I could’ve been a contender
Triathlon Training Blog, Monday, July 6th, 2015Sweden the ITU long distance world championship racing for great britain.
The build up to this was far from ideal. Not really slept properly since 2 weeks before italy which was a month ago. Really didnt train at all in the last 3 weeks before the event. I did, however bring it all on myself. Not sure why we are always so surprised either. Women !look what they can do to you! It was just a question of time before this little episode came crashing down but this wasnt the month i had in mind and it is a corker. Not going to go into too much, any detail . Never met a saint or angel yet.
Head is totally in the shed and if i hadnt organised the trip,accommodation i wouldnt have gone. Drove up to Heather and Bens on the Tuesday .Heather played a stormer all week as everyone did and propped me up, got my head somewhere near the right place and got me to the start line. All i wanted to do was sleep.
What a team this little lot turned out to be. Aled,Nicola,Carlton,Hollie,Hiro and heather . It was amazing we all got on really well and turned a good trip into a great one.
Sweden was ok although every landscape was pretty much the same. Rolling fields and picture postcard landscapes. Sick of it after 15, no 20 mins. There was a problem at the airport with the hire cars but we jammed everyone in with what we had and broke the volvo instantly.The hertz desk were so impressed.
The place was outstanding. Middle of buttfuck nowhere in the forest with a fucking lake ,moat outside the house. Lucked out here. I dived into the house sharpish with a mind to getting the best room and as per usual picked the worst one. Thought it was an ensuite it wasnt. shouldve gone for the downstairs room ,no stairs. We settled in and there was talk of going for a swim, run . It got as far as tea , cake and a drive into Motala.Shopping and an amble around town. I almost forgot my troubles for a spell and heather who does know me well spotted every wobble i had and was there instantly.
Went out for a spin with the GB squad in the morning .The bike course was pan flat and our little group rode the entire 25 mile loop. Windy miller , you know who u are deserves a mention and was excellent entertainment, company during the ride. Wasnt feeling amazing on the bike but put that down to the lack of sleep and heavy drinking on the weeks heading upto the event. 2 days till race day.
We all procrastinated over actually doing a swim. Sweden wasnt a sub tropical tundra and the lake temp was….chilly. So much so they ended up cutting the swim from 4k to 1500 metres. Poofs. Thought this was meant to be hard. That really didnt suit my race day plan. Aled would be breathing down my neck as it was. Young verses old. Heather and i eventually got in and it was the first time i had swum in my new HUUB wetsuit . that didnt go well either. The suit was fine the person in it was the problem. think we may have edged 200m . That seemed enough and suitably impressed with ourselves we retired for some roll mop herring. Never saw any!
Friday and its rack the bikes time .Its still windy and the lake and bike course are very exposed. Its a clean t1,t2 so little blue and red bags it is. All done we went to the team briefing. This was a gem. The team manager turned up late flustered and sucking on her inhaler. She promptly announced the team hotel was a shit hole had no information from the organisers and couldnt wait to get out there. Windy ,Heather and i looked on. It was vaguely amusing. Like a carry on movie used to be before Sid James croaked it. In true race tradition my fragile veneer was shattered that night when the richardsons texted to say they had bumped me off a big job for no reason that made sense and there was a problem at the training camp back home. Both cost me around 3 k. perfect.
Race day. Its not an early early start but the house is awake soon enough.I dont get nervous before these events but this one i am struggling to hold it together. Fear of failure is very real today.Its confirmed the swim has been shortened and we all wish each other luck and head for our pens. we watch the pros go then its us. Its a standing water start.
The swim was fucking brutal from start to finish. I’ve never been scared in a swim before but it was pure survival for the whole 24 mins. Vicious . Constantly being held pushed under. there were no gentle taps here every punch/elbow thrown was meant to hurt/maim,incapacitate. Like a bar brawl where u know u are slowly losing and u need to find an exit.
it wasnt a swim as such but a seething cauldron of aggression that happened to be heading in the right direction.Out a long way from happy. Promptly told one of the marshalls at t1 to get fucked and then made a right fucking pigs ear of it. Both shoes ended up on the floor on the exit chute after t1 i bounced off the railings twice and didnt get into my shoes till about 5 miles in. It must’ve been comical to watch. The bike first lap went no better. My hip flexors were bar tight and i could hardly stay down on the tri bars. I spent most of it trying to work out what the fuck just happened in the swim. First 25miles 1 hour 4mins shit. not good enough . reach the turn and i’ve gone meters and I see Aleds luminous yellow shoes spinning towards me. He’s right on top of me. Need to get to grips with this fucking ride. Second lap was better power was responding ok 25 miles 58 mins. 6 mins faster than the first. Third lap and the riders are thinning out spent the whole lap alone 59 mins. T2 couldnt have gone any worse than t1 barring a fatality . Out the door 30 k of fun fun fun
Manageable chunks. Its hot the sun is raging , hottest its been. looking for shade everywhere. 10 k loops . I know Aled cant be far behind although each lap i had gained more time on him on the bike but nowhere near enough to be comfortable. First 10 k done. Hard.But starting to free up. Just 5k to the turn now and thats half way. The thought of quitting is constantly there this is hurting too much too far to go another 90 mins of this fuck that. The sun is beating down now,like the pace its relentless.Just keep putting one foot in front of the other, We’ve been here before , we have felt like this before. Constantly doing the maths . 10 mins ahead of Aled he has to run 3 times 10 k 3 mins faster that me. Hell he can do that. Has he over cooked the bike? is he hurting too? 20k , 10 k to go . right its now just a straight 10k race between Aled and i. I aint looking back . If he’s there it’ll break me. 5k . Still no time to relax. I thought it was hurting before its agony now. the finishing shoot. still daren’t look back.over the line collapse both legs fully cramp up. Aled will beat me one day but not today. I ended up 8th in the worlds in my age group 59th overall which included the pros and was the third british team member home. Same as italy. 8 minutes later Aled is in. Thats close . Couldve gone either way.
See mum and my sister and say hello. They both hate seeing me in such a shit state and wonder y i do it. so do fucking i. I wait for heather to finish then the rest of the team. hollie did exceptionally well on the run going into the event with a knee injury . Amy, Hiro and Nicola . All got the job done.Aled was 4th in his age group and hollie got a podium to underline her Kona spot this year. All the rest is vague.Mum and steph had to leave we found carlton and ended up back at the house
Sunday. The ironman shuffle. The house still gets up relatively early. Heather is still looking after me and i am probably going on about it but i cant thank her enough. Sometimes u cant make it on your own. The whole team worked hard for each other. we didnt start out as a team but we ended up being one of the best.
We made it down to the beach with Amy now on board and hired some pedalos. A first for me. It ended up as a recovery session . I dont think the attendant was too at ease as he watched 2 of his pedalos disappearing out of sight. It was a nice afternoon. We got a load of beers in but no one really got on it. It was cool at the awards ceremony in town with Hollie grinning like a loon on the podium and did the ‘team’ wave for us. She got the biggest cheer of the night.
Monday and we have a lazy morning just chatting and chewing the fat . We eventually head upto the lake and get the 2 man canoe going . Everybody has a go and the afternoon is passed. Nice spot and we watch teh sun reflect on the water as we all drift on our private thought son the week just passed. Its not melancholy,passive reflection on a great week that now has to end. Home. I’m sure the thoughts of going home dont fill my peers with as much dread as mine do. Its always a difficult time.Back into that maelstrom shit fight
With a better build up how far could i have gone?
