Comedy of Errors!!!
Short version:
A bit of a mare for me and my first DNF….damit!!!!
Basically got my nutrition and hydration completely wrong and with 30km to go on the bike, got severe stomach cramps and nausea. Complete ‘school boy errors’ I’m afraid….
Long Version:
Well my prep didn’t really go to plan for this race, and I wasn’t really organised i.t.o. getting to the race. Firstly, we missed our ferry, then I realised we forgot to pack Leo’s pushchair. Then moments before leaving for the start, I discovered that I’d left the wheel magnet (for my bike computer) at home (on Bronson’s back wheel). Just great, and I had no time to try get another one. This meant that I’d be racing blind, not good. I also discovered some damage to my back tyre. Now I had to worry about puncturing too.
Anyway, managed to get to the start, after meeting Pip and taking a tunnel under the river to the far bank. We dropped our run kit off and got body marked before making our way down to the bike racking and swim start. Bike racking went really smoothly, the racking was top-draw.
We met up with Holly and Ryan and a few other Brits ambling around the transition area. It was already quite warm, we were in for a hot day for sure.
We headed down to the swim start, my first real mass swim start. This was going to be interesting. And to add to the fun, I discovered that I had a red swim hat (like all the blokes) while Holly and Pip and blue swim hats. Just great, I was in for a hammering.
It was great getting into the water as we where getting really hot waiting on the bank in our wetsuits. After a bit, the gun went off and we were away. Pip was so funny, the gun actually went a minute or two early, and she was messing with her stop watch, needless to say, some profanities where uttered!!!
The swim was, as expected, rough. I got swam over several times. But managed to keep my head above water and got to the end in 00:36:24. Not a great time, I was clearly not pushing at all. It was then into T1 to grab my bike and head off.
The bike course was pretty pan flat and uninspiring. And most of it was through the industrial / docklands of Antwerp. Things were also made tricky by railway tracks all over the place, I did start to wonder if my rims would survive them. I had no idea how fast I was going, or how far I’d gone. This was my undoing. Just before 60km Ryan caught me up and told me we were 60km into the race. We then went through an aid station. I desperately needed a water bottle, but due to a fumble by the marshal a queue had formed I decided to grab a bottle of the ready-made Gatorade instead. And from here on in, it all went wrong.
My stomach didn’t agree with the Gatorade. I started getting stomach cramps and feeling very nauseas. I ended up cycling the last 30 km very slowly back to T2, into a headwind I might add.
In T2, I put my trainers on and decided to head out onto the run, even if I was just walking, and very slowly at that. I saw Pip a few times on the run, and she confirmed I looked like crap!!! After one lap I chucked the towel in and headed back to the hotel for a well deserved shower.
It was only with hindsight that I started to piece together what went wrong on the race. Once I’d recovered and had something to eat. It was a combination of not eating and drinking enough on the bike, then having that Gatorade on an empty stomach just did me in. I wasn’t really thinking clearly because there was one more drinks stop about 5 to 10 km from the finish. I should have stopped there and drank several bottles of water. Then, once on the run, I should have stopped at the first aid station and refuelled, I should have got some coke into my system. That usually settles my stomach.
But for some reason, I think it was the heat, I tried to just keep going, and ended up feeling worse and worse.
Oh well, I’m not too gutted, I would have been had it happened in Switzerland…but an important lesson learnt. I won’t make those mistakes again!!
So I have a swim time of 00:36:24 and a bike time of 03:10:05. Think I’ll have to go back next year just to settle the score.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Thursday, August 2, 2007
MK 2007 - Race Report
I got a lift up with a club mate, Matt on Sunday. It was an early start as it’s a good hours drive and my race started at 07:10. We left Surbiton in the rain, but luckily by the time we arrived in Olney, the sun was shinning, only just!!!
Matt quickly helped me get my wheels on my bike, then it was off to register and set up in transition. Luckily there were no queues so registration went quite quickly. The fun started when I got to transition, only to discover it was 2 inches under water/mud….picture ‘The Battle of the Somme’…I found my number, got my bike on the rack, but then where to put my kit??? I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry. I finally made a plan by using the bag I keep my wetsuit in as a mat, and thankfully the three guys to my left didn’t turn up so I had some additional (mud filled) space. Had I known this before, I would have used my tri box with lid which would have really helped in the mud.
But anyway, no time to worry about the mud, I had to get to the start line. I grabbed my goggles, wetsuit and cap and headed for the start. I missed most of the briefing so had no idea on the swim route, I just hoped I’d be able to follow the leaders. The swim at MK is really zig zaggy in order to get the distance in. Then I heard that the bike route and run route had to change due to the flooding in the area. Just great, more surprises on the way, I also had no idea where the bike out / in and run out were. Not too much of a problem as I can usually follow someone else.
I had just enough time to get my suit on and get into the water, I was barely in when I heard 5…4…3…2…1 GO!!! Of course, I was facing the wrong direction, so a quick about turn and I was off…thankfully I was in a good position so nice clear water in front of me and a clean run to the first buoy.
After the first buoy I noticed a club mate on my left, I decided to see if I could drop her on the swim, she is deadly fast on the bike and a very quick runner so I new this would be my only opportunity to beat her. I stepped up the pace a bit and managed to put some time between us. The rest of the swim was pretty uneventful, usually the swim at MK is a bit short, and usually quite yuk as you normally get caught up in reeds near the banks. But thanks to the Monsoon season, the lake was deeper then usual so none of the usual problems.
