A day in the Lakes triathlon (2k swim, 90km bike 21kn run)
Sunday 20th June
Swim 36.15
Bike 3.11
Run 1.57
Total 5.48.50
53rd overall 7th lady 3rd in AG

So we decided to make this one a family event. After the agony of the steelman last year I really wasn’t sure if I’d be in any state to be able to drive home afterwards. It was also nice to be able to get the kids and Steve involved and away and out for the weekend.
Saturday was spent packing organizing, new tyre on the bike (yeah I’m anal like that) re packing and re-packing again.

We arrived later than anticipated, and happily parked up right opposite Jonathan. Im not sure how happy Jonathan was with our kids chucking balls around the place but we managed to keep the ball under control. Went to register and saw all the “guys” in the tent. Sandra, Kay, Trisha, Paige were all there and we had a good old chat. Spent the evening sorting nutrition, organizing the bike, packing bags and popped down to the lake to check the swim out.

As you already know, sad as we are, we looked at the nutritional value of jelly babies VS cliff blocks. I quickly re-arranged my nutritopn and added cliff blocks in place of the jelly babies.

Morning came. Torin had slept awkwardly, thought he’d broken his neck. It was all drama!! Juggling kids as well as trying to set up was a very different experience, but I really want them to be involved. I really want them to tell me they want to have a try too!! (It’s not happening!)

Quick briefing , 1 pre-race gel and we walked down to the lake. There was no organization this time so we all lined up and crossed the carpet a couple of secs apart. Water was so warm. It was clean!! (Made me realise how grim the tees is!!) The bouys were bloomin miles away! Two large rectangles. I managed to stay out of trouble. Pretty simple and a great start for me as I was third lady out of the water
Out onto the bike I got stuck behind a car!!! The car was rolling behind a couple of holiday makers out for a Sunday cycle. What else do you do but overtake in my impatience. A three mile road and then we were out onto the main route. Two big laps and a little lap. Well. What can I say. I know I’m pants on a bike but I was the person that everyone mush have had in their sights to catch up to and overtake. All the time I was just constantly being overtaken. So bloomin demoralizing. I’m used to being overtaken on the bike. But however hard I try I just can’t seem to get that power to even keep up with the overtakers. I watch each person who comes past, try to see if they’re Male of Female and try and keep up with the ladies (at a legal distance) for as long as I can. That’s about 3 minutes. Mind you some of the wonmen I have to double check if they’re male of female. The man shave their legs and the women are just so stocky and powerful. The outward section of the route was hillier and more suited to me. The return leg was much flatter and straighter.

It was a lovely route out to shap and back. In one of the villages there was a smiley face if you were doing under 30, and I assume a sad face if you were over 30. Despite my best efforts I got 3 smiley faces!! I was expecting Jonathan to pass me at some point. I thought it would have been on the second loop but I made it back to transition without even seeing him. (Nutrition 1 pack of cliff gels, 400ml tailwind, bit of water and half a rawvelo bar)

I’d set my running pack up unsure as to whether I would want to use it or not. I decided to grab it as it was starting to get a bit warm. Great transition (less than 2 mins) even without the lock laces and I was out on the run.

I was feeling great!! The steelman is the only other half I’ve done, and so I have little to go on. I clearly remember on the steelman wondering how on earth I was going to walk let alone run a half marathon. This time my legs felt so fresh. I was delighted!!! So delighted also because Seren was running close by cheering me on. It was just fabulous to have her there. Only problem was I’d left the caravan site without a loo stop.

Back out onto the road. I spotted Jonathan coming in. Wehay!! Great to see him. That gave me a boost. It didn’t last long though because I was desperate for a wee. I passed one guy happily peeing away behind a bush. Oh to be a man. I knew the route was up to the top of the fells so I needed to stop pretty soon. I found a perfect little cover. What a relief!! I didn’t care who saw me!! Definite problems of using liquid nutrition on an endurance race!!

