Sperrin Half 8th May 2010
This is a very early time of the year for an open water swim, let alone a middle distance triathlon, comprising of a 1.9km Swim, 90km bike and a half marathon. The distance of this event provides a great test for those triathletes who are competing in one of the early season Ironman distance events on foreign shores. It's an opportunity to establish how their training and preparation has went over the winter / spring months and how much more they still have to do.
The venue for the race was in Cookstown, County Tyrone and hosted by TriLimits, it's an area that we were unfamiliar with but it provided something for everyone to test and flex their muscles. As it turned out the weather forecasters prediction of full sun and temperatures soaring into the low 20's was correct. However, it didn't make any difference to the temperature to water in Lough Fea. For many of the 45 competitors it was the first time that they had dipped their toes into water other than that of a warm bath or the swimming pool and boy were they in for a shock or what! Anything under 11 degrees is considered dangerous and it was certainly bordering on it, judging by the yelps and child like whimpers of those wading their way out to the start line.
Alfie and I, lucky enough had been down to Crooked Lake on a few occasions prior to the event to try and adapt to the cold water. On our first visit the water temp was 9 degrees and after taking some getting use to, we eventually swam for about 25 minutes, we literally could not feel our feet or hands when we exited the lake, fortunately Mairead was on hand with a warm drink and fresh scones to get the bodily temperatures regulated again. This stood us in good stead; Lough Fea was certainly cold but not as cold as Crooked Lake was on that occasion.
There were a few spectators at the start to encourage and push us in the direction of the start. After only a few moments the horn sounded and we were off. With the limited number of starters there was none of the argy bargy and dodging of flailing arms that I have experienced in the past. After a few early adjustments of the goggles Alfie and I were well on our way. Unknown to us we were probably swimming not too far apart for much of the swim section, although Alfie does have form for not taking the most natural route, he says he feels cheated if he doesn't get a few extra metres more than anyone else.
We both exited in a time of 27 mins for what was meant to be a measured 1.9 km coarse, although we are both happy with our swimming at the moment, being honest it was more like 1.7 km.
Although there was plenty of early morning sunshine it was cold and windy, in light of this I decided to go for a full change in transition 1. Wriggling into a skinsuit while wet was proving to be a more difficult task than the swim itself but dawning gloves and foot warmers we both left T1 at just over 31 mins. This was the last split I managed as my watch leaked water and quit.
The 56 mile bike route was a 2 loop course on open roads with 2,940ft of climbing. The route first went downhill out of T1 for about 6 miles before joining some main roads and then heading along 'A' class roads and dual carriageway for about 12 - 13 miles. Turning left leaving the village of Straw involved negotiating some long drags and steep inclines which got the heart rate rising to beyond where it was meant to be. It has the potential of being a very fast bike course even with the climbing if the wind had been blowing in a more favourable direction. Overall the bike was challenging but enjoyable, the descent and ascents kept the course interesting but I'm sure Alfie will agree the two laps were enough.
I was hoping that my last few cycling years would pay dividends during this leg of the event. Roughly, I had passed about 8 riders within the first 6-7 miles and in the distance I could see the flashing amber lights of the lead vehicle. It took all of another 20 miles before I caught the leader of the race. With 20 miles still to go I didn't know whether to conserve my energy and settle in behind, at the legal drafting limit, of course! No wheel suckers here, well not so far!
Moments later I had passed the leader and decided to try and forge ahead. I managed to gain another 2 minutes on the previous leader, in hindsight I wish I had consolidated my position and taken the last 20 miles easier but I had been running pretty well off the bike in the weeks leading up to the race and I was hoping for the same response from the legs today.
In all my previous years of Triathlon, I don't ever remember riding into transition 2 and finding it empty of bikes. I racked my bike in the allotted slot went for another full change, slipped the running shoes on and applied plenty of Vaseline on the necessary places. I was now running on fear of being caught.
The run route took us along a path which run along the back of Lough Fea then out on to a minor road and to a turn point some 2.5 km, where plenty of drinks and nutrition were on offer before you returned to the start / finish area. Four of these laps had to be completed before you were directed to the finish banner. Advertised as a flat and fast course was certainly not the case, the last ½ mile on the outward stretch of each lap was uphill, it might not have appeared this way while running on fresh legs but at particular stages it felt like running up the Glenavy Rd.
As I ran out of transition I had my own personal guide on a mountain bike to show me the way, certainly a first and most likely the last for me. It normally would take a couple of miles to get the blood flowing around the leg muscles and find your running legs but this was not to be the case for me today, as I would find this a constant struggle as I ran the 13 mile course.
At the first turn around point I could see that I was being hunted down by Joe Lynch, unknown to me at the time but the current Irish Duathlon Champion. He looked and indeed was running far stronger than I. He quickly dispatched with me around the 4 - 5 mile mark, after exchanging some words of encouragement to each other. Now, concentrating on holding down second place with the same tired legs that I began with, I was passed at around the 7 - 8 mile mark by Liam Dolan, the current Irish Ironman record holder. He clearly was on a mission of focusing on winning, I offered some words of encouragement to him but he didn't acknowledge them, he possibly didn't here them over the sounds of effort he was putting in.
By this stage Alfie had made it onto the run circuit which was great. I knew that he was well on his way to breaking the 6 hour barrier and bettering his previous efforts at the distance, this was his goal upon setting out which was realistic and well within his grasp, given his current form.
The 4 lap out and back circuit gave the impression that there was a lot more taking part than there actually was and it lifted ones spirits when you seen someone under pressure more than you were.
With having no watch from the leaving T1, I really had no idea of how I was performing against the clock. I knew that the clock on the bike had given me a split of 2 hrs 30 mins but due to what was going on in the race and how I felt I was running I had totally forgotten about the overall time, so upon turning the last corner and being directed to the finish, I was well pleased to see it clock reading 4 hrs 29 mins and a few seconds.
Although very pleased with the time and placing I knew that I had put a lot of effort in for it, I had forgotten about the emotional, mental and physical journey that an event of this nature takes you on. I'm glad that I took the opportunity to participate in the event, it acted as a great nutritional and pacing learning curve which I hope that I can draw upon and improve.
I stood at the turn around point to cheer and support Alfie going onto his last lap. His enthusiasm for Triathlon and hours of training leading up to the event were going to pay huge dividends as long as it didn't all fall into ruin on the last lap. It appeared a little longer than it most likely was but he returned to cross the finish line in 5 hrs 32 mins and a few seconds, well worthy of his finishers 'T' shirt.
We had nothing but praise for the event however, the weather really made it. I think it would possibly have struggle for numbers if the forecast hadn't been so favourable. It was great to revisit and experience the friendly competition, happy go lucky attitudes of people and family type atmosphere at these events.