This year was the first time I decided to do my own club race. Being a member of Cobh for three years I didn’t do Jailbreak until I moved club and this being my second year with Blackwater Tri Club I decided I’d give the standard distance a go. This was my 4th triathlon of the year and will be a test of where I am at for my A race in a couple of weeks.

Race Prep

Prep started for me the evening before as I joined other club members in setting up transition and making sure the course was ready for the morning. It was great to see all members come together, it wouldn’t be possible to run a successful race without all the volunteers. Questions around the swim came up because the flow of the water was looking extra strong. A few weeks ago the worry was that there may not be enough water but with some heavy rain the previous days that definitely wouldn’t be a problem.

I registered the evening before and got the number 4. No pressure then. Martha got baking for the morning as well, I made sure and did some testing 🙂

I was up early on race morning to help with the final prep. The announcement was made also that the swim would go ahead but instead it was going to be shortened and downstream only. That was going to be fun.

Swim 12:03 (18th out of 147)

We made the long walk up to the new start point. Atmosphere was good and everyone was excited about the downstream swim. It was going to be rolling start so 3 in at a time. So over the timing map and into the water. I pushed hard from the start and you could feel the current helping up on our way. Even though there was plenty of room in the river but that didn’t stop a few elbows a long the way down. I stopped my watch when I got out of the water and it said 11:07 and distance 1120m. That worked out at less than a minute per 100m.

T1 1:58

A run up out of water and took my time to make sure I got my socks on, helmet and glasses and more running up with the bike. Jumped on the bike and off we went.

Bike 1:18:02 (95th out of 147)

Now its time for my least part of the day, I just count down the kms until its time to finish. The 1st 5km felt like it was going on forever. The rain poured down and the climbs weren’t anything big but I felt I was going no where. I had a huge number of bikes flying past me. It took until at least 10km before I felt comfortable and started to be able to push the pace a little. It didn’t stop the line of people going by but at least I was fell better. I thought the 2nd lap would have been a bit crowded but everyone was still very well spread out. My 2nd lap was faster than the 1st and I was delighted to finish with an average speed 30.44 km/h. The 2nd time I have managed to average over 30km/h and both have been at Olympic distance.

T2 1:35

I got off the bike and ran down the ramp to T2. My toes were cold from the bike so I couldn’t feel much running down. A quick change of shoes and off out to start the run.

Run 43:30 (24th out of 147)

I never did this course so wasn’t sure what to expect but I knew it was going to be tough. Rolling hills was what we faced in this out and back course. Going into the race my aim was to break 45 minutes so I went out strong. The crowds around transitions definitely gave me a push, I may have got a bit too excited so after the 1st dash I got into my rhythm and steadied my pace. The course was busy with all distances on the move and when passing the turnaround for the sprint I wished I’d be turning around there as well but I still had 7.5km to go. Even though it was a hard course I really enjoyed it. I did start to get hungry towards the end so it is something I have to watch for longer races. This was my best 10km in a triathlon so I can’t complain. I last lap was the fastest, the crowds again pushing me to the line.

Overall 2:17:11 (54th out of 147)

I am delighted with the overall result. I felt it was great prep for The Lost Sheep and delighted I decided to do it. It was an extremely well run event and the team went above and beyond to make sure the event didn’t turn into duathlon. Besides the swim the course was challenging and was a real test of how my training has went. Well done to everyone who helped, it couldn’t have been done without all the volunteers. Now all roads lead to Kenmare.