As we continued up the road it turned into a track and a steep hill. I watched the guys ahead. They were all running!! Bloomin idiots I thought. I know what Andy would do. He’d walk!! So I took a gel and let the guys pass me. I walk ran up the rest of the hill. Back to jogging as the incline decreased and passed a few of the guys who’d killed themselves up the hill. At 4km in I found my legs and shortly after I felt the gel kick in. It was a real lightbulb moment. I couldn’t believe it, it was like I’d never even done the bike and swim. Overtook a few more folks and got settled in behind a great guy who had a great pace for me to follow. We were passing plenty of folks at this point. One woman who’d flown past me on the hill was throwing up and groaning by a wall. A little further along the single track we cam across the drinks station. The guy in front stopped to collect his drink. I was relieved I’d chosen to take my backpack. I wasn’t ready to stop.

Another short sharp uphill to a photographer and the most wonderful picture perfect valley… and another hill!!! I looked at the hill and had a little cry inside. Ah well. Everyone else will feel the same and I’m actually quite ok at hills… so up I plodded. Passed a few more folks before heading down penguin style into the next valley. A dull road out and back certainly sapped energy. Back over the valley and back to the drinks station meant that we were about 6km from the finish. This part was all along the road. I’m so glad I chose my road shoes over trail shoes.

I carried on passing folks in the last 5km and felt really good all the way to the finish. Plenty of water. Very dilute tailwind and three gels used for this section.
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I was so relieved to be allowed to stop as I crossed the line, but this time I wasn’t in agony like I had been in other endurance races of this length. I’d definitely pushed hard but the endurance training is certainly working. Even today my legs feel fine. After the steelman I could barely walk!! It’s a relief to feel that I will be able to complete Wales this year (please don’t cancel it!!) I’m disappointed with my bike, but I’m not giving in.

​ #rtcracereports
5th June 2021

Swim: 18:32
T1: 06:56
Bike: 41:49
T2: 03:23
Run: 24:13
Total: 01:34:51. 1st Age Group (WTF!!). 28th women. 118th overall

My aim has always been to do Redcar Triathlon hence learning to swim and joining the club, but open water swimming terrified me - the cold, things touching my feet, the no walls..... Tadcaster was a test run in the pool where I was comfortable, although 400m none-stop was a new experience. AJ Bell was NOT on the cards until there was an option to reduce swim to 200m. PERFECT – a nice build up to Redcar! WRONG, organisers had messed up and I realised Thursday evening I was doing 750m. PANIC!!
4.30am: up, some breakfast, stuff in car, dogs hugged and ushered back to bed
5am: we hit the road. I was trying to tell myself I was just doing 200m and Nige was giving me lots of confidence: “you can swim, Al”, “count 1, 2, 3…breathe” “pretend you are in Redcar pool”….it was helping, I had some positive self-talk rattling around in my head. I used to suffer quite badly with pre-game nerves, but I think years of hockey has taught me how to keep the demons at bay.
6.15am: arrived in the plenty of time, thankfully as the queue was getting long behind us, and we had to spend 10mins getting the grass off our bikes. Who cut the grass last night?! Idiot!
6.30am – 7.45am: queue again to enter the park, grass off bike, register, grass off bike, faff about getting changed, stuff in transitions, grass off our bikes AGAIN.
7.45am – just one pre-race wee, improvement! Wetsuits put on relatively easily, all going well!
8am – Nige suddenly abandons me to enter the water…

A lovely marshal took my glasses and left them on the chair at the exit of the water. This meant I didn’t have to either go from swim to bike in my prescription goggles, scramble about blind, or try and swim with my glasses in my hand. Honestly, there is so much to think about in Triathlons!! The sight issue always made me avoid swimming, but this kind gesture settled me down as a bit of panic had started to rumble.
Preparation for this had been two face-freeze sessions at Scaling Dam where I did 300m of swimming/bobbing/complaining I was cold, and 175m with Nigel Fleming in the Tees last Sunday! This was not the prep I wanted before 750m!
Pink hats called up, that’s me - here I go! Feeling quite composed – I can do this! Enter the water – great, not to cold, get swimming, trying to keep calm and stroke rate down. Going ok, spotting going well then about 150m/200m in I suddenly realised how far OUT I had to go before I could head for the shore. A LOT went through my head…..Shit, I have no tow float to hug for a little bob about, there is no Andy or Mark on a kayak watching me , OMG I am alone, no one knows this is WAY TO F*CKING far for me, how stupid doing 750m after three tiny practice sessions, I think I am tired, I think I have a cold foot, what if I drown, hang on where are the safety kayaks I don’t see close to me!?, I am going to have to go on back and raise my arm, I cannot do this…. All this forced me to breaststroke slowly but moving forwards was my priority. Headshake time: there was no way I was quitting 1) because then I wouldn’t finish; 2) I would never forgive myself; 3) it costed a lot so I am getting my monies worth!

