Louth Triathlon
2nd September 2018
Venue : Meridian sports centre Louth, Lincolnshire
Sprint Triathlon, 400m/20km( more closer to 22km )/5km
Pool swim, rural winding cycle through idyllic Lincolnshire Marshes, urban run with a small distance through parkland.
Very like Skipton Triathlon, as it has a rather lengthy distance from pool, to transition to bike start.
I always like the end of season races, the last blast, just to see how the fitness levels are, and to compare one self to others, more for my own benefit, I am not going to get any prizes, so just racing myself and enjoying the day.
Training levels down due to, well I could give a pile of excuses, but why make excuses, start the race fit to finish, is good enough, although I will mull over the race, decide what I can do better next year, and then get a slower time. So, out I go, give total commitment, dependant on fitness and injury etc, and then have no comebacks, easy.
Swim:
16 lengths.
I had a slight DIY accident the day before, there might have been a hacksaw, there might have been a hand, and some flesh might have been sawn instead of some metal, I am not squeamish, but I did feel slight sick looking at though. Microphone tape, plasters soon sorted, but on entering the humid pool the makeshift bandage soon lost its stickiness and dropped off. Quickly back to the locker, more tape. That lasted a length before detaching itself, just hope there wasn't a trail of blood.
I must have struck lucky in the swim for once, three in the lane as I got in, one then got out, caught the next two in quick succession, and then a lane all to myself for the next 10 laps, bargain.
The swim went by remarkably easy, and not too much oxygen debt. Quite pleased.
Transition
I have a very personal viewpoint on what is ' Transition '. It is for me the point you go from your normal racing speed at the swim to racing speed on the bike. Not just the area where the bike is racked. As you near the end of the swim, the longer the swim the longer the time frame, you start to kick the legs harder to get the blood moving quicker and reducing head rush feeling when you stand up, you bumble through the bike racking area, have your picnic on the large towel you have spread out, get kitted up, and then exit the area, take the bike to the mount line, get on, faff about riding with your feet on top of the shoes, nicely held in place until the elastic band breaks ( strange how you can be DQ'd or penalised for littering, but not for leaving bits of elastic everywhere), and try to get upto speed only to slow down as you try to get your feet in. Whilst we are on about gripes in transition, boxes and bags are banned, but you can lay out a towel the size of a small principality, but if they let you have a box, and your kit had to be in the box ( well not the bike ), it would stop people like me from moaning.
Oh well, nice grass area, nice racking, and about a 400m run to the bike start.
Bike
The route starts off in a urban setting, a couple of tight turns, a mini roundabout and a right turn across a man road ( well, main road might be a bit much, but it is rural Lincolnshire ).
The surface is rough, more patches than a bedroom quilt, lumps and bumps as it leaves town. After a couple of miles it enters what is known as the Marshland Area, we have the Lincolnshire Fens a very flat area, the Lincolnshire Wolds a very undulating area, and the Marshes, like the fens except more hedges.
The route weaves, and yes, twists and turns, it was a toss up whether to use my TT or road bike, as soon as you settle in to a nice straight bit of road, you have a right angled bend, or S bend, giving you the options of, Brake hard, try to take the bend at speed and hope no one is driving along on the opposite direction or go straight on and either hit the wall/hedge/go up someone's driveway/or go in the ditch ( please delete as appropriate, you do get a chance to try all of them during the ride ).
It is a scenic ride, I saw a chicken, it was trying to cross the road, it went to the left, then to the right, then back to the left, it might not have been trying to cross the road at all, just playing chicken with a bunch of triathletes.
Generally happy with the bike, no one overtook me, which is pleasing, I overtook a few.
If there is a disadvantage of the route it is the compulsory foot down policy for one junction, this just upsets the flow, but, it's the same for everyone so no big issue.
A single loop route brings you back into town and transition.
Transition
As mentioned before, the distance from the bike start/finish to the racking area is such that the race feels more of a swim/run/bike/run/run. Again on a good point and the last good point is that I was third quickest in T2
Run
Not as they say, my greatest run, a two lap run that goes through town and parkland, a lovely September day with the temperature reaching 24 degrees, and me running along at the speed of an asthmatic ant carrying heavy shopping, only overtaken by a couple of others, which I found surprising given my slow speed.
Conclusion
A nice local race, only twenty minutes drive from home, well marshalled and organised, not a fast race for me, but 30/179, puts a bit of gloss on it and 5th in Age Group ( that would be the old farts, grumpy group ).
Hopefully one more race at the end of the month.