On Saturday 11th July Debra Brown did her first ever olympic triathlon...
"and absolutely loved it (well apart from the first few km of the run and the last one as my foot was blistering). In an average olympic race the swim is 1500m, the bike is 40km and the run 10km but in Ripon the bike is 44km and the run route this year was 10.7km, which put paid to my dream of sub three hours but I was really pleased none the less to finish in 3 hours 8 minutes.
After all it was only 11 weeks since I ran a marathon, I had never swum in open water before, was my first tri event of the summer and my bike hadn't left the garage during my months of marathon training, I've had a crash course in the bike since early May and been to as many swim sessions in the lake at otley as possible hence my absence from run club recently as they clash... ...and boy was I glad I had, I've heard Tom and H say about brutal iron man swims before and not understood quite what they meant but had a rapid lesson. The number of entrants this year was bigger than before and set off in 3 waves 5 minutes apart. I was amazed to have been placed in the middle wave and even more amazed to be in the middle of the pack exiting. The first few hundred metres were horrendous with people swimming over and under you fighting for space and in the end swimming through some of the weed at the edge seemed preferable but then near the island where the turn around was the water got really murky and congested as everyone fought to see where they were going and get as straight a line as possible, in the whole I was very pleased apart from veering offline for the penultimate 50m I managed to sight well and clambered out and over the first timing mat in just under 30 minutes which was my target.
A slowish transition as I struggled to get my wet suit off over the bulky chip around the ankle but off I went on the bike and very soon passed a fellow tri club male who rides and runs quicker than me, which led to initial panic as to whether I was going too quick, but given he didn't pass me again until on the run he was cleary having some problems or other. Everyone had warned about the "drafting" police and the penalties or disqualification possible. drafting is where you ride right behind someone which apparently makes it easier to maintain speed at less effort. Not yet being confident on the bike this is not something I would ever dream of doing but a fellow club male had commented last week how difficult it must be for females not to be penalised for it and boy was he right. There's something rather satisfying about overtaking a man, but oh boy they don't like it and as soon as any male approaches and realises it's a girl in front they just have to overtake even though most are not going any quicker and then cut back in front of you, which means according to the rules you have to fall back so as not to be penalised. I was aiming for 1 hour 30 on the bike and did 1.31 so was pleased enough, the extra minute was probably getting on and off which I hope to work on but was not doing anything too fancy and then falling off like I did in my last race in September.
What I also need to work on is being able to eat a gel on the bike as my tank was somewhat depleted starting the run and never has 10k felt so long. I had a gel as I set out on the run which seemed to kick in about half way into the run as the second half seemed much easier, albeit on a course that had an out and back section of course there was a mental boost on the back, I was nearly at the finish. Overall I ran 63 minutes, which if it was nearer 11km than 10 I was pleased with, not least of which it followed 2 hours of swimming and cycling.
So looking forward to the next one, but don't fear I won't be leaving run club, after all the running was one of my weaker links when comparing to other people from the tri club (albeit only one had run a marathon with me at the end of April!), I didn't come first but I was nowhere near the last and I thoroughly enjoyed it."
Excellent news Debra and we look forward to seeing you back at run club soon.
"and absolutely loved it (well apart from the first few km of the run and the last one as my foot was blistering). In an average olympic race the swim is 1500m, the bike is 40km and the run 10km but in Ripon the bike is 44km and the run route this year was 10.7km, which put paid to my dream of sub three hours but I was really pleased none the less to finish in 3 hours 8 minutes.
After all it was only 11 weeks since I ran a marathon, I had never swum in open water before, was my first tri event of the summer and my bike hadn't left the garage during my months of marathon training, I've had a crash course in the bike since early May and been to as many swim sessions in the lake at otley as possible hence my absence from run club recently as they clash... ...and boy was I glad I had, I've heard Tom and H say about brutal iron man swims before and not understood quite what they meant but had a rapid lesson. The number of entrants this year was bigger than before and set off in 3 waves 5 minutes apart. I was amazed to have been placed in the middle wave and even more amazed to be in the middle of the pack exiting. The first few hundred metres were horrendous with people swimming over and under you fighting for space and in the end swimming through some of the weed at the edge seemed preferable but then near the island where the turn around was the water got really murky and congested as everyone fought to see where they were going and get as straight a line as possible, in the whole I was very pleased apart from veering offline for the penultimate 50m I managed to sight well and clambered out and over the first timing mat in just under 30 minutes which was my target.
A slowish transition as I struggled to get my wet suit off over the bulky chip around the ankle but off I went on the bike and very soon passed a fellow tri club male who rides and runs quicker than me, which led to initial panic as to whether I was going too quick, but given he didn't pass me again until on the run he was cleary having some problems or other. Everyone had warned about the "drafting" police and the penalties or disqualification possible. drafting is where you ride right behind someone which apparently makes it easier to maintain speed at less effort. Not yet being confident on the bike this is not something I would ever dream of doing but a fellow club male had commented last week how difficult it must be for females not to be penalised for it and boy was he right. There's something rather satisfying about overtaking a man, but oh boy they don't like it and as soon as any male approaches and realises it's a girl in front they just have to overtake even though most are not going any quicker and then cut back in front of you, which means according to the rules you have to fall back so as not to be penalised. I was aiming for 1 hour 30 on the bike and did 1.31 so was pleased enough, the extra minute was probably getting on and off which I hope to work on but was not doing anything too fancy and then falling off like I did in my last race in September.
What I also need to work on is being able to eat a gel on the bike as my tank was somewhat depleted starting the run and never has 10k felt so long. I had a gel as I set out on the run which seemed to kick in about half way into the run as the second half seemed much easier, albeit on a course that had an out and back section of course there was a mental boost on the back, I was nearly at the finish. Overall I ran 63 minutes, which if it was nearer 11km than 10 I was pleased with, not least of which it followed 2 hours of swimming and cycling.
So looking forward to the next one, but don't fear I won't be leaving run club, after all the running was one of my weaker links when comparing to other people from the tri club (albeit only one had run a marathon with me at the end of April!), I didn't come first but I was nowhere near the last and I thoroughly enjoyed it."
Excellent news Debra and we look forward to seeing you back at run club soon.