I kept the breaststroke going and realised most people around me weren’t actually going much faster and they were doing FC so that was a boost. Also a lady to my right looked friendly, and I am sure I knew her (clearly was just making shit up as everyone looked the same, I could barely see her face, and I knew no one swimming in my wave), but this is what I told myself and it helped settle me. Managed to do some FC then back to breaststroke but still moving. Around first bouy, keeping close to the bouy like Matt said yesterday so not swimming any further than I needed to. A bit of panic again as we had to go across before we turned for home. Turned for home, thank the lordy!! Breaststroke and with a bit of FC continued. Spotted a camera so tried some Fc to finish. Finally, I was on dry land – huge relief. I was convinced I was terribly slow, and even though I started ‘just wanting to finish’, I know I always up a gear in a race so I expected to do so in the swim but that ‘grit’ was just not there. I think I was in a daze!! Steady amble to T1, helping a bloke on the way with his zip, and spent the rest of the steady jog trying get the wetsuit over my watch!
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At transition, calmly got sorted. Had a few jelly babies – thanks to Jenny for reminding me how awesome they are! Steady jog with my bike to mount line….

On bike – yippie, zoomies! Ops not quite, someone nearly took me out as they took the corner too fast. Steady first lap to get a feel for it. But I got to do some “ON YOUR RIGHT” shouting which made me feel professional! I had my tape on my bike again to help count the laps – worked a treat. Every race you learn. Second lap: I think I was still mentally recovering from whatever the heck just happened in the lake but I got a bit quicker; took the corners better and got out of the saddle to peel away. Someone shouted “You alright” – oh what a lovely man, I wonder if he knows me…. I replied “yeah I am good thanks – well done!” – oh you muppet he said “on your right”. Doh! Third lap: I suddenly realised my ‘grit’ was starting to kick in. Looking at my Garmin splits, it definitely did, about 9km/h faster. Final lap done – into transition. Unclip early as I am a fanny I fall off – crap, unclipped WAY too early – clip back in peddle a bit more – “not yet Hornsby” a bloke called from behind so I copied him and got off when he did and had a little chat to T2. My target was 38 - 40min on bike – I was a little over that but I was in one piece so happy.

T2 quite smooth again – grabbed some jelly babies for company on the run (again, copying Jenny!). Running felt good – I got to a steady pace quickly. I do little running training and my default is ‘steady-away’ but I know I can find some pace when needed – I felt good and relaxed, so I was pleased. I was aiming for about 25min. A few hills and more corners! Nearly took the corner for the finish line but got ushered for my second lap. Round I go again - Jelly babies still in hand but now a gooey mess! ‘Sprint’ finish up the little hill and that was me done! I saw I was over 1hour 30min and a little disappointed as I knew Nige was aiming for that and I was confident he would have got that or under - we like to try and beat each other in a loveable way (clearly I had forgotten about my lake meltdown though!!).

Lessons learnt:
1) I can do 750m swim, I just need more open water practice and confidence
2) I need a lighter, smaller and more aero bike. *cough cough* my birthday is in July, Nigel...
3) I LOVED it!
Thanks everyone for the good luck wishes, tips and encouragement!

This is the second time I’ve competed in the Leeds triathlon. At my first race, I was in awe of how well it was organised for such a big event. Today I wasn’t so impressed.

Everyone was asked to arrive at a specific time, then register at a specific time. From arrival to race start, I would have 58 minutes. Based on feedback from everyone who raced on Saturday, I decided it would be wise to arrive a little earlier. The extra 20 minutes I gave myself was all eaten up queueing to get into the car park.

There was no chance to get back to the car, so everything had to come with me to registration. While unpacking stuff, I knocked over an open can of monster into my box of spares.  It felt like a workout just carrying everything to the race entrance. When I got there the queue was massive and I realised that I hadn’t picked up a face mask 🤦‍♂‍ I also hadn’t checked my tyre pressures.

