Roseland Triathlon 2010

750m Swim, 25k Cycle, 7k Off Road Run

Laughing off those pre-event nerves

Driving to the start of this tri wasn’t very nice as it was flipping raining! But it did clear up as I arrived at Portscatho! This was the first time this tri had ever been held, so it seemed like we were going to be guinea pigs for the organisers who had capped the number of competitors at 100.

From MBH there was myself Mr Brooks and Mr Hooper. No one knew what to expect of this new Tri although we had heard it was rather hilly!

Now it was a bit different to other tri’s i’ve done before – as we registered, we handed in our running shoes as they were then taken to the second transition point, and before you ask I have no idea where that was!

Once we had done that we had to rack our bikes at the end of the swim which was down a hill in a field just off the beach, then we had to trek back up the hill to registration only to find out we had to walk into Portscatho for the race brief which was 30mins late.

Now as I got there I was thinking I would have time to get ready after the brief…Oh No. Not Blinking Likely! At this point I was the only person not in my wet suit so back I trotted, and when I got back, now ready, i’d missed the brief!

Thought I told you to meet me

...so I walked down to the beach

So down to the start and in the sea for a warm up – more like a cool down – there were a few familiar faces there who I had a chat to. The sea was nice and clear.

Myself, Paul and Nick swam out a fair bit and chatted before being called back for the start by some people in goat boats!

I must say at this point that I hate swimming! But as I positioned myself behind the fast lot the gun went off and it was too late – in I dove. The first hundred feet was bit of a scramble – I was kicked in the head, bumped, someone cut me up in the wrong direction, but I huffed and puffed my way through the other competitors ending up coming out of the water nearly on rocks. In my dazed, and dizzy, wobbly state I made it up to my bike there were lots of supporters all cheering us on which was good, mind you I was more concerned about that tart Gary from St. Austell running club in his lilacy all-in-one girly pyjama tri suit! Who, if you recall, nearly ended up in a hedge with his bike stuck up his *** when I ran the Duchy Marathon this year. Well I’d beaten him in the swim ……..yea baby! Go me!

Just had to get on my bike on a hill, managed to get one cleat in but ended up running up the hill after a bird decided to stop in front of me, then oh my goodness it was 25k of hills. As soon as you went up you went down up, down, up, down. On one hill a car was stuck behind a couple of cyclists with a small group behind them who’d all lost momentum! Myself and Gary fast approaching them just as the car managed to over take them, as did we about 10 of them……I was pleased! Except Mr lilac pyjama man had also made some ground on me.

The road in places was only wide enough for a single car to get through….Hmmmm and a bike, especially in St.Mawes where I took a sharp left and nearly ended up in the back of a lorry who’d stopped to unload. Mr Hooper told me at the end of the race he’d done the same thing, but I squeezed by the lorry and managed to take a few more on the hill up to the Castle and i’d clawed that Gary back, but again he pulled away….the git!

All the way round the cycle route there were loads of marshals and supporters all cheering us on and clapping if only they could feel the pain in my legs they’d all clap a bit flipping harder!

There was one very dangerous downhill left hand bend where I think someone did lose control and came off. I stuck behind one of the more mature and elderly car drivers within our community! The old git was intent on going slowly I couldn’t even over take due to the narrowness of the road! I was starting to get tired now as the last couple of miles came into sight. I couldn’t see Gary, and someone had managed to overtake me just before transition. As I pulled in and hopped off my legs were feeling good even after beasting it round that hilly cycle route.

