Allerthorpe Sprint Triathlon - June 2008
I wasn't looking forward to this race very much in the few days beforehand, for quite a few different reasons. I was nervous because it was a race that I hadn't done before and so I didn't know what to expect, I was also nervous because I haven't managed to fit in much open water training this year, I've been for a proper swim at Pugneys only twice - I've been in with April and down there on spotting duty, but neither of those will have helped my swimming. The other problem was that I'd rather lost the plot in the week, I wasn't too happy at work and I'd been struggling to get out and train, or indeed to do anything much. I also had been eating far too much rubbish, again because I was cheesed off with things. Then, just to really ensure I felt less than positive about things, the weather forecast on Saturday night was distinctly worrying. There were severe weather warnings for lots of rain and gales, althought York was on the outer edge of the area likely to be affected.
Anyway, enough of my pessimistic build up. I did get up out of bed and get myself organised to go. Let me say right now, I'm very, very glad that I did. This race is quite handy for us, it wasn't at all stressful to get to, the distance was fine, it didn't take too long and it was easy to find - a good start to proceedings. Having left home under unpleasantly threatening skies, it was a relief to only be greeted by wind when we reached Allerthorpe Lakeland Park, just outside York. The venue isn't all that big and it was easy to find out where I should be. I was quickly registered and had my bike racked and my stuff laid out in transition. I met another couple of members of Wakefield Tri Club, I'm surprised there weren't more for such a handy race - then again it clashed with a summer series sprint at Pugneys. There was a full and clear race briefing which began half an hour before the race, I felt quite a bit better about things then. They made things a lot clearer, particularly the swim route which I had thought looked really complicated when I looked at it on the websiter prior to going.
The swim was 750m in the lake in the park. It was a reasonably pleasant place to swim, cold, of course, when I first got in, but it soon felt fine. We were given time before the start to get into the lake and warm up a little. I did so and I think it helped, I got over the cold head bit and getting cold water into the suit. Also, just swimming about a bit reminded me that I can so swim open water and I didn't need to worry about it. I was slightly concerned by the number of weeds near the shore, but soon realised that they wouldn't be a problem once we'd moved away from the shallower water. We were then all called out of the water to await instructions to re-enter it for the start. This was where I didn't quite get things right. I wouldn't have chosen to begin the swim at the back, but I didn't realise just how quickly we were going to be set off. I was taken somewhat unawares and go was called while I was still trying to wade in. I bleeped my watch on to record my time and got on with it. Apart from a coming together at the beginning of the swim, things went pretty well. I got bashed on the ear by another competitotr, it's always difficult when everybody's bunched up at the start like that. What I was pleased about in all that was that I didn't let it get to me. It didn't make me panic, I took a deep breath (see Daniel's well timed photo!) and simply got on with doing my own thing. The swim course was easy to follow once I was in the water too - we had to head around the three larger buoys first and they were very easy to spot. Also there was excellent water cover and there were people in canoes near every turn to ensure that we got it right. Once around the three larger buoys it was simply a case of following the smaller ones around the perimeter of the lake. I was able to keep an eye on where I was going at all times and felt confident that I was swimming smoothly and going in the right direction. On the homeward straight there was a quite a bit of choppy water, I need to practice NPSB in open water, I've been practising it in the pool but found that I couldn't sight properly on that side. Definitely a note to take and something to try out if I get a chance to swim at Pugneys again anytime soon. In the end I actually enjoyed the swim and came out feeling pretty good about it all. I was credited a time of 14:38, a whole 3 seconds faster than my previous PB for that distance.
The run to transition was great, on a carpet and then grass. I was disappointed to see that my watch wasn't timing me, I think it maybe got knocked in my bit of a crash at the start of the swim. My transition went okay, although I did end up falling on my bum in trying to get my legs out of my wetsuit! Despite that and getting my pedal caught on my transition box when attempting to get it down from the racking, I got things done in reasonable time. The run out seemed quite long but the reasons for it were good, there was quite a long section on a carpet over very stony ground, it was hard to run on it in bike shoes, it wouldn't have been fun to try and ride on it.
The bike course was 20K and in some very lovely scenery. On a less windy day I would have been able to admire it as I cycled along. The course was very flat, the flattest I've ever encoutered and would certainly yield very fast times. This is especially true as the road surfaces are so smooth in most places, not what you'd expect from country roads at all. I enjoyed the bike but did feel that I was battling the wind most of the time. I did try to get down on the tri bars and had an unpleasant experience of the whole bike being moved bodily sideways by a gust of wind, I heard the tyres scrape across the road. That gave me a bit of a scare and it was a wee while before I got down on the bars again. The course was well marshalled and signed and I enjoyed it, regardless of the efforts of the wind. I need some sunglasses that wrap around my face a bit more though. At one point I had grit under both of my contact lenses and was practically riding with my eyes shut while they streamed and complained - not the best of ideas! Anyway, I got there and completed the 20K in 43:16, my best ever time over that distance! That shows what a great PB course this would be in more friendly weather! I was well chuffed with that.
Out onto the run a few things were coming home to roost. My legs felt tired, partly due to the extra effort I'd put out on the bike to counteract the wind and partly because I've not eaten as well as I should have in the last week and that always tells in my running. The 5K consisted mostly of an out and back on roads with one circuit of the lake at the end. I had to give myself a talking to in order to get my legs turning over properly. I consciously loosened things off as I'd gone out of transition taking too small strides and letting things get tense. I continued to think about what things were like as I ran and was hoping I could get in under 30 minutes. I know that's not an exciting time, but at least it would mean that I hadn't lost the plot too much on the running front. My cheering crew were there for me again today and that really helped too, as I was finishing the run and going around the lake I could hear Ryan yelling for ages before I could see him - a good spur on for my tired legs. Thanks guys for your support. When I was nearing the end I was fairly sure that I was around the 30 minute mark, but I couldn't be sure as I was looking at the actual time on my watch rather than my race time. In the end I completed the 5K in 29:12, a result I was very pleased with.
A nice touch at the finish was the melon slices they were giving out, I found that far more palatable than a banana, although they had those available too. I really enjoyed the race, the wind made it harder, but the course was good, the organisation was good and it was fun to be out there and doing something. I'm really glad I made myself get out there and I'd love to do this race again. In fact, this is so much the case that I've decided to change my second Olympic distance race of the year from Blithfield to here - it's so much nearer, easier to get to and that's a major consideration in these days of such high fuel prices, and today was a great race. I'll be happy to race here again in August. Oh, and my finishing time? I completed the whole race in 1:27:06. A pretty respectable time I reckon. I'm pleased with it anyway and really, that's all that matters.
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