Bruce Triathlon at Lochore - 2012 Scottish Triathlon Championships

[bruce.kidd]

draft results attached

[mungobovey]

thanks Bruce and guys for a great race -the weather is hardly your fault!

Mungo
19 June

[berit]

Lochore Meadows Triathlon

This is the first triathlon I’ve done four times; every year since I started. I wasn’t going to enter this year, having competed in Coniston Old Man just 2 weeks ago, followed by a weekend at Rockness, and with a 100 mile Sportive to do the day before it seemed like a bad idea, but as the entries filled up and I remembered previous sunny events I couldn’t resist clicking the link on entrycentral. I’d managed to PB every year so far, and more importantly I’d beaten Mitch on 2 out of 3 occasions (by less than a minute each time!). Could I keep my winning streak going? 

The forecast was grim for the weekend, but I didn’t mind – it often had been previously, but Lochore was ALWAYS sunny! I was more worried about the Highland Perthshire Sportive the day before, although I didn’t need to be – 100 beautiful miles in only a mild amount of drizzle which dried up after the first hour. I was elated at the end of such a lovely ride (and for once managed to beat Mitch to a 30 sign sprint [it doesn’t count if you draft for 100 miles then nip out - Mitch]) but also tired, and sore-kneed. It was OK though, I would treat Lochore as a training event and just enjoy myself.

We agreed on an alarm time of 6am and then a mad dash to get packed and out of the house as soon as possible! When the alarm went I felt totally shattered, and there was rain pouring down outside, I still felt confident it would be bright at Lochore though and struggled to drag myself out of bed. We were quite late getting there, but the advantage of having done the race several times before meant that we knew our way around. The registration queue was incredibly efficient, and before I knew it we were registered, marked and transition was set up. The rain was still going and I was struggling to decide what I should leave in transition – I normally go for the bare minimum, but it was pretty cold, and this was just a training event. I decided to wear arm-warmers under my wetsuit (I’d never tried doing this and was worried they’d get pulled off when I took the wetsuit off, but I’d worn a thermal top previously and found I couldn’t breath – not good!) and wimped out and put a buff and an extra top down to give myself the option of more clothes if I wanted – still no socks or gloves though. Then wetsuit on and we were ready to go!

One of the nicest things about Lochore is that so many club members are always there, either racing or helping out. Before the swim start I found a group of ERC girls and we made nervous chit-chat while waiting to get started. This might have been a mistake because I didn’t pay too much attention to my position, and when the whistle went I found myself engulfed by loads of women racing into the water. My knees were sore, and I couldn’t jump through the water as I usually do which meant I got overtaken by lots of people who had been behind me on the beach. By the time I got swimming I was too far back and kept accidentally swimming over the top of people and getting kicked. I spent the first several minutes of the swim overtaking and trying to get a good position which was exhausting and unpleasant, but I got my rhythm soon after and settled into the cold but lovely swim. I think I’m too used to longer events now, so I took it a bit easy in the swim and found myself pretty far down the field when I was getting out – however the swim, as always, had done the job of getting me into race mode so relaxing and having fun was forgotten!

I did a pretty slick transition; the arm warmers stayed obediently up my arms, and I overtook a few women to the encouraging shouts of Penny and Heather. One day I’m going to learn to mount properly, so I don’t keep embarrassing myself by stopping right after the mount line and stepping on my bike like a big girl. One day, not today – Izzy (marshalling the bike start) must have been shaking her head! I had been worried about bonking on the bike after the previous days efforts, and for the first time had put some sweets into my bike box, but these thoughts were forgotten with the sight of riders ahead. I knew there was quite a long hill right at the start, and that it would be a good chance to take some places before the flat section where my advantage wouldn’t be so great. I kept the gears low, bearing in mind my legs were tired, and started working. I couldn’t quite believe how well I felt - I shot past people as if they weren’t pedalling! But there was another girl ahead who was also making progress, she wasn’t wearing ERC kit, but I was pretty sure I knew who it was. I was catching her slowly, and as I sped past the other riders, I managed to get Jo Phillips just at the steepest section of the hill. This was good – I’ve spent the last few years suffering the opposite fate! I allowed myself to think for a moment that if I stayed ahead on the bike, I might just hold her off on the run…

