The majority of my triathlon racing has been over the over the sprint distance, however over the last few years I have performed well over the longer distances too. Therefore as a repeat of last season I opted to race the shorter distances races for the first half of the season, with the plan to race a 70.3 middle distance triathlon in the second half of the season. This season I decided to race in The Steelman organised by Cleaveland Triathlon club. This race has received good reviews by club mates; for being well organised, have strong competition and also unbelievably good value for money (less than £60 for a half distance!), so I decided to enter and see if it lives up to these reviews.
I was going into this race full of confidence as a few weeks prior I raced really well at the Humber Half Marathon and the Lincolnshire standard distance triathlon, so knew I was in good shape. The race was based at Ellerton Water Park, near Richmond in North Yorkshire. Although it wasn't that far away and it had a nice civilized start time (10 am) Sally and I decided to book into a B&B the night before so it wasn't a mad rush the morning of the race. Driving over the night before i got a phone call from a good club mate of mine Tom Mac, who was able to give me some advice on the race, so confidence was still high as I knew the course would suit me. The only thing that was unusual about this race was there wasn't any aid stations on the bike, but that wasn't going to me an issue as Sally was going to pass me a bottle or two on the second lap of the bike.
I was going into this race full of confidence as a few weeks prior I raced really well at the Humber Half Marathon and the Lincolnshire standard distance triathlon, so knew I was in good shape. The race was based at Ellerton Water Park, near Richmond in North Yorkshire. Although it wasn't that far away and it had a nice civilized start time (10 am) Sally and I decided to book into a B&B the night before so it wasn't a mad rush the morning of the race. Driving over the night before i got a phone call from a good club mate of mine Tom Mac, who was able to give me some advice on the race, so confidence was still high as I knew the course would suit me. The only thing that was unusual about this race was there wasn't any aid stations on the bike, but that wasn't going to me an issue as Sally was going to pass me a bottle or two on the second lap of the bike.
I woke just before 7 am to have my pre-race breakfast and start my final preparations. After watching Sally enjoy a nice home cooked breakfast (which was torture!) we drove over to Richmond to register before setting up transition and getting ready to race! After registration and sorting my bike out, equipping it with all the bottles and gels, I walked into transition and racked my bike. I then spoke with one of the race officials, who informed me that I could put a spare bottle in a box for the bike, which was great news as would save Sally a job. The race brief commenced, so whilst listening to this I started to put my new wetsuit on. With about 10 minutes to go before the race start we were able to make our way to the lake, get into the water, get acclimatised and warm-up. The lake was perfect temperature for racing, which was helped by a few weeks of really nice weather. We then got a 1 minute warning, so I ensured that I had got a good starting position, pretty much on the front line of athletes. The horn went and we were off!! The swim route was two laps, shaped like a triangle. It was a good 400m to the first main buoy, although there was a mini buoy that we had to pass on the way out (after ~150m), which made for a bit of argey bargy, but it wasn't anything too major!! After turning round the first main buoy, it was diagonally across to the second buoy before heading back to the start/finish buoy. By now I was comfortably into a good tempo and holding a my own within a small group of swimmers. The second lap was pretty much the same as the first, but this time we turn the opposite way round the start/finish buoy before exiting the water, in the first 20. After exiting the water I quickly ran into T1, unzipping my wetsuit, whilst running to my bike. I then put my helmet on, grabbed my bike and was quickly out on the bike course.
The bike course can best be described as rolling and consisted of 2 x 45 km laps. This type of course suits me well, so I knew I would race well. Once exiting transition, slipping my feet into my tri-shoes I assumed the aero position, which is where I would remain for the majority of the race. I had my Garmin on my bike to remind me to eat/drink at regular intervals as keeping fueled for this distance its really important and as it was a really hot day fluids was going to be key. Within the first 30 minutes of the first lap I felt really strong and was comfortably moving up the field. I then approached the only part of the course that was pretty tricky, it was a good 3 miles of newly tarmacked road. Sounds simple, but it was the easy tarmac job, where they just add gravel to the top of the bitumen, so there's plenty of loose stones on the top, making it bumpy and I also felt my back wheel slide out on a few occasions! Once off this section I got back into a more comfortable rhythm and kept pushing on. As I approached Ellerton water park for the first time I noticed that I had pretty much finished both my bottles, but I wasn't too worried as I remember that the race official told me there would be an aid station for me to get more fluid. As I got even closer I started to see and hear the cheers from the spectators lining the entrance to the venue. I then rode past Sally who gave me an encouraging cheer and thumbs up, so I knew I was doing really well. The second lap was pretty much the same as the first, although this time I kept thinking it wont belong before I can get another bottle as I was close to running out of fluids. As I passed the rough road section for the second time I couldn't help but think there wasn't going to be this aid station as first told, which was bad news as I was getting dehydrated! That didn't stop me pushing on for the final 20 km, as I know I run well off the bike. I approached the water park for the final time I took my feet out of my tri-shoes and rested them on top before dismounting and running into T2.
