Grendon tri - race report

As I mentioned before, I'd had a busy week. I'd not had time to get nervous about Grendon. Strange, as I had thrown my £10 in the BTF aiming to qualify for the 2014 European champs. Whilst I knew getting in the top 4 of my AG would be very tough, I was aiming for the sub 120% of AG winner time. This would put me in the rolldown list.

Kit was packed up the night before. I was picked up my some club members at 0530, and the journey up was uneventful. Registered, racked and ready to go. Last minute toilet stop, then wetsuit on.

Swim - 750 m
I was in the green-hat wave: M35-39 & M40-44. We got into the lake and had a few minutes warmup, then were called back to the start line. The water was very cold, but the warm up helped to control the breathing. Plenty of face splashes to get used to the cold!

Once the hooter went there was some biff, but not too bad. Managed to get on to some good feet and sighted towards a pylon in the distance. Got to the first buoy, assuming it to be about the 350m point. We had been instructed to turn 3/4 of the buoy then head towards the fallen-over orange buoy. It was hard to see and certainly not 3/4 of the way round the first buoy. At some point between the two buoys I was caught in a gap; the front swimmers had moved ahead and I'd pulled away from the group behind, but not as much as the people following. In short, no drafting! At the final turn buoy we went round and I picked up the exit arch in the distance, with the sun shining in to my eyes. Kept plugging away and the swim seemed to go on and on and on. Finally to the exit ramp and then out on to the matting. A long run of a couple of hundred meters to T1 followed. Including run 16:57 unsure what the actual swim time was.

T1
I knew with the long run that the water would drain from the wetsuit. This often gives the opportunity to get rid of the suit by the lake then run, rather than de-suiting in T1. I chose to go to T1. Of course, my suit got stuck (despite having removed inches of leg from the suit last year). Once I was out of my suit I put my helmet on, grabbed the bike and ran to the mount line. 1:30 shocking.

Bike - 23 km
Elastic band trick worked well.
The road out of Grendon lakes had many sharp speed bumps, so took it easy. On to the main road and up the first hill. Immediately I felt like I had nothing to give. My legs felt tired. I remained positive in my mind but was definitely struggling. A few downhill and downwind sections made me feel a bit better but ultimately I wasn't on form. It was also unusual to ride in sunny and warm conditions. I had pre-empted this and had a bottle on the bike. Not for drinking during the ride, but for the beginning and end, to save time drinking in T1 and T2. Average Power 245 W.
A depressing 42:33.

T2
LuckilyT2 was a bit swifter. My new ASICS race shoes came with their own elastic laces which I used in preference to the ones I had used many times before. I struggled to get my feet in to my trainers quickly, but got them in, grabbed pirate visor and off I went. A glacial 1:03.

Run - 5 km
The run course was a 2 lapper. Out from T2 past the lake to a pylon, then back diverting past another lake, then through the finish area to restart. The surface ranged from tarmac to gravel to stones to grass. Very interesting. The loop by the second lake also had a lump in it. After the usual jelly legs I got in to a good pace. Of course I knew that I wasn't going to qualify but still aimed to hit the 120% time. Even so, the body once again failed to react. I did manage a final sprint to the line. Run time a leisurely 22:47.

All in for 1:24:52. Was aiming for something a tad faster, Safe to say I missed the 120% time.

Reflection
The event, course and organisation were great. I cannot fault that at all, it was really good.
So was sitting in the car for 1000 miles the week before beneficial? We all have to work. Was I fully recovered from the 8 days in California challenge? Was running 3 times in the past 4 weeks ideal (one of which was a poor 10km race)? The lack of adrenaline and nervousness the week before and the day before are interesting.

So onwards and upwards. Swimming won't improve too much, but let's stay regular. Running off the bike must improve and I think some rest and easy cycling will solve the bike problems. Let's build towards Bristol tri in June, and then the duathlon qualifiers at the end of the year.

Think positive.