The workout continued from the entrance to registration, the pace was incredibly slow and overtaking was almost impossible.
By the time I’d been through registration, I had 20 minutes to get racked up and into my wetsuit before race start
No time to give anything a second check, luckily I was near the end of the racks, so finding my bike should be relatively easy.

​Swim
It was individual starts walking down a ramp into the water. I was second in the queue and didn’t notice how long the ramp was. I was expecting to be able to walk out to waist depth then start swimming. So it was a bit of a surprise in knee deep water to fall of the ramp on my third step and almost sink to the bottom of the lake . It was relatively warm though 18c and I set off at a steady pace.

After about 100m my wetsuit was feeling tight and my breathing was getting faster I switch to breast stroke to catch my breath, but my breathing wasn’t stabilising and the breast stroke felt more tyring than front crawl. I tried to crawl again, but I couldn’t keep my face in the water long enough before gasping for air. I wasn’t even half way to the first buoy and I started to wonder if there were cut off times for the swim or if I’d even complete the swim this is the closest I’ve ever come to just rolling over and raising my hand. I carried on with breast stroke and when I got to the first buoy, I felt like my breathing was back under control and tried crawl again. I kept it steady for the rest of the swim, but there were no more issues.

T1
Not sure if it was the new foam race chip, but I got my left leg stuck in my wetsuit 🤦‍♂‍ I kept saying to myself, more haste less speed…

Bike
Happy that I was still alive after the swim, it was time to start enjoying the race. It didn’t seem nearly as hilly as the last time I was here. It was great to be overtaking people. I only got overtaken by a handful of riders, not surprising since there weren’t many people behind me
I was surprised how many spectators were out on the roads and their encouragement was very welcome.

T2
Another long run, but pretty uneventful.

Run
Despite all the maps and route guides saying this was a 3 lap run, in the fine detail it mentioned 2 complete laps then turn off for the finish on the 3rd lap Thanks to Nige for making me double check. Again, the crowd was great, except for the lady who had way too much perfume on. 

The route was fairly hill, similar to most of my training routes. This made it difficult to know if I was running at my target pace. I actually thought I was running too slow based on my watch, but it turned out I was almost exactly on 5min/km pace

Result
2 Hours 50 mins 43s
Swim 40:18
T1 7:58
Bike 1:08:59
T2 3:17
Run 50:14
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Only 10 mins slower than my target, can’t complain when I was so close to giving up
BTW, 30psi in my rear tyre when I got home good to know I can run them so low
#RTCRaceReports

​We are so excited to announce that two of our club members are off to Almere next September to represent GB at the 2021 ITU Almere Sprint Distance Duathlon World Championships!!!
Pam Birch and Ollie Rodgers, a massive congratulations to you both for your amazing achievements. Looking forward to watching you and supporting you both on your exciting journey.

Going into the Steelman, my first half distance event, my main concern was getting the nutrition right. With a bit of help from Ollie I was able to calculate the amount that I would need to keep me going. I loaded my bike with tailwind, gel cubes and chopped up chunks of chocolate and caramel hi5 bars!! Oh, and of course I had a sandwich before we started.

The Swim is my favourite part. I managed to keep myself to myself for most of the swim although people pulling on my legs really annoys me. Rounding the final bouy, I heard loud shouts and looked up to see the swimmers who were behind me missing out the final bouy before exiting the water. That made me sprint to the edge of the lake!! 1st lady out the water. Great start. Wetsuit came off easily (phew!!! Always a worry!) and out onto the bike.

The Bike leg was my worry. Having run out of steam on the bike in the past, I know that if I was going to fail, it would be here. My watch had been set to remind me to eat every 20 minutes. I was so paranoid that I would miss it I ate anyway. It was lovely to see friends marshalling and the first lap seemed to fly by. Many friends caught me on the second lap. I didn’t recognise Andrew H as he flew by, shortly followed by Angela who was looking really strong and comfortable as always. The final 30 mins were hard work. By that point I felt as though everyone was just miles ahead whilst I was just puffing and panting away stuffing my face with nutrition which by this point was going round and round in my mouth.