Tell me how do I feel

I saw two people start on the run as I pulled my shoes on and I quickly ran out of transition at good pace. The chap who’d over taken me was behind me somewhere nowhere to be seen ,and I quickly pulled in the two I had seen at transition …..Oh?… what’s this in the distance …going over hill….no its not a monster its a lilac pair of pyjama’s Ha, Ha…..ha! That was it. I thought “i’m going to have you!”, mind you we were now running on a coast path back to Portscatho on which the first couple of miles were also hilly but I managed to pass old Gary! I didn’t notice until running up the hills that the sun had come out which was making me very hot and I was glad to hit a drink station. I could see a few more people in front of me and I kept chasing them down everything seemed to be going right today! The last big hill 3 or 4 people were walking. “Ha – got you as well”, I thought and as I over took them one of them was Mr Brooks who been suffering with stomach cramps, he told me to carry on so I did, like I was going to stop! Huh!

The last few miles were undulating and the last mile was a bit muddy in places but the finish wasn’t too far and as I approached it was as if the entire town had turned out to cheer everyone in which was awesome!

The only bad things we could comment on was a few dangerous places on the cycle route and they didn’t put the 1st ever Roseland Triathlon on the back of the flipping Medal and as you all know I only do it for the blinking medal – i’ve 10 so far this year and its not enough I tell you!

Tell me now how should I feel

Quite pleased, actually!

I really, really enjoyed this tri even though I was kicked in the head and it was very, very flipping hard! There was a really good, friendly atmosphere and when prize giving came they put all our numbered swim caps into a box and turned it into a raffle , that’s just awesome, a chance to win something, but my number never came up, although Paul Hooper did win something and there were lots and lots of prizes given out!

Will I do next year? I think so!

Sam Perkin

I really wasn’t feeling like it this morn after more than a week of doing nothing (apart from catching a stomach bug while on holiday in Bonny Scotland). However, like any good Scot I was determined to get my money’s worth, so I signed on last night and gave the St Levan 10K a miss in case it interfered with my new approach to Tri training. I did go for a swim with Brooksy and co, but that doesn’t count as my swimming is chronic anyway.

I cycled over to the start with all my kit packed inside the big yellow duffel bag, and said hello to some of the familiar faces from the local Tri scene. The MBH massiv was there in force including big Dan Lugg, fresh from the London Tri and doubtless looking for a PB today. Charlotte Hurst, age group winner in the same event was also present and correct – could she pull another win out of the bag after her Capital effort…time would tell. Jason Walker had that hunted, haunted look that usually means only one thing – another PB! Sam Perkin was his usual irrepressibly cheery self, so I had to make myself scarce in order to get into a more introspective frame of mind.

The tide was high, but we were holding on. “50 seconds to go” said Cooter, the man with the hooter. I hadn’t been saying “1-Mississippi, 2-Mississippi..” to myself and nor had anyone else judging by the perceptible satellite delay between the hooter sounding and the familiar water-borne stramash commencing. After only just avoiding a bad case of (someone else’s) foot in mouth, I slowed the pace and took the long way around the two buoys that marked out the 750m swim. It’s more fun hunting them down on the bike and run anyway…

This time, the concept of “neutralised” time betwen the swim and T1 had been abandoned, so everyone would know just where they stood as they closed in on the finish line. Exiting the water, I was near the back of the pack with the usual assortment of remedial swimmers, breast strokers, aquaphobes and those who flinch at the thought of a plantar sandwich. Hey ho. I managed to get back to transition and out again without stepping on anything sharp or unpleasant, and was soon cranking my way uphill out of Marazion. Before reaching Rosudgeon, i’d managed to overhaul a goodly number of those pesky people who can swim either fast or in a straight line! All of a sudden a familiar figure shot past on my right, hunched over his Tri Bars with a “hello Don” – ’twas Hixxo! Over the next few miles we switched positions several times as I struggled to find a rhythm, finding my legs disappointingly stale and free of fast twitch firepower. The fast section down to the Newtown roundabout was spoiled by a slow moving farm vehicle heading a queue of traffic. A few daredevil riders, including myself, sprinted up the outside while Cooter sensibly stayed in the gutter and undertook the obstacle.

