I raced a race! - Llanelli Sprint Tri Race Report

Last Sunday was my first triathlon of the 2013 season. It was a sprint tri in Llanelli, the town where I grew up. I’m very pleased with the way it went. I managed 2^nd in the Super Vet’s category and, more importantly, smashed my PB for the course and that’s with the swim course being about 1min longer this year. So it looks like all my training since I got serious is starting to pay off.

The swim finish (Photo: courtesy of Owen Evans wife of Cardiff Triathlon club)

I guess since I started racing triathlons (properly in Australia in the late 80’s) I’ve never been a contender for winning anything and consequently I’ve only ever really competed to do as best as I can. My objective has always been a PB rather than winning anything or beating anyone specific so I’ve paced races to finish as fast as I can. I can’t remember a time where I have actually gone for a sprint finish to try and be one or two places up the finishing list. However now with this plan of training, trying a bit harder and competing on the international age group stage I actually thought through what I would be like if it did come to some sort of sprint finish against one of my fellow age groupers trying to qualify. My observation was that I probably wouldn’t be very good. I normally don’t hold anything back in the swim or cycle and I’ve never been good or comfortable in the run, always seeming to be in pain from the start of the run to finish. My aim on the run is to get it over with without over straining myself. I’ve also never previously been concerned with who I’m racing, in my age group or others. This season, again with my targets in mind, I thought I should take things a bit more seriously. So before Llanelli I had a look at the start list. As for just about all tri’s this year there were a lot more entrants. In fact, 310 recorded finishers against 236 for last year. I had noted that I’d finished last year (in a PB) 6^th out of 20 Super Vets (50 -60 year olds), 11 mins & 28 secs behind the winner from Celtic Tri Club. He had again entered this year. I noted that last year I was second out of the water, 3 secs behind him. So I hatched a simple plan. As my swim is a bit faster this year I will try and get out in front on the swim and then just see when he passes me on the bike and see how close I can keep him. So the night before I even tried to remember his race number. Things in the swim went to plan. I was in the second of three waves with all but one of the +50 males and most of the +40 male vets.

The Melee of the swim start (Photo: courtesy of Owen Evans wife of Cardiff Triathlon club)

 I got a good start and led the 2^nd wave swim from start to finish. The first wave was all the females plus a few men and I’d already caught quite a few on the swim. On the bike I was slowly picking athletes off on the way out to Kidwelly. I was quite surprised that the first person that passed me did so quite late on in the cycle and it was a +40 man with a low number. But last year’s winner caught me just before T2. This, together with an abysmal T2 for me trying to get my run shoes on without getting cramp in my feet meant he was way in the distance when we got on the waterfront.

 Start of the run for me (Photo: courtesy of Owen Evans wife of Cardiff Triathlon club)

 

This is the bit about racing. I was slowly starting to catch him and in fact got to about 10m behind him at the 2.5km turn. So now what? I was slowing down and thinking I should just follow him till the finish and save everything for a sprint. But I don’t have a sprint finish! Eventually I thought, what the hell, this isn’t a qualifying race and I will probably do a slower time if I don’t run as fast as I can now so after the only little rise on the run I went passed him, as fast as I could trying to give an air of this was easy! Of course he then speeded up and followed me. Oh what pain. I just ran as fast as I could and went hell for leather for the last 400m. I beat him by 9 seconds. I was a bit of an embarrassment at the finish dry retching as they were trying to hand me my t-shirt, goodie bag etc. I have no idea how I didn’t actually throw up. For a little while I obviously though I had won my age group. But it was not to be. The one guy in my age group who started in the last wave was a couple of minutes faster. He was a “younger” guy who had just moved into the age group. This year I was 2^nd in AG out of 26. Overall I was 34^th out of 310 finishers; compared with last year where I was 71^st out of 236.

So all’s well that ends well. A second place AG trophy and a £20 voucher for a tri shop. I guess that now makes me a professional after all these years! 

It wasn’t all good though. Once again I got my specific problem at every triathlon of cramps in top of the foot when putting on both my bike and run shoes. It probably set me back about 30 – 45 secs in total in the transitions.  I’m now accepting this and put it down to getting older and some arthritis. Although I used to do it a few years ago, I won’t be now doing a flying start again with my bike shoes attached to the bike. The risk of getting cramp when inserting the feet when on the bike is too great for me. The other problem I had was that I couldn’t stay in the aero position for the whole bike leg -probably only about half. It’s the first time I’ve raced my new Trek Concept tri bike in anger (see previous post). I found that being in such a different position when compared to the aero’s on my training bike i.e. further forward; I was starting to get cramp in my forearms and had to drop down quite often. I’m hoping that with some specific exercises and more time on the tri bike this won’t happen again.

Going home to race triathlon

This weekend is the Llanelli sprint triathlon. I’ve done it for the last few years and assuming my list of ailments doesn’t get any worse (groin strain now added to the list!) I look forward to racing it again. Llanelli is where I was brought up and my dad still lives on the hill overlooking Stradey Park. Having gone to school on the cycle course, spent summers playing on the run course and learning to swim in North Dock – the swim venue - I can now already picture every metre of what’s waiting for me on Sunday. Far better than I can remember the Box End aquathlon course I did only two weeks ago!  Llanelli was a lot different in those growing up days. The docks, although already decayed, were still working docks. But the biggest change is where the run course is, through Sandy Water Park. If you didn’t know you would never believe that for over 70 years up to 1981 this was the site of Llanelli Steel Works. I can only now compare it to something like Isengard in Lord of the Rings; with steam and gas belching out 24hrs a day, the roar of the steel being poured and the constant clanking of rail trucks being shunted.