Coming off the bike and waddling into T2, I wondered how on earth I was going to make my legs run a half marathon. I knew however that, having completed the bike leg and dealt with the nutrition reasonably successfully thus far, I was going to complete the race even if I had to walk. It was great to see some more friendly faces and have a breather. I even popped to the loo, a very good decision!! The muddy puddles at the start of the Run were a great distraction for getting into a rhythm as I had a stitch which I needed to run off. Running alongside the road I stopped for a girl who was having a panic attack. I walked with her before realising that my legs would seize up if I did any more walking so I had to wish her well and keep on running. About half way around, I was met with the most wonderful sight; a hose pipe!! I was soaked. Bliss. By that point I couldn’t tell if I was hot from running or hot because of the weather. The second half of the loop was much easier through the cooler wooded areas and returning to the lakeside. Starting the final lap of the run route, I knew exactly how far it was to the finish. Laps are definitely easier to deal with as you approach the end of a race. A second hose down and hearing the words just 5km to go were music to my ears!

It was a great feeling to cross the line!! I was absolutely delighted to have finished. To have finished as 6th lady, and 3rd Vet was a real bonus . The reason I did this race? To see if I think I could do a full ironman. It’s made me realise the massive amount of training required, as well as the mental determination to finish. I have a newfound respect for anyone who has ever completed a full distance race, and yes, I am determined to at least give it a go next year. Watch this space!!

On the 23rd of June 4 of the Redcar Tri Club members too part in the inaugural Yorkshireman Half (70.3) race as Newby Hall in Ripon, hosted by Freebird Events.  Below are some comments from 3 of the  athletes Mark Payne, Andy Perford and Oliver Rodgers.

Registration and Bike Racking

Mark: Early booking for this race was rewarded with VIP membership, part of this was just sitting down at a table and having someone bring all the registration stuff over. Much better than queuing

Oliver: The pre-race briefing was held in a marquee where they played a video on a big screen which was much better at keeping your attention than listening to someone stood with a microphone and great at getting you 'pumped' for the race with plenty of uplifting music.

Pre-Race​

Andy: So last year in the latter stages of Ironman training I managed to finish Lakesman 70.3 in 5:59:50, so I figured I would have a go and beat that time this year at The Yorkshireman 70.3. My main target was to go under 6 hours but I wanted to be closer to 5:30:00 and felt confident I could do this. I have worked on my swim a lot in recent weeks as I felt this was my weak point.

Oliver: After a few performances in recent races which weren't to the standards I had set myself I had completely cleared my mind of any expectations for this race. Added to this the fact that I had failed to complete my previous and only other attempt at this disctance my goal became simply to finish the race and so I had set my race paces to achieve this.

Swim 1.9km

Mark: I’ve never swum in a river before, so I was glad it was really calm.It was a mass start with no obvious start line. My swim felt nice and steady. There was a bit of bumping around as people were fighting to get ahead but as things settled down and swimmers started to spread out, I started to think, is the current stronger in the middle of the river, should I move over to the bank ? I just continued in what I thought was the most direct line to the buoy. As I got closer, I realised it wasn’t a buoy, but an ambulance on the river bank.
Getting out of the water was surprisingly straight forward, with helpers lifting onto the steps, then the bankside. 

Andy: Last year I swam around 48 minutes for the 1.9k. This year 40:44. Job done and very happy. I reckon if I wasn't magnetised to trees I may have been quicker as I swam into at least 3 trees while trying to avoid oncoming swimmers who set off after our wave.  

Bike 90km

Oliver: The bike course was classed as 'undulating' which was a fair description and the course profile indicated one large hill just after Bedale.  In reality this was more of a long drag than and climb as such.  My plan for the bike was to stay within my selected Power and Heart Rate zones at around 75% which I managed to do and got me off the bike feeling like I could have gone a bit harder which was exactly how I wanted to feel.
I made a mistake with my hydration when the feed station appeared in front of me earlier than I was expecting it to and I still had more of my carb drink in my bottle than I wanted to throw away, which meant i had to ration my fluids slightly for the last half of the ride.

Andy: On the bike and I was aiming for an average 19-20 mph for the course. I was using SUPERCARBS OTE and gels for my fuel. This is a change I've been trying over Tailwind so still experimental for me. I felt good on the bike and had some good sections of speed which was great. I like going fast on the TT, it's a great feeling to know you're smashing it! In the last 10 miles we hit a lot of traffic and this really slowed me down and knocked me back a lot, so when I had space I started pushing to catch back up. Bad move I think? Into T2 I managed 2:58 for the bike, again faster than last years by 6 minutes or so on what I thought was a tougher more technical course.  

