TriGrandPrix "Outrageous Half" 2010 - Kent, UK
This was the inaugural running of this new middle distance race and the first in what the organisers hope will be a growing global series or races where the focus is on the athlete! I was excited about racing it for a number of reasons, not least of which was the challenge of the strongest field of Pro athletes ever to race in the UK. Training had been going well recently and the changes that I’d made since California felt like they were bearing fruit. The “Outrageous Half” would be the day when I’d know for sure if this were the case, or if like so many other races for me over the last 18 months, the promise and optimism I felt in training would only lead to physical melt-down and disappointment.
I travelled down to Kent on the Friday afternoon and arrived at the hotel the TriGrandPrix team were putting me up in about midday. That evening there was a big welcome dinner for the Pro’s already there and anyone else who wanted to join in with the build-up. It set the tone for a great event and showed the passion and desire the Team at TriGrandPrix have for these events.
Fast forward to Sunday morning and all the “big names” HAD showed up and about 150 athletes (nearly half of which were world class Pro’s) entered the waters of Leybourne Lake at about 7:45am. With Eneko Lanos (IM Champion and X-terra World Champion) starting us with the hooter we were off… the next 4 hours was going to be interesting.
I was pleased to feel the pace ease up quite quickly after the initial frenzy and after about 300m I sat in to a bunch that seamed to have everyone in it. As we swam the lake perimeter, a small group broke off the front (unseen by me – I was starring at the feet of the person in front and just trying to stay relaxed). We swam through the small channel between the island at about the 1000m mark, to the far end of the lake, turned and headed back the other side of the island and towards T1. I was quite happy with how the swim felt to be honest. I knew I was in the 2nd group and was feeling very controlled and comfortable. My 2XU V:1 wet suit from PureTri meant I was floating along quite nicely with no wasted energy battling against the rubber and all the freedom I needed to stay relaxed. It meant my stroke stayed relaxed and my effort level under control; just where I wanted it to be. We exited the water in a time of over 27minutes… slow for a 1.9km swim, but I was pretty sure it was a “long” swim and being with the 2nd group I wasn’t too worried about it. A shout from my wonderful parents who were there supporting me told me we weren’t too far down from the leaders as we picked up our transition bags and headed to the change shelters to get ready for the bikes. The helpers in there were fantastic and another aspect of how the race organiser was trying to make everything really smooth and professional for ALL the athletes. My wet suit was stripped off in a flash, helmet and sun glasses on and I headed to T1 to grab my bike and head out to the hilly and now VERY windy 90k bike course.
Leaving the County Park we almost straight away hit the start of the first climb. I had set the simple focus for my whole race to be “race MY race, MY pace…no matter what!” and so as we climbed and Marcel Zamora (Multi Ironman Champion) blasted past up the hill, climbing like a monkey up a banana tree, I told myself to just let him go. He did… for about 10 meters, but then the gap help. I didn’t really care and just kept focussed riding at my pace. About a mile into the climb I realised I needed to change to the front ring of my gears and so flicked the gear changer… only for the chain to come off my bike. Highly frustrated, I jumped off and did my best to quickly fix the problem whilst Zamora rode off up the hill. I was passed by a group of 5 guys just as I finally got the chain and gears back in order and managed to catch them quickly enough to follow them up the rest of the climb.
Once over the top we had a few miles of rolling quiet country lanes to head down. Putting the Ceepo Venom into it's biggest gear I sat into my comfy newly tweaked position (thanks to the Retul bike fit through PureTri) and began to pull away from the guys who’d passed me during the mechanical and catch back up to Zamora. Some technical turns and really rolling roads meant that you had to really keep your focus. I was returning to my riding style of old and turning a big slow gear again. It felt great on the flat and rolling sections, but when we hit the bigger climbs, it wasn’t quite as effective. Zamora and myself to and fro’d for about 5 miles until we hit the long straight-ish road out past Brans-Hatch race track where I was able to really push the big gear and pull away from him. Having chosen to ride the wonderfully deep Zipp 808 up front and a Zipp disc wheel at the back meant that at times I was flying, but also when a cross wind caught me… I was PRAYING and clinging on for dear life! Nearing the first out-and-back turn-around sectionat about mile 15, Fraser (Cartmel) came back the other way already with a sizeable lead to the chasers. I timed myself to him and couldn’t believe how big the gap was already!!! Thankfully, the gap to the rest of the guys in front of me wasn’t as much. But I reminded myself that I still had to ride my pace and effort. I wasn’t about to start chasing anyone or close any gaps.
