Podium Fishguard half
Triathlon Training Blog, Monday, August 3rd, 2015Decided not to camp on the friday having spent most of the day trying to get all the stuff together. Why there are 5 types of gas cylinders and double the number of regulators is any ones guess. Guess we must need them all. Drives me mental!!Watched the video of the previous years race and decided to change the zipp 808 back wheel for the disc .This turned out to be a mistake.
click here . Fabulous new huub wetsuit
2nd and third .Franco and the master
So slept at home and was up earlyish to head up to fishguard. The weather was overcast with a bit of rain about. Got up there ridiculously early and went to register. No dramas thus far. It started to rain. This wasnt in the brochure. Procrastinated, ate drank , went to the toilet 10.50 times. Found an old waterproof works jacket and decided to venture out in the rain to rack the bike. Giffo and Nicky rees were marshaling the bike racking area and both came over to say hello all smiles. Nickys usually infectious smile turned to a grimace as he smelt the jacket i was wearing which the dog had been sleeping on for an extended period of time. He moved a step further away , up wind and tried to imagine what getting his sense of smell back would be like in a few weeks after this particular experience.He looked like he had been assaulted . I was humming and looked like a vagabound .But i was dry . Bike racked next to ollies as it turned out. Not much to set up really helmet ,gloves, shoes . t1 and runners ,hat ,sunnies t2. Came back a bit later to find Ollie throwing all my stuff around the park complaining my disc was doing it in the wind. To be fair this was what was happening but i gave him a bit of stick for it anyway. I had helped him pump up his tyres and some kid came and asked for his autograph which was sickening. Racked my bike handlebars first to stop the wind pushing the disc about a bit.
High tower came over to say hello and a few of the boys.Ben Griffths the Spaniard was here too ,thankfully doing the sprint . Not seen fabulous yet .Probably struggling to get his new wetsuit on. He is doing the sprint distance which is on at the same time and confusingly starting in the same place i.e the sea.Chris Mccormack is here who is one of the few names i know from the triathlon world doing the sprint. I have also heard of those twins The roundtrees or something similar
Got suited up plenty of people here with nice bikes as usual ,wonder how many of them can ride them.
The swim
We ambled towards the start and i actually did a reasonably good impression of a swim warm up. Then stood around for 20 mins getting cold listening to /not listening to the race briefing. Fab ,ollie and i looked resplendent in our Huub wetsuits and we lined up in the front row for the off. Richard Gardiner , who must run me close as one of the smallest athletes was next to us.You put me, inch and the legendary cardiff triathlete Ricky morgan together i bet we would struggle to top 30 stone. Inch high private eye looked like he was here to race. I dont know much about him except he is in my age group this year and is a formidable opponent and a police man.Heard rumours he finished 12th once in the london marathon,bikes not too shabby but i didnt know he could swim till today.10 secs to go . at 5 secs i cracked Fab in the jaw and pushed ollie off the slipway 2,1 go. let the bun fight begin.Got a boot in my left eye immediately probably fab which pushed that goggle up into my eye socket so could only see out of one eye for the first loop
The swim went ok after that. found clear water quite quickly and felt i was going ok in the front 20 or so. After the first lap the sprinters left the building and the halfers carried on for the second. Got out the water at the same time as the Spaniard and just ahead of fab who was still smarting from his start line tap. They went to their bikes i went for my second lap.going through the australian start is it there was some lad in front just as i went passed him he starting swinging his arms like a wind mill as he sauntered up the middle of the track. Put him straight into the barriers .Bell end. Not too many ahead and had clear water all the way around .Tried to jump on a couple of feet but couldnt track them went a bit astray as the wind pushed us north at the top leg. Got out of the water shoulder to shoulder with Spanner .I was pleased about that as he is better than me in the pool.I was busy congratulating myself and patting myself on the back when i saw a tenby aces skin suit already disappearing out of t1. Like i said i didnt know inch high had learnt to swim but he has. Shit.