Mark: With 20k to go I started to get uncomfortable on the bike, my neck was aching from looking up the road and my backside was beginning to feel bruised. I started to spend more time moving around and sitting up. 

Run 21km

Mark: The run started off ok, but I felt like I was slowing down fairly quickly. I was wondering if I’d overdone it on the bike. The run felt like a really long slow nightmare.  Around 2k to go and I thought my legs were going to cramp, I was twisting around and trying to stretch my legs as I ran, I probably looked a bit weird, some mental arithmetic and I came to the conclusion that I was going to be over 5:30 by a few minutes, still a great result though. 

Oliver: The run consisted of following the road out of rear of the estate, following the lanes round to the front gate where you went passed it for about 1 mile, dead turn and head back to the front gate.  From the front gate you entered the estate upto the finish line and then complete a second lap.
I felt good for the first 2 miles and was consciously holding myself back but from mile 2 onwards it was hard work.  There were aid stations roughly every mile and it was a case of concentrating on getting to the next aid station, where my strategy is to walk at each one to be able to drink easier.  I finished the run in 1:41 which is my slowest half marathon for a while but this was possibly one of the toughest.

Andy: The run started ok and then... after my first mile it became apparent I was going to have a tough day! I felt great until then and cramp and low energy just hit me like a brick. I started taking on more gels to try and gain some energy back but once it's gone it's gone. Only thing I could do was finish now. To say I was annoyed would be an understatement but it's only a half so I'll walk if I have to I thought. I kept plodding with a run/walk strategy and damage limitation in my mind. Once the first lap was complete I knew I had just under an hour to finish the last 10k to beat the 6 hours.  
Triathlon really is a sport where you need to be mentally strong so I gave myself a talking too and started some mental arithmetic to figure out what I needed to do. Each Mile counting off my average time and recalculating. The last mile is a relief do with both quads screaming with cramp it was a case of just getting to the end

Summaries

Mark: As I crossed the finish line I looked at my watch and was amazed to see 5:30:38.  
Looking back at the data, as bad as the run felt it was actually quicker than my half marathon pb of 1:53:59, although a few hundred metres short. This was only my 4th half marathon distance run, my first was over twenty years ago in the Great North Run. That took me over 2:30 and I lost one of my big toe nails. That was the last time I’d ran until I decided to have a go at triathlon after watching the 2017 Redcar triathlon. 
I have a new level of respect for anyone who completes a full ironman race, I’m not sure it’s something I could take on, mentally or physically with my kids feet. I would definitely need a new race strategy, flat out just wouldn’t work. 
I forgot all about the recovery protein shake in my bag and went straight over to the ice-cream van for a large Yorkshire Dales vanilla cone Mmm… 

Andy: Result 5:58:49! A whole minute quicker than last year and one of my worst ever half marathon runs in a time of 2:10.  
Am I disappointed? Yes. Would I do another? Yes. When? September I hope at the Sundowner. Lessons learnt. That's why I like this sport. It's about learning as you go and making adaptations that will make you stronger and faster (hopefully). Racing with Mark, Ollie and Peter there made it a better experience and having Lesley supporting me on the day and taking some pics made it a positive experience. 

Oliver: My finish time was 5:13. which I was very happy with considering how I had been feeling of late.  However I was physically and emotionally spent, I even had to tell my wife not to call me as I was fighting back the tears.
The event was very well organised, but could do with some more portaloos.  the venue is fantastic, the river swim and run up to transition are extremely scenic and the crowd on the day were very supportive, some of them even moving around the bike course and then around the run course.  I would definitely recommend the event for 2020.  https://yorkshiremantri.co.uk/home-2020/