Exiting the swim
The bike course can best be described as rolling and consisted of 2 x 45 km laps. This type of course suits me well, so I knew I would race well. Once exiting transition, slipping my feet into my tri-shoes I assumed the aero position, which is where I would remain for the majority of the race. I had my Garmin on my bike to remind me to eat/drink at regular intervals as keeping fueled for this distance its really important and as it was a really hot day fluids was going to be key. Within the first 30 minutes of the first lap I felt really strong and was comfortably moving up the field. I then approached the only part of the course that was pretty tricky, it was a good 3 miles of newly tarmacked road. Sounds simple, but it was the easy tarmac job, where they just add gravel to the top of the bitumen, so there's plenty of loose stones on the top, making it bumpy and I also felt my back wheel slide out on a few occasions! Once off this section I got back into a more comfortable rhythm and kept pushing on. As I approached Ellerton water park for the first time I noticed that I had pretty much finished both my bottles, but I wasn't too worried as I remember that the race official told me there would be an aid station for me to get more fluid. As I got even closer I started to see and hear the cheers from the spectators lining the entrance to the venue. I then rode past Sally who gave me an encouraging cheer and thumbs up, so I knew I was doing really well. The second lap was pretty much the same as the first, although this time I kept thinking it wont belong before I can get another bottle as I was close to running out of fluids. As I passed the rough road section for the second time I couldn't help but think there wasn't going to be this aid station as first told, which was bad news as I was getting dehydrated! That didn't stop me pushing on for the final 20 km, as I know I run well off the bike. I approached the water park for the final time I took my feet out of my tri-shoes and rested them on top before dismounting and running into T2.
In a whole world of pain on the run!
The run course consisted of two laps of just over 10 km on a
mixture of surfaces ranging from compacted gravel (farm track stylee) to
through fields, footpaths and Tarmac. The route had a similar elevation profile
to the bike, mainly flat with a few small rises, normally nothing to phase me.
However this time it quickly became apparent that this wasn't going to be the
case! The first few km were seriously tough as my legs were pretty tired and
the sheer lack of fluids was hurting me. As I continued along the track I
started to run past fellow athletes who were walking back to transition, having
given up (perhaps due to the lack of fluid like myself). This made things even
more mentally challenging for me as the demons came out telling me that I could
do the same and quit the race! I was really struggling to find a
comfortable rhythm but just kept telling myself to keep going. I then
exited the park and got onto the road section, which took me to the 5 km aid
station, which couldn't come soon enough! I got there, grabbed a few cups of
water and a gel, quickly finished the lot, which I defiantly needed. The next
section was through a few fields, before a really short climb back onto the
road section before looping around the lake. I was still seriously struggling
to run as fast as I knew I could and those demons were still on my shoulder! As
I started to round the lake I could see the finish line, which gave me a little
boost as I knew there was another chance to get some more fluids. This was
helped by all the supporters cheering me on! Again I quickly downed some more
water and headed out along the track for the final time. By now there were more
athletes on the course and I was able to find someone who was running a similar
pace to me so I just let them do a bit of pace making for me, this really
helped me. As I approached the 5 km aid station for the final time I
grabbed more fluids! After exiting the fields for the last time and starting
the loop around the lake, I was slowly beginning to feel as if I was running
similarly to what I could do. I quickly noticed that I was getting close to the
finish, so tried to up the pace, it wasn't by much but that didn't matter to me
anymore! I just grit my teeth and pushed on for the final 500 m, before
crossing the line and just collapsing into the recovery position!
A make shift ice bath, hoping that it would help (face says otherwise!)
It took me about 15 minutes before I was able to start moving and get my race splits from the timing company. I finished with an overall time of just over 5h:03min. This was by far the hardest race I have ever done and I certainly payed the price of dehydration. Looking back now I am still disappointed as I could have knocked 10 minutes off my time if I was better hydrated. Having said that my swim and bike splits were PB's and I also PB'd over that distance, by just over 4 minutes, so there are plenty of positives to take out of this and I defiantly wont allow myself to get dehydrated like that again!
Thanks to my sponsors Meridian Foods and Coconoil.
Thanks to my coach Ian Mayhew (Gears & Tears)
