That is really my take on how this years Relay Championships went for me ! It was the third year in a row that I had competed in this event, and the second year in a row that I had teamed up with AJ, John and Mark - last years Horny Imps and this years newly named Imps return. In last years event we had finished in 4 hours and 9 minutes and had finished (albeit top) of the last page of results - this year we were a year older and a little faster so aimed to at least improve on last years rank.Perfect conditions greeted us at Holme Pierrepont (National Water Sports Centre and home of the Outlaw !) with little wind and overcast conditions. The previous days racing had seen a deluge and had nearly seen the event cancelled so we could count ourselves as very lucky ! We had plenty of time to get prepared, and the whole Lincoln Tri area was a very relaxed place to be with lots of catching up going on.....
At just after 10.00am we all pretty much on mass made our way down to the start and organised ourselves by trying best we could to pick the best stops to hand over our relay elastic band. At about 10.15 the first wave of swimmers were off and I made my way to the barrier to take my place and wait for John to come flying out of the swim for a handover.
Swim 11.49
I received the elastic band from John, turned on my heels, took a few strides and the pop ! Pain in the left calf, and I literally hobbled and plopped into the water. I was a mixture of angry and panicked on that first leg and as a result blew up very early on. I also drifted off course towards the centre of the lake which meant I got no draft and ended up zig zagging a bit to the bouy. Turned the bouy, settled down, made sure I didn't kick and swam well back to the transition to hand the band over to Mark - who could see there was summat wrong as a limped toward him !
In terms of the time it was OK all things considered and much better than last years diabolical 12.30 swim. I made my way back to the Lincoln Tri tent and as I did came across a physio tent who popped some ice on my leg and asked me to come back for a proper look after the bike leg.
Bike 23.54
I am absolutely made up with the bike leg considering the injury that I carried. I was able to sit and spin my way round, and also got into a comfortable position on the straights to avoid too much fidgeting.
The drawbacks were that I had to remain seated , I had to remain in lower gears than I am used to as any pressure bought on pain, and I wasn't able to stand and power out of the corners as I like to do - so that time astounded me and gives me great heart of what might be next year after recovery and a good winters preparation with the Wheelers as I make the step up to A group riding.
Run
Joking right - not a prayer !
AJ ran my leg and then his leg like a trojan to bring the team home in 3 hours 52 mins - an improvement of 17 minutes over last year and 111th place on the day - comfotably away from the last page of results !
My first DNF then technically, and an end to any immediate race plans. I will continue to swim and hopefully bike but running is out of the question - will check with the physio this week to confirm what I can and can't do ! Til next time .....