On to the flat section and no time for day-dreaming: lots of overtaking to be done. I realised that this was the first time I’d had tri bars on for a triathlon, and they were great – no more cold, numb hands, and no more getting overtaken on the flat bits! A girl in a blue GBR suit sped past, but other than that I gained places all the way. As I was nearing Cowdenbeath it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen Louise Smith, had I overtaken her without noticing? Or was she still ahead? – One thing was for sure: if I didn’t get her on the bike, I wasn’t going to get her on the run. I put my head down, and tried to pretend I was at a Kirky TT. Up ahead I could see a bike, and possibly an ERC tri suit, I wasn’t making much progress though – I needed a hill! Luckily for me, there was one around the next corner, and I started to make some real progress. When she started to stand and climb I knew I had her as I was still tucked down on my bars with a good cadence. I got close enough to be sure it was Louise before giving her an encouraging shout and making the overtake. Phew! – a mix of relief to get past, and fear that I couldn’t open the gap enough to hold her off on the run. Katie is less than 1 year old – how on earth did she get back to being this competitive so soon! – I thought I’d be able to have one season of beating her at least!! I was nearing the end now, and it seemed so short after all the distance rides I’ve been putting in lately – the first sprint triathlon that has ever felt like a sprint! I got overtaken by the first 2 senior males, and had time to get past 1 more lady – Keira, who I knew was pretty good, so that put a smile on my face!

I managed a pretty professional dismount, feet out and screeching to a halt in front of Izzy. My feet were like blocks of ice, and I hoped I’d be able to run OK. Transition was pretty empty, and I realised I must be quite high up the field – especially when everyone started shouting like mad about what a good cycle I’d done. Another slick transition, grabbed the buff, and even got a name check from the commentator – another first, so I waved my hands in the air like an idiot – I figure you have to take advantage of these situations!

Now just the run, and I was feeling pretty good apart from sore knees brought on by all the recent cycling. I hoped they wouldn’t hold me back. Unsurprisingly, Keira overtook me pretty soon…wearing her cycle helmet! The question was where were Jo and Louise? Far enough behind for me to keep them off? I kept going as hard as I could, a few more men overtook me – including Martin who said I was running well which gave me a surge of confidence – I wondered what he was going to say when he saw Keira wearing her helmet! As I got nearer the turn, the first women were coming back and I started counting them – would it be possible to get in the top 10? I started to believe it might be, and to try with all my might to run faster! WHY HAD I MISSED SO MANY RUN SESSIONS – AAAARHG!

As I approached the turn I thought I was in 11th place, but maybe a couple of the women were juniors. Kirsty gave me a big shout of encouragement, but all I could do was grimace and drool!. Then I turned and right there in front of me was Jo – oh no! She was going fast, and I only held her off for another kilometre before she passed. We exchanged a few words of encouragement, and she tried to get me to stick with her, but I couldn’t and she was off. The next person to worry about was Louise – she wasn’t too far behind either, and I knew she was a great runner – especially after a bike ride. I pushed on, and got to the last kilometre without her passing. Then I saw Mitch at the side of the run course – he had pulled out with a foot injury (that makes it 3 -1!! [Nonsense! – Mitch]). All I could bark at him was “is Louise there? Where is Louise?” It took him a moment to realise what I was on about, but then he said no – I was in the clear. That was a relief, but I still had some distance to cover before the end and I knew she would be gaining on me so I pushed on. Surprisingly fast, the finish line was in sight, and I was done! What a great feeling, and a great race. There was a girl behind me – I hugged her (for not managing to overtake!) and Jo got a big hug too! I couldn’t believe I’d had such a good race, and even without the sunshine had still enjoyed the course so much. Time for food, gossip and tidying up. Well done to Peter and his team – I could not fault anything; spectacular organisation, particularly given the weather and the record entry.