I am pretty happy with my swim time of 00:25:33, it’s about what I should be doing based on my pool times. 10/40 in my age group 24/113 in the girls race.
Then into The Somme to get my bike, it was weird dumping my wetsuit in the mud, but what could I do, then it was time to squelch my way to the bike out and off I went. The bike was ok, not tough really, as there are no real big hills, but I felt really sluggish, like I just wasn’t getting anywhere. This wasn’t helped by the fact that it was quite cool, and all the slow swimmers were now catching me on the bike. My heart rate was also quite high, just adding to my suffering.
None the less, since I am a ‘half-full’ kinda girl, I peddled on, enjoying the scenery and trying not to pay too much attention to the fasties whizzing by me. The bike course had to be detoured due to the flooding of a particular road. But thankfully this was all well managed by the marshals along the way. The Bike courses ended up being about 5km shorts…yippee!!
It was then back to The Somme to ditch the bike and grab my trainers. And then slipped and slid out onto the run course. The run course was three laps, and once again shortened due to flooding. (yippee, ‘coz I stink at running). My feet were still frozen from the bike leg, at one point I thought I had left something in my shoe…so I stopped to check…nothing…just some frozen toes!!!
Everyone and their granny came past me on the run….literally, men and women from the 50 plus age group (old enough to be grannies!!!). Ah well, I was still enjoying myself so kept on going. On the last lap, Kate waited for me with around 200m left to run, she made me sprint the last bit in, it hurt, the whole way…yuk.
So the damage:
Splits:Total time 02:30:11
Swim: 00:25:33
T1: 00:01:26
Bike: 01:12:29
T2: 00:01:48
Run: 00:48:53
Not great but not bad…the run and bike was short, so I can’t really count this as a PB. I’m tempted though, as the chance of me getting anywhere close to 2:30 on a full distance course is slim!!!
Anyway, here is a picture of the bit of the run course that goes past the transition….crazy!!!
Next race, Antwerp this weekend….
Matt quickly helped me get my wheels on my bike, then it was off to register and set up in transition. Luckily there were no queues so registration went quite quickly. The fun started when I got to transition, only to discover it was 2 inches under water/mud….picture ‘The Battle of the Somme’…I found my number, got my bike on the rack, but then where to put my kit??? I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry. I finally made a plan by using the bag I keep my wetsuit in as a mat, and thankfully the three guys to my left didn’t turn up so I had some additional (mud filled) space. Had I known this before, I would have used my tri box with lid which would have really helped in the mud.
But anyway, no time to worry about the mud, I had to get to the start line. I grabbed my goggles, wetsuit and cap and headed for the start. I missed most of the briefing so had no idea on the swim route, I just hoped I’d be able to follow the leaders. The swim at MK is really zig zaggy in order to get the distance in. Then I heard that the bike route and run route had to change due to the flooding in the area. Just great, more surprises on the way, I also had no idea where the bike out / in and run out were. Not too much of a problem as I can usually follow someone else.
I had just enough time to get my suit on and get into the water, I was barely in when I heard 5…4…3…2…1 GO!!! Of course, I was facing the wrong direction, so a quick about turn and I was off…thankfully I was in a good position so nice clear water in front of me and a clean run to the first buoy.
After the first buoy I noticed a club mate on my left, I decided to see if I could drop her on the swim, she is deadly fast on the bike and a very quick runner so I new this would be my only opportunity to beat her. I stepped up the pace a bit and managed to put some time between us. The rest of the swim was pretty uneventful, usually the swim at MK is a bit short, and usually quite yuk as you normally get caught up in reeds near the banks. But thanks to the Monsoon season, the lake was deeper then usual so none of the usual problems.
I am pretty happy with my swim time of 00:25:33, it’s about what I should be doing based on my pool times. 10/40 in my age group 24/113 in the girls race.
Then into The Somme to get my bike, it was weird dumping my wetsuit in the mud, but what could I do, then it was time to squelch my way to the bike out and off I went. The bike was ok, not tough really, as there are no real big hills, but I felt really sluggish, like I just wasn’t getting anywhere. This wasn’t helped by the fact that it was quite cool, and all the slow swimmers were now catching me on the bike. My heart rate was also quite high, just adding to my suffering.
None the less, since I am a ‘half-full’ kinda girl, I peddled on, enjoying the scenery and trying not to pay too much attention to the fasties whizzing by me. The bike course had to be detoured due to the flooding of a particular road. But thankfully this was all well managed by the marshals along the way. The Bike courses ended up being about 5km shorts…yippee!!
It was then back to The Somme to ditch the bike and grab my trainers. And then slipped and slid out onto the run course. The run course was three laps, and once again shortened due to flooding. (yippee, ‘coz I stink at running). My feet were still frozen from the bike leg, at one point I thought I had left something in my shoe…so I stopped to check…nothing…just some frozen toes!!!
Everyone and their granny came past me on the run….literally, men and women from the 50 plus age group (old enough to be grannies!!!). Ah well, I was still enjoying myself so kept on going. On the last lap, Kate waited for me with around 200m left to run, she made me sprint the last bit in, it hurt, the whole way…yuk.
So the damage:
Splits:Total time 02:30:11
Swim: 00:25:33
T1: 00:01:26
Bike: 01:12:29
T2: 00:01:48
Run: 00:48:53
Not great but not bad…the run and bike was short, so I can’t really count this as a PB. I’m tempted though, as the chance of me getting anywhere close to 2:30 on a full distance course is slim!!!
Anyway, here is a picture of the bit of the run course that goes past the transition….crazy!!!
Next race, Antwerp this weekend….
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