I left T2 on the heels of Hixxo, and overtook him before the beginning of the Green Lane cycle path. It’s a far more civilised way to start a run, than the steep approach favoured by Cris and Co on their May and July events. The first few K were easy enough, but I could feel a stitch unravelling somewhere inside. Phil Sanger was on hand with his camera and some words of encouragement at the bottom of the hill up to the turn. “You’re going faster than you think” he shouted. “F**k, I hope so” said the guy next to me. On the final drag up Virgin Hill, Hixxo overtook me again as the needle teetered close to the big E, but the difference in our inside leg measurements made all the difference on the ridiculously steep drop back down to the field and the finish, and I came in a few yards sooner. It was yet another good day for the Bay after Pete Le Grice’s all-conquering performance at yesterday’s St Levan 10K. Overall, Kyle Kearey finished hot on the heels of MBH part-timer Neil Eddy and Alice Nicholas was third lady, just edging out Charlotte H.

Full Results and split times here:

http://www.racetimingsystems.com/public/results.aspx?raceid=1087

Yet again, I managed to miss the pasty/beer at the end, but I mustn’t grumble… ah the hell with it: where’s my pasty? Where’s my beer? Gripe, moan, grizzle, rant, rave….

;-)

Don “AikenDrum” H

It’s been a couple of days since I completed the ‘Triple’, I can just about stay awake for longer than 30 minutes, my shuffling around the house is speeding up a little and I’m starting to think about when I should realistically do a little bit of recovery based training. Before I get into full flow, the reason I was able to complete this event was down to my support crew, Mark, Paul and Tim; they suffered with me, made rational decision for me when I was unable to and most of all they had the same level of desire as I did to get the job done. My friends from sunny Cornwall were always part of the team and they were awesome, but a special mention for Tim, who just rocked up from Carlisle to watch for a couple of hours and stayed for the duration  is fully justified (I definitely owe you several beers in Las Vegas!).  

Getting into the spirit of it all?

PRE-RACE 

Training for this event had gone pretty much to plan, apart from an 8 week blip during May and June, where overtraining had a massive effect. I’d averaged over 20 hours a week since the turn of the year with the majority being done in very unsociable hours, this was done to both simulate effort whilst tired and to keep my training and family time as separate as possible.

The trip to the race was uneventful and we arrived in enough time to drive the bike course and take a walk around the run course, before we checked in to the hotel and relaxed for a couple of hours. The registration and brief held no surprises and so it was off to bed as well prepared and rested as I could possibly have hoped for

THE RACE

Travelled over to what was become ‘hell’ for the next couple of days, and with my bike racked and ready it was time to get ready for the longest swim of my life. The furthest I’d done in training was 5k but I had felt really comfortable at that distance and knew that I would have no problem with the swim. We seeded ourselves in the lane according to who thought they would finish first, and so I pushed off at the head of the queue with 456 lengths to go. I had planned to do sets of 2.5k (x4) and then be left with a measly 56 lengths, simple enough plan I thought. The only problem was that I had to contend with the different pace of the other 3 guys in my lane, I am always aware that the race isn’t always about me and that I will have affected the rhythm of the others as I seemed to be tapping feet every few lengths to get past. The swim was my worst fear in triathlon but I actually am starting to enjoy it, although I am no Michael Phelps, I feel that I am gradually getting better. I had a target of between 3:30-3:45 for the swim and was pretty much bang on as I exited in 3:42, and 6^th place.

A quick jog round to T1 and a leisurely change of kit saw me head out on to the bike. I really didn’t know how this part was going to go, but had made a decision to ride an aggressive set up and trying to hammer it (relatively) in daylight hours. This was working well and I was up around a 33kph average for the first 112 miles, after that it started to go a lot slower. This I think was due to being dehydrated from the swim and also the terrible road surface starting to take effect. It had to be total concentration all the way through as there were so many pot holes that it could be race over  at any moment, plus the constant vibration had a cumulative fatigue effect as well.

Oi! I was drinking that!

