Slateman Tri 2014 Race Report

Well, after setting my alarm for sparrow fart this morning, I was just glad to get to Llanberis in one piece, I was really tired on the drive down.

After going through registration in the visitors centre, I really enjoyed setting up in transition, there was only a few of us there at that time (about 07:20), so I was happy in my little bubble, getting myself ready. I spotted Wayne, one of the Team Pie contingent and had a quick chat with him and then Scott, a fellow member of Team True Spirit. My mate Phil and the others arrived a bit later so we spent the next hour or so just chilling, before our wave started. This was the first time that I was trying out the stuff that we'd done in training, whereby we just use our own body fat for fueling during the race instead of taking carbs on board, so I was a bit nervous (yes, I know there was no chance of me running out of fuel, in that case), but within an hour of taking the travel sickness tablet I was fine and relaxed. The travel sickness tablet is a top tip for combating nerves, it works for me anyway.

Eventually it was our wave that was due to go into the swim, a few last minute hand shakes and well wishes and it was into the water, I decided to start right at the front and see what happened. The water was bracing to say the least, but not too bad. When the hooter went there didn't seem to be any of the washing machine that usually occurs, so I just got into my rhythm and paced myself, I wanted to take it relatively easy on the swim. It was pretty uneventful, apart from my usual shocking sighting. By the time I was halfway round my goggles had completely steamed up and I couldn't see a thing, schoolboy error No.1, not spitting in my goggles before the start.
I pressed Lap on my Garmin as soon as I got out of the swim and I'd done it in 22.35, which was reasonably good and I was happy with that. The race notes said it was a 1000m swim, although my own Garmin and quite a few other competitors measured it at about 1200m.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/502143964

T1 was ok, nothing rushed but still going ok. Due to the clouds clearing I decided to squirt some sun cream on, I didn't want to be too lobster like by the time I got off the bike, schoolboy error No2, I missed a few patches and still got burnt. I saw Phil briefly in T1, he'd obviously had a good swim as well.

Onto the bike. It felt good right from the start and was definitely helped by having a mile or two until the start of Llanberis Pass, to get the blood into my cycling legs. The pass wasn't actually as bad as I'd expected, I was able to stay in the saddle for its entirety and only used 1st gear once or twice, for a short time. There was a bit of a headwind for parts of it, which didn't help things. The descent was pretty quick, but I was held up by some moron that overtook me at the summit, but was absolutely clueless / gutless when it came to descending. I wouldn't mind but he wasn't even in the race! The stretch of road to Capel Curig was bonkers fast, I got up to 45mph and then ran out of gears, my legs were just spinning too fast. There were a few climbs, but nothing bad, I just sat up and tapped them out. When we were going past the car park at the foot of Tryfan, there was an ambulance with a competitor in the back, I hope he's ok, it's never nice to see a fellow triathlete crashing out.
There were another few really fast sections of road, with a stunning, twisty section down the Ogwen Valley, that was a real joy to throw the bike down it, even if it was into another headwind! The majority of the road surfaces on the bike course felt mega smooth which made it a lot easier and more enjoyable. It's a bit of a novelty riding on smooth roads.
About 6 or 7 miles from the end of the bike leg we turned in to a (you've guessed it) strong headwind. I found it an absolute killer for my speed. It was uphill as well. I'm not the best climber, or most aerodynamic triathlete, so I was struggling. It just seemed to go on and on and on and on and...........
By the time we turned towards Llanberis it was somewhat of a relief to be back onto smooth roads and out of the headwind (mostly), the new saddle had been fantastic. Still a couple of pressure points, but I read that it takes a few rides to get used to them. My bike leg felt pretty good on the whole and despite the struggle with the swirling headwind I did it in 1.43.22 and averaged 17.9mph.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/502143969

Last little bit, the run. This is the bit that I was dreading. I'm not a great runner and with the sun now blazing down, it was going to be a tough one. I just whipped my lycra cycling sleeves off and got through T2 as fast as I could and I was off and running ish.
I just tried to get into a rhythm as fast as I could. The first section was all on tarmac roads and it was flat, so it was pretty easy going. As soon as we turned off road and onto the slate path which led onto the steep zig zags, my HR went through the roof. I'd already decided that I was going to walk up the zig zag path, so I just settled in to a decent tabbing rhythm and plodded my way up. This section climbed about 700ft in 1 mile! I think I only saw a couple of people running up the mines, fair play to them, but it wasn't for me. When we crossed the timing mat at the bottom of the quarry challenge, I asked the marshal if I could borrow his Land Rover 90 that he'd parked up there. Rather selfishly he said "no".
Once we got to the top of the mines I started running again and got into a nice run pace pretty quickly. My legs just seemed to feel really good and that seemed to give me a big kick of adrenaline. The heat was pretty intense up there, reflecting off all the quarries and the slate footpaths, so I was literally dripping. By the time we got to the water station I was gasping, so I grabbed a couple of cups and threw them down my neck, bliss. Then there was a long downhill section after the water station, my Hoka trainers felt brilliant and were worth every single penny by this stage, just soaking up the impact. I still say it's like running with pillows on your feet. Going through the woods was great fun and my run was going great, it was a bit of a pity that I had to stop at a bush for a pee, there was no way I could have waited to the finish line. There were a few more short, sharp inclines that I had to walk up but nothing silly and by this point, I could tell I was going well and was really buzzing. Then we were up and down again with some cheeky climbs, before going back in to the woods. When we got to the steps that someone had told me about earlier I was really blowing, they were pretty tough and I couldn't wait to get to the top. After that last little climb, I could hear the P.A. at the finish line commentating, so I knew I wasn't all that far away. I just seemed to go in to auto pilot then and was trying to get to the finish as soon as I could, I was in a world of pain, but was desperate to do a time that I was happy with.
The last few hundred metres seemed a blur, I'm sure I had my eyes closed for most of it. Finally the final bend came and I was in sight of the finish, last 10m and I was done. I crossed the line with a run time of 1.05.45.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/502143979

All in all it was a great event, the weather definitely helped and the support on the course was immense. I thoroughly enjoyed it and finished it all in 3hrs 20mins and 1sec (damn pee stop costing me a sub 3hr 20min race), placing 438 out of 1200 entrants, so I really can't have asked for any more than that. It's a really tough race, but not too tough and is a great test of fitness. Having said that, if pain is just weakness leaving the body, I must be empty by now, I threw everything at that race and left nothing on the course, just how I've always wanted to race, instead of my usual blowing up off the bike and into the run.
I said to one of my mates that we don't really notice the improvements in our individual fitness, because the whole club is improving and we're all training together all the time, so there's nothing for me to gauge my fitness on. It's only when doing a race that I was able to feel the big jump in fitness and performance from my previous tri's.
There were loads of photographers around the course and also tv cameras. Apparently the race is being shown on tv on the 7th July.

Next up, Ironman UK.