Coach Roland, Melinda and I entered the Eton Dorney Triathlon. Coming back from holiday and then having 4 days until the triathlon was not a very good idea of mine but I am so glad I did. I really enjoyed the experience and the day.
The Triathlon consisted of:
1.5km swim
40km cycle
10km run
My experience of the day
I woke in the morning feeling okay (which I was surprised about, I thought I'd be a bag of nerves!)Melinda and I headed off together to the venue and when we arrived saw Roland zoom past on his bike a few times as his wave had already started. It was time for us to register, rack our bikes and listen out for our briefing. Luckily this didn't give me much time to get too nervous which was probably a good thing!
Briefing over, time to get into the water....OMG it was absolutely freezing!!! Thankfully we went off straight away so not much time to think about how cold it was. Saying that, I dont think I really warmed up the whole 2 laps. The swim felt good though, I took it easy and was lucky to not really be surrounded by anyone.
Once I approached the end of the swim trying to stand, my legs felt so heavy. This made my run to the bike a bit wobbly at the same time trying to get my wetsuit off. (I need to work on this!)
I got my bike shoes on and off I went.The course was 8 laps and I knew Melinda was not far behind me but going into lap 2 she zoomed right passed me saying " keep going only 7 more to go:)"
It did seem to take me forever but I managed to complete the 8 laps. Some parts of the course were straight into a head wind which was a challenge in itself.
When I got into transition I racked my bike as quick as possible and got my running trainers on and headed off. Again, my legs felt super heavy and I had pins and needles in my feet for about the first 20 minutes. Once I got into the run I was fine but I was glad to see the finish line.
It gave me a real high completing this triathlon and the pain was soon forgotten. Just a quick mention also, it was also really great to have the support from our buddies - thank you!! you know who you are:)
Happy to be finished
My Results
Position overall: 207 - 321
Position Female: 17 - 49
Swim: 30:07
T1: 2:34
Cycle: 1:28:01
T2: 1:39
Run: 48:57
Melinda's experience of the day
Well Kerry's wonderful idea to finish off the season saw me complete my second ever triathlon. After the 70.3 half ironman I felt this distance may be too short (fast!) for me, however I was pleasantly surprised at how challenging it was and how I did cross that line in one piece after a summer of more "relaxed training".
The swim was the usual bun fight and I took a kick to the ribs at the start which winded me & gave me a stitch thanks to some shallow breathing. That said, the swim was pleasant even the chilly temperature bearable once we got moving. Out of the swim and the comedy began with my T1 being a complete YouTube moment as my left foot was stuck in my suit and my side aching I just creased up which took me ages to get free. Coach Roland screaming "c'mon, let's move it Melinda" and other encouragement from behind really made me fight the suit and get the hell on my bike.
Ahhhh the bike :) my joy! I LOVE the bike, no doubt this is my strength. I had been working on my position on the TT bars so this course was ideal for me. Eight laps of steady cadence - pushing hard all the way but holding enough back so my legs could make that 10km run to the line. A nasty headwind which picked up on lap 3 grew steadily and slowed us all down somewhat on the outer stretch, that said I remember reading in Chrissie Wellington's book that she just eats the wind, loving it where her opponents hate it. I'm no Chrissie but it made me think about beating the wind rather than sitting up and giving into it like a lot of riders seemed to be doing. So it was head down, power on as best as I could and to lap 8 then T2.
Off bike, trainers on, grabbed gel and ran out listening to the announcement stating that I was in 2nd place and the woman in first was in view so there was now "a real race for positions". Hmmmm I saw her, I knew that if she was a weak runner like me I stood a chance but if she was a real runner I had no chance of catching her. Running down first stretch - confirmed she WAS a runner I had to let her go. Coach Roland shouting at me "let no other woman pass you" .... in my mind it was a crazy place (like always!)
"run light like a fairy", "walkers crisps", "headlights", "follow the helium balloon attached to my hips", "what are your arms doing", "where the hell is Kerry" .... yes I was troubled with my new running technique but with "keep the cadence high" also going round in my mind I ran on.
Last lap and Coach Roland still right there at the side with supportive commentary. The classic shout of the day "either eat those gels or drop them now". I had not realised that I was madly squeezing two gels I was never going to eat as I never eat on a run that distance!!
Gels in hand:-)
Gels thrown, last loop out and sprint back home across the line to finish 2nd in my age group. I was happy, taking tiny breathes as rib still aching but wow what a way to finish the season.
In the days since I realise that I am now hooked I think - I have analysed the data and question my race tactics of reserving some of my energy on the bike. If I hadve gone a bit harder and put a bit more distance between the woman who won and myself, would she have caught me on the run? I'll never know but what I do know is that I want to do it all again!! NUTS :)
Melinda's Results
Position overall: 168 - 321
Position Female: 13 - 49
Position 35 - 39 Female: 2 of 4
Swim: 31:33
T1: 2:18
Cycle: 1:19:28
T2: 1:10
Run: 49:32
Smiles all round :-)
