Post 154 - Eyemouth sprint triathlon

Very little meaningful training was done in the week before the Eyemouth triathlon. I was tired from a big week of training after the Stirling triathlon, and starting to wonder if I had peaked too soon this season. I hoped not, but I am in need of a bit of a break, which will come after the Edinburgh half ironman, before I tackle the second half of the season.

Anyway, during the week I did my best to keep myself ticking over and maintain fitness, while trying to ensure I didn’t do too much which would compromise my recovery. A couple of days off, an easy swim, a little biking and running and core work and before I knew it, I was getting ready for a trip down the coast to Eyemouth. I was travelling with a clubmate, Kevin, who was ready for his first triathlon.

Saturday’s dreadful weather gave way to a nice day on Sunday. Eyemouth swimming pool was located right on the shore by a beach, with a flat calm sparkling sea. It almost looked inviting, and I wondered if the organisers had ever considered making this an open-water event. It looked like a “different” bike course – starting at sea level and basically climbing up to a height of 900 feet, around a turning point and back down the same road to transition.

We got registered and racked, and watched the first heats. Kev was in heat 3 and looked to have a strong swim. He managed not to embarrass himself when mounting his bike – easily done, especially for a first-timer and even more so especially here where the mount line was on an uphill incline – many an athlete had problems getting onto their bike and getting their shoes clipped in when they were working against gravity. After I’d photographed him starting his bike I went for a short jog to warm up and headed for poolside and my race start.

I had been allocated number 1, in lane 1. Surely I wouldn’t be the fastest swimmer? With only one other in my lane, it should be a clean swim. I still hadn’t the required confidence in my tumble turns, so it was the usual touch turns, but the side of the pool was good for doing these, with a lip at water level. There was even a ladder out of the pool at the end of lane 1, which meant getting out would be easy.

The other swimmer in my lane started 10 second behind me, caught me after 10 lengths, I let him through and then I spent the next 10 lengths trying to work out if I should re-pass him. I was faster at swimming than him, but he was faster at turning than me. Eventually I inadvertently tapped his feet, which to him was a signal that I wanted to pass. He let me through, then soon tapped my feet, and I let him back through and that was how we finished the swim, me just behind him. I found out later we were the top two out of the water. Not usual for me to be so high up in the swim! I hadn’t had a particularly outstanding swim, around 11:40 which seems to be pretty standard for me for a 750m swim.

Through transition and out to the mount line, I had a bit of a struggle myself to get clipped in. I managed not to disgrace myself by falling, then it was away off uphill. It took me a minute or two to remember to start my Garmin bike computer, and when I did, I saw I was pushing nearly 500 watts… then I heard a yell as Kev passed me flying back down the hill at the end of his bike. I had to calm the power down a bit and tried to settle, but it was quite tough – difficult to work out whether to stay down in the aero position or sit up a bit more going uphill.

Even though it wasn’t a bad day, I felt like I was getting blown around a lot by the wind, hitting my rear disc wheel and deep-section front. Usually I’d pass a few of the faster swimmers on the bike, but I didn’t pass anyone, and wondered was there anyone up ahead of me. It was difficult to take a drink with the wind and the bike moving around so much. I just kept powering away but felt that the legs were just a little tired and lacking a little bit of top-end zip compared to previous races.

I made it to the turn at half way. Usually at half distance I’d take an energy gel but I had decided to see how it would go without one this time (OK, as it turned out). And the whole way back down to transition was a bit strange. A lot of it was freewheeling at 30-40mph, rather than powering and working hard at 20-25mph as you would be on a flatter course. It’s one thing getting blown around by the wind at 10mph going uphill, it’s another thing entirely getting blown around at 40mph…

Thankfully I made it back to transition, saw there were no other bikes back, so I reckoned I was in first place. I took a little extra time to put socks on (no point in chancing more friction burns two weeks before the half ironman) and headed off on the run. It was a good run course – along the promenade, round the harbour, up a long drag into the wind round the back of the town which went on forever – hard going – back down a hill, over a bridge, into the town, onto the promenade with the finish right by the beach outside the swimming pool. My feet got a bit sore on the run – I hope it was the socks – the ones I used are old and tending towards being more like sandpaper than polyester. The run was a bit long, so had it been an honest 5K I might have run high-16, as it was I ran high-17.

One-legged runner...

I took first place – my first win in the Borders triathlon series (Stirling two weeks previously wasn’t in the Borders series), and Kev and I went for a cool-down jog. He’d done well in his race, with really strong and consistent splits for 20th overall. He was keen for a 5km cool down jog. I said two would do me just fine! Again it was good hanging around afterwards chatting and doing justice to the free buffet – if you can’t eat crisps and pies and sausage rolls after a triathlon, when can you eat them…?

Results are here: https://www.stuweb.co.uk/race/1Rk

Cooling down and debriefing

I’ve got a few things to think about. Do I buy new wheels? The disc and deep-rimmed front are top-class, fast wheels, but really come into their own when weather conditions are calm and good (not often and definitely not guaranteed at the Edinburgh half ironman) and when courses are fairly flat (again not often, and definitely not at the Edinburgh half ironman). Ideally I’d like to have two sets of wheels – my current set, and a more versatile set (non-disc rear and shallower-rimmed front to handle better in the wind, and to climb hills better due to lower weight), but they are just so expensive. I could reluctantly sell the current set to (part-)fund a new set. Do I do this before Edinburgh? I will probably have to work something out before the European sprint triathlon championships in August because there’s a good chance that at the eleventh hour the race organisers could ban disc wheels on safety grounds if there is wind forecast. If this happens, and I don’t have a decent alternative, I may as well not turn up!

Also I need to think about my running shoes – I’ve always ran in Brooks Adrenaline shoes, but a couple of years ago they made a massive change to the structure and feel of the shoe, so since then I have never had a “go to” shoe. I’ve tried all kinds of running shoes since, and have never completely agreed with any of them in the way I did with the Brooks Adrenalines. I’ve got a few pairs on order at the running shop so I’ll see how they feel during next week. Also I could do with a new aero helmet as my one is very tight and the ear flaps press really hard against my ears, which get really sore - bearable for 30-40 minutes, but extremely sore and headache-inducing on a long ride. Time to start doing the lottery and crossing fingers...

I plan on one more reasonably hard week of training (middling-to-tough intensities and middling durations rather than out-and-out long savage stuff), then a decent week-long taper before the Edinburgh half ironman – I really hope to qualify for the half-ironman world championships at the Edinburgh half ironman. To be really sure of it, I’d like to finish on the podium in my age group. Fingers crossed.

Training done this week was as follows:

Mon and Tue included in previous week's training block
Wed 13 June: Rest
Thu 14 June: Swim 2.4k
Fri 15 June: 35 min turbo (single leg drills, 2 x 5mins R/L/B), 20 minute fartlek run
Sat 16 June: 30 min turbo, 20 min run
Sun 17 June: Eyemouth sprint triathlon: 11:51 swim, 35:34 bike, 17:52 5.2km run

Totals: Swim 3.2km, Bike 33 miles, Run 10 miles