 

These are the sights and sounds I became accustomed to for the first 18 years of my life and took as normal. In fact I remember when we went on holiday I couldn’t sleep at first for the quiet! I qualified as a Metallurgical Engineer and after University emigrated to South Africa to get a job at the time of the demise of British industry under the hand of Margaret Thatcher. Even today on reflection it still irritates me the commercial and social damage done by these political motivated closures. Whilst countries in Europe – Germany, France etc., going through the same economic difficulties as the UK, supported their industries (including car manufacturing) and the associated communities for the long term benefits we can see in those countries today. By coincidence the (newly refurbished at the time) steel furnaces in Llanelli were dismantled and sold to a South African company. They are still in operation today on the outskirts of Johannesburg and it is a strange feeling driving past them knowing where they came from. On a historical note some of Margaret Thatcher’s letters have recently been released including this one about the closure of the Llanelli steel works in 1981.

 

Llanelli was an amazing place to “play” as a kid. In those days we were allowed out all day and wandered far and wide. As a parent now I shudder at what we got up to; sneaking right into the works, riding the shunted rail cars, catching eels in the chemical filled waterways and even walking & swimming across the tidal mud flats of the Loughor estuary to the Gower. I have to say what a fantastic job has been done with the water park and coastal path to try and return things to something like it was pre industry.

A view from our road over the Scarlets old Stradey Park ground, the Steel Works and the Gower taken in the 1970's

Sandy water park today. The site of the old steel works. Dad's house is on the hill on the right

 

Talking about the Loughor estuary I believe I’m still the proud holder of the record for the fastest swim between Burry Port harbour and Llanelli Beach. I did it back on the 25^th June 1977 as part of a race to raise funds for the Queen’s silver jubilee. Previous to that it was last raced in 1935. I don’t know about recently but I found out the race was held a few times in the 80’s but no one managed to beat my time of 70mins for the approximately 5km (as the crow flies) swim. I know it’s 5km thanks to the help of google maps and this recent photo which I’ve anointed.

 

 

Loughor estuary has one of the biggest tidal ranges in the UK and although the tide was almost in I was definitely “tide assisted”. I’ve always been pretty good at sighting and swimming straight during open water swims and I think I must have been even then for my first real long distance swim. I remember at the start I sighted on a chimney from the old Machynys works and fixed on that the whole race so swam straight across the bay. Whilst I think my competitors from Llanelli swimming club probably more followed the coast around. I say that because at the time I specialised at Breastroke and I know there were at least three guys who were faster than me at frontcrawl. Or maybe I was just better at the longer distance. Anyway I kept a few local newspaper clippings of the event and the trophy is still on the shelf. I personally think the Llanelli triathlon should be a sea swim rather than a lap around the old North Dock!

 

Another hurdle cleared: Swim – Run; Serpentine & Hyde Park

I’ve just checked the British Triathlon age group website and I have a Q1 next to my name, meaning that I have officially qualified for the ITU Aquathlon world championships in Hyde Park in September. So at least I will be racing on the Wednesday, 11 September in London.

 

The long term outcome of the London marathon was a very sore right Achilles tendon and, consequently, a painful right calf. I only had two weeks before the qualifying race, the Box End Aquathlon in Bedford so it was no running, physio appointments, massage and strengthening exercises to try and get it ok for the Aquathlon. It seemed to work as I managed to get around the 5km run course without it hindering me. Although I haven’t actually done any running for about 5 weeks (obviously excluding the 42.2km of the VLM) so I found the run hard. I think I’m now quite a bit off my 5km PB set in February this year. However it was a great day for the Box End race with it being warm and the sun shining. Water temp was barely 14C which made getting in the water not the most pleasant of experiences, especially putting the face in open water for the first time of the year.  But with a wet suit on it soon felt ok and I was quite happy with my swim. In fact when the results were out I was happy with all my splits and I actually did one of the fastest transitions. My times were an improvement on last year and I narrowed the gap to the AG’s who beat me last year and extended it from those behind me.

When I checked the British Tri website and saw the Q1 against my name I was a bit surprised that only three of us had Q against their name (me and the two guys who were in front of me) as I think there were at least 10 in the AG who had registered for the world champs and there were seven qualifying spots available. Then I realised that the others hadn’t made the 115% of the AG winners cut off time. I’d forgotten about this qualifying criteria for the world champs. I calculated I was about 106% of the AG 1^st place but shows the quality of our AG winner, who actually was a previous Aquathlon world champs gold medallist. I had a slightly faster swim time than him so it shows that I have to keep concentrating on my running.

I had entered a hilly triathlon race this Sunday but have pulled out to try and give my Achilles another weeks rest. I can see this being a constant battle through the summer. So my next race is 19^th May Llanelli sprint tri where I was brought up. It’s a great feeling to know every inch of the course. Even the swim is in the old North Dock, where I used to spend hours messing around, jumping off the dock gates and getting up to no good. Happy times!