So how did I do? Well, I was 13th female, so I missed the top 10 spot, but I was 8th female senior 

My time: 1.21.03 – I managed to shave some seconds off last year. It’s 3-1 to me against Mitch! I guess we’ll probably have a re-match next year!

[louisesmith]

Well done Berit, I am so impressed by the amount of events you and Mitch seem to rack up.  I'm glad I won't need to watch my back for you at Alpe d'Huez, unless you've decided to enter the short race the day after the long one ... or maybe I shouldn't be giving you any ideas! 

I've definitely felt colder in triathlons before, but I can't remember a time when my legs just didn't seem to work on the bike.  Given that, I was pleasantly surprised at how well I could run off the bike, despite not being able to feel my feet.  My swim felt decent as well, so can't complain about 2 out of 3 disciplines on a day like Sunday.  Oh, and don't forget transitions - I managed 8th overall in T1!!!

Hopefully one day I might be able to beat Berit and Jo again but I suspect both have improved over the last couple of years.  It was great to see so many clubmates racing and supporting and a huge congratulations to those who made the podium:

Andrew Christy - 2nd overall
Martin Gore - 3rd male senior
Hazel Smith - 3rd female senior
Jo Phillips - 2nd female vet
Ann Johnstone - 2nd female super vet

Peter and team did a fantastic job organising the biggest triathlon in Scotland, not to mention also putting on a kids aquathon - a much needed open water event for them.  Next year, let's hope for better weather.

[ded]

The horn blares. Well, wheezes actually. It's a bit worn out as we're the last wave. I hope it's not an omen... And then I'm following the pack of mamins* into the cold loch...

Can't see, can't see, whose foot is that? I'm not sure I can do this, no I can't, no, I mean it, maybe I should give up, ohmygodican'tbreathei'mgoingsoswimtothesideandgetout, no, calm down, do breaststroke, you'll be fine, noiwon'tletmeout, no, 10  strokes breaststroke, 5 of crawl, you'll be fine... arrrgggh, more feet that aren't mine... why am I by myself? oh bu**er, wrong way, back round the buoy, that way, come on....

Lesson #1 - don't do your 1st ever open water swim in your 1st triathlon...

Out of the water at last, up the "beach", still no sun, can't be a beach without sun, where's the bike? Oh, over there, through the mud... Strip the wetsuit, regret not having a tri-suit, slither about and fall over putting shorts on then out and onto the bike.... Hooray, a bike, no water, I can dooooo cycling! Lots of people to overtake after that swim/drown...

Ha, this is fun, even tho' its soaking and I can't see much... nobody goes past me on the bike and I go past a few posh bikes, do I get extra points for shiny Cervélos? No? Shame....

Lesson #2 - doesn't matter how fast you are on a bike, if you've faffed about for 3mins putting your clothes on there will be plenty of people in front of you....

All too soon a left turn back in to Lochore Meadows, fight to undo shoes with cold hands, just manage it just before the dismount line, back over the mud...

Running. I've been trying but it's not my strong point. But then neither was swimming today... It hurts. No, not my legs, my feet. They're numb - Scotland+summer+fancy-carbon-soled-shoes-designed-by-italians=COLD! Oh well, sore feet means I can't feel my legs hurting... I'm expecting a flow of skinny runner types to stream past me but they don't come - must be frozen, only 4 come past and I even pass a few.

And then I've only got 100m to go. Family shouting "encouragement" from the sidelines, but now I have a stitch... Tall bloke storms past (he can't have put enough effort in earlier on going that speed...) Stumble over the line and it's done...

Did I enjoy it. I think so.... Ask me again in a bit. Gullane in a few weeks, I think I need some open-water practice...

Well done to everybody who swam/biked/ran/suffered and big thanks to everyone who stood about in the rain and cold to let us idiots suffer for fun.

Keith

* mamins - a semi-aquatic species closely related to mamils but distinguishable by a thicker hide and a slightly wider masochistic streak...