So Nottingham went well; British AG sprint champion etc.
etc, but there was no time to bask in any glory as I had to get to Chester for
the Deva Olympic distance triathlon the next day. I had entered five of the six
qualifying events for the sprint and OD ITU champs in London. This was
basically because I was out working in Australia last November when I found out
that the Dambuster qualifier had already sold out. I went straight on line and
saw there were only about 20 places for Deva left so I registered there and
then. The next day I looked at the other qualifiers and saw they were also just
about sold out so in a fit of panic I registered also for Nottingham, Bristol
and Llandudno. The 3rd OD qualifier had yet to be announced so I
thought best to get into the Sprints to at least give myself a chance. Also
Bristol is just about a local tri and I’ve lived many years in Llandudno so
that also would be like a home tri. The outshot of all this internet activity
from down under was that I didn’t realise that Nottingham and Chester were on
consecutive days. Oh well, I just thought I would see how well I could do at Notts
and treat the Deva tri as a block session! I managed to get a good post-race
massage in Nottingham.
I went straight to register for Deva on the Saturday
afternoon and then went to stay with a friend in North Wales. I’d arranged
another massage there with John Clayton who came highly recommended in North
Wales. He was excellent and not only gave me the massage I needed, also offered
heaps of good physio advice for my various ailments. After Notts a bit of a
celebration was called for so out we went for an Italian and carbo loading,
some beers and a nice bottle(s) of red. I was in the final wave on the Sunday
so luckily no need for too earlier a start. However, as always; I was awake
early, so set off for Chester so I could see some of the earlier waves start.
My Cardiff Tri buddy, Sam Webster, has already written a far better descriptive
blog of his race at Chester (here) http://www.dontbeasalmon.net/archives/2013/06/deva-triathlon.html.
Based right in the centre of a city, on the river, space was
always going to be tight. So getting from the car parks to transition and then
onto the swim start was a bit convoluted but I have to say the organisation,
marshalling and assistance was excellent throughout the event in what I could
see was quite a difficult location (Chester Sunday tourists all over the
place).
I guess due to focusing of Notts for the first time in a
triathlon I hadn’t even looked at the cycle and run courses. I obviously knew
the 1500m swim was in the river but that was about it. I racked my bike, worked
out the in’s and out’s of transition and went down to the swim finish to see
how that worked. As the swim course went first up river around the bend and
then back down stream, with no footpath on this side of the river what was
around the bend was a bit of a mystery.
Start time came. By now I’d worked out my race strategy. I’d
already qualified for London and raced the previous day so just go nice and
easy and see how it pans out. Although as my best event is swimming and our
last wave was only males my age and older I thought I would see if I could do a
good swim. Well I did. The actually time for the 1500m (actually over 1700m by
all Garmin gps accounts) on such a upstream/downstream river swim is irrelevant
but I managed to draft just about the whole way. At the swim start three of us
went clear very quickly I just tucked in behind the third and away we went. The
first guy was a bit ahead and in retrospect a good sighter and perhaps I should
have tried to get on his heels. The guy I was following was zig sagging a bit
but I think was slightly faster than me and so was pulling me along nicely. I
haven’t checked specifically but I think we ended up about 3 or so minutes
ahead of the pack. I managed to overtake the 2nd guy before getting
to T1 and then the first guy before the exit on the bike (later he past me on
the run). So once again I was in the lead on the bike in my age group and
thinking this tri lark was easy. That was to about the 20k marker when someone
in my wave past me. I don’t know whether it was being passed or if I had just
reached my limit but that’s where I bonked. I had no energy left. I was also
cramping in my arms and elbows in the aero position. I was passed a few more
times before T2. I think I was in survival mode on the run and just really
jogging around. Lots in my age group with red numbers passed and my aim was
just to finish. I had no motivation whatsoever to give myself pain. Although I
realised there were two guys coming up behind me as I went over the bridge towards
the finish I really could do nothing about it. That was it. The cold fact was
that in the end I finished 15th in my Age Group.
It’s taken me a few days to recover but thinking about
things I’m now pretty happy with the race. There is no way I could expect to
perform well on two consecutive days. I think I had the best swim leg I’ve ever
had and practised my swim drafting to perfection. Although I bonked on the bike
and then had someone take over 13 minutes off me on the run I know I can do
better. In the end it was a good training race for me.
The one gripe I have about Deva – It took me
days to scrub off the tattooed race numbers and lettering from my arm and leg!
After trying every industrial solvent (from work) I have to no effect it was
just hard scrubbing that got them off and left me a bit raw. I guess not the
worst triathlon complaint you could have. 
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