As it was on the way home, I decided to register the
night before so to speed things up in the morning. It was a warm, calm
evening, and the water at Whitwell was like a mill-pond. Great I
thought, with a slightly cynical edge, hope it's like this tomorrow.
As always, the night was pretty sleepless, and I was up with the lark (actually before them). I stepped out into the garden to get a feel, and was welcomed by gusty cold winds and rain. Another typical Dambusters Tri day, cursed with bad weather.
After
a bowl of porridge, and a nice cuppa, I drove down nice and early miss
the traffic (1000 competitors means a lot of cars).
The wind was very blustery at Whitwell, making some lovely waves. Thankfully the water temperature had risen in the last couple of weeks, and was reported at 15/16C. After a race delay of 15 minutes (due to congestion getting through the automatic barriers) it was all systems go.
My age-group was now off at 7:45am
Bobs was off at 7:50am, and Louise and Julie's were off at 7:55am.
It
was a beach start, but was advised that you walk into the water, as the
start was shallow and stoney. I was amazed to see about 40 competitors
running along the side of the start along the shore, and getting 200m
start, not even going through the start buoys. I have one thing to say
to them (THAT'S CHEATING) you all know who you are!!!
It was nice to get out of the water, and it did seem like the air temperature had risen a little.
Us older competitors have a longer transition run than the young ones, just to give em a bit more of a chance, so off I go to the far field to get my steed.
"Star" was waiting for me, and certainly looked ready to go. Off we set into a Westerly head wind, the first 9 miles were a bit of a grind, head down, spin up the hills, keep the legs going.
The next 10 miles into Ketton were fab, tail wind directly behind, slightly downhill. That put the averages up.
A slog uphill then back to A606, and into the headwind again, through Empingham, and back to Whitwell.
Bike done, not too bad, should have eaten more, just had the one Gel.
"Star"
had done her job, now time for me to do mine. T2 was okay, but starting
off running was uncomfortable, terrible stomach ache, something I
hadn't experienced before. I thought it might be a lack of food, so I
took another Gel, but didn't finish it. After about 4k I started to feel
a little better, I could feel my feet, and my stomach cramps had gone.
The run coarse was a little different, no crossing the dam twice, just
straight through to Normanton church. Much better I think...
Anyway, as always, it was nice to see the finish line.
All in all, a good days out. Nice event only marred by the cheats at the swim start, oh and can we have nice weather next year please.
Times
http://www.pacesetterevents.com/dambuster-triathlon-live.php
Mark
As always, the night was pretty sleepless, and I was up with the lark (actually before them). I stepped out into the garden to get a feel, and was welcomed by gusty cold winds and rain. Another typical Dambusters Tri day, cursed with bad weather.
After
a bowl of porridge, and a nice cuppa, I drove down nice and early miss
the traffic (1000 competitors means a lot of cars). The wind was very blustery at Whitwell, making some lovely waves. Thankfully the water temperature had risen in the last couple of weeks, and was reported at 15/16C. After a race delay of 15 minutes (due to congestion getting through the automatic barriers) it was all systems go.
My age-group was now off at 7:45am
Bobs was off at 7:50am, and Louise and Julie's were off at 7:55am.
It
was a beach start, but was advised that you walk into the water, as the
start was shallow and stoney. I was amazed to see about 40 competitors
running along the side of the start along the shore, and getting 200m
start, not even going through the start buoys. I have one thing to say
to them (THAT'S CHEATING) you all know who you are!!!It was nice to get out of the water, and it did seem like the air temperature had risen a little.
Us older competitors have a longer transition run than the young ones, just to give em a bit more of a chance, so off I go to the far field to get my steed.
"Star" was waiting for me, and certainly looked ready to go. Off we set into a Westerly head wind, the first 9 miles were a bit of a grind, head down, spin up the hills, keep the legs going.
The next 10 miles into Ketton were fab, tail wind directly behind, slightly downhill. That put the averages up.
A slog uphill then back to A606, and into the headwind again, through Empingham, and back to Whitwell.
Bike done, not too bad, should have eaten more, just had the one Gel.
"Star"
had done her job, now time for me to do mine. T2 was okay, but starting
off running was uncomfortable, terrible stomach ache, something I
hadn't experienced before. I thought it might be a lack of food, so I
took another Gel, but didn't finish it. After about 4k I started to feel
a little better, I could feel my feet, and my stomach cramps had gone.
The run coarse was a little different, no crossing the dam twice, just
straight through to Normanton church. Much better I think...Anyway, as always, it was nice to see the finish line.
All in all, a good days out. Nice event only marred by the cheats at the swim start, oh and can we have nice weather next year please.
Times
http://www.pacesetterevents.com/dambuster-triathlon-live.php
Mark