The bike
Wasnt particularly fast out of t1 just over a minute or so. didnt make a pigs ear of getting my shoes on this time and out on the bike. The initial climb i settled in ,gloves on ,shoes tightened and get into bike mode. Time to chase down the leaders. Caught inch high quite quickly and dropped him.Although i knew it wouldnt be the last i saw of him .
The first leg down to st davids was into a fierce head wind and course wasnt as flat as we had been lead to believe. Of course i never checked.But on reflection for a small rider like myself the 808 wouldve been the choice over the disc. Still too late now. The spacings on the cassette on the disc are different too as a result it wouldnt go into the 28 sprocket. Which wouldve come in handy. The whole bike, which i spent alone , i slowly picked the leaders off . Until i was in fourth. I exchanged pleasantries with pedestrians in st davids as they stepped out in my path to do the funky chicken. Punched an overtaking car door right in front of a marshal. I thought he’d dq me for that one. Turn from st davids and now the wind is behind me. Its technical too and this does seem to suit my style of riding. Reckless everyone else calls it. Calculating acceptable risk i call it.
2 loops now of the st davids end of the course. On the first loop i see ollie with Mick fanning on his tail. They must be 1st and 2nd and around 8mins 34.9 secs ahead. So i must be in the top 5 now. 2nd loop of st davids more pleasantries and being social,neighbourly type to my fellow road users and its the final blast 20 miles to t2. I had spent the first 30 thinking what i always do that i’m over cooking the bike.Normalised power 260 watts .Still not feeling epic on the bike . Right quad was doing its usually thing at the start this tends to settle down but on this particular occasion right quad was joined oh too readily by left quad in a harmonious rupture venting and spewing toxins and lactate into my unsuspecting blood stream. It rained at times but when u r in that amount of extreme discomfort the rain makes no difference to how u feel. you are uncomfortable. Back onto the main road and the final 10 mile blast back to fishguard. I had a bad patch at around 40 miles .Came in fishguard neck and neck with the guy who happened to be third. Took a slight detour going into t2 . Someone shouted ‘dont worry about him dave he’s no runner’ .’Nor am fucking i’ was my response.
the run
I excelled again in t2 by not being very quick through it at all. As i left Aled shouted i was 11 mins down on the then leader ollie. The run was where the race really began. I caught number 3 about a mile into the first of 4 laps .Never saw him again. Then it was a two horse race between me and inch high for third. Had i done enough damage on the bike ??The course itself was ,well…..no fun at all. A long run along the breakwall then a long climb out to the headland before a nice flat/downhill run back to the finish. Ollie passed me on the way back from his first lap as i started to climb the hill.Fanning wasnt too far behind him.
long drag then upto the turn. where you get your lap band. 1 down (yellow) 3 to go. Inch high passed me starting his first lap on the flats before he started to climb the hill so i had a good 10 mins on him But was it enough? We nearly collided as he came around a corner running at what looked like faster than my 10 k pace. This was where the drama of my race really began. Everyone supporting me knew Inch high was capable of catching me. Everyone (almost)hoping i could hold on to third.
Second lap got my green band although it may have been white the climb upto turn was getting harder as the sun came out .Ollie had run his second lap 100metres or so faster than mine but fanning had over taken him. As inch high and i passed he had put maybe 200/300 metres on me on his first lap,Difficult to judge the distances and his rate of gain but he was gaining.
Third lap. Ollie had a bad spell and i’d made a significant gain on him on his third lap my second . Had he cracked ? Was second now on? If ollie had cracked,Although he was still 10 mins ahead of me, i traded off that being caught by inch high would be ok if i still made the podium. Then i hit my wall. My third lap i was struggling badly. The hill took forever and i was down to a shuffle. Times like these you just have to tough it out . The legs have gone at this point and its a mental battle now. The physicality of it is secondary the war going on inside your head is where the real fighting is done. I stopped and took on fluid at both feed stations . You keep pouring the food and fluids in you will keep going. Inch high had mad e more gains as i didnt see him That meant he was on the same leg as me ,He was making up time in spades. Down the hill one lap to go.
