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Castle Howard Triathlon with Adam

26/07/2010

Today’s blog is all about recreation with no mention of archive storage, confidential document destruction or recycling.

This year I was lucky enough to win a free entry to the Castle Howard sprint triathlon on Saturday 24^th July 2010. This would involve a swim in the lake of 400m, a cycle ride of 23km around the Howardian Hills and then an off road 5km run around the grounds of Castle Howard. A tough and technical cycle route and a tricky off road run section, compared to other triathlons. 133 people finished this event. Here’s how things went.

Saturday 24^th July

0545, alarm clock goes off and it’s time for porridge! Having got all my kit ready the day before all that was left to do was to fuel myself up, make up my energy drinks for before, during and after the race, load the car and get to Castle Howard.

Luckily the sun was shinning and it was dry. We left home and arrived at Castle Howard 10 minutes later and parked in the field. Registration was a 10 min walk away up to the main house. Once I had registered and had my race number written on my arms it was off to the transition area to rack my bike and get all my kit ready.

Start time was 0820, so I had just over an hour before the start.  My brother in Law Eric, had now arrived and was also racing, so we set up next to each other in the transition area. For those new to the world of triathlon, the transition area is where you keep your bike during the race and where you get changed between each section of the race. The time you spend getting changed between each section, in this area, is also added to your overall time for the race, so it pays to be as fast as you can and most triathletes have their own way of setting up their area so as little time as possible is spent there during the race. Peter Kay from Ware & Kay Solicitors in York had also entered the race and we managed to catch up with him before the start, in the transition area.

As the swim is first, I got ready by putting on my wetsuit over my tri suit, added some anti-mist liquid to my goggles, so that they wouldn’t steam up once I got into the water and grabbed my coloured swim hat. Everything else was laid out in my transition area. Once back from the swim all I would have to do would be to remove my wetsuit, put my bike helmet and bike shoes on, grab my bike and go.

The start of the swim was a 10 min walk away back towards the car park (about half way up the main lake on the West side). Once down there we had a quick race briefing from the organisers and then it was our time to start. Some people were in wetsuits, some in tri suits (lycra) and one guy was just wearing his speedo’s! The water temperature was around 17 degrees C. Your average swimming pool temp is usually around  25-28 degrees C, so it was a bit cooler but not too bad.

This is normally were the nerves start to kick in. Swim starts can be a bit of a dog fight at times, arms and legs flying all over the place. It’s very easy for someone to knock your goggles off or to have a foot in your mouth. This and the adrenaline of the start really gets the heart rate pumping and it is very easy to go off too hard and then to peak and start panicking and have to gather yourself again before getting going again.

We waded out to the start line, which was around 20mts from the bank. The lake was very muddy and our feet were sinking up to our knees in the mud. The water wasn’t very deep, only about waist deep but the mud was making the water black and smelly! Not the best of things to have to put your face into and start swimming. There was a lot of weed in the lake and it was getting caught everywhere. Once lined up, the claxon went and we were off. I kept myself off the left of the main group of people so that I could do my own thing and not get caught up with anybody else. One lap of the 400m course doing breaststroke (can’t manage the breathing part of crawl) and then it was time to get out of the water. As we came in to the bank you could stand up and walk in but with the mud underfoot, it was much easier to swim as far as you could.

Once out of the water, it would be a massive 600m up hill dash to the transition area. The time it took to do this dash would be added on to your swim time. Along the run to transition, there was time to half take off my wetsuit by whipping my arms out and folding it down to my waist. These are tight fitting and take about 10mins to put on. There is also a knack for removing them as fast as possible too. Huffing and puffing I made it into transition. Everybody wears an electronic timing chip around their ankle which records all the times from every section we do. The 400m swim and 600m uphill dash had taken me 12mins 44 seconds to do and was the 65^th fastest time. In the transition area it was time to whip off the wetsuit, put on my cycle shoes and bike helmet, grab the bike and exit transition. It always pays to remember where your area is in transition as it is very easy to get lost in there with a few hundred bikes all looking the same, which can cost you time finding you kit.

After spending exactly 1 minute in transition I was out onto the hilly bike course. First, time to grab a quick drink from my drink bottle and to catch my breath back a little before the ups and down around Castle Howard, Hovingham & Terrington start. After a very hard 23km on the bike and 47mins 16 secs I was back at Castle Howard and into transition. Somehow I had managed the 12^th fastest time on the bike, which I was very pleased with.

Once in transition it was time to rack my bike again, kick off my cycle shoes, remove my helmet and slip on my trainers and start the 5km run. This time, I managed to only spend 34 seconds in transition.

The run course was all off road up and down hills with lots of rough, boggy and rutted ground. Littered along the way with lots of cow pats just to make a mess if they caught you out! Although it was a very pretty route around the Castle Howard estate the legs found it much harder after everything they had already done. After the first half a mile or so, my legs began to feel normalish again. When running straight off the bike your legs always feel very strange and it takes a while for them to catch up with what you are asking them to do. It was getting hot now as the sun was glaring down. No time to stop for a drink on my way around as I find running the hardest of the 3 disciplines. It is difficult to pace yourself through the day to make sure that you have enough energy left to make the finish. It is all mind over matter to keep running when all you want to do is start walking! More people were passing me as the run went on and there was the odd person to catch up with as we were all beginning to struggle now. Knowing that there was a big hill just before the end of the race will always play on your mind. Will I make it up? Just how steep is it? Can I run up it or will it be a walk?

I caught up with a fellow competitor near this last hill. Both of us were not looking forward to it and both encouraged each other up the hill. Down the other side and the finish was in sight. A quick muster up of all remaining energy, to run up the last incline to the finish line. Smile for the cameras and take in the shouts and atmosphere. Family and friends cheering you along, then relax, it’s all over. The trick then is to catch your breath while trying to take the smile off your face. There is such a sense of achievement once over the finish line. All the training and preparation for the event and then to realise what you have managed gives you a great feeling and then you’re hooked!

With a time of 25mins & 20 secs for the 5km run (40^th fastest), this gave me an overall time of 1 hour 26mins & 55 seconds, finishing in 23^rd place overall and 8^th from 28 in my age catergory (male veteran 40-50 yrs). Quite a surprise to me but a very pleasing result. Eric & Peter were both in the Veteran 50 age catergory and finished 53^rd & 62^nd overall. Peter posted a fantastic 15th fastest overall swim time. Not bad for his first event!

The best thing about Triathlon, is that it is a great leveler. A good swimmer can’t always run. A good cyclist may be useless in the water and a runner may find it hard on the bike etc. Everybody has their weak areas and their stronger areas too. Talk to any triathlete and they will all have a different preference. There is also a very friendly atmosphere with everyone offering advice or support to each other, before, during and after the race. There is always a variety of people from age to size, male and female, everyone training within their own time constraints and ability. There are cycles worth thousands through to borrowed mountain bikes and you even see the odd bike with a basket on! It is very easy just to go and have a go with whatever equipment you can lay your hands on. As with any race, somebody always has to finish last, but boy… in triathlon, you will always get a big cheer and great support, however long the course may take you to do.

For me now the training carries on with the Jane Tomlinson 10k York race next week and then a couple more Tri’s later on next month. You can follow my training exploits and general chit chat on Twitter. http://twitter.com/JimTT40 Meanwhile it’s back to the Paperwise office and everyday life….until the next race.