Prep

After Richmond it was 4 weeks until Leeds. This seemed like a good time to buy some new trainers, plenty of time to break them in before the race. Because of issues with the tiny tongue on my 361 Stratomics, I decided to try a new trainer. I ended up with some Hoka Clifton 5. The high arch felt a little odd, but overall nice and comfy. However, during my second run in them, I got small blisters from the inside edge of the insole :’( New insoles solved the rubbing issue and I was running again within a week. But the skin in my arch hadn’t completely recovered. A week before the race and I still wasn’t sure which trainers to race in, so I tried a 10k in my old trainers. I don’t know if it was all in my head, but during the first 5k I was thinking these are the trainers for me, but during the second 5k I was convinced there was no cushioning left in my old trainers. I felt that the new trainers were better running down hills, so Hoka’s it was

I also switched my bike over to the tribar setup, which seemed speedy, and relaxing on my arms, but tough on my neck trying to see where I was going. My helmet was blocking my view when in an aero position. I thought I might need a new helmet. I looked at some full aero helmets with visors but was put off by the lack of airflow. When my current helmet appeared in some of my search results, I knew I must be doing something wrong. Sure enough it was pretty simple to adjust the position of my helmet, next it was the frame of my cycle glasses right in the middle of my line of sight. I’d always wondered why some glasses didn’t have a top frame. So frameless glasses bought and I was ready to race.

The minging weather on Saturday made me happy that I paid the extra tenner to register on race day. I spent the day putting everything I needed for race day into bags and boxes. The start and finish at Leeds are 7.5k apart, so there are 2 bag drops. I was getting more nervous about the logistics of what was going in which bag than the race itself.

I went to bed around 9pm, set my alarm for 4:30am, amazingly I slept like a baby. Woke up at 3:59am with a dead arm :-/ So I got up and had some porridge washed down with half a can of Monster.

After parking up at Roundhay Park, I was off to find registration. Walking over the brow of the hill I was parked on revealed the impressive sight of the transition area with thousands of bikes, I stopped to take a photo. The next thing that came into my head was, I’ve got to climb back up this big hill at the end of my race :-o

Registration was a breeze, setting up in transition and bag drops were also straight forward, all the prep paid off 😊

An hour before my race I drank a can of Monster energy and I decided to go find the swim start. The first races had already started and competitors were coming into transition. This was a new experience, lots of shouting from the marshals and general mayhem :-o Getting out of transition was a challenge, I decided the long route following the Bike Out route would give me a chance to visualise where I would be going. Even though I set off about an hour before my race start, I hadn’t expected the big queues to cross the race course. I was beginning to wonder if I’d make it on time, luckily there were only 2 crossings.

I spent a good 30 minutes getting into my wetsuit, pulling everything up as high as it would go. I watched a few races start and noticed several competitors were waiting at the pontoon as the main pack set off. I learnt last year in my first open water race that this loses way too much time that I can’t afford to lose.

Once my wave was called up, I was straight in. While we were all listening to the race briefing I saw someone join the end of the queue still putting their wetsuit on, I was impressed that someone can get into a wetsuit that close to the start, they turned around as they pulled the zip up and I noticed the unmistakable Redcar wind turbines 😊

Race

Swim

I set off with the air horn and almost immediately I was several lengths behind everyone. I thought, wow, I really am the slowest swimmer in Yorkshire. The good news was that my wetsuit felt comfy and I was sticking to a steady pace. After about 100m I started to catch up and pass people who were gasping for air. After the second buoy you are heading back towards the start and there was a confusing array or yellow buoys in the distance. From the briefing, I kept repeating keep the buoys on the left and trees on the right. Other swimmers seemed to be a long way either side of me, which was a bit disorienting when I wasn’t really sure where I was going. Towards the end of the swim I got a bit close to the shore and my hand was scraping the bottom of the lake, so I headed for some deeper water. While looking for the swim exit, I was surprised to see swans pretty close to me.

Getting out of the water was much easier than a rocky shore or sandy beach. I was thinking they should have these blue carpets at all races.

T1

The long run to the bike gave plenty of time to get the top half of my wetsuit off. Running out with my bike and I noticed my first mistake, I’d overloaded my race belt with gels and it was dropping down towards my knees :-o My next mistake was at the mount line, I saw the sign and a really thin line on the floor, but no-one around me got on their bikes, so I wondered if I’d read the sign correctly ? I carried on running with my bike. Then I realised people were mounting at the top of the incline and they were just avoiding cycling up the hill. I jumped on my bike and set off.

