The season seems too short, after spending a lot of time recovering from injury this year it was nice to go out on a high and finish with my best race of the year. I couldn’t decide for a long while would I do this race and when I did the decision was between sprint and Olympic. With the race being so close to home I said I might as well go for the Olympic distance. This would be my 2nd at that distance this season after doing Dublin 2 weeks previously (report here)

After a sleepless night the night before the race I was happy I organised everything a day early. It still didn’t stop me double checking everything in the morning but at least I wasn’t searching drawers looking for socks or something. I had my porridge and toast for breakfast and said goodbye to Martha and George. It seemed windy on the drive down so when I arrived at Clonea I was surprised with how calm the water looked. I parked the car up and was in and out of registration in no time. Next was off to transition to set up and for 2nd race in a row I had plenty of space around me. Usually people either skip the briefing or would not pay attention but it was important this time because for the 1st time ever for me and a lot of others there was an Australian Exit swim. We got our directions and were good to go.

Swim
As mentioned, it was an Australian Exit swim, 2 loops of 750m and a beach start. I lined myself up behind the eager group I waited for the countdown. Off we went running towards the water. The biggest debate to begin with was when do I stop jumping over waves and start swimming. I had two false starts when the water wasn’t high enough but on third attempt I got going and off I went, sighting the first buoy. We were swimming in the shape of a triangle for the 1st loop and beach start meant it wasn’t the usual violent start. I was comfortable and rounded the 1st buoy with no trouble, sighted the second and made a straight line for that, before taking the angle back to the beach. This really did feel strange. Out of the water and run up the beach around the flag before running back into the water and starting all over again. Main thing going through my head was that if I was doing the sprint I’d be finished by now. As soon as I hit the water and starting swimming again I started to feel dizzy and short of breath. I had to take a few seconds to get composed and go again. It took about 10 seconds but I was good then. On the long stretch between the 1st and 2nd buoy I had someone on my toes the whole way. I’d go right, they’d follow, I’d go left, the same. They got a nice helping hand. Once I turned the 2nd buoy it was at the opposite angle we’d hit the beach this time. I was out of the water in an official time of 24:54, I had 24:06 on my watch but the timing map was long way from the beach. My official time had me 15th out of 151 swimmers. Officially I did 1st loop in 12:02 and 2nd in 12:52. I was 16th after 1st loop so it was nice to know I picked up 1 position

T1
Took my time in T1 to get my socks and shoes on and even with that I was 28th out of 150 in a time of 1:23. Off out on the bike I went.

Bike

As bike legs go this was one of the harder ones I have done. Wind and hills are not fun and when they are combined you know it is going to be a tough day. Straight away coming out of transition you could feel the wind blowing and it didn’t seem to be blowing in a direction that would suit. To my surprise even with the gradual climb out of Dungarvan I was holding a steady pace when broken into 5km blocks which I like to do. It was 10:49, 10:26 and 10:40. So under 30km/h average but that is where I am at. Then came the quick section with a nice 3km of descent. At the time it didn’t hit me, i’d have to tackle this on the way back. I completed that 5km in 8:57, my fastest split of the day. But complete contrast after the turnaround point I was faced with my slowest split of the day of 13:09. I really struggled on the hills and the wind was still all over the place. My next 2 splits were 9:57 and 9:02 as I got to enjoy the declines after the battle with the hills. The bike was showing as short and was just over 38 km. I won’t complain. Shorter bike is always good 🙂 I averaged 28.91km/h average. So close to breaking the 29km/h average. That will be target for next year. I completed in a time of 1:20:03 (81st of 151). Huge improvement needed compared to my other positions in each other discipline.

T2
After getting through the bike it was into T2, rack the bike, throw the helmet on the ground and into the runners and back out I go. I felt I didn’t waste too much time in there. Completed in 58 seconds (34th out of 151)

Run
I had aimed to try go around averaging 4:30 per km and I started off with good pace. It was hot and windy and at times you could feel the gusts blowing you around. I knew it was bad on the bike but didn’t think it would have too much affect on the bike but it sure did. My km laps were looking good for the 1st 6 where I was, on pace but the lack of big mileage meant I did slow down at km 7 and lost some time in km 8, 9 and 10. Of course like any triathlon the distance was a fraction off and it ended up being actually just over 10:25km. But I didn’t mind that. It was a nice run. Footpath, main road, coast run before old railway line run. It had everything and all the stewards along the way gave great encouragement. Since we all started in one wave I knew anyone I passed meant I was going to get a better position, and of course the same was for the people who passed me out. In the end there were 2 who went by me and I did go by a lot more. I upped the pace for the sprint to the line and finished the 10 (ish)km run in 46:49 (31st out of 151). Next year I will be targeting a sub 45 min 10km run in a triathlon. Since my PB is 40:53 in a 10km road race.

Overall 2:34:09 (38)
I was delighted with my overall result. A great end to the triathlon season and great race to finish with. Definitely my favourite swim of the year. Well done to all other Cobh members who took on the race today. This is my last race for them before I transfer club and it was a great end to 4 great years with them.

Thanks to http://www.dcimagesireland.com for the finish line photo

Next up is my 120km charity cycle followed by Lisbon half marathon.

With the year I have been having Dublin City Triathlon quickly became my ‘A’ race of the year. Having done it two years ago and really enjoyed it in awful weather (report here) I wanted to get back and do it again. Training was starting to go well over the weeks leading into it and besides a couple of niggles here and there I was confident. I completed Blackwater Sprint Tri a couple of weeks before and put in good times. My only aim was to get around in 2 hrs 45 mins but if I didn’t make it I wasn’t going to be too annoyed.

