Nicely organised, and well marshalled. Swim in the pool, bike along the busy A59, through East Marton, cut down the minor road to Thorton in Craven, back along the A56 (quite a busy road), rejoin the A59 and back to Skipton. Run round the park.
The first tri of the season, and the series. JH goes into this with a 14 minute lead. But has never beaten jon.e in a tri. In other words, we are now on jon.e's home turf.
This is what happened in 2010, on essentially the same course (run into T2 (counted as T2) is slightly longer)
jon.e
Swim: 00:06:52
T1: 00:02:35
Bike: 00:41:56
T2: 00:00:46
Run: 00:23:32
Total: 01:15:41
JH
Swim: 00:11:09
T1: 00:02:45
Bike: 00:41:50
T2: 00:01:35
Run: 00:21:47
Total: 01:19:06
Now for this 2014. With the event placed in order of swim speed, JH was off at 10:36, jon.e at 13:20.
JH's report:
First things first.
First tri since 2010.
First tri in V50 age group.
Way back in 2009, I devised a plan to take me to age group greatness in 5 years time. That's now. Like any good plan, the wheels fell of straight away (surgery, injury, decline, fall).
Anyway, this would be "interesting".
Back in 2010, I was doing around 4.5-6 hours per week of "proper" training. I was injured quite a lot of the time - although I managed a few sprints and a couple of ODs, I was pretty broken at the end, and the season ended in August.
In 2011, I upped it (thinking of doing some middle distances) to 6-10 hours per week. I broke completely, and didn't managed a single tri (just an appearance at the relays, which doesn't really count as a tri).
2013 was a good year. Managed to get back some performance, eventually, all on a rather sweet spot of 2.5 hours per week.
I've been sticking to this at the start of the year, hoping to bring it up to 4.5 hours.... we shall see.
So, race day morning saw me about 10 lbs heavier than in 2010. But, on my diet of 2.5 hours per week, including 3 swims this year, the least damaged I have ever been at the start of a race. All good.
Unlike 2010, when the weather was perfect (no wind, gentle sunshine), the weather was set for a strong wind, with 33mph gusts. And rain.
Left in plenty of time. The logistics of the course mean that it takes ages to get from car park to registration to transition. But I was all racked and ready to go with just over an hour to spare. No rush.
Minimal kit:
1 Tri suit
1 pair of googles.
In transition:
one TT bike (last time was a road bike), newly equipped with SPD pedals.
one pair of run shoes (the old Newtons's - good enough for today, and with Xentex laces).
One pair of SPD bike shoes (which you can run in).
One helmet
An emergency water bottle
One garmin hidden in bike shoe.
One Number belt, with number attached, weighted down by the run shoes.
I had had a bit of a prediction with myself on facebook - basically 1 minute faster on the swim than 2010, 1 minute slower on the bike, 1 minute slower on the run.
No towels, no socks, no gels no nothing.
Swim
The plan was to be relaxed, and not get too worried about the other swimmers. Only two others in the lane. We set off at five second intervals. I mistakenly think the second one is right behind me at the end of the first 50m (25m pool). And stop to let him past.
He wasn't, it was a breast stroker in the adjacent lane that was tapping me.
Oh well, draft him for a bit. over take again. I think I started to slow after another couple of laps, and he went past again.
After I bit, I stopped to let the second one past. A bit prematurely, as at the end of the next lap, he stopped to let me get past. We stayed like that until the end, when he sprinted past me on the last length. While I just relaxed.
I tend to put too much effort into the swim, which makes me tired, swallow loads of water and air, but doesn't make me slower.
Result: 1 minute faster than last time! (pleased with that, as I've not really swum, although, to be honest, that's a good 100 seconds slower than where I was in 2011).
T1
A long, long run from the pool to T1. Barefoot isn't a problem for me. I had checked out the run before hand, and could run as fast as I was capable of (allowing for wobbly head after the swim).
Drop the googles
Helmet on.
Shoes on.
Pick bike up, and away!
"Hang on", says the Ref. "you've forgotten your number!"
Whoops. Made the big mistake of placing it under run shoes, not bike shoes. D'oh. Oxygen is now all in legs, arms, anywhere but the brain. So the higher mental functions have just switched off. It's all about the drill, not the thought processes!