Bike

First thing I did on the bike was take a caffeine energy gel. The roads were busy and I was continually passing people, completely impossible to strictly apply any sort of drafting rules. During the ride, I found traffic lights a bit distracting, it’s a bit odd riding hard through red lights and I’d momentarily back off if the lights changed in front of me. I also misread one of the direction signs where I thought it was a hairpin turn, it wasn’t even that tight a turn but I’d slowed almost to a stop :-/ It was really nice to get lots of encouragement from spectators right around the course.

T2

At the end of the ride there was a long tight section on the approach to the bike dismount line, with barriers either side. Lots of riders were just cruising through this section and causing blockages. I was following a rider who had passed me just before entering this section. We got past several riders. When I could see the dismount line I unclipped from my pedals and swung my right leg over the bike ready to run off my bike. Unfortunately, the rider in front of me caught up with another rider just before the dismount line. I was in the centre of the lane, with two bikes in front of me at either side of the lane. When they came to dismount the both came to a complete stop before climbing off their bikes, they also both veered towards the centre and effectively crashed into each other. I had no chance of stopping and crashed into both of them :-/

Once I got around the two bikes, I remembered my race belt was still overloaded and was falling down again.

Run

The first thing I did on the run was to pull two gels out of my race belt. Thankfully, this sorted out the overloading. The run was described as a net downhill run, however, straight out of the park was uphill. It took me about 2K before I got into my rhythm. The city centre was also surprisingly hilly and with 2k to go cramps set in, I thought I was going to do a Paula Radcliffe in front of the crowds :-o maybe all that caffeine wasn’t such a good idea 💩Luckily the pain faded after a few hundred metres. Yet again, the crowd support was great throughout the whole run, but the city centre was amazing, a few shouts of “come on Redcar, The Mighty Redcar” put a big smile on my face. It was great approaching the finish line and hearing my name announced by the commentators. I’d done it, completed my first standard distance triathlon 😊

As there are no pockets on my short course tri-suit, I’d been stuffing empty gel wrappers down the front of my suit. When I got the photo at the finish line, I look a bit odd, but it’s still a great photo for the memory box 😊

Result

Initially, I was a little disappointed with my time 2:42. I was hoping for 2:30 and felt that everything had gone pretty well. It wasn’t until the drive home when I had time to think about the result that I realised I’d spent 10 minutes in the huge transitions 😊

Place (M/W) 484

Place (AC) 51

Place (Total) 583

Time Total (Brutto) 02:42:00

45th out of 81 in the overall 50-54 Male category

30th out of 69 entries or 57 starters in the Yorkshire Championship wave.

2nd in the 50-54 Male within the Yorkshire Championship, obviously this is my favourite stat 🤣

Race Review by Mark Payne

I’ve done a few short training duathlons to get used to the format, but nothing even close to the scale of today’s race. To prepare for the cycling, I’ve started cycling to work once a week ~35Km each way. For the running I’ve been hitting the hills around East Cleveland, but I’ve been limiting my run frequency because of tight hamstrings.

I had no idea how to pace this race, so my plan was to go as fast as I could and see how long I could hold on. 
I held on pretty well in the first run, setting a 5K pb and likely a 10K pb if the route had been 600m longer.

The bike phase was a little windy, my poor aerodynamics help me catch the wind like a sail which gives a good opportunity to rehydrate on the sections where the wind is pushing from behind.
Seriously impressed with the speed of the TT bikes, not so impressed with some of their cornering speed. Got block passed on several corners, but since the drafting rules don’t apply at pinch points, I took my place back and made them work hard to take the place again. Had a mini panic when I emptied my first drink bottle during the second lap, but then remembered the gels I’d taped to the crossbar. After the second lap it started to get busy on the road and harder to make progress without appearing to draft. I decided the fast bends and roundabouts were the best place to take places, saving some energy and keeping out of the drafting zone on the short straights. As expected I lost count of the laps and wasn’t 100% sure if I was on the last lap, my distance seemed short, but I was sure if I did another lap, I’d be well over 40K.

The first few 100m of the run were a bit tough on my calves, they felt on the edge of cramping, but with the help of a gel I managed to run through it.
Had nothing left for a sprint finish and lost a place a few metres from the line, but was well pleased with the time 2:12:40 
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I’ll sleep well tonight…