This year there was a new addition to pack for on the road trip to Dublin. We had to get all of Georges stuff into the car as well as mine. I think I won with the amount I packed. We set off early on the Saturday with an early stop to grab some food. A healthy start for me. A stop in Kildare outlets followed by a trip to Ikea made it a productive shopping trip so far. Once we got to the hotel and I unpacked my 100 bags I headed off to register. As per usual the goodie bag is the best around and instead of the usual tshirt we got a useful bright gilet. Registration was quick and easy and I got a quick look at the swim course before heading back to the hotel. With George in the room with us it was an early night for all. Alarm set nice an early but these days George is our alarm so he will be waking me before my phone does.

Race Morning
I was up nice and early to get in a proper healthy breakfast this time and had some porridge to fill me up. Filled the car up with what I needed and headed in with Martha and George. After I emptied the car Martha headed back to the hotel as it would be impossible to keep George occupied for the length of the race. Got into transition 30 minutes before closing so I didn’t have to overthink anything. Racked the bike, double checked I had everything and had a quick look at what way we would be coming in and out of transition. Lucky for me I had a bit of extra space next to me as the person never showed. I always have my pink towel – makes it easier to spot when getting into transition and not thinking straight.

It wasn’t long before race briefing started and the sprint races got going. I was wave 6 but things were running smoothly and I timed when I eat last so I wasn’t too hungry starting off. It was good to ease the nerves by meeting up with the rest of Cobh Tri members doing the race.

Swim

Last time I did the swim I completed it in 28 minutes so I’d have liked to at least match that. I kept over the the left and made sure I took the 1st buoy a bit wide to avoid the chaos. It meant I was able to keep in a good rhythm. I passed the 750 turn point thinking oh how lucky they are, we had a long way to go yet. The good thing about this swim was I never got sucked into a pack and no need to fight for my space. I did have someone hang on to the back of my feet to their advantage but I had to swim my own race so I kept doing what I was doing. The second buoy was a lot quieter and I was able to take that turn with ease. The good thing from here is that I knew I was on the way back. Once I knew I had about 200m to go I started to kick the legs to make sure they were ready for the jog to T1. I got out of the water and across the timing mat in an official time of 27:11. I was delighted with that time. (60th out of 428)

T1

Transition isn’t always the best for me and I do tend to take my time. Took the extra few seconds to put on my socks and shoes and was ready to go. An official time of 2:02, again faster that 2 years ago when I took 2:29. (110 out of 428)

Bike

Now to my least favourite part of the race. I could read my review from 2 years ago and copy large portions of it. The one thing that was different from 2 years ago (besides some of the course) was that the ground was dry so I didn’t have to be so cautious. But just like then on the 2nd loop of 4 my calf started to tighten up a bit. Even my hip started to give out. This meant slowing down for a couple of kms so I knew that I could at least finish out the bike. A bit of stretching on the bike and I was feeling a bit better, but it is definitely something I need to get to the bottom of. With 4 laps there was a lot of traffic on the the course but it never affected my race. Bike marshals broke up a few groups which is always good to see. It is an up and down course so my pace was all over the place but as usual I had plenty of people go past me, some with bikes more expensive than my car 🙂 I kept at what I was going and made sure to get fuel in early so that it was digested in time for the run. I averaged a pace of 28.67km/h, which was .5 better than 2 years ago, so another improvement there. The bike course was 39k and I had an official time of 1:21:38 (286 out of 428). If I can make improvements on my bike times it would really help my overall performance. Hopefully I can get the right formula together to do that.

T2

Into transition I went and there was a run through field and over ramp and then to my bike. Off came the bike shoes, quickly on with the runners and grabbed my gels and water and off out I went. In a time of 1:29. (85 out of 428) I was happy with the timing here and again faster than 2 years ago.

Run

Now to what is my probably my strongest or I guess the thing I do most. The run started with roughly a flat first km before I hit a sharp climb which seemed to go on forever. Someone who was on their 2nd lap, which starts at the turn of the sharpest incline, was alongside me and I paced myself with him. This gave me the kick I needed to get up the hill. It was starting to get hotter at this stage and the sun was coming out. There were large crowds on the run but this helped to keep me going. I felt I was doing a good job pacing myself on the run and my 1st 4kms were in and around the same time. Then came the big down hill before repeating the loop again. The downhill was a welcome relief and I know it would definitely help push me home the second time around. My slowest lap came when I had to hit the climb again but got back into my rhythm again and kept a good pace around before the downhill section came and the flat road home. I passed a couple of people on the home straight, I could possibly went a bit harder but I didn’t want to risk anything so I just enjoyed the run to the red carpet and the finish line. Official time on the run of 46:29. This was almost minute slower than 2 years ago but the course seemed a fraction longer. (77 out of 428)

Overall

I finished up in and official time of 2:38:51 with finish position of 129 out of 428. There are improvements to be made but I am delighted with my overall time and felt good after the race. Weather was great and food after was exactly what I needed. It will definitely be one on the calendar next year and highly recommend people to do it. It was always great to test out my Airofin Tri Suit over the longer distance. Even in the heat it didn’t feel too warm. Great purchase. Check them out here (10% discount with code Jonathan10). Well done to Jess, Brendan and Adam who had great times on the day. There was no catching any of them