Went back. Put back down. Got number on.
Pick bike up, and away!
"Hang on", says the ref, "that numbers on wonky".
Then, he comes over and spends what seemed like an eternity, neating it up, and repinning it. tick tock tick tock.
No point in getting stressed though. Just go with it, and enjoy the breather.
But I think to myself, "this has probably cost the race".
Finally, it's done.
Pick bike up, and away!
Long run up to the mount line - so useful to have the SPDs.
a few strides past the mount line, and away.
Soon realise something has happened to the rear mech (not sure how, as it was transported carefully, laid down carefully, maybe got a knock in racking?) Oh well, might have to do this in a fixed gear (well, the front changing was nice).
Head wind. Pedal. Eventually, with a bit of wiggle and a couple of miles, the gears started working again. Nice. Still needs sorting out properly though.
Being a slow swimmer, and with the event seeded by swim time, I was with all the other slow swimmers. Most people aren't as, relatively, bad at swimming when compared with the other disciplines, which means that they are just as bad at cycling and running
This means there are a mass of people to overtake. No TT bikes (not many in the whole race, which was interesting). A few MTBs going at 8mph and some shoppers going at 6mph. The rest were road bikes. It does cheer you passing all the people that overtook you in the swim
However, it is a false sense of superiority. The wind was hard. I had planned to turn the gas down a bit, to save it for the run. But there was no hiding from the wind. The roads, some 4 winters later, had detoriated a lot. Was a bit worried about a puncture, as I had not bothered with any repair kit. A puncture would loose the race, for sure, so why bother?
Just tried to find a decent gear (I haven't spent enough time on the TT bike to really be at one with the gearing), and get over the hills. Turned left. Still no real respite. Pedalling hard on the downhills. Still fun whooshing past people.
Finally, the last angle of the triangle, and a tail wind.
I have found my cadence really drops in TTs, I was making a concious effort to choose a lower gear and keep the revs up. Now I was doing about 120 rpm, keeping up with the cars (wind behind, cars in front, great!). Couldn't find a higher gear. Realised I was already in 53x11. Excellent. Kept this going all along the straight (need to find the garmin track to see what I managed) until the road flicked up with an incline to the round about where the route rejoined the A59 which we had come in on.
The A59 is a busy road - far busier than roads we use in the TT courses! Cars were knotting behind other slower cyclists, so there was a bit of congestion. Decided to take the last mile easy. Acutally had to unclip at the last roundabout. Not to worry.
Back to Transition (which was a bit further than I remembered - worried I had over shot). There it is! In, unclip, swing leg over, and feet down before the dismount line. Ref is there and says "You were quick!". Always nice.
Push back down the long run (must be 30 seconds or so) across the matt and back to the rack.
1 Minute slower than last time (good, as the weather was far worse than I thought - the bike gets you a lot of free speed, even on a hilly technical course).
Bike mounted, shoes on, helmet off, number round... and... pause for a bit to get head and mind sorted. I was knackered. And just really wanted to stop. Starting to feel a bit sick. A swig of emergency water and a few deep breaths to pull yourself together, and away.
Legs not working, and it's up hill.
Over the top and on to the only flat bit. Focus on form. Get the legs moving. Still hard work. Then the long downhill straight. Really try to make the best use of the hill here. Round to the bottom, then it's all back up hill. Just keep working, knowing that this is where I have to take time from jon.e. Passing lots of people, at what feels like about twice their speed. All pretty irrelevant though. There is only one other person in this race.
Then one more lap. More of the same. Try to pick up a bit of pace and into the finish. And throw up. Run - 1 minute slower than last time. Quite pleased with that as I was knackered, and thought it was going to be a lot slower (possibly a short 5k though).
It's actually, really warm by now - the rain has held off. Have a couple of cups of water, and the chat to john.
Get changed, and then settle down to watch jon.e's race.
A Time to Tri.
So the triathlon season is now upon us, nothing like an early season race, to blow off the cobwebs and realise how unfit the winters hibernation has made you. In the per amble to the race, I mentioned that I wouldn't know who to put the money on for the race, looking at the factors, I am a quicker swimmer, but due to a number of issues, swimming has been off the menu for a while. Jack is a better biker on the undulations and climbs, and an infitesimally better runner, just by looking at his park run times. I estimated at my current level of fitness, maybe a three minute advantage in the swim, looking at Jacks current bike performance, and the course, I estimated maybe a 2-3 min advantage on the bike, and at least a 3-4 on the run. So with the three disciplines Jack would have a 3-4 minute advantage.
