The day came around as always far too quick and I was not really prepared, my cycling is OK having been riding to work on a regular basis but my running was lacking and my open water swimming non existent!
I met up with Dave, Jennie and Nicky at registration on the Saturday and started to suss out the swim course, there were a lot of buoys in the lake but we soon discovered that the buoys were not for us and there were a number of sail boats that marked out our course. Once again this looked like a long distance to swim but not quite as daunting as the swim at The Outlaw when you couldn't see the turn from the start!
Having spent some time at the Park it was time to head off to the Hotel, duly checked in we were advised that the pub next door was not taking reservations until 8pm, so we headed off to find the nearest alternative, a Harvester a short drive away. This was also very busy but we opted to sit in the garden for our food as we needed to get fed quickly and waiting for a table inside seemed not the best option.
On returning to the hotel it was agreed that we needed to be at the start by 4.30 at the latest to give us time to get the bikes racked, kit sorted and get into our wetsuits on time for the swim start, this meant setting my alarm for 3.40am not something that I enjoyed!
The morning came around all too soon and we arrived at the site to get sorted, bikes racked and kit laid out in transition it was time to head to the swim start area, make use of the loos and get into our wetsuits. The swim went off in 4 waves, Dave and Jennie were in the 2nd, Nicky in the 3rd and I was in the 4th so I got to watch the others disappear into the water and then wait my turn.
My open water swim technique is absolutely appalling, I look like it's my first time at swimming lessons and not able to get my face in the water! I have mastered the art of swimming by breathing in to the side and then looking straight ahead. Not the best and I'm sure if I could master my fear of getting my face in the water when swimming in lakes I could reduce my time! on the plus side it does mean that I take the shortest route as I am always looking where I am going unlike other swimmers who zig-zag around me!
On exiting the swim it was a short run around the transition area to get to the entrance and find my bike, get my wetsuit off and my cycling gear on. Dave would later ask me if I stopped for a burger as I took such a long time! the truth was I was feeling a bit dizzy and following my exploits in Henley I wanted to take my time, well that's my excuse!
Once out on the bike I felt much better and soon settled into a rhythm passing quite a number of people on the road, my computer on my bars said I was averaging 19mph which I was quite happy with, then the 1 hill on the course arrived and my speed dropped to about 6mph going up it! after this though there was a rolling section that meant the next rise was easy due to the speed attained on the previous downhill section. The rest of the bike course was flat and fast, although it was 2 laps so that hill had to be tackled again later in the ride.
Some of the roads were a tad narrow and we rode along them both ways which meant that there were riders coming towards us as we tackled them and they really were only wide enough for 2 bikes! this meant that at some points I grabbed a rest as I waited behind other riders for the chance to pass.
For a non drafting event there seemed to be lots of people riding together, indeed at a couple of points on the ride it was like a peleton coming towards me!
At the end of the 2nd lap it was back in to transition and change from bike gear into running stuff and out for a 3 lap run. I just could not get going and my run time was disappointing. I started a bit of a leap frog session with Martin from Cardiff Tri Club and that helped but still I could just not run as fast as I wanted.
The marshals and spectators on the run were fantastic, I was wearing my running vest with my name on the front and at one point the marshal spotted this and whipped the group of spectators up around him to "Big it up for Andy" this they did almost deafening me as I ran through them, amazed at the boost that this gave me.
A little further on Dave's family spotted me and gave me a rousing cheer as I went past again a welcome boost!
At one of the feed stations I tried to eat a jaffa cake but should really have had a drink first as it just gummed up my mouth with the chocolate and sponge, still I had some water to wash it down with so all was well eventually.
Going into my last lap Martin ran away from me and out of sight, so much for my leap frog buddy I thought! further round the lap though he jumped out of a hedge and nearly scared the wits out of me! so we leapfrogged each other again for the rest of the lap encouraging each other to keep going. until the final straight when he ran away from me again.
I finished with the best sprint finish I could which was probably more like a fast jog, Nicky (having finished much earlier, winning her age group and being 3rd woman overall) her son and Dave's family were all there cheering me on as I headed down the finish chute. I had finished and about 30mins quicker than I had hoped for so with a bad swim and run my bike must have been quite good!
All in all the event was a great event, the location was fantastic and the marshals amazing. The course was a good course even with the narrow lanes!
The one aspect of the weekend that did put a damper on things was that the Help for Heroes team had 12 bikes nicked from their campsite on the Saturday night but like the true heroes they are they managed to borrow bikes to enable at least some of the team to compete. It was truly humbling to see the team complete the event and made me realise that although my run felt rubbish I had nothing to moan about really in comparison.
Thanks to everyone involved in running and marshaling the event as always without them we would not have the opportunity to take part.
Now I just have to get ready for Bolton in 5 weeks time, gulp!
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