Through the finish area and everyone knows whats happening . Inch high is bearing down on me and unless i start to pick it up the podium place will be gone. Like being chased by a wolf. Unrelenting.yes, i have been chased by a wolf/wolves,pack of, many times. During my time as a fur trader in the Alaskan wilderness. In fact i think i might once have been one.Small but not cuddlely
Its a double hitter too as inch high is in my age group so i loose the fastest vet at the same time. I’m four and half mins ahead going into my last lap. Ollie has recovered from his bad spell and is looking stronger holding on to 2nd. Out to the end of the break wall. As i turn my eyes are straining down the km long wall looking for the blue/white/ yellow colours of the aces tri suit. That k back took an eternity. Inch high had just started on the wall as i was coming off it. I’m at least a km ahead. No way he can catch me know surely with 3 miles to go. Up the hill for the last time.Moving better now and driving on. black arm band. Hard down the hill and i’m not looking back. I find the speed from somewhere and i’m flying now. Driven. On , on , on.I nearly go the wrong way and miss the turn for the finishing shoot. Directions , clearly something i have to work on. It was lloydys shout that made me turn . To lose it there would have been well ‘ one for the blog’
The red carpet. New feeling. Although its only third , my first podium in a ‘proper’ race. Difficult to describe. At the time it was relief not to have been caught.Inch high has been going well and trained hard this year and there has been a lot of speculation about who is the top dog, (in the vets) in the Pembrokeshire clubs this year. Although inch isn’t a local boy and lives up in Gwent somewhere he does compete for a Pembrokeshire club. Its our own little ‘Iron war’
Loads of congratulations and not enough time to thank and talk to everyone. Ben came over to say hello and Rhys,Claire etc but it all seemed a blur . Went and watched the others come in. High Tower doing his shuffling run came in later and totally mis judged the finish ramp and went down like a sack of shit.Luckily there were only a couple of thousand people there to witness it.One of those occasions where there is no recovery. There is no witty comeback ,especially when u are at the end of a hard Half IM.especially when u are 6 foot 5. it was along way down for the big man .He looked like a struggling giraffe as he picked himself up.
Waited for the presentation with Ollie ,chatted about training and talked about the interval sessions that i avoid . Which have to be done if u want to go faster. All brutal workouts. Turns out i matched inch high on the last lap amazing what the fear of defeat can do to you.Plus a bit of hydration . I couldnt have done more. Third in that company . I only lost a minute or so to ollie on the run and bike respectively ,nearly all the time lost in the swim. Still he has had a busy few weeks as we all have. Just nice to be within 10 mins of him. Oh and the guy who beat me in the crymch go tri the week before was dispatched and given a lesson in the real races. By 20 mins i think it was.
It was a fantastic event . Well organised and being on open roads didnt seem to be a problem. Great atmosphere in the town where t1 and 2 are and 4 laps for the run make it perfect for spectators who were fantastic and numerous. Also having a campsite within walking distance of the event is a big plus. Well done activity Wales
Power wise i produced the same as in italy. So was a bit disappointed not to have been able to produce more 2 months later.Still there was no taper for this event. However I did the same run time as italy on a much more difficult course so some improvement. 10 weeks to go.
Went and put the tent up after all the cafuffle and tried to unwind. I did have a few beers on saturday night at the presentation and may well have been press ganged ,agreed to Matts next adventure .An atlantic crossing with a difference. I bet he gets that off the ground. Did a cheeky swim on the sunday morning but fore went the bike .Blowing a gale. Back to it in the morning.
Michael BIRCHMORE overall 04:24:31.2 swim00:29:56.6 T100:00:55.6 Bike02:33:36.8 t200:00:46. run01:19:15.3 1
Oliver SIMON 04:29:20.0 00:28:43.1 00:00:52.5 02:31:33.5 00:01:07.6 01:27:03.2 3
David FRANCIS 04:40:46.8 00:35:07.8 00:01:31.4 02:34:10.9 00:01:28.0 01:28:28.5 4
Richard GARDINER 04:45:21. 00:33:34.9 00:01:45.6 02:48:40.4 00:00:55.9 01:20.24
