DNF Times Two - My London Story

It wasn’t a case of all’s well that ends well for me. I set off on a business trip to Australia just after the World Champs so I’m just getting around to putting my thoughts down. In the end, it was all a bit disappointing.

Although my Achilles felt slightly better in the few days leading up to the World Champs, even if it did hold up the fact that I hadn’t run for over three months precluded any real chance of doing anything except trying to finish. After I had qualified for London there was a plan with family and friends for a bit of support and a party in London but as my situation deteriorated I really put those ideas on hold. As I was an early qualifier I had managed to secure a “cheap” luxury apartment on Hyde Park for the family to stay, so in theory, that would be ok, except I had qualified for the Aquathlon on the Wednesday. Registration for the Aquathlon was on Tuesday this meant traveling up to London on the Tuesday and staying with friends outside of London and travelling in both days. In fact doing two events was getting a bit complicated with various times to register, be briefed, have photos, massages, team get together etc. and getting on the right trains/tubes at the right time I had to develop quite a complex Excel spreadsheet to track it all!

Made it to London and signed in on the board

 

 

 Nice thing about Aquathlon - minimalist equipment in transition!

 As mentioned in my previous post I was pretty sure my Achilles wouldn’t stand up to two 5km runs in three days so I had already decided to pull out of the Aquathlon after the swim. In fact I was only doing it (apart from already forking out £95 entry) to get some practice on the swim as no pre-race training on the courses was allowed. It was a good idea as I learnt so much of the system and where to place myself in the various pens to get the start position I wanted on the pontoon for the Sprint. There were 46 “Aquathletes” from 14 countries in my age group. The swim was 1000m rather than the 750m for the Sprint tri. It was the same course but with one further extra buoy to swim around near the end. I was pretty happy with my swim. We were combined with a younger age group and I was about 6^th out overall. The times show I was 3^rd out in my age group. The plan was I would try and do a quick transition and then pull out. I did do a quick transition, 7^th fastest and only 4 seconds behind 1^st fastest. The problem was this was in front of the stand. I didn’t really want to stop there in front of people so I ran on (slowly) for a bit. My Achilles didn’t actually feel that bad so I decided I would go very slowly and do a run recce. I would do one of the two 2.5km laps. This I did and resigned myself to all these guys passing me. I stopped just before the start of lap two, went to the ITU officials, reported my withdrawal and handed in my timing chip. As it turns out Brits got 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd. On reflection if I had run hard without thought of the Sprint two days later I probably would have placed 3^rd or 4^th. But hey – I was saving myself for the Sprint tri race.

Calm before the storm

I managed to get a massage right after the Aquathlon from the BTF support masseurs, which was great and I and now I thought I would at least finish the Sprint. However the next day DOMS (delayed onset of muscle soreness) set in – in my quads! I remembered I hadn’t run for 3 months. And my Achilles “tweeked” a little bit. Oh dear.

Thursday came. The day of the Sprint registration, team briefing, team photo then official gear checking and bike racking etc etc. Except I had already registered and was feeling a bit of an old hand at all this AG “World’s” stuff. Met the family off the train at Paddington and walked them the short distance to the apartment. Dinner was of (pre) homemade pasta Bolognese and a few beers and then an early night. Now the whole time I’d been in London they had got the weather predictions wrong and this was even only two hours ahead. Friday dawned and it was supposed to clear up by the time of the race. Except to cut it short – it just rained the whole race. This wasn’t too pleasant. I put all my gear in transition. Nothing extra was allowed except what you were racing with so no towels or covers so of course everything got wet. But it’s the same for all. You had to be out of transition by 7.30am and my AG start was only 11.00am so I went back to the apartment (10mins) and went back to bed for a while before a second breakfast.

Is my elbow that high?

The build-up was the same as for the Aquathlon so I was well prepared, got my pen positioning right and was exactly where I wanted to be on the start pontoon. 94 triathletes from 23 countries started the M55-59 AG sprint race. Again I was pretty happy with my swim with a good clear start and then a good draft (off a German as a turns out). I was 7^th out of the water and also had a reasonable T1.

 

Out of the swim

  As we were an age group on our own in the 500m or so to the start of the three lap cycle course I could see 4 or 5 guys in front of me. I had caught a couple before the getting onto the course proper and then flew past a German and Australian on the first long stretch of the three lap bike course. I was feeling really good. I guessed I was probably now top three and I knew that I could catch the GB guy would I knew would be first out of the swim.

Flying at the start of the first bike lap

The rain was hammering it down but it didn’t worry me. We hit the first technical bit of the course with some turns, speed bumps and more turns and I was now passing lots of other AG’s who were already on the course. I was feeling as confident as I could be that this was going to go well. Then, about 2km into the bike course I hit a speed bump and blah. I’d burst my rear tyre. I looked down trying not to believe what I thought had happened but no, the road was getting rougher, the bike was vibrating and sliding and I was going slower. I knew that was it for me but I remember someone saying that you could ride on flat tubs so I kept going. The bike was sliding more, I was going slower and now the German and the Australian went past. I kept going as best as I could but when I came back to the 90 degree bend before the long straight my rear slid like I was on ice. I have no idea how I stayed upright. That was it. Now a long slow ride back to transition only one lap done (in reflection I should have got off the bike and not risked my v. expensive Bontrager wheel, but I think it survived). I got back to transition and after the Aquathlon, I had experience of what to do.

So – two AG world championships in three days and two DNF’s. That must be fairly rare.

Not flying!  It's all over
 

Tyre pressures - Spot the difference!

Analysis and comparison of times afterwards leads me to believe if I had not had the blowout I probably would have been 1st or just 2^nd off the bike. With the best run I could have done that day I probably could have finished somewhere 5^th -10^th and maybe (just) best Brit. But I will never know and history says I’m a DNF. In hindsight if I had just gone for it in the Aquathlon I might have got a medal or at least a top five but then for sure it would have stuffed me up for the sprint and then would have been frustrated for what could have been for that.

The disappointing thing is the amount of money, time and effort I’ve put in trying to get over my Achilles over the last three months with doctors, physios, massages, exercises, stretches and all to no avail. It’s nearly three weeks since the Aquathlon, I haven’t done any exercise or even walking and my Achilles, although not painful, is still swollen. I have no idea what to do. Everyone and every internet article I find say just rest and don’t put any impact on it. Apart from walking in the course of a working day I haven’t, but there is still no improvement. It’s difficult to know what to do. I’ve already pre-qualified for the 2014 ETU European sprint tri championships in Kitzbühel. The qualifiers for the World champs and the 2015 Euro’s are out and it all starts in earnest in June next year.  I’m also on the NHS waiting list for an op which they tell me should be in the spring. They say recovery from this will put me completely out of action for about two months. I have a feeling this triathlon thing is not going to get any easier as I get older.