The next 25miles or so went by with more of the same. The bike course was well signed and a really tough challenge. A mixture or rolling roads, technical descents and climbs, rough road surfaces and strong cross-winds really took its toll on you and mentally it began to become a real battle for me. But I could feel I was riding OK whenever I wasn’t going UP for a long period of time and at mile 40ish I caught Stephen Bayliss and Scott Neyedli (both of whom are Ironman Champions and regular podiums finishers – and MUCH faster swimmers than me too). This gave me a lift and so I pressed on, ignoring the voices in my head telling me how hard this was and how easy it would be to just stop and quit. I spent the next 10miles doing most of the work on the front of a small (but legal) group of about 5 of us, until I decided that I should let someone else take the FULL brunt of the head wind and let them all slip by so I could follow for a while. I was pleased though as for all this time, I’d stuck with my goal of riding at the pace and intensity I wanted to. So as we headed back to T2 and prepared for the 13.1 mile run, I knew that I had no excuses for the run. It would either be there as I hoped and training had suggested or it wouldn’t in which case more than this race result alone would have to be re-considered.
Heading back into the park, we handed off our bikes to the “catchers” – again, another great, professional touch that made the race great to be part of and showed that the organiser really wanted us to have a good, enjoyable and world class race (this goes for everyone competing even those who took 6 hours to complete the bike where made to feel important and treated the same as the Pro’s – just how it should be).
I grabbed my T2 bag from the rack, into the change shelter once again and put my socks and Newton Racers on, complete with the new “Greeper” laces. Stephen, Scott and Zamora all left T2 before me, but I didn’t care. If I ran according to training form, I’d be OK and if not… well a few seconds in transition wouldn’t matter anyway.
We headed off around the lake in the morning sun about 100m separating the 4 of us. As with the bike, I was simply concentrating on running at the pace I wanted to; building into the run over the first 5 minutes and then looking to hold it solidly from there on. A mile and a half later and I’d caught and passed Bayliss and Neyedli, but Zamora was pulling away. Either he’d blow up and I’d see him again or he was running VERY strongly and I would be foolish to try and bridge up to him.
By the first out-and-back section of the run at about mile 2, Fraser was too far in front for me to even see him – he was killing us all!!! But the rest of the top 10 were not a million miles away. Mentally I think this was the hardest race I’ve ever done. Possibly because over the last 2 years I’ve grown accustomed to my body imploding and barely being able to wlk, the fact that it now wasn’t, meant that the voices in my head telling me to stop weren’t being accompanied by the physical reality that I couldn’t go on. I did my best to ignore it and told myself as we climbed each hill (all of which felt like they were into a head wind!) that it was just as hard for everyone else… stick to MY plan. I must confess however that I got to the point where it hurt SO much that I was desperate for an excuse to stop. Because my body wasn’t failing, I needed an excuse… anything… I thought “OK, as soon as someone catches up to me and passes me, that’s a good enough excuse, you’re clearly not able to go on anymore…”. Unfortunately for me, the glances over the shoulder at the longest stretches of road showed no sign of a pursuer! As I hit the half-way point I realised why; a glance at the watch showed I was actually running much better than I felt and in the distance I was gaining on 2 guys in front. I pressed on, still ignoring the voices and holding my pace. With about 4km to go I caught and passed the 8th place Pro (Brit/Aussie) Paul Ambrose. I dug deep to try and catch 7th, but it was a position too far and as I re-entered the Park and headed to the finish in the last km, it all suddenly caught up and the energy left me. I fought against the desire to ease up and jog into the finsih, knowing that I now had a fairly big cushion to Paul in 9th and did my best to hold it together and cross the line with the fuel and energy gauge on “empty” stopping the clock just over 4hr07mins.
It had been a brutally tough day, but inside I was delighted. Not only had the form I felt I had actually come to the party, but I’d battled and won against probably the toughest “day at the office” I can remember. Though I finished a little outside the money slots, to come 8th (2nd Brit) in a field THAT strong was very satisfying and to at LONG LAST feel like my body was strong again, that it actually could do this properly without falling to pieces… that was immensely satisfying. There’s more to come as the training beds in and hopefully it bodes well for the focus of the year, IM Switzerland on July 25th and maybe that Kona slot
Congrats to everyone who raced and especially to Fraser Cartmel who was a stud on the day that none of us could get anywhere close to.
Thanks to my sponsor PureTri for their help with all my equipment and clothing needs and to the TriGrandPrix people for putting on a great race and looking after us so well. I hope to see this race growing to be one of the most popular races in Europe over the coming years.