Around 19:00 we were told to get high vis and lights on and that was the first time I had stopped, in 9 hours I had done 182 miles and so was in good spirits. Then as light faded the true test begun and was to last until the finish. The darkness just seemed to sap all energy from my body and the effort no to fall asleep was phenomenal, in fact like the Double from the previous year I did nod off a few times (although it was only for a second) and woke with a start. I’m not sure of the time because everything became a blur but I had to pull over and crawl into the back of the van for my first of 3 ten minute power-naps. When I woke up I felt amazing and this was enough to carry me through for another 2 laps before repeating the process. After the second ‘sleep’ the sun was coming up and I was hoping this would be the lift I needed, wrong! It was just as bad so I did another 2 laps had another 10 minutes and then I was left with only 2 laps. By this point my undercarriage was in tatters, so sitting was agony, standing was just as bad as my legs were in bits, but at least I had 78 miles of running to look forward to. As I rolled in on my final lap of the bike it was with total relief that I hadn’t crashed, that my bike hadn’t had a mechanical and that I had done 2/3 of the race. During this 336 mile spin, I’d moved up from 6^th to 3^rd, I think at one point I was 2^nd but that didn’t last long and trailed 2^nd by 1:30 ish as I went out on the run. The bike took me 21:45.

Eating and sleeping at the same time, top tip.

10 minutes of bliss!

Maybe a bit over-excited about the run

Now it was the ultimate test of all the 3 disciplines, I had done one training run of 35 miles but that was in March. Since then I had only done 15-20 mile efforts, poor prep I know but I didn’t want to risk injury prior to the race. I haven’t been doing triathlon long (0206 was my first race) and I’ve never been in a position where I am challenging for the podium, so I worked out a strategy early on. I was going to go hard on the first marathon and put pressure on Hanno (2^nd) and hopefully make him blow up, and maybe (but not realistically) worry Paul (1^st) in to making a mistake. This was a massive risk I was taking but as intend never to do anything like this again (well not for a while) I didn’t want to finish thinking ‘what if I’d attacked. So off I went, with a lot of advice from a respected athlete doing the Double, telling me that I was being stupid and that I would blow myself to bits for the final third of the run. 

Always smiling!?

Well, he was completely right, but fortunately for me my gamble paid off and everybody else was just trying to survive at that point. I have never felt so completely empty as the last 12-15 miles of this event, the best I could do was to shuffle through the darkness and not fall asleep whilst walking. My body had completely shut down, I could take on no food, water was a struggle and all I wanted to do was curl up and sleep. Once again my crew where amazing, they just kept me going with encouragement or threats, not sure which at that point. It’s difficult to put into words how I felt but I never want to be in that place again, I was not a happy bunny. And so it was to the final lap (of 63) I had pictured this moment many times, but none of the scenarios had been like this one, I had nothing left, no feelings of joy or relief, it was just the constant effort of putting one foot in front of the other. As I crossed the line I didn’t care about anything other than going to sleep, but then as my timing chip was taken off it started to dawn on me that I didn’t have to do this anymore. I WAS FREE! My time for the run was 19:14. I had come into this event with a time goal rather than a placing, and I had hoped to go under 40 hours, I think if I had been further down the field that this would have been achievable but due to pushing harder on the bike and definitely sacrificing myself on the run it was never going to happen. But I would swap that any day of the week to finish in second place in this experienced and talented group of athletes and I feel very humbled by the whole thing. 

SWIM   3:42:07

BIKE    21:45:51

RUN     19:14:06

TOTAL 44:44:04
 

1st Paul Thompson 2nd Scott Markham

Approx 30 seconds after the picture above...

