Gower Olympic Triathlon

Preamble

After weeks of pontificating on whether I'd do this race I was persuaded by Jason C to sign up and race. I'm a bit of a wuss when it comes to the cold and wet, so the thought of racing at the end of September didn't fill me with joy.

I checked the weather forecast all through the week building up to the race, and it looked like it was going to be a dry day, but quite fresh early on.

Having raced in the sprint distance race earlier this year, plus this being a home town race; I knew what we were up against. A short flat swim, a testing bike ride with 3 not inconsiderable climbs and a run that I thought would be tough.

As Friday was going to be quite a busy evening dealing with the boys as Ang was in work, I started setting up my kit on Thursday night. This was a good move as I discovered that my tyre was flat, due to the valve coming away from the tube and also my track pump was broken. Thankfully I now had plenty of time to remedy these.

There were a couple of people I was keeping a look out for at the race: the aforementioned Jason, Huw P who was making his triathlon debut and Hayley G who had beaten me at Glynneath last week and we'd had a bit of banter about me being 'chicked'.

Registration was on the Friday night (part of the reason that Friday was so busy for me), this went with a breeze. I was disappointed that the goody bag contained nothing but a crappy cotton t-shirt.

As is my want I set myself an arbitrary target, which was 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Race Day

I'd gone to bed reasonably early the night before and when my alarm went off at 5:45 I was up like a shot. Usual routine of porridge and car packing was conducted and I was out of the house by 6:30.

I arrived at Port Eynon at 7 o'clock and started racking up. Laid out my kit and Jason kindly lent me his track pump, which meant I was good to go.

Swim

The 1,500m swim was two loops (with a small run) of the sprint course; I was convinced when I raced at the sprint earlier in the year, that this was short. Looking at the course it definitely looked short to me.

Looks short to me

After a quick paddle and splash to acclimatise ourselves, we were back on the sand and then sent on our way. The sea was surprisingly warm, and I seemed to be swimming at a reasonable pace. There was plenty of biff especially going around the buoys.

I checked by time at the end of the first loop at it was 12 something (swimming well or short course, you decide?)

The biff had certainly settled down on the second loop and I was able to settle into a relaxed stroke.

As I came out of the water I spotted Jason, we must have swam within 5 seconds of each other. I just about passed him to hit the timing mat first in a time of 27:04 (positioned 100th out of 193 starters)

T1

It's important in transition to ensure that you're in a primed position for the bike, I was adamant that I wouldn't be cold on the bike so I put on a cycling top and mitts. Not easy when your soaking wet, which is why my transition time was 4:19 (177/193). I know it's embarrassing

Bike

The bike route was 37km, taking in Cefn Bryn (the highest point in Gower).

It was imperative that I made up some of the time lost in transition on the bike. After climbing well out of Port Eynon, I set off at a good cadence. I was thankful for the extra layer as it was quite fresh.



Keeping warm with a Viking salute


The ride around Gower is beautiful and I cycle various parts of this course quite often, which allowed me to gain valuable time in taking the racing line.

One thing that often confuses me when I'm racing is the fact that competitors don't make use of downhill segments and are satisfied in coasting down instead of collecting all that valuable free speed. Well it's good news for me, as I pass them.

My strategy for the bike was to go strong for the first 25km and then into TT mode for the final 12km. I pretty much stuck to this plan and managed to drop a few of the riders I had been nipping and tucking with in the first segment.

I got back to Port Eynon in a time of 1:22:19 (108/193) which was an average speed of 27kmh.

T2

As I've got the cycling top and mitts on, I've now gotta waste time in getting them off. Hence my marginally better transition time of 1:40 (150/193)

Run

The 10km run was 2 loops of across the sand and then up the hill through Bank Farm campsite. I've never run up this hill, but I've walked it; it is steep, very steep indeed.

I left transition at a reasonable lick, I checked my heart rate to make sure I wasn't over doing it and set of along the sand. As much as running on the hard sand wasn't to debilitating the run through the soft sand and dunes was energy sapping.

After getting through the dunes I was faced with the climb, and boy was it steep. There were plenty of people walking which meant I was making up plenty of places. Even if I wanted to I wouldn't have walked as I was of the mindset that this was only a 10km and walking wasn't allowed (Go Hard Or Go Home).

Once you reached the campsite you were confronted with plenty of undulation and a steady climb to the turnaround point. But at least this meant it was downhill all the way back to the beach. I finished the first lap in a time of 25 minutes which meant if I could keep at the same pace my target time was within reach.

So my plan for the second lap was to go steady along the sand, hurt up the hill, coast back down and cane it for the return along the sand and the dunes.

As I started the second lap I was feeling strong and was still picking off other racers (as well as those who did the sprint fancy dress race). In fact I'd say I felt stronger running up the hill on the second time.