Then we look at the fourth discipline, and how much difference it could make, I needed to make up, in my mind at least 4 minutes in two transitions, three minutes on the outside. If I had a decent run.
Equipment choice also became an issue here, last time we both raced at Skipton in 2010, Jack used a road bike, and I a TT, this year it was reversed. I chose the road bike for a number of reasons.
1. Last time due to a late start I was caught in traffic, the TT is less flexible, so I couldn't get aero on the parts of the course I wanted.
2. The forecast was for gusty winds and heavy rain, so less susceptible to cross winds and a better braking surface.
3. The bike would be slower, but I was hoping that the advantage it had due to reasons 1 and 2, would outweigh the issues.
NOW, all you transition towel users, pay attention please. You may call foul! On the next bit, but I operated within the rules laid down, if anyone actually cared to read them.
1. I chose to wear trainers for the bike as well as the run ( stone him, stone him), rather than bike shoes, and use my Pyro platforms.
2. The rules allowed you to leave trainers at the pool exit, it was about a 200-300 metre run from the pool to the transition. It was also a good 200 metre run from the dismount line back to T2.
3. Because it was a rolling race, you were not allocated a spot in transition, the only rule was no more than six bikes to a side on a single rack. For T1 I racked as close to the transition exit as possible. Next to Jacks bike.
The race.
Tri Hard.
The swim:
Slightly different this year, you got a start time, turn up at poolside, and you get allocated a lane with three others, not a swimmer off every two minutes.
Each swimmer was set off at five second intervals. So a new wave was set off approximately every ten minutes, it seemed to work.
I had the joyful task of setting off first, which gave me clear water for two lengths, but at each length end I would allow the swimmer behind to pass, this did give some ability to draft for three lengths, but little respite. I was a bit disappointed with the time, but given the little training, generally happy.
T1:
Outside the pool, slip on the trainers and run to transition, putting the trainers on straight away, meant a quicker run, rather than gingerly jogging along. I keep my race belt in my back pocket so quickly attach it whilst running to the bike, another job done, and slip my goggles into the back pocket, and also the transition area was getting to look like a quagmire. Into transition and up to the bike, helmet on, un rack bike, smile at Jack and off up the hill to the mount line, the slope getting more slippy as the day wore on. Onto the road and time to bike.
The Bike:
It was windy, a strong headwind out, mostly it seemed uphill, turn off and get hit by a cross wind, and a nice. Tail wind to recover on the back leg. I passed a few riders on the flats and downhills, but lost time on the uphills, so nothing unusual there, Racing always to RPE and maxing that, it would have been nice to have readout to compare to, I knew Jacks time, but in accordance with Sod's law, my bike computer decided it was going to have an off day, and my 310xt, for some explicable reason opted to stay locked in T1. So it was all or nothing, I couldn't afford to back off, time was of the essence, the GC is at stake. I must congratulate the marshals now. When I first did a Freebird event, I discovered that the race marshals were just event safety staff, they didn't seem to be interested in the race, told to do a job, but now they do take an interest, cheering on the competitors, at road junctions as you approach, they would shout " clear " or " slow down, one car then OK " so you could stay clipped in, really good.
The bike course is a lollipop shape, and slightly over the 20km mark I think. Back to transition with legs like jelly.
Off at the dismount line, and a muddy, slippy run to the bike racking area.
T2:
Into transition, first available space by the entrance, bike racked and helmet off. No need to go back to my original racking position, my area was clean, no towel, no nothing, so no need to drag my bike uphill for 60 metres.
Run:
A Time to Die.
Out of the transition area, back up the hill, just reaching the end of the grass area and two competitors who have finished are bumbling along, the marshal shouts for them to go to one side, just as move across, to avoid them, swerve again,reach the concrete path, but the sudden change of direction, and the wet path, equated to me taking a face plant. Quickly up, shouted OK to the marshal and started the two lap run. Slightly undulating, occasionally on grass, saw Jack on numerous occasions shouting encouragement, trying to survive to the end, time knew no meaning, Jack did shout I had 27 mins, was that 27 for the run, 27 minutes from when he shouted, was he telling me I could afford to slow down, was He roping the dope. Just get to the end. Collect a wrist band after one lap, more encouragement, dying faster now, I made a mental note to do more running, or actually do some running, hit the last uphill section, and down to the finish.
