After a really tumultuous first half of 2010 (moving house 3 times and starting a new job) the Vitruvian had become my main race of the season. I have not raced as much as I would have liked this year; however, when I have raced the result have been good – so no complaints!
I travelled to Rutland Water to camp the night before the race. The weather was good and all was well. Setting the campsite up with my daughters seemed to take an age but tent village was sorted after a while. Registration was on Friday evening and there was the normal trade stands that could so easily have sucked me in – good job I have no money! The Planet X bikes looked very nice. . . . . .Mmmmm.
The good thing about camping the night before is that you can have a lie in until 0430!! What luxury! I was quite relaxed and listened to the race brief from my tent as I put my wet suit on. The mist on race morning was very heavy and you could not see any of the bouys! There was a slight delay in the start and my wave was joined up with the last one to make a wave of well over 300 swimmers.
Swim
We set off and the only sighting to be done was look up to the fuzzy dull sun in the sky! I got a right bashing for what seemed an age, including a dunking at the first bouy, which just seemed to pop up in front of me! After the first swim lap it is a short run and back into the water. Despite having rubber matting covering the stones, my feet took a battering and bruised quite badly. This is a problem for me and the run from swim exit to T1 over more concrete and stones compounded the problem. Anyway, my second swim lap was far better. As I entered the water I saw a small group about 50 metres ahead. I worked hard and caught them but they just seemed to be going too slow and I went straight passed them. The flow returned to my swim and the rather choppy stroke of the first lap disappeared and I felt like I was now swimming how I do in training.
As I exited the water I stopped my watch on 32:45. Not a great time but the best I had ever done at this race (This was my 4th Vit). I hobbled up the ramp and over the timing mat. Official swim split 33:23. Not bad but I want closer to 30 mins!
T1 was ok, apart from the run across the concrete and stones. I got passed by a few guys who must have leather feet!
Bike
After the mess up with shoes at The Dambuster last June, I opted for bike shoes NOT clipped in. This seemed to pay off as when I mounted my bike I was off and away in no time, whereas guys with shoes clipped in seemed to be having all sorts of problems. The mist had not lifted whatsoever, and it was a cold start to the bike. After a mile or so there is a huge very fast decent and the wind chill was freezing me solid! I relaxed into the bike leg, concentrating on feeding as much as possible. At one point I may have over done it as I felt a bit nauseous. This soon past and after the first lap I entered the feed zone and decided to pick up water, rather than more energy drink. This helped my tummy and turned out to be a good choice. It was so cool to see my daughters cheering as I biked through the feed zone – they are very dear to me. The second lap went better than the first for me but, as normal, the hills around Rutland began to bite! It’s the same for everyone so I just dug in and pushed out a steady climbing rhythm, rather than blitz the hills. Things must have been going ok as I was passing so many people. I only got passed twice, on lap one, by the race leaders on their second lap. So I was content with my bike performance. That said, I had no idea of my time as I had stopped my watch after the swim. I never really like clock watching. I prefer just to go for it on feel. As I entered T2, I didn’t feel too bad but I was ready to get off the bike! I had done 2:19:03. My fastest bike split for this race – just! But I had not gone as hard as previous Vit races. I now needed my run to be better than 1:30!
Run
I had opted for no socks on the run. I had tested this at Cambridge Triathlon a few weeks ago and the trainers seemed fine. I like the fleet of foot feeling with just light trainers on! As I set off, I felt ok (apart from my bruised feet) but was so mindful that there was a long 13.1 miles to go! I segmented the run into 4 parts. It was a 2 lap out and back run so this was easy to do. The first out was all about cruising at an easy pace and getting a gel down me after 20 mins of running. Daz Sharpe passed me on his final lap and invited me to run with him. He was probably running about 45 sec a mile quicker than me and I declined his offer! I was hoping to up my pace later in the run but I doubt I would ever get close to his pace. He ran a 1:22 half. As I turned and started my first return leg, I was passed by a young guy with a Garmin on. I tucked in and ran with him for a while. It seemed just a tadge too fast for me. If I had been on my final lap I may have stuck with it. He told me he was running at 15k per hour pace. Oops! Way too fast and I backed off. As I turned to start my second lap, I felt a bit tired. But a plan is a plan and I slowly increased the pace all the way to the final turn. My legs were telling me to ease up but my breathing was ok. So, man up time and go for it. I just gave it all in the return leg and really pushed it home. As I entered the final mile I thought that my pacing plan had worked because I was now on the limit – for both legs and breathing! I was passing heaps of people and as the finish line approached I was spent. But had I ran a good enough time to get a PB, which is what I wanted? I had estimated that I could do a 1:28 run if my nutrition was good. It was 1:27:57!! Happy with that as I had never been under 1:30 in this race.
Overall finish was 4:24:16. Previous best was 4:27:50.
2nd in Age Group, 39th overall.
ThIs had been a great race and I am now very happy! I was not that far away from winning my age group and this race always attracts a very good field. The guy that won my age group is a well established medal winner at international age group races. I only lost a minute or so on each discipline. So there’s the aim for next year!! I am sure that I can improve my swim further (but I say that every year!) and maybe my running too! And then maybe I could squeeze in some bike improvement too! What the heck, let’s do all 3!!
And if you entered the poll - Daz takes the win by being 2:30 quicker on the bike! Well done Daz.
So how did it go? It was a great day out and the weather was ok(ish). Quite windy in places but it could have been far worse. The route went deep into the Peak District and some of the high points were really exposed. Of course the theme of the ride was hills, hils and more hills! I had a place in the RAF Cycling Association Team and there was 20 of us all decked out in RAF Cycling. It was quite an impressive sight – oh, and there was an interloper wearing an RAF Triathlon cycling jersey! No, not me! It was young Jase Walkley. As it turned out, he would be my ride buddy and we probably spurred each other on to levels of utter exhaustion that would not otherwise be possible. That may sound dramatic but the last 10 miles was a real pain-fest – just the way it should be!
The RAF peleton moved along at a healthy pace to begin with. The first real hill split us up slightly and 3 of us were up the road by the top. One of the guys then punctured and we stopped to wait for him. This caused the whole peleton to regroup. This seemed to be the pattern of the ride. The peleton moved well together but as soon as the road went skywards, it split. So it was always stop, regroup. Drink station, regroup. The ride felt somewhat broken and inefficient to me. I suppose it’s difficult with such a large group as people want different types of rides. Me, I wanted to get back as soon as possible. In the end, at the main feed zone, me and Jase made the decision to just crack on for home.
So it was just the 2 of us and we hit the hill of the day (though I found later hills tougher), Gun Hill. We saw a timing point on the road but we didn’t click that this was the start of the King of the Mountains Challenge and there would be another timing point at the top! We just carried on puffing and panting in our rhythm until we saw the timing point at the top and then sprinted the last 50m! Nevertheless, out of nearly 800 riders we had the 28th best climb of the day time!
Overall Jase was 37th and I was 38th. Happy with that, considering all the stops and the puncture! Ride time was 5:27 but clock time 5:53! Man we lost some time phaffing around! However, it was a great ride – my first 100 miler!!