Scott Markham

Apres Tri @ Charlestown

An awesome place and we were blessed with ideal race conditions, as this was my first open water tri. I wasn’t daunted by this in anyway yet! I know I’m pants at swimming and didn’t want to be kicked in the face or anywhere which would probably have made me panic and drown so I took up position by Kathryn Burgess who was looking rather slinky in her wet suit at the far end of the group. I had the intention of just getting round, which I did although I did find it a little strange as I managed to pass someone doing back stroke! Everyone seemed to bottle neck around the first buoy which wasn’t a problem with the next one as I was at the back! Yvonne and Nigel were off like torpedoes and were probably on their bikes as I came out of the water 5th from last, not to worry tho!

A short run up the shingle beach and into transition lots of spectators all cheering everyone on, which was ace! Now I did fluff putting on my cycling shoes and took far too long even thou I was only here for the experience and a bit of fun, Katie Bollack from St.Austell runners was taking the Mickey, as always, out of me!

The cycle was only 4 miles but the first mile was all up hill and I huffed and puffed all the way up the bugger, overtaking loads of people who were pushing their bikes or struggling. At the top we had a flat mile to the turn around, and then back the way we came. Going down that hill was the best part, though I did take it easy for one nasty bend just before we entered back into transition which went a lot easier this time. But we had to run up that fricking hill, and by half way as I passed Jeremy (Nigel’s mate) I was about ready to be sick, even tho I was taking it easier than if I was racing. Loads were dying on the hill and I just kept overtaking them which was cool! I managed to catch Yvonne by the turn around and some chap trying to over take me, so I put the hammer down a little bit and left him standing before hitting the downward part of the run back down the hill and to the finish!

We all got a great T-shirt, in our goody bags and of course my favourite, a medal!

Myself, Yvonne, Nigel, Jeremy and Graham all had a good time and cheered each other on as we passed each other all going in different directions.

An awesome day I really enjoyed this event – very chilled and loads of fun, shame there wasn’t more of us there, 90 people took part in all. Nigel came 3rd overall – I was 13th somehow. I don’t know how Yvonne got on. Thank you to Graham for all the support and well done as they had to stick round as Graham had entered himself in the knobbly knee competition, in which he came 2nd!

And then it was on to Tywardreath Trotter…

Another good day for the Bay in Scorchio conditions.

Swim was the usual bunfight, but I managed to stay out of trouble most of the time. One beefy article seemed almost magnetically attracted to me and kept trying to knock my block off until I put on a spurt and found some clear water. Sighting is often my downfall in open water, but not this time thankfully. I exited the water after what felt like more than 2k, in just over 37 mins. Brooksy and the lads were waiting on the beach, shouting encouragement – thanks guys.

Bike course had changed due to roadworks near Lands End and some cheeky headwinds along the North Coast road and the section from Newtown Roundabout down to Hilltop Garage near Helston led some to indulge in the shameful practice of wheelsucking – poor show! Ian popped up in a few places along the route with more shouts of encouragement

Run was a heartbreaker with two loops of lumps including the ridiculous Virgin Hill. One lad just ahead of me on the second loop cracked and walked back downhill, clearly having had enough of our Cornish Hills. Luckily there were a few shady spots along the route to escape the worst of the merciless midday sun, so I managed to keep cool(ish) in between the drinks stations.

MBH Finishing times are below with full Swim\Bike\Run splits in the link for stats fans!

Amusing postscript: A computer howler resulted in me being awarded the 2nd Male Vet 50 prize, which I returned (after flashing it about a bit!). Maybe i’ll get some legitimate V50 swag in a couple of years time… :(

Don “AikenDrum” H

Status Pos Overall Bib Competitor Category Club Finish

4 169 Kyle KEAREY Sen Mounts Bay Harriers 04:43:43
19 177 Scott MARKHAM V40 Mounts Bay Harriers 05:07:18
24 160 Don HUTCHISON V40 Mounts Bay Harriers 05:11:01
30 228 Mark WORLEDGE V40 Mounts Bay Harriers 05:17:28
61 217 James TAYLOR Sen Mounts Bay Harriers 05:37:44
88 164 Miles JOHANSEN Sen Mounts Bay Harriers 06:13:27

Full Results HERE