the day. Two things that I am pleased I did – chose my TT bike over the normal roadie, because although technical in places, it was manageable and a lot faster, and then having the water bottle on it – it was absolutely baking on the bike and I could have been a real state by the time of the run if I hadn’t !

T2 – No worries this time – pretty much smoothly done , again size of the Transition area meant 1.41, but this was fast in comparison to the majority of the field.

Run – Straight out of transition, and straight up a bloody steep ramp which bridged over the bike course ! The route took you out around the lake for a two circuit run which had both uphills and downhills. Once out on the course, it was apparent just how warm it was and I had to settle for a pace slightly slower than I ran at Woodhall last weekend. Because of the roasting temperature, I took on a little water at each aid station, and just enjoyed running in such great surroundings. At 29.04 not a bad time for a 5.4km run in such conditions and an overall time of 1.33.21 was good enough to be 436th out of 1831 on the day and good enough to be in the top quarter of the field.

Do I recommend Blenheim ? Am I going back there next year ? A resounding ‘Yes’ on both counts.