I was not expecting anything from Huntly Sprint Triathlon. In fact if I was in any sort of race shape I shouldn't even have been racing here, but at the Scottish Sprint Champs in Monikie instead. If I was in any worse shape I would have stayed home and watched the Grand Prix, Wimbledon final and Tour de France.
Saturday night I did a bit of rollering, which just served to remind me of quite how many aches and pains I am carrying at the minute. And I checked the BBC weather which predicted some light showers for the early starters but heavy rain by the time my heat will be starting. I decided that at least the 16deg forecast meant it would be warm rain. I did consider packing the road bike instead just because it handles and stops better when it is wet.
I woke up on Sunday and nearly fell over as I got out of bed. Overnight my right calf had cramped up and was in a terrible state. I hobbled down the stairs and got the roller out to try and free it up but made almost no impression. I decided to go and race anyway, but at this point I was fairly solidly committed to just taking it as a training session rather than a serious race.
I got there in plenty of time and racked up and sorted all my gear and had plenty of time to chat to a lot of the other racers. After the briefing I still had two hours before my heat so I jogged round to Tesco to get some food. My quad and both calves were screaming at me as I started but as I warmed up they eased off. By the end of the 9 minute mile to Tesco I actually felt quite comfortable. But not comfortable enough to run back as well, so I took my time to walk back.
As Heat 3 came out of the pool the promised rain finally arrived and I decided to head inside rather than get wet early. This meant I was on poolside nearly an hour before my heat but as with most triathlons there was plenty of friendly chatting going and watching the earlier heats.
Once my heat was ready I realised I was seeded as the 7th fastest swimmer. And for about 2 seconds I thought about actually racing hard to see if I could get a podium spot. My warm-up tumble turn changed that plan though as my quad objected to the push out of the turn. As the race started I pushed the first length but that tumble was also very painful and I had to abandon them. I tried a touch and a single-leg push-off for the second turn and that was pain-free so I decided to stick with that. This was going to kill my swim time but it would get me round.
The rest of the swim was pretty terrible. One of the guys I wanted to be racing was out of the water while I still had 200m of my 750m still to swim. Another one in my lane lapped me twice, when our last race I lapped him. I was out of the water in 13:45, a minute and a half down on my planned swim time.
I then passed 3 people in T1 and got out on to the bike nicely. The light rain had turned into a fairly heavy shower now and that made the bike handling a bit nervous. I struggled to get my feet into the shoes, but once they were in I felt quite good. Just I was a bit nervous with the handling on some of the corners. When it was straight lines and good roads I was flying along nicely. Whenever there was any sort of handling I was throwing away time as I nervously braked early and teetered round corners. I was getting occasional twinges from my calves and quads but more telling was that everything else was tensing to try and protect them.
Over a minute faster than my last attempt at this course, in 2014. And over 20mph average for a fairly undulating route in the rain, so I am happy enough with that.
I woke up on Sunday and nearly fell over as I got out of bed. Overnight my right calf had cramped up and was in a terrible state. I hobbled down the stairs and got the roller out to try and free it up but made almost no impression. I decided to go and race anyway, but at this point I was fairly solidly committed to just taking it as a training session rather than a serious race.
I got there in plenty of time and racked up and sorted all my gear and had plenty of time to chat to a lot of the other racers. After the briefing I still had two hours before my heat so I jogged round to Tesco to get some food. My quad and both calves were screaming at me as I started but as I warmed up they eased off. By the end of the 9 minute mile to Tesco I actually felt quite comfortable. But not comfortable enough to run back as well, so I took my time to walk back.
As Heat 3 came out of the pool the promised rain finally arrived and I decided to head inside rather than get wet early. This meant I was on poolside nearly an hour before my heat but as with most triathlons there was plenty of friendly chatting going and watching the earlier heats.
Once my heat was ready I realised I was seeded as the 7th fastest swimmer. And for about 2 seconds I thought about actually racing hard to see if I could get a podium spot. My warm-up tumble turn changed that plan though as my quad objected to the push out of the turn. As the race started I pushed the first length but that tumble was also very painful and I had to abandon them. I tried a touch and a single-leg push-off for the second turn and that was pain-free so I decided to stick with that. This was going to kill my swim time but it would get me round.
The rest of the swim was pretty terrible. One of the guys I wanted to be racing was out of the water while I still had 200m of my 750m still to swim. Another one in my lane lapped me twice, when our last race I lapped him. I was out of the water in 13:45, a minute and a half down on my planned swim time.
I then passed 3 people in T1 and got out on to the bike nicely. The light rain had turned into a fairly heavy shower now and that made the bike handling a bit nervous. I struggled to get my feet into the shoes, but once they were in I felt quite good. Just I was a bit nervous with the handling on some of the corners. When it was straight lines and good roads I was flying along nicely. Whenever there was any sort of handling I was throwing away time as I nervously braked early and teetered round corners. I was getting occasional twinges from my calves and quads but more telling was that everything else was tensing to try and protect them.
Over a minute faster than my last attempt at this course, in 2014. And over 20mph average for a fairly undulating route in the rain, so I am happy enough with that.
I had another pretty slick transition until I got to my left shoe. It would not go on and when I tried to bend down to get it both legs cramped up and I nearly toppled over.
I set off with the heel tucked in and had to stop to adjust it, but just the few steps were enough to get my legs more relaxed and meant I could bend over without cramp. I set off quite comfortably on the run. The first mile is up a fairly brutal drag of a hill and I was careful not to do any early damage. From there the course is downhill and flat round to the finish and I just coasted along at a steady 7-min/mile pace, with the odd look over my shoulder.
Considering how I went in to this race I am fairly happy with the result. If I had been on top form there was somewhere in the region of 5 minutes to be picked up, and potentially a podium place on offer. But in my current condition I am happy just to get round without damaging anything else and having enjoyed the day out.
I set off with the heel tucked in and had to stop to adjust it, but just the few steps were enough to get my legs more relaxed and meant I could bend over without cramp. I set off quite comfortably on the run. The first mile is up a fairly brutal drag of a hill and I was careful not to do any early damage. From there the course is downhill and flat round to the finish and I just coasted along at a steady 7-min/mile pace, with the odd look over my shoulder.
Considering how I went in to this race I am fairly happy with the result. If I had been on top form there was somewhere in the region of 5 minutes to be picked up, and potentially a podium place on offer. But in my current condition I am happy just to get round without damaging anything else and having enjoyed the day out.
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