Geraldine completed her first Olympic over the weekend .... and has since submitted a race report in record time of hours hours after finishing the race (8pm on Sat night).... version 2 was submitted at 9:59 am on Sunday .... version 3 was submitted at 10:38 am ....
I have embargoed any further edits as it is an excellent read (and my inbox cannot take anymore versions)
I tamed the Beast and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt….
Actually it’s a very nice t-shirt and the least intimidating item in the Goody Bag which included arnica gel, a reflective armband, deep-acting muscle balm and cracked heel repair cream. What are you trying to say, Wicklow Tri Club ???
I’d met someone I know from WTC at registration the previous evening and let it slip that this would be my first Olympic Tri. “Are you insane ?” was the response.
Ok, there’s 8 guys in Piranha just done Ironman and I’ve a friend who couldn’t swim 3 months ago signed up for this too so, no, relatively speaking I’m not that crazy. Anyway it can’t be that bad, can it ?
(If this report was accompanied by a soundtrack this is where you would hear the tumbleweed).
Fast forward to race morning and between one thing and another I arrived red-faced and wheezing at Transition 5 minutes before it’s due to close. Shame there’s not bonus points for T minus 1, my skills at getting into a wetsuit are far superior to those at getting out of one.
The race briefing was multi-layered as the race director kept introducing more & more people to advise on the dangers that awaited us. When the Chief Superintendent Detective Garda was handed the loudspeaker, I was (in my head at least) back at the car, foot jammed into the accelerator, driving off in wetsuit and goggles leaving nothing but dust and a discarded timing chip.
The atmosphere was vaguely apocalyptic as subdued competitors trudged silently into the murky lake and there were a few squeaks and gasps (ok that was just me) as the cold water took hold. The course is rectangular but unfortunately the buoys were the same colour as the majority of the swim hats so not only could you not see anything underneath the surface, all you could see ahead was what looked like hundreds of mini buoys bobbing up and down. I can’t swim in a straight line anyway so it makes no odds to me but it did make it difficult for some to spot where they were going. Thanks to Chantal I no longer doggy paddle but I like to stay out of trouble at the back of the pack. Less kicking, biting and strangling goes on, probably because we’re just trying to stay alive rather than win anything. I was pleased with my swim and only had one hairy moment towards the end when my hand touched something, well…hairy, underneath me in the lake. With hindsight I can rationalise that it probably wasn’t the Hairy Coated Lough Dan Monster but at the time I was glad of the opaque water and swam like the clappers overtaking a few swimmers who hadn’t encountered the HCLDM.
T1 was not quick nor was it pretty and had there been a swearbox I’d have had to put a few quid in it. One of these days someone will catch my transition antics on camera and put it up on YouTube and I’ll have to leave the country and go and live somewhere they’ve never heard of triathlon.
Normally the bike is my favourite part of the race and despite the 2K uphill straight out of transition I was really enjoying it up to about 36K when we turned left into a VERTICAL climb and my quads started screaming at me and I was weaving all over the road just to stay on the bike. It reminded me of Italy when Tom made us go up that hill 6 times in high gear except this time I was in my lowest gear, there would be no ice cream stops AND it wasn’t even all that sunny. I concluded the bike leg by screeching like a big girl’s blouse all the way back down the original 2K climb clutching the brakes and sending the marshals scattering for their own safety.
About 10 seconds into the run (that 2K uphill stretch again) I realised that I can’t expect to run 10K on 5 miles training a week and zero brick sessions. The route is very scenic though and I had plenty of time to admire it. The last time I ran this slowly it was the 2006 Mini Marathon and I was running alongside a man in what can only be described as a Dolly Parton outfit. Definitely time to start pounding the pavements again.
Running under the finish gantry was the best of feelings. Best for finishing. Best for not giving in to the temptation to leg it before the race start. Best for, if not taming, at least potty training the Beast.
Huge congrats to Sinead who won her age group as well as a prize for the fastest female swim time and to Matt N, Andrew, Sue, Cormac and no doubt some other Piranhas I missed all competing. WTC pulled out all the stops to organise a great addition to the tri calendar which deserves to be supported. They’re aiming to promote it as the toughest standard distance event. They have my vote.
PiranhaTri
http://www.piranhatri.com/article.php/2008072015135042