To be greeted by a smiling Jack clutching my race times, NOOOOOOOO, have I lost, well we both knew it was going to be close, if you discount the little number incident then it was really, really, really close.
(JH: I was telling john he had to do the run faster than 27 mins to win. I had printed his ticket out, so knew exactly what he had to do. Except my phone died, which was also the stop watch, so I had no idea what was happening.
The results
What a cliff hanger.
Let's focus on S/B/R from 2010:
Jon.e: 00:06:52+00:41:56+00:23:32=01:12:20
jh: 00:11:09+00:41:50+00:21:47=01:14:46
So JH was just over two minutes down.
This time,
jon.e
Swim: 00:07:32
Bike: 00:44:36
Run: 00:24:47
So, the swim was down, the bike was down a lot, compared to last time. This was down because of the weather, and the run was a minute down.
JH:
Swim: 00:10:10
Bike: 00:42:56
Run: 00:22:52
So swim up by a minute, run down by a minute, but bike only down by a minute - instead of being 10 seconds, nearer 2 minutes difference. This is accounted for by the TT bike (a few weeks ago, there was 16 seconds difference on the 10TT - mainly flat - a hilly course favours JH.. but the real difference is the bike - so we have a TT bike buying you a couple of minutes on a windy technical course over the road bike - although I suspect the road bike time would have been slower than jon.e's, as he has a similar position on the road bike to the TT, using aero bars).
So, adding those up we have:
JH: 01:15:58
Jon.e: 01:16:55
Looking very nice for JH.. but.... WE ALL KNOW IT'S NOT JUST Swim, Bike Run.
Jon.e:
T1: 00:02:43 (just 10 seconds up from last time - longer run)
T2: 00:00:31 (nearly 15 seconds faster than last time)
JH
T1: 00:03:53 ( one minute and 10 seconds up from last time. FORGOT TO PUT THE NUMBER BELT ON AAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH)
T2: 00:01:27 (8 seconds faster than last time).
Which gives the ACTUAL RESULT AS
jon.e: 01:20:13
JH: 01:21:20
jon.e takes the win by ONE MINUTE and 7 seconds.
So, even without that one minute caused by JH's "moment of madness", jon.e would still have got the win - by about 7 seconds.
Can't be much closer.
Anyway, in 2010 there were 553 finishers, in 2014 618.
In terms of position, jon.e was 118/618 - last time 129/553
JH came 136/618, last time 176/553
So the sub optimal weather was probably the cause for most of the time differences.
What else:
JH, in his shiny new V50 age group, was 8/60. So a top 10 finish. A few seconds were between 5 and 8..... oh what could have been.
JH is pleased. Not because of the relative age group improvement, not because the times were about the same on half as much training, not because of the 1 minute swim improvement on the back of not doing much swimming, but simply because he isn't broken. Which is very very nice.
Now, the next race should be a 25 TT. Which will be interesting. Flat course for Jon.e, TT bike for JH. Might be close.
Then there is a series a sprint OW tri, then an OD tri.
The problem for JH is that instead of 400m, there will be 750m of swimming, with the bike and run set the same. So the advantage is really with jon.e here. Especially as the bike is pancake flat.
It will be interesting to see what happens over a 10k run.
Then there is the IM swim.
If we project out the Sunday's 400m times over the 3.8k, we have jon.e with a 27 minute advantage.
Not looking good for JH, which is why he said that he needed to have 30 minutes advantage, not the paltry 15 minutes that he managed to build over his "home" events.
What this really means is that there has to be a lot of water in JH's future, if that co-efficient is to be altered to his favour.
The rough plan of events is:
25 mile TT April
Healing wounds in May
OW Sprint in June
IM Swim in July
OW OD tri in August
HIM OW tri (Sundowner) to bring the season to a dramatic finale.
Depending on work commitments, we will try to through a few more races in, as we are able.
So, JH's lead is now down to just under 13 minutes!!!
.
