National Club Relays Championship 2014
August 23rd 2014
500m open water swim, 15km bike, 5 km run
Club Relays! - representing BRAT (Birmingham Running Athletics and Triathlon Club)
So different from a normal race. And my first dabble at proper training since my accident a month before.
The club relays involve teams of four competing in a swim-swim-swim-swim-bike-bike-bike-bike-run-run-run-run format. There are mixed, women's and men's categories, and I was competing in a mixed team. We decided to order our team so that I was second, and the two women were sandwiched by the men.
The start of my race would therefore involve receiving the rubber band (baton) from Andy, our first competitor. Not being familiar with my number one and three team mates, transitions could have proved a challenge, not helped by the face that everyone is wearing a black wetsuit... However, Andy found me fairly smoothly and I dashed to the water with the wristband on and ran in.
COLD! Ok, so I found out afterwards that the lake was 16 degrees. The last time I'd swum at Kingsbury it had been 20 degrees. Those four degrees make a big difference! I felt like someone had rewound the clock to May, when I could barely put my head in without going into panic mode. Thankfully since then I'd swotted up on an a few methods of dealing with the cold-shock, and went with the 'head out' approach for my first few strokes. After these I alternated head in and out and a couple of minutes in I was swimming normally(ish) albeit with fairly number hands and feet. Another contributing factor to my disastrous swim time was the shear volume of people. At one point I accidentally had a breast-stroker in a headlock! I end up taking a slightly wide line for some clear water, soon regretting this after a mouthful of weeds.
By the first of the two turn buoys I'd fairly well sorted out what was going on, but still flapped my way across to the second buoy. The last straight was slightly better and I clambered out onto the matting. Remembering not to remove my hat/goggles I pealed the band off (which I was relieved to still have as it had made a few escape attempts during the swim - yet another annoyance) and desperately shouting 'Becky' managed to find my number three and handover.
Unlike a normal sprint triathlon, I now had a good forty minutes to recover, change into my bike shoes and prepare for the next leg. Half an hour later found me waiting in spitting rain at some hay bales for Andy to dismount and handover the dratted band. This he duly did and I battled my way through the hoards of other waiting people to my helmet and bike, mounting fairly smoothly and setting off around the lake.
I quite enjoyed the bike. The surface was generally good, with a few bumps in places, and much wider than I'd remembered from rowing races. The right-angled corners weren't *too* bad, and being second on the bike I didn't have to negotiate any runners either. Head down I pedalled into the headwind on the returning straight counting one lap and trying to keep good pace for the next two. I could probably have happily put in a fourth lap which shows how pleasant I found it - a great relief after the swim.
Once handed over, I had an even longer 'T2' before my run lap. This I wasn't looking forward to so much, but I duly prepared by taking on some food and changing out of my soggy trisuit and into running kit. It was nice to be dry! By this stage in the race I was getting good at predicting where I needed to be and when, so was ready for Andy to appear right at the time I'd predicted. Re-banded, I set off on my final leg. I was surprised by the few mounds they'd managed to find around the lake, but thankfully these were all in the first kilometre (I wouldn't have been in the mood later). I had a pleasing first straight keeping a steady pace, and the cross at the top of the lake wasn't too bad either. Turning for the final time, I rediscovered the headwind however. Whereas on the bike this provided a challenging but almost exhilarating resistance, on the run it was no such fun. Ticking off the lake markers every 250 m was a slow process and I was sure relieved to pass onto Becky, who managed a flying lap in about 19 minutes.
Glad to be finished, I supported my team in the last run legs and watched Noel carry us through to the finish. We managed to do a time of 3:59.22, just sneaking under the four hours mark. This probably wasn't helped by my efforts, but as a team event it was great fun and something I'd do again.
Times
Total time: 1:06:29
Swim: 12:07
Bike: 28:37
Run: 25:45
500m open water swim, 15km bike, 5 km run
Club Relays! - representing BRAT (Birmingham Running Athletics and Triathlon Club)
So different from a normal race. And my first dabble at proper training since my accident a month before.
The club relays involve teams of four competing in a swim-swim-swim-swim-bike-bike-bike-bike-run-run-run-run format. There are mixed, women's and men's categories, and I was competing in a mixed team. We decided to order our team so that I was second, and the two women were sandwiched by the men.
The start of my race would therefore involve receiving the rubber band (baton) from Andy, our first competitor. Not being familiar with my number one and three team mates, transitions could have proved a challenge, not helped by the face that everyone is wearing a black wetsuit... However, Andy found me fairly smoothly and I dashed to the water with the wristband on and ran in.
COLD! Ok, so I found out afterwards that the lake was 16 degrees. The last time I'd swum at Kingsbury it had been 20 degrees. Those four degrees make a big difference! I felt like someone had rewound the clock to May, when I could barely put my head in without going into panic mode. Thankfully since then I'd swotted up on an a few methods of dealing with the cold-shock, and went with the 'head out' approach for my first few strokes. After these I alternated head in and out and a couple of minutes in I was swimming normally(ish) albeit with fairly number hands and feet. Another contributing factor to my disastrous swim time was the shear volume of people. At one point I accidentally had a breast-stroker in a headlock! I end up taking a slightly wide line for some clear water, soon regretting this after a mouthful of weeds.
By the first of the two turn buoys I'd fairly well sorted out what was going on, but still flapped my way across to the second buoy. The last straight was slightly better and I clambered out onto the matting. Remembering not to remove my hat/goggles I pealed the band off (which I was relieved to still have as it had made a few escape attempts during the swim - yet another annoyance) and desperately shouting 'Becky' managed to find my number three and handover.
Unlike a normal sprint triathlon, I now had a good forty minutes to recover, change into my bike shoes and prepare for the next leg. Half an hour later found me waiting in spitting rain at some hay bales for Andy to dismount and handover the dratted band. This he duly did and I battled my way through the hoards of other waiting people to my helmet and bike, mounting fairly smoothly and setting off around the lake.
I quite enjoyed the bike. The surface was generally good, with a few bumps in places, and much wider than I'd remembered from rowing races. The right-angled corners weren't *too* bad, and being second on the bike I didn't have to negotiate any runners either. Head down I pedalled into the headwind on the returning straight counting one lap and trying to keep good pace for the next two. I could probably have happily put in a fourth lap which shows how pleasant I found it - a great relief after the swim.
Once handed over, I had an even longer 'T2' before my run lap. This I wasn't looking forward to so much, but I duly prepared by taking on some food and changing out of my soggy trisuit and into running kit. It was nice to be dry! By this stage in the race I was getting good at predicting where I needed to be and when, so was ready for Andy to appear right at the time I'd predicted. Re-banded, I set off on my final leg. I was surprised by the few mounds they'd managed to find around the lake, but thankfully these were all in the first kilometre (I wouldn't have been in the mood later). I had a pleasing first straight keeping a steady pace, and the cross at the top of the lake wasn't too bad either. Turning for the final time, I rediscovered the headwind however. Whereas on the bike this provided a challenging but almost exhilarating resistance, on the run it was no such fun. Ticking off the lake markers every 250 m was a slow process and I was sure relieved to pass onto Becky, who managed a flying lap in about 19 minutes.
Glad to be finished, I supported my team in the last run legs and watched Noel carry us through to the finish. We managed to do a time of 3:59.22, just sneaking under the four hours mark. This probably wasn't helped by my efforts, but as a team event it was great fun and something I'd do again.
Times
Total time: 1:06:29
Swim: 12:07
Bike: 28:37
Run: 25:45
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