Birdy likes to swim ...... and well that is pretty much it ... he is also a fair weather athlete from all accounts ... read on for a rain washed report from Lough Neagh ...
Lough Neagh
The race report will actually start a week before Lough Neagh. I did the Caroline Kearney race the week before and as I was a bit on the slow side doing that race it had started raining by the time I was packing up my gear which resulted in all my race gear being saturated. Little did I realise that the rain I was experiencing was actually part of the downpour that would eventually lead to me taking 5 hours, yes you read correctly 5 hours, to get home. After my car being turned into a boat for a few seconds on Santry Avenue I managed to arrive home safely, however emptying the car was the last thing I wanted to do that evening. Then I didn't go near the car again till Friday evening looking for my gear for the race. Lets just say not the best smell greeted me. So in the washing machine with the gear, the next morning when I was popping it in my bag worried that it would be a bit damp for the race, little did I know!
Anyway I was joined on the road trip up the north by Cormac, I had forewarned him to bring some of his own music so when I rocked up and asked if he had his music he happily reported he has his cds, uh oh no cd player in betsy so he was subjected to my iPod.
Anyway the rest of journey up wasn't too bad. However I was a bit disappointed when I was going through Cookstown that they had taken down the sign that used to welcome you into the town.
When we finally arrived at Ballyronan it wasn't the most pleasant of days that greeted us. We parked the car up and walked down to registration. I suddenly regretted my summer time choice of clothes, shorts and flip flops were not the order of the day. When we saw some of the marshals moving the barriers we thought they were packing up and the race was off, not to be. The lake didn't look that inviting, the white tops of the waves were not too appealing. Anyway we went in and registered and caught up with some of the other Piranha's, especially those who had said they were camping the night before, they had seen the folly of that and decided on a luxurious b&b instead. Surprisingly we didn't get a t-shirt in the goodie bag, you can never have enough t-shirts, but we did get a good race belt which I was very happy with, pinning the race number on my shirt is annoying and putting holes in my race shirt.
So we went off back to the car in the lashings of rain to get the gear ready and drop our bikes to transition.There was a council of war meeting with myself and Cormac, "we have the goody bag, will we go home? Nobody will ever know" but sheer stupidity ruled out and we decided to stay and do it. I suggested to Cormac that we go for a jog to warm up, seriously it was to warm up as I was shivering with the cold at this stage. It worked anyway and we dropped the last bit of gear into transition before heading to the race briefing.
The original swim had been changed as it was deemed too rough out of the shelter of the marina so we were to do 3 laps in the marina having to actually get out and run a little, about 25m, between each lap. There was a bit of messing about at the start and people were made get out of the water and walk around to another part and get in there instead. There is a report on the Lough Neagh or TI website that Brian Campbell got into a bit of bother with suspected hypothermia at this point and had to be taken out and put in space blankets to warm up, see that extra bit of fat the rest of us have comes into use now and again, that is my excuse and I am sticking to it :)
Anyway it finally got under way and it was a bit messy, the water is not that clear in the marina so you cant see where anybody else is around you and everybody was tightly packed. I got a fair few kicks and punches and people clambering over me. I managed to make it to the slip way and got up and ran across to the entry point to get in again, will I jump or will I try get in gracefully, screw it just straddled in and hoped for the best. Swam this one a bit closer to the buoys this time and it was nice and packed in again, the field didn't thin out like it normally would, so more punches and kicks, oh yeah I received some too.
When I was getting out some guy actually grabbed my wetsuit and almost dragged me back. I not too politely told him where to go, if the race ref was not huddled under 5 hats they might have heard it and given out but I got away with it and ran to get in again. Again just jumped in and more of the same washing machine fun for the last lap. So onto the bike it was at the end of that lap.
The bike course is 4 laps of a 10k circuit. There is 1 little climb in it but apart from that it a quick circuit. We were blessed that the wind was blowing against us on one of the sides that is mainly down hill so the gods didn't hate us completely that day. The rain hadn't stopped during the swim and it would continue to rain for the bike and the run. there were a load of people who ended up getting punctures on the course, I kept trying to figure out if I wanted to get one or not, at least I could get in out of the rain if I did.
I got lapped by a load of people as per usual, now and again I would pick one of the people who passed me to try and stay with then I would get bored and go back to cycling slowly again. I did pass Liz on the bike, she didn't look like she was enjoying it. Said hello to Noelle as well, it was on the hill, she didn't look like she was enjoying it either. I really would like to hear some other peoples internal monologue on these tris, is it the same as mine: "Why the hell am I doing this?". Anyway the stewards tried to cheer us on as best they could and I know at the bottom corner a load of people were probably waiting for some big falls on the wet roads, cant say I was too willing to put myself forward for their entertainment. Did any body else's feet get cold during the cycle? Mine did in case you were wondering
Finally got back into transition and racked the bike. I was going to try put on socks for the run, the socks were saturated and figured it would take too long. I know the wuss runs with socks on, yes I do! Jogged out of transition trying to avoid the major puddles not knowing what was ahead. (Small digression at this point: it has been pointed out to me that a couple of members (Moody and Liz) had a no holds barred match in t2 - one of them seemingly copped a feel and the other tried to shoulder the other into a ditch, the cctv footage is a bit fuzzy due to the rain so I will let you all make up your own minds who did what) anyway back to my race.
I don't really like running, and haven't really done enough training this year so I tend to jog as opposed to run in triathlons. The run for this race is an out and back 4 times, by the back part of the first lap I was passed by Liz looking very happy with herself, I think she hates her bike. Oh I almost forgot to mention the lovely water feature they had added to the run, there was a puddle, if you could call it that, the full width of the road about 2 to 3 car lengths long and about a foot deep in its deepest part so you had to run through it 8 times. I plodded along getting a bit bored of being passed by more people, I know run faster and less people will pass you but see earlier note about me not liking running, and looking at the same stretch of road. Noelle passed me middle of lap 2, she looked happy to be off the bike too. Got to the end of the race finally and checked my time, better then last year but of course the swim was shorter, not that I will be telling anybody if they ask my how I did.
Nobody hung around after as everybody was tired, cold and wet. Myself and Cormac hit the road and listened to the flood warnings on the way back, I was constantly worried about another repeat of my previous weeks journey. Instead we had to put up with listening to Dublin getting hockeyed in the GAA, oh well you cant win em all, yeah but one in the last 10 years would be nice! At least the hurling the next day was a good match. As we had left without getting sambos i made sure I had all the food in the car was close at hand to give to Cormac, not a good idea to let that lad get too hungry people, you have been warned.
I would recommend this as a race to anybody wanting to do an olympic, I just hope next year it doesn't rain!
PiranhaTri
http://www.piranhatri.com/article.php/20080820220115697