Shouting at the cars

On reaching the turnaround point, I knew that the worst was behind me and that I could push on to the finish. On reaching the beach I really dug in and gave it everything I had. It was a satisfying feeling turning right into the finish chute.

My run time was 49:56, and I must say that I was very pleased to be running sub 5 minute kilometres on that course.

Go hard or go home

This gave me a finish time of 2:45:18, which if I round down that means I hit my target time. However, as expected Jason smashed me and showed me how to get through transition properly, I was chicked again by Hayley and well done to Huw for finishing his first (of many) triathlons.

I'd like to thank the marshalls on the course who did a great job, especially Rob G at the top of the hill at Bank Farm. I'd also like to thank Rob C for coming down to cheer us on (he said he was repaying the supporting debt of Ironman Wales).

Kinetica Gower Triathlon

I've only heard good things about this race, in fact I seem to remember it winning Triathlon 220 event of the year in its inaugural running. I'd never done this race before, despite it being so local. Therefore I was really looking forward to it, especially as the weather forecast was looking so good.

Unfortunately I wouldn't be having the support crew with me as it would have been too much hassle getting the boys up and out so early.

Pre-Race

Alarm goes off at 4:30, managed to get my usual porridge down me. Applied various lubricants and creams upon my body (remembering to put my contact lenses in first) and set off at 5:15.

For those who don't know the area, Port Eynon is a beautiful venue (as is the rest of Gower) and would recommend visiting. I arrive at Port Eynon at about 5:45, and the first thing that strikes me is that it is none too warm.

Despite there only being about 30 minutes before transition closes I'm surprised to see that transition is less than a third full, with many competitors leaving it very late to get set up. I set myself up in a relaxed manner and made my way to the race briefing and start.

This being a local race as well as being part of the Celtic Tri championships there were loads of friendly faces.

At about 7 o'clock the sun came up over the Gower headland and you could feel the warmth on your face. Lovely!

Swim

We are counted into the pen and off we go to the water, like a tribe of pink hatted penguins. The sea wasn't too cold but it's always beneficial to give it a bit of warming.

The air horn is blasted and were off. It was all a bit of a washing machine and it took a while for me to get a bit of space and to try and find some feet. But I must have been swimming well because I found myself at the first turn buoy in no time at all.

On the way back to the shore after the second turn buoy I managed to settle into my pace, however this did inevitably result in my usual trick of going off course (almost ending back in with the outbound swimmers).

Out of the water and up to the first timing mat in 13:35, which does imply that the swim was a little short. But I was very pleased with my position of 143rd out of 289 swimmers.

T1

Whilst I knew I wasn't making any great shakes in T1, I am ashamed to say that this took me over 3 minutes and was positioned 236.

Bike

Despite only being 23km, this is a testing little bike course with some hills to get the blood flowing. none more so than the first hill out of Port Eynon. But at least it gave me a chance to pass all those people that passed me in T1.

The reward after the sharp climb was a gently downhill section to get your speed up. But it wasn't long before we were hitting the largest climb of the route up to the top of Cefn Bryn. Fantastic scenery, but I didn't bother having a look as I was trying my utmost to get to the benefit of the long downhill segment.

After the turn to Llanrhydian the course got a little more technical and the No Overtaking Zone did mean that there were bunches forming and I caught up with such a group and had sit and wait.

Once out on the main drag back to Port Eynon the competitors spread out again. The steepness and sharp corners coming back into the village meant that it took a lot of will power to slow down and not end up in someone's garden.

Very surprised and pleased to see so many spectators in the village, and they were certainly enjoying their day in the sun.

Time on the bike was 54:38 which was 157th out of 283.

T2

Bike racked shoes swapped all done in a more respectable time of 57 seconds.

Run

The 5 km run was two lops along the beach, dunes and roads.

With the run being my strength, I always like to kick hard and grab some of the time lost on the bike. My legs felt good today so I sped off with my usual gusto, unfortunately the 200m across the sand really sapped the energy out of my legs and it took a good couple of minutes for me to recover. I was however passing runners quite regularly (unsure of which lap they were on).

On the second lap I took the wise choice of using the beach segment as recovery, and this worked much better as I was able to run strongly through the dunes.

With 200m to go I was still feeling strong and could hear someone breathing over my shoulder so I kicked and left them behind. With hindsight I probably could have gone harder earlier.

My time was 22:49 which was 118th out of 281.

My overall time was 1:35:02 which placed me 145th, which is just outside my target of top half finish. But overall I was pleased with my race.

But more importantly the lesson learnt is that I need to get more organised and faster in T1.

I am happy with how my swimming has progressed and my running is as I'd expect it to be, but I have to continue to work harder on the bike